Recently in Digital Cameras Category

Ten years ago, camera companies had nothing to worry about except each other.

But poof! along came digital cameras and the Kodak, Fuji and Nikon's of the camera world had to worry about consumer technology companies like Sony or IT companies (at least back then) like HP.

Funny thing is, while the camera companies -- both old and new -- battled each other for survival (market share) their core imaging technology got scooped up as a cool feature in mobile phones. 

Today, there are now more camera phones in the world than there are film or digital cameras.  According to digital imaging analyst firm Lyra Research, the installed base of camera phones will reach approximately 850 million units in 2006, and this number will grow to more than 1.5 billion units in 2010.

Here's what Steve Hoffenberg, Lyra's director of consumer imaging research, had to say:

"In less than five years since the very inception of this product category, camera phones have gone from nonexistent to predominant. We're still in the early stages of market development for mobile imaging. Picture quality is still immature, and market penetration has largely been supply-side driven.

"But camera phone picture quality will improve substantially over the next several years, upstream transmission bandwidth will increase and consumers will become increasingly familiar with the incredible inherent benefit of wireless connectivity for images."

Will be interested to see what 2010 looks like ...

Sony no baloney.

Sony has a GPS add-on (GPS-CS1) for its digital cameras that records the location and time data every 15 seconds. The time on the device can be matched with the timestamp on the photo, and the exact location of the picture is added to the JPEG file's meta data, which will allow users to search photos by location!

Now how about that!

Check out Macworld for more.

Here's some more from the Sony press release:

The 12-channel GPS unit is 3-½ inches long, weighs two ounces and is sold with a carabineer to easily attach to a backpack or a belt loop. To arrange pictures geographically, import the logged data from the GPS device, using the supplied USB cable, and then download the digital images to a computer. The supplied GPS Image Tracker software synchronizes the images on your digital camera with the latitude, longitude and time readings from the GPS-CS1 device.

Once synchronized, photos can become virtual push pins on an online map by activating the Picture Motion Browser software bundled with the latest Sony cameras and camcorders released after July.

MSRP: $150

www.sonystyle.com or Sony Style retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail) and  authorized dealers nationwide.

So many ways to "take a picture" now -- SLR camera, reuseable camera, digital camera, digital video camera, cell phone with photo capability, cell phone with video capabilities ...

What did you use to capture the fireworks on July 4?

Even if you don't do too much traveling, this a must-have digital camera accessory!

(Works with other gadgets, too.)

Digital Foci's Memory Card Travel Case organizes and protect your valuable flash memory cards with smart stackable slots that let you hold as many as eight memory cards of all different types: CompactFlash I/II, MD, SM, MMC, SD, miniSD, MS, MS Prod, MS Duo and xD card.

(Do we really need all of these formats?)

• The stackable slots actually let you hold four memory cards of the same format and as many as eight memory cards of different formats in the pre-cut hard rubber lining.

The combination of the brushed aluminum casing and the molded hard rubber lining (that keeps the cards from sliding around once they're inside the case) provides maximum protection. 

 (And yes, I have dropped this case to test that the cards are actually protected ...)

Besides protecting your memory cards from damage, the case also helps protect you from misplacing or losing memory cards (pretty easy when they are all so small and in all sizes and shapes of cases).

Price: $19.95

www.digitalfoci.com

Canon is the latest company to say goodbye to its traditiional film camera business.

Seems there's no reason to invest in analog, when digital photography is all the rage; the company does say it will still support its existing film camera line.

Anybody remember the name of the first "old line" camera company to throw in the towel and stake its future all in digital?

Webshots launched a new tool being offered by Webshots-- AllYouCanUpload.com.  The site lets users upload an unlimited number of photos of any size for free and without the need to register.  In addition to the hassle-free, no-registration photo hosting space, it also offers time-saving bulk upload of up to 10 photos at a time. Unlimited photo space? Sweet!

According to Webshots, "The service is intended to fill the need for fast, quick photo hosting to serve images to blogs, social networking sites, auction sites, and more.  Users wishing to archive their photos for future use, or to engage with one of the internet's most active photosharing communities will still have the option to register for a free Webshots.com account."

One drawback of not registering is that you lose the ability to organize your photos into albums. I'm not sure if offering "free" registration-free photo upload service will work without the ability to create albums. Photos are very personal, and people have a close affinity to their photo memories, so they want the ability to organize them. I really think most people are willing to take some time to register to have a useful online photo service that lets you organize your personal photos. I guess if you just want to dump some photos so you can quickly link to them and don't care about organizing them, then this free service is useful.

Anyway, here's the news sent to me by a CNet Public Relations person. Off topic - Since when did CNet start doing PR? I thought they were strictly a technology news site focused on consumer electronics, but expanding lately into telematics and even cars. (Update: Looks like they own Webshots, which is why they are representing them. So they aren't a true PR firm representing third-party clients.

