By Steve Beale
Looking for a digital camera? While a few key players, such as Eastman Kodak, are not exhibiting at this year’s Macworld Expo, attendees can still choose from a broad range of recently introduced cameras, all offering megapixel resolution:
New from Olympus (516/844-5000, www.olympus.com ) is the D-340R, a $499 camera that features 1280 x 960 pixel resolution and an uncompressed TIFF recording mode. Physically, the camera resembles the company’s D-340L. The camera includes an 8MB SmartMedia card and an LCD that lets you zoom in on stored images. However, the camera lacks an optical zoom function.
Olympus is also showing the D-620L and D-400 Zoom, a pair of megapixel cameras with 3X optical zoom capability. The D-620L received Macworld’s Eddy Award for Best Digital Camera. You can also check out the P-330, a new photo printer designed for use with the Olympus cameras.
Fuji Photo Film (800/378-3854, www.fujifilm.com ) is showing a range of recently introduced digital cameras for consumers and professional users. At the low end, the $499 MX-500 features 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution and a 4MB SmartMedia card. Fuji has also dropped the price of its MX-700, which also features 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution, from $799 to $599.
The new DS-330, priced at $1,999, features 3X zoom and a 1.4-million pixel CCD. The camera lets you manually set shutter speed, focus, and apertures. At the high end, Fuji is showing the Fujifilm DS-560 and DS-565, a pair of digital single-lens reflex cameras that sell for $6,995 and $8,495 respectively.
Epson America (310/782-4000, www.epson.com ) is showing its new PhotoPC 750Z, a $799 megapixel camera featuring 3X zoom capability. The camera offers 1280 x 960 pixel resolution, but you can also use interpolation to boost the resolution to 1600 x 1200 pixels. Agfa (978/658-5600, www.agfa.com) is showing its ePhoto 1680, an $899 camera featuring 1280 x 960 pixel resolution and 3X optical zoom.
If you want your images to move, Canon (516/328-5000, www.usa.canon.com ) and Hitachi (650/589-8300, www.hitachi.com ) are both showing their latest digital camcorders. Canon is demonstrating the Optura, Vistura, and XL1, while Hitachi is showing its new M2 camcorder.