Following the usual "unofficial" leak yesterday (via a Chinese website) Canon has today officially lifted the lid on new products. Most interesting is the successor to the EOS 350D, Canon's entry-level SLR. The new 400D, offers a 10.2-megapixel sensor, dust reduction technology for the first time, the 9-point auto focus system from the 30D, and does away with the monochrome LCD. Instead, like many other SLRs at this price point, the 400D puts all its shot settings on the main LCD, which has been increased in size to 2.5-inch.

This is canny marketing from Canon. The 400D looks like a "just enough" product, providing key features -- the extra resolution, anti-dust technology -- that the company's competitors were hoping to provide as points of difference. While the 400D retains the 3 frames per second continuous shooting speed of the 350D, its buffering has been improved to offer 27 JPEG or 10 RAW images in a burst. There is also proximity sensors beneath the viewfinder that turn the LCD off when the eye is too the viewfinder, and many other minor tweaks.

The big question will be whether the increase in resolution will effect the 400D's production of noise at higher ISOs. The 350D, along with the Nikon D50, lead the field among entry-level DSLRs in this respect and Canon users will be loath to loose this advantage for a few extra megapixels. We'll know more when we get out hands on the real thing.

Posted by Bruce Buckman at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Our Tokyo correspondent Martyn Williams reports:

Sony will soon start selling a small GPS (global positioning system) unit that can be used to add location information to digital pictures, the company said Wednesday. The 9 centimeter long GPS-CS1 unit is intended to be attached to a belt and worn throughout the day as pictures are being taken. Every 15 seconds it records the current location and the time thus building up a record of exactly where the user has been during the day. Later that data can be matched with the time stamp on the digital images to work out where the picture was taken.

Sony supplies an application called GPS Image Tracker to handle this data matching and it's recorded in the meta data stored in the JPEG file. A new version of Sony's Motion Picture Browser software now allows users to browse pictures by location and not just by date. Existing users will be able to upgrade their software.

While Sony will only guarantee the GPS system works with its digital still cameras it should be compatible with any digital camera that produces JPEG images compatible with the EXIF2.1 standard, said Masayo Endo, a spokeswoman for the company in Tokyo.

The GPS unit will run for about 10 hours on a AA cell and the unit's internal 31M byte memory can store about 15 days straight worth of GPS data. The triangular unit measures 9 cms long by 4 cms wide and weighs 55 grams.

The GPS-CS1 will be launched in September in the US and Japan and will cost around US$150. (Sony says the NZ launch will be September 1 - Chris Keall)

Also on Wednesday, Sony announced its DSC-T10 digital still camera. The 7.2-megapixel camera boasts as its key features a high sensitivity of ISO1000 and optical image stabilization. Both features can minimize blur on shots, particularly in low light conditions, said Sony.

Other features include a 2.5-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) screen and 3X optical zoom lens. It also has 56M bytes of internal memory so you can still take pictures even if you forget a Memory Stick card.

The DSC-T10 is 2.1 centimeters thick and measures 9 cms wide and 5.5 cms tall. It weighs 165 grams with battery and memory card. It will be available this month in the U.S. and Japan for about US$400.

Posted by Chris Keall at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )