Future Image

PANASONIC RECOGNIZES FACES

Last year facial detection -- which optimizes focus and exposure for human faces instead of other elements in a picture -- became almost a standard feature on digital cameras.

This year photography moves up to facial recognition: the camera detects a distinct individual's face, and prioritizes exposure for that person as opposed to others in the scene.

Panasonic says that when a familiar face is recorded several times, its new cameras will prompt you to register the face. Once registered, if the face appears in the frame again, the camera will display the name specified for that person and prioritize focus and exposure so that the registered face "is bright and sharply focused."

In playback, you can display only photos that contain a specific registered face, making it easier to organize and view photos, the company says.

Panasonic also debuted the new AVCHD Lite HD video format, a subset of AVCHD focused on 720p resolution. Developed by Panasonic and Sony, it allows almost double the recording time in HD quality as compared with the Motion JPEG format, the companies claim. 

Panasonic got the jump on the competition by announcing in late January its new line of Lumix compact cameras shipping in April.

Among the models:

The DMC-TS1 is shockproof from 5-foot falls, and waterproof to a 10-foot depth. 

[At a recent press briefing in which journalists got to try the camera, most of us took HD video as we lowered the camera into a pool, or let it be submerged under an oncoming ocean wave. Cool stuff.]

The TS1 starts up in 1.3 seconds, and the shutter release time lag is approximately 0.005 seconds, the company claims.

The camera has a 12MP sensor, a 28mm wide-angle lens with a 4.6x optical zoom, and a 2.7-inch LCD for $399.

The ZS3 is a 10MP camera with a 25mm wide-angle lens that has a 12x zoom. Despite the optical range, the camera is smaller and lighter than its predecessors, Panasonic says.

It has a 3-inch LCD, and a 10 shots-per-second burst mode. It's $399.

The FX580 has a 3-inch touchscreen and a 25mm wide lens with F2.8 brightness and a 5x optical zoom. It has a 12MP sensor and captures HD video, for $399.

The 12MP FS25 has a 5x optical zoom that starts at 29mm, and a 3-inch LCD, for $249.

The 12MP FX48 has a 2.5-inch LCD, but its 5x optical zoom starts at a wider 25mm, and it captures HD video. It's $349.

January 30, 2009

SCALLOP SEES SEAMLESSLY

Scallop Imaging debuts new distributed imaging technology in the "Digital Window" camera head that delivers 7MP resolution and a very wide view -- without the distortion you'd get from a wide-angle or fisheye lenses. 

The device instantly stitches together the output of five low-resolution sensors and lens modules to create a high-resolution, seamless 180-degree wide image -- in real time.

Ellen Cargill, director of product development with Scallop Imaging, demonstrated the technology at our 6Sight conference.

On the Imaging Executive podcast next week, she tells us how the technology was created, and how it might improve all kinds of imaging, from surveillance to landscape photography with improved dynamic range, realistic resolution, and wider views.

December 19, 2008

SENSOR SIZES MADE SIMPLER

The size of the sensor in a digital camera is one of the primary factors in its overall image quality.

Not the resolution, the number of megapixels -- but the physical size of the chip that catches the light from the lens. 

Big sensors absorb more light. Small sensors create more noise. 

However: you can hardly ever find out how big a camera's sensor is. 

And it's even harder to compare different formats such as fractions like "1/2.5 inches" or millimeters on a side, like "24 x 16 mm." 

Noting these problems, NY Times technology columnist David Pogue asked his readers to create an online sensor-size calculator.

They provided one in less than two hours:

Sensor-size.com

The site also notes the specs for some popular cameras.

We hope it adds more to the mix, and perhaps other points of comparison such as pixel size.

December 6, 2008

PURE PROVIDES FLIP IN HD

Pure Digital says it has the world's smallest HD camcorder.

The Flip MinoHD updates the company's smallest model yet, the Mino, which debuted just a few months ago. 

The new $230 model adds 1280 x 720  video in 16:9 widescreen. 

It can hold 60 minutes of HD video on its 4GB of built-in storage.

It measures 4 x 2 x 0.6 inches and weighs 3.3 ounces.

Pure Digital has sold over 1.5 million camcorders and currently has the number one best-selling camcorder in the U.S., according to research firm NPD.

The San Francisco-based company also updated its on-board software:

FlipShare provides easier video viewing, editing, and organizing, the company says.

It adds a drag-and-drop interface to share videos via email, or upload them directly to YouTube, MySpace, AOL Video and other video sharing sites. 

