If you thought Pretec was taking a break, and not thinking of amazing you with higher capacities, then here’s news for you. The company creator of the highest capacity CompactFlash card in the world (48GB) and the fastest CF card in the world (333x) has now got even higher capacities on offer, including a 64GB CompactFlash card.

And guess how much access speed they are now able to offer? Upto 35 MB per second. Yeah, you heard right. The company continues to ace the race with the introduction of the 64GB and 100GB, 233x CF cards with access speed of up to 35MB per second.

Contained in smooth solid metal and strongly contructed, these cards are supposedly 10 times more durable than the typical CF card. Way to go Pretec, I’d say!

[Techfever.Net]

Just a few days ago at the Photokina photo trade and tech show, we featured Fujifilm’s plans to make a 3D camera and we’ve got some more details now . Apparently, the 3D camera features two lenses that are 6-7cm away from each other. The 3D photos are processed real time to make them look as if they’re really 3D. It’s a stereoscopic trick.

The cam is also equipped with a ‘Real Photo Processor 3D’ chip that ‘blends the dual images and the zoom range, exposure, and focus, pushing them out to the LCD screen displaying a 3D image.

The 3D Fuji camera is expected to officially roll out next year but the company is also planning on adding HD video recording features.

A few years ago, Olympus created a 3-D camera system for a Surgical robot system that works in real time and is dependable enough to used during open surgery.

Inanother 3-D camera attempt, Casio built the 3-D Advantage , for which the Japanese company attached a tri-delta beam splitter to a single point-and-shoot camera that creates a 3-D image with a single shutter.

[Link ]

Press Release:

PHOTOKINA 2008, COLOGNE, GERMANY, September 23, 2008 FUJIFILM Corporation today announces a radical departure from current imaging systems with the development of a completely new, real image system (3D digital camera, 3D digital photo frame, 3D print) that marks a complete break from previous attempts to introduce this technology.

The arrival of digital photography over a decade ago opened up so many new ways of enjoying images, not only through capture, but also through manipulation, printing and display. Sales of digital cameras, and other devices like camera phones or webcams have raced ahead of what experts had expected because of the sheer scope of what has become possible in digital imaging. So many more consumers are enjoying photography through their cameras, PCs and prints than was the case in the heyday of film.

Fujifilm is determined to push those boundaries yet further, to produce devices which offer new ways to capture and process images, to expand consumer enjoyment of photography in ways that had hitherto only been imagined.

The company has a strong research program currently running to improve every aspect of capture and output. This is based on the broad concept of producing images as lifelike as possible, or more simply, ‘capturing an image exactly as your eye sees it.’ The ‘Real Photo Technology’ program is determined to improve key quality metrics for each generation of camera, like ‘high resolution with low noise,’ ‘expanded wide dynamic range,’ ‘intelligent scene recognition,’ ‘intelligent flash,’ ‘face detection’ etc, culminating in the announcement this September of a new type of sensor, Fujifilm Super CCD EXR, which will take image quality to levels hitherto undreamed of.

Previous 3D systems were hampered by poor image quality, and a cumbersome user experience, which often meant the need for special 3D glasses. One major benefit of the FinePix Real 3D System is that for digital camera LCD playback, display and print, the consumer can enjoy the image just as it was originally seen with the naked eye

The same research team is determined to use these key technologies to open up a new market with 3D imaging. The new 3D image system features advanced image signal processing and micro-component technologies, and is so far able to demonstrate a camera, a viewing panel and a 3D printing system.

[Techfever.net]

This weeks the Photokina techshow in Cologne, Germany, Smartpants introduced a new digital Frame that displays RSS feeds and can be integrated with the Windows Live Photo Gallery, all thanks to WiFi.

The Smartpants SPX8WF features an 8-inch color display and it also offers e-mail addresses for the whole family so you could send photos to your friends. Just photos okay, so don’t expect you could send a missive with this one.

Other specs include built-in 512MB memory, multi card reader, and an 800 x 600 resolution LCD all house in a wood frame.

Smartpants SPX8WF WiFi frame will be available for $149.99 in November.

[Techfever.Net]

Recently, we featured Panasonic’s attempt to introduce the Micro four thirds technology and now, Olympus is all set to follow by releasing their own.

Olympus is currently working on a new digital camera that will have interchangeable lens so expect a point and shoot cam smaller than a DSLR, looks like an ordinary digicam but lens can be replaced and upgraded.

I am personally excited to see such new product. I just realized that my DSLR is really not compact and yes, being the click-happy that I am, I need something smaller and lighter but still takes super crisp photos at fast speeds …

[Link ] [Press release]

Olympus Imaging Corporation (President: Masaharu Okubo) today announced that it has begun development of an interchangeable lens type digital camera based on the “Micro Four Thirds System.”
Development of the camera will bring dramatic reductions in size and weight to the Olympus E-System, and will comply with the new Micro Four Thirds System standard jointly announced with Matsushita Industrial Co., Ltd.(Panasonic) on August 5. From September 23 through 28, a concept mock-up of the camera will be exhibited at “Photokina 2008″, the world’s biggest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries held at Köln Messe, Cologne, Germany.

