Multi-Functional Digital Camcorders From Mustek

The new Mustek DV700TZ and DV530TZ camcorders are simple to use as point-and-shoot cameras. These new camcoders are designed to be very compact and portable with multi functions such as built-in digital still camera, digital voice recorder, MP3 player and webcam.

The DV700TZ features 3X optical and 8X digital zoom with 7.0 megapixels CCD sensors and equipped with 2.5inch LTPS swivel LCD displaying 720 X 480 resolutions at 30fps. A 64MB internal memory is not very ideal for video capturing but you have the options to add more storage using its SD memory slot.

The cheaper DV530TZ features a 5.3MP CCD sensor for recording 640 x 480 video at a fluid 30 frames-per-second in MPEG-4 format. As with the DV700TZ, there is also WAV-format voice recording, MP3 music playback, and webcam capabilities.

The DV700TZ will cost you $299 and DV530TZ will retailed for $229.

(c) www.slashgear.com

Canon Announces Five New Consumer Cameras

Canon expands its consumer camera portfolio

While Canon's new professional-level 10.1 megapixel 1D Mark III D-SLR may be hogging much of the spotlight this morning, the company also has five new consumer models on tap.

First up are the new PowerShot A570 IS and the PowerShot A560. Both cameras feature 7.1MP image sensors, DIGIC III image processor, 4x optical zoom, 2.5" 115k pixel LCD display and Canon's new Face Detection AF/AE/FE technology. The A570 IS ups the ante by including Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The A570 IS and A560 will both be available in March at a price of $279.99 and $229.99 respectively.

 
PowerShot A570 IS

Next up is Canon's PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph and PowerShot SD750 Digital Elph. The cameras both include a 7.1MP image sensor, DIGIC III image processor and 3x optical zoom. The SD750 offers up a 3" LCD display, weighs less than five ounces and measures 3.5" x 2.25" x 0.75". The 4.5 ounce SD1000 includes a 2.5" screen and is smaller than a deck of playing cards. The SD750 and SD1000 will both be available in late March at a suggest retail price of $349.99 and $299.99 respectively.

 
PowerShot SD750 Digital Elph

Lastly, Canon showed off its new PowerShot TX1 which doubles as a digital camera and an HD video recorder. The 3.5" x 2.4" x 1.1" TX1 features a 7.1MP image sensor backed with Canon's DIGIC III processor and 10x optical zoom with image stabilization. It also incorporates a 1.8" Vari-Angle LCD display into its 7.8 ounce stainless steel body. The added bonus is that the TX1 can capture 30 FPS high definition 720p video.

 
PowerShot TX1

"We developed the PowerShot TX1 digital camera for people who appreciate its vast technological advances in both still and movie digital imaging and developed one, very compact, very powerful, very easy to use camera that provides high-resolution still images and HD movie capabilities as well," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Imaging Group for Canon U.S.A.. "The PowerShot TX1 digital camera is the fulfillment of Canon's innovative thinking and vision that mixes the best of photography and video features like never before."

The PowerShot TX1 will be available in March for a suggested retail price of $499.

(c) www.dailytech.com

CES 2007: Casio unveils Exilim V7 - 7x optical zoom compact

This latest addition to the EXILIM series offers 7.2 megapixel picture resolution along with a 7x internal optical zoom. Despite the large zoom it is still enjoys a pretty slim form factor (just 1" thick) and that makes it the thinnest 7x zoom camera available. You can also pop into 3 megapixel shooting mode and enjoy a 10x zoom using digital enhancement without a drop in picture quality.

The new Auto Tracking AF function follows moving subjects, keeping them continuously in focus until the photo is taken and it uses a newly redesigned EXILIM 2.0 image processor. It also boasts a mechanical CCD image stabilisation function that works alongside Casio's Anti- Shake DSP to keep image blur to minimum.

Along with the usual array of picture modes, it has a new ebay mode. The eBay Best Shot takes photos at a size that is optimised for display on eBay, allowing you quickly create photos for selling items on eBay. eBay Best Shot mode also includes Auto Macro, a setting designed for capturing images of small items such as jewelry, tags, etc.

(c) www.techdigest.tv

Hitachi DZHS500A DVD&HDD Camcorder

The DZHS500A Hitachi DVD&HDD camcorder brings the convenience of a hard drive (faster access, larger storage capacity) and the unlimited storage capacity of removable optical discs

I tend to use HDD-only camcorders because they have a smaller footprint, but other people told me that they prefer to have a removable storage system such as mini-DV or DVD because they feel like they can’t run out of storage – even thought they rarely use more than one tape or a couple of DVDs. With the DZHS500A, users don’t have to choose anymore.