November 14, 2008

RED CHARGES AHEAD WITH STILL/MOTION CAPTURE CONVERGENCE

Lately, most still cameras also provide very good video capabilities, "TV quality" or better. The latest Canon SLR even has market-leading HD capture.

Video cameras however, may take print-quality shots, but they are not matching still cameras for basic single-frame capture.

Video camera maker RED promises to change all that with new designs that capture professional stills at rates much faster than standard 30 fps video.

First, the Scarlet camera has a 2/3" sensor that will capture 5MP frames at up to 120 frames per second. It is expected to hit the market in less than a year at $3,750 with an 8x zoom or $2,500 body-only.

Higher-resolution modular models will let the buyer add from a wide array of interchangeable controls, mounts, displays, storage, and lenses -- including lenses from other optics makers.

The Scarlet Professional 2/3 should cost about $2,500 for the body only.

At about $7k body-only, the Scarlet Professional S35 has a larger 30X15mm, 13.8MP sensor.

The FF35 is named for its full-frame 24X36, 24MP sensor, and is priced around $12,000.

The Epic line will have resolutions ranging from 13 to 65MP for $28-45,000 [for a 42 x 56mm sensor].

The very top model, slated for 2010, is the Epic 617 -- with a 186 x 56mm "Monstro" sensor with 261 -- yes, 261 megapixels.

RED was founded by the billionaire former owner of the Oakely sunglasses company. 

The company released its first product, the 4k RED One camera, in 2007.

November 14, 2008

OLYMPUS ADDS IN-CAMERA EFFECTS TO SLR

The new E-30 SLR sports "Art Filters" that Olympus says will "change how we create images, unleashing a digital imaging experience unlike any other that produces striking works of art inside the camera without the need for costly computer image editing software." 

The $1,299 camera has a 12MP sensor, and a 2.7-inch display that swivels 270 degrees and shows a full-time autofocused live view.

In-body mechanical image stabilization works with any Four Thirds lens.

The camera also has a digital level sensor that detects the camera's pitch and roll and indicates it in the optical viewfinder, on the control panel and during Live View operation. "This is a tremendous benefit for architectural photographers who must ensure that images they take of buildings are as centered and true as the walls of the buildings themselves," Olympus says.

The image editing technology "conveniently helps photographers transform a basic image that faithfully represents the scene into an image that carries emotional impact," the company says. "Olympus recognizes that some of the most iconic images ever captured were intentionally altered through exposures to render contrast beyond normal levels, or are alive with saturated colors or the gritty graininess of film. All have wonderful artistic merit." 

Among the filters:  

Pop Art:  Enhances colors, making them more saturated and vivid

Soft Focus:  renders subjects in a heavenly light without obscuring details.

Pale & Light Color:  Encloses the foreground of an image in flat gentle light and pastel colors reminiscent of a flashback scene in a movie.

Effects are viewable on the camera's LCD

Also, a Multiple Exposure function "alters space and time" by combining  images shot in different locations and moments, lending your photos another dramatic dimension. 

"Take one shot of the full moon with the E-30 and the image will appear on the camera's LCD," Olympus explains. "Then take another shot while the moon still appears on the LCD and superimpose a close-up of an owl perched on a tree branch. The two images will merge together seamlessly to form one dramatic image that has the haunting effect of a Halloween night."

We presume that both sets of effects produce copies of the actual captures, leaving the originals untouched -- although Olympus does not specify this. 

The two techniques sound like an interesting use of the greater processing power in today's cameras -- but while Olympus obliquely swipes at Photoshop with the reference to "costly computer image editing software," we question whether the in-camera results are better than that provided by the dozens of free imaging applications available now, as well as online services. Also, we don't think the number of new camera buyers without a PC can be all that significant percentage of the market...

November 7, 2008

FUJIFILM SENSES MORE

Fujifilm claims the sensitivity of its new Super CCD EXR is "as close to that of the human eye as possible."

The EXR, Fuji says, is "essentially a switchable sensor that changes its electronic behavior to suit the subject."

The company notes that "it is widely believed that 'high resolution' and 'high sensitivity' are irreconcilable opposites, and impossible to optimize on the same sensor." 

Meanwhile, it adds, pictures are dependent on the subject: low-light pictures need high sensitivity; high contrast pictures need wide dynamic range; fine details depend on high resolution.

The answer to the dilemma: a flexible sensor to match those demands. 

Previous "Super CCDs" had a 45-degree octagonal pixel array.

The new chip adds a mosaic color filter array that can improve pixel binning, which trades resolution for sensitivity, by arranging similar colors closer together for what Fuji calls "close incline pixel coupling." 