Webshots Launches Free Unlimited Photo Uploads at AllYouCanUpload.com

Serves image hosting needs of changing online landscape with proven reliability of one of the Internet's largest photo sharing infrastructures

SAN FRANCISCO, (May 23, 2006)— Webshots (www.webshots.com), a leading photo-sharing community and a property of CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET www.cnetnetworks.com), today launched AllYouCanUpload.com (www.AllYouCanUpload.com), a service that provides free unlimited photo uploading and hosting without the need for registration.  AllYouCanUpload.com leverages the technology infrastructure of Webshots, one of the internet's largest photo sharing communities.

Digital camera users are increasingly seeing the value in hosting images online for free.  According to the Digital Image Marketing Association, the number of US households storing images online tripled between 2004 and 2005, with only one percent of digital camera owners paying a fee for hosting. 

Purpose-built for this changing Internet landscape, AllYouCanUpload.com lets users upload up to 10 images at a time with no limits on size of photos, and automatically generates codes to display images that can be pasted into popular social networking, blog and auction sites.  

AllYouCanUpload.com is designed for people seeking a quick, easy, one-click solution for hosting images.  Users interested in a more robust experience, including archiving photos for future use, have the option of registering for a free Webshots.com account.  Webshots members can save and categorize photos, as well as interact with more than 19 million unique users1 on one of the internet's most active photo sharing communities with tools such as message boards, tracking favorite users and more.

"Webshots understands the variable needs of photo uploaders and is providing AllYouCanUpload.com as an answer to those seeking a tool for fast, easy, free uploads" said James Park, Director, Product Development, Webshots. "Users can enjoy a variety of services leveraging the strength of the Webshots infrastructure; from instant, free uploads at AllYouCanUpload.com, to free member pages, album storage and networking tools with a free Webshots membership, to premium services."

Photos uploaded to AllYouCanUpload.com will be subject to Webshots' industry-leading content standards and screening that prohibits nudity, obscene content and content that exploits children or minors.

Microsoft will soon rollout Windows Live LifeCams, their new High Definition (HD) set of webcams. This series of web cameras will feature high definition still shots on all models and high definition video on some. They will also include software called "LifeCam Dashboard."

There are two models of the LifeCams slated for release this summer, with two more to follow in Fall '06.

VX-3000
- 640x480 resolution video
- WL Messenger integration
- "Exclusive Call Button"
- One touch Spaces blogging
- HD Stills: 1.3 megapixels
- Universal mounting device
- On the fly video effects
- Pan/Zoom/Tilt capabilities
- Automatic face tracking
- Built-in microphone

Estimated cost: $49.95 USD

The VX-3000 is the low-end cam that still offers HD pictures.

VX-6000
- HD Stills: 5.0 MP
- HD Video: 1.3 MP
- Wide angle lens
- 3x Digital Zoom
- Plus all of the features of the VX-3000

Estimated cost: $99.95 USD

The VX-6000 is the high-end desktop webcam featuring 1.3MP HD Video.

Considering Hollywood actors are worried about high-definition video displaying skin problems, I have to wonder how successful HD webcams will be. My guess is mostly men will want it since it's the latest and greatest gadget and tend to not care so much about their looks. Maybe Microsoft will offer a software-based "soft-lens" filter effect similar to the physical soft-lens they use on soap operas. I suppose the camera driver will probably allow you to reduce the resolution as well.

Hat tip to LiveSide

Snapfish wants you to forget store-bought cards this Mother’s Day (hey, it’s not that far away … May 14)

If you order two 5x7" personalized photo cards (including envelopes) through May 8 you can get one of those cards free -- a $2.49 value! Don’t forget you’ll also get at least 20 free prints when you upload your photos for the first time.

For all of the details, visit www.snapfish.com.

Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation Day, the days of summer -- this is the start of prime picture-taking time.

With that in mind (or maybe not), today's Wall Street Journal features the as always excellent "Buying a Digital Camera: Our Annual Guide" by Walt Mossberg.

I'll leave it up to the author to provide the details, but here are the key areas to consider:

• Megapixels
• Zoom -- optical matters
• Speed
• Bigger and better screens
• Stable images -- digital or optical?
• New ways of viewing
• In-camera editing
• Storing and transferring images
• Battery life

Snap away!

Sony announced a camcorder trade-up program.  According to Sony, "You can trade in that old camcorder, help the environment, and receive Sony credit. Use the credit for a brand new Sony camcorder purchased online at SonyStyle.com. They have an online estimator to get your estimated trade-up value. I have an old HI-8 myself, which I rarely used, but now with a baby imminent, I'm sure I'll be breaking out the camcorder. At which point, my penchant for wanting to have the latest and greatest gadgets will kick in and I'll buy a digital camcorder with direct to DVD burning. Though, I have to research this "direct to DVD burning" technology. Just seems unreliable to have a camcorder using a laser to burn to a spinning DVD while you are moving the camera. Maybe they have some high-tech Star Trek stabilizers to counteract movement and gravitational displacement in these new fandangled camcorders? Here's some sample trade-in pricing.

 

Camcorder Type Typical Value for Range for other Mfgs Typical Value for Sony Products     VHS & VHS-C $0 - $50 -   8mm and HI-8 $0 - $50 $25 - $100   Digital-8 $50 - $150 $75 - $200   MiniDV $50 - $1000 $75 - $1000   MicroMV - $250 - $600   MD - $250 - $350   DVD $125 - $350 $125 - $400