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ORLANDA, Fla. — The 2006 Photo Marketing Association expo started out with Saturday’s press day, which consisted of a couple of group manufacturer events and a separate Sony press conference (held in the Beatles room at Universal Studios’ Hard Rock Café). At the Sony event, amid numerous Beatles references, the company showed off a gaggle of new still and video cameras. Sony’s new CyberShot W series included 7 and 8 megapixel models in a traditional point-and-shoot camera style with lots of manual controls and 2.5-inch LCD screens. Sony also showed two new 12X zoom models with image stabilization.
In the ultra-compact category, the company showed the latest in it’s T series, the DCS T9—a super slim 8 megapixel camera now with image stabilization and improved light sensitivity for better low light performance. For HDTV owners who want to show off their digital photos in a big way, Sony announced a Digital Photo Album HDPS-L1—an 80 gigabyte hard drive that accepts seven types of digital camera cards (not just MemoryStick), connects to HDTVs via component cables and outputs pictures at 720p resolution. It acts as both a photo album for viewing photos on a TV but also as backup storage for the photos since images can be left on the hard drive and organized into folders. It will be available in May for about $300.
In video cameras, Sony showed the HDR HC3 high definition DV camcorder that records MPEG2 video in 1080i resolution. It uses a CMOS chip rather than a CCD and also takes 4 megapixel still photos. It will be available in April for about $1,700. Another interesting video camera shown was the DVD505—a DVD-based camcorder that is compatible with an external Bluetooth wireless microphone. The camera records audio in 5.1 surround sound, but when the camera subject wears the clip-on wireless mike, the subject’s voice is amplified in the center channel above the surrounding audio. The subject can go up to 100 feet away from the camera and still have his or her voice clearly recorded. I tried the feature out at the show and was very impressed.
HP
At HP, I checked out the new R927 camera. It’s a thin, 8 megapixel camera with a three-inch LCD screen that takes up virtually the entire back panel of the camera. HP has built several image editing features right into the camera, assuming that people would prefer to touch up their images in their hand rather than with PC software. Editing options included red-eye removal, picture stitching (stitches together up to five images to create a panoramic image), and the design gallery which lets the user add creative effects onto an image (slimming, cartoon, watercolor…) without altering the original. It will be available for $399 in April.
Movee
Movee5 AutoProducer is a new application for turning digital pictures and videos into movies that can be made into DVDs. It’s an extremely simple interface and allows users to match their still and video shots with their own MP3/WMA or AAC music. The concept is to make it as simple as possible for users to do something interesting with their pictures. Pictures and videos are automatically arranged into slideshows to match the length of music file you want to use as the soundtrack, or you can customize it. It’s also available in a retail kiosk version.
Pentax
Three new compact digital cameras and a D-SLR were part of the PMA offerings at Pentax. The highlight of the compact cameras was the Optio T10, a 6 megapixel pocket model with a three-inch LCD screen that’s actually a touch screen. Using the tip of a finger, or the included stylus, users can touch the screen to navigate menu settings. The stylus can even be used to decorate the image on the screen by adding drawings, stamps and frames. It should be out in March for $349. The company showed an unnamed D-SLR model with a ten megapixel sensor to be available in August.
Shutterfly
The Web-based photo sharing and printing site unveiled upgrades to its photo album offerings. The service has added new leather hardcovers, new page layout designs and simplified the album creation process. The interface is 100 percent Web-based, so users only have to upload their photos to the site and not worry about downloading anything. The albums, or “Photo Books” as Shutterfly calls them, start at $29.99 for a 20 page 8.75″ x 11.25 hardcover and $12.99 for a 5.55″ x 7.5″ softcover book. Additional pages and cover materials cost extra.
—Grant Clauser
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