Also, the new 'dual capture technology' reads data off the sensor twice, half of the pixels each time, one at high sensitivity, the other at low, and combines the two into an image with a higher dynamic range.

EXR does not have any of the secondary low-sensitivity photodiodes used on the Super CCD SR. 

Fujifilm says that with EXR, it can "choose one engineering direction, rather than developing separate sensors for high sensitivity and high resolution."

October 3, 2008

FUJIFILM MAKES 3D "REAL"

Fujifilm will next year market a camera, photo frame, and printing technology that captures and displays 3D photos.

Fuji calls the "FinePix Real 3D Photo" system "a radical departure from current imaging systems." 

The company says previous attempts at 3D "were hampered by poor image quality, and a cumbersome user experience that required 3D glasses." 

The primary innovation appears to be a "light direction control module" in the back of the LCD: it controls light to the direction of the right and left eye individually, Fuji says, to enable 3D viewing on the camera's 2.8-inch LCD, as well as a separate 8.4 inch LCD frame, without needing special glasses. 

The displays also have new technologies that Fuji claims eliminate screen flickering and image ghosting.

The camera has dual lenses and two 6MP sensors that capture stills or movies from a slightly different position to produce a 3D image. 

The new 'Real Photo Processor 3D' synchronizes data from the two sensors, and "instantaneously blends the information into a single image for both stills and movies."

The camera has a built-in synchro control, giving 0.001-second precision for shutter control and movie synchronization, Fuji says.

As soon as the shutter is depressed, key metrics for the image, such as focus, zoom range, and exposure are synchronized. 

Fuji notes that the camera could, in addition to 3D, capture telephoto and wide-angle simultaneous shots, or ultra-wide panoramics, among other options.

Fuji also showed a 3D printing system using a "fine-pitch" lenticular sheet overlaid atop a dual-image print.

October 3, 2008

1280 HD VIDEO IN CANON SLR

Nikon's last SLR was a game-changer, combining HD video capture with the creative freedom of interchangeable lenses -

Now, just two weeks later, Canon has upped the ante from "entry-level" 720 HD to full 1080p high-definition video. 

Plus, this new SLR records stereo sound and has an auxiliary microphone input jack.

Canon says its EOS 5D Mark II SLR "enables new levels of creative expression through its unfettered access to the complete line of more than 60 Canon EF lenses, which provide an incredible variety of visual effects including everything from ultra-wide-angle and fish-eye to macro and super-telephoto, including many large-aperture professional lenses that can keep the main subject in razor-sharp focus while blurring the background beyond recognition."

The 5D will record 1920 x 1080 video up to 4GB per clip, or a maximum continuous movie capture time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds. 

Depending on the level of detail in the scene, a 4GB memory card can record approximately 12 minutes of video at full HD resolution or approximately 24 minutes in standard definition, Canon says.

The camera has a full-frame 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor with a 21MP resolution, and expanded sensitivity from ISO 50 all the way up to 25,600.

It can capture 3.9 frames per second for an unlimited number of full-resolution JPEGs or 14 Raw images.

It features a 3-inch LCD with three Live View AF modes.

Also, the Creative full auto setting allows users to make image adjustments such as aperture or shutter speed, Canon says, through an easy-to-understand navigation screen on the camera's LCD menu, allowing them to "blur the background" or "lighten or darken the image" -- while still shooting in an automatic mode.

 

The camera is $2,699 body-only, or with a 24-105mm lens for $3,499.

September 19, 2008

WORLD'S SMALLEST INTERCHANGEABLE LENS CAMERA

They need a new acronym: the new interchangeable lens camera from Panasonic has no internal mirror and thus is not an SLR -- but it provides the image quality and interchangeable lens capability for which most shooters turn to the higher-end cameras.

The Lumix DMC-G1 is billed as the world's smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera, weighing in at approximately 385 grams (0.85 lbs).

It is the first camera based on the Micro Four Thirds System standard, which eliminates the internal mirror structure that defines single-lens reflex cameras.

Without the mirror box, the distance between the lens mount and the image sensor is approximately 20mm -- as compared to 40mm in the original Four Thirds system.

The Lumix G1 is also the world's first interchangeable lens camera that will come in multiple colors, Panasonic claims -- with black, blue and red models -- "allowing consumers to personalize their style through color, something very popular with point-and-shoot camera models."

The Lumix will have a live viewfinder on a 3-inch LCD that can swivel 180 degrees horizontally and 270 degrees vertically.

It has a 12MP sensor.

Pricing will be announced in October.

September 12, 2008