The global market for interchangeable lens type digital cameras is growing steadily, but still only accounts for a 7% share of the total digital camera market. Considering the much larger share held by interchangeable lens type digital cameras when film was the dominant imaging medium, it seems that there is still ample room for sales growth in this category. Market surveys, however, indicate that more than a few customers choose compact models because they find digital SLR cameras to be “big, heavy, and difficult to operate.”
The Micro Four Thirds System standard was established to meet this need by enabling the development of radically more compact and lightweight interchangeable lens type digital camera systems. The camera currently under development will be the first Olympus camera to comply with the Micro Four Thirds System standard, and interchangeable lenses that comply with the standard are also moving ahead. In addition, users will be able to mount existing Four Thirds System wide-angle, telephoto, and macro lenses on Micro Four Thirds System bodies via an adapter.
Product name, launch date and retail price of an interchangeable lens type digital camera based on the “Micro Four Thirds System” are not determined now.

Olympus Imaging is also committed to the Four Thirds System, and will continue to expand its line-up of digital SLR cameras to satisfy a broad spectrum of customer needs. This includes the professional photographer, aspiring artist, hobbyist, and everyday consumer.

[Techfever.Net]

I just started to love lomography but looks like I might have to cut short this hobby since Kodak might stop the production of Kodachrome color film soon. Well, I don’t often use Kodachrome but if the cease of production finally happens, then this might be the start of others saying goodbye too.

Apparently, the latest Kodakchrome will expire in 2009. Expired films may still be of use to lomographers and those who still use old school film cameras but this is just a sad, sad news.

Now, I’m suddenly reminded of when Polaroid announced that they’ll be no longer producing Polaroid cams. It’s all the digicams and DSLRs’ fault…sigh.

[Techfever.Net]

Photokina is where the hottest gadgets for photoholics are introduced and just recently Kodak launched the KAF-37500 sensor. The KAF-37500 sensor is actually meant for the S2 by Leica. This isn’t the only one from Kodak since the company is also manufacturing new sensors namely the Hasselblad H3DII-50 (KAF-50100) and Sinar HY6-65 (KAF-31600).

[Techfever.Net]

If you haven’t had enough of the gasping and excitement at the Photokina, the largest fest by far concering the launch of everything in the photography/imaging industry, then you need’nt worry. Considering severalbig companies have saved their best and latest product announcements for it (call it timing), the show is definitely got a lot to offer. And now it’s Pentax’s opportunity to enjoy a slice of the limelight.

You can get a 10.2-megapixel K2000 DSLR (its newest baby) with an smc Pentax DA L 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens and a Pentax AF 200FG flash for $699.95 starting in November.

The entry-level DSLR is accompanied by several new lenses that will be available in the US and Europe. Most interesting for the advanced photographer would be the $1499 Pentax DA 60-250mm f/4 ED lens slated for shipment in January.

If you’re on a budget crunch, Pentax has something to offer you too. They offer some low-end lenses that use plastic rather than glass (eowww!). Talk about insulting the photographer!

[Techfever.Net]

Fujifilm announced their latest camera technology at the Photokina techshow in Cologne that could produce 3-D photos aside from taking conventional photos. The technology is said to feature two lenses, combining pictures to produce a 3D version on the display screen.

Officially called as the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3-D System, this new system might be included in Fuji cameras next year with the Japanese being the first beneficiaries.

As usual, no information on when exactly and for how much will the 3D cams will cost. Anywa, here’s a pretty cool demo movie on the Japanese Fujifilm website.

[Techfever.Net]

If you thought this was just the season for LCD TVs and refrigerators, here’s reason to think again. The Photokina trade expo to be held in Cologne, Germany on September 23, is expected to be the world’s biggest camera show, with 1,500 exhibitors from 50 nations taking part. That’s quite some stuff on show isn’t it?

What’s the coolest thing you’re likely to see in the show? Well, some cameras that are going to be showcased are GPS enabled, which means a picture can carry its exact location with directions to reach it. Send it to an equally compatible phone, and your ‘I’m-bad-at-directions” friend can not only come over and find you, but may even be able to help you get to the nearest hangout by sending a pic and the route attached to it back to you. Cool, init?

The fair, held every two years in Cologne, is a major venue to launch new digital and film cameras, camera-phones, camcorders, lenses, flash systems, photo printers and software.

Photokina will also exhibit Sony’s new camcorder with a feature known as the smile shutter which can recognize facial expressions, a spokesman said. The shutter apparenly knows how wary you are of looking ugly in pictures, and clicks you at your smiling best. Now that is good. I don’t need to shudder at the thought of being clicked by an amateur photographer.

Even the models on display for amateur photographers is likely to exceed 3 megapixels, so you can imagine what’s on store for professionals right? Camera phones at the show are to feature bigger displays and software to reduce the effects of camera shake, just like regular digital cameras.

After-market lenses will be offered with surfaces specially treated so that raindrops do not stick to them. Among the specialized equipment at Photokina will be heat-seeking cameras that can “see” warm surfaces in dark and fog, or detect heat leaks in insulated buildings. Now that is interesting. Adds on to being up for action as an act of caution.

There’s also loads for underwater photographers and little tots wanting to create memories right through their toddler days.

[Techfever.Net]