The Camcorder is a bit bulkier than HDD camcorders, a detail that important to me. Hitachi has an entire line (think: price segmentation) of DVD&HDD camcorders that unfortunately don’t support HD formats at the moment.

(c) www.uberzigmo.com

Kodak's Rainbow of Budget Cameras

Real men eschew girly frivolities like manicures, facials, and gizmos in colors other than black or silver. But real men aren't buying enough cameras on their own, so Kodak's offering the choice of ten colors (including black and silver) on its EasyShare V803 and V1003 to entice ladies and men who read Details. The hues are midnight black, java brown, pink, red shimmer, cosmic blue, mystic purple, golden dream, slate grey, silver essence, and a super-cool white glaze that resembles the porcelain finish on antique kitchen and bathroom fixtures.

For just $199, the 8-megapixel V803 is a sharp looker that contrasts with the clunky My-First-Digicam style of similarly-priced models from companies like Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, and well, Kodak. If you want to blow an extra $50, plus more money for memory cards, you can get a 10-megapixel sensor in the otherwise-identical V1003 version.

We didn't get a chance to take sample photos, but at least one spec is promising: Kodak upped the light sensitivity to ISO 800 to improve the chances of picking up something recognizable in a dark setting. (Most previous Kodaks were stuck at a wimpy ISO 400 level.)

And Kodak finally got smart enough to make a camera that can remember its settings -- like ISO, white balance, and resolution -- after you shut if off (long a given capability from rivals such as Canon). But to keep it from being truly useful, Kodak makes you specify individually which item should be remembered and which should keep resetting to default when the juice goes out (which happens often because of power-save modes on digicams). So instead of a single "reset" button, you get a screen full checkboxes. Hmmm...that's a slight improvement.

Kodak also modified the "Favorites" button so that pressing it actually saves a copy of a photo to the camera's internal memory. Uh, we thought it already did that -- as did most of Kodak's PR team. (Instead, it used to just tag a photo as a "favorite" for when you upload it to Kodak's PC software.) Well, at least they finally installed a feature we thought they always had. – Sean Captain

(c) www.gizmodo.com

Celestron VistaPix IS70 Hands-on

CES Unveiled – This imaging spotter has a 14x optical zoom, is capable of snapping 3MP pictures and also supports continuous video (relay, not record). At around $500, it might fill a void where consumers often have the choice between a cheap camera with a minuscule zoom or a DSL-R with an excellent zoom and image quality, but at a prohibitive price. it will not replace a camera, but if you’re into observing at a distance (think wild animals), this might be handy. Because there's no image stabilization, we recommend the use of a tri-pod.

(c) www.ubergizmo.com

JVC HD Everio: Full Consumer HD?

The lines between prosumer and consumer have been become even murkier...err...though sharper...with JVC's new HD Everio.

The notable statistic is that the HD Everio records in a full 1920 x 1080i resolution, earning it the billing as the "World's first full HD consumer camcorder". Sure, we've all heard of HD camcorders before, even at the "consumer" level, but most record at a scaling 1,440 x 1,080 resolution. JVC's new HD Everio equates to a 1:1 pixel ratio to most HD TVs, meaning that even HD can be sharper than it was previously.

Other specs include three 1/5-inch CCDs (meaning that each basic color gets its own chip) and HDMI, USB 2.0 and iLink (IEEE 1394) connections. The 60GB hard drive will provide quite a bit of storage for the suggested $1799.95 price tag in April.

I know, the first question on most of your minds is "no 1080p?". Just hold on. The JVC HD Everio is a huge step in the right direction of Gizmodo's definition of full consumer HD. I'm just excited at the prospect of Hollywood wetting their pants when 15-year-old boys everywhere are shooting in HD. Also, JVC has released a line of hard drive-based camcorders with the GZ series.

The GZ-MG555 part of the 5-model Everio hard drive camcorder line. All of these SD models feature 10X zoom and 30GB hard drives that can store what we are sure is a ton of MPEG2 video. Using the bundled dock, from which you can burn DVDs directly from the Everio hard drive, or use to back up source footage to PC. Keep in mind that MPEG2 doesn't do well when edited natively, so you may need to do some conversion if you are going for the family video Oscar this year. Oh, and this bad boy takes 5 megapixel stills. $900 in March. Finally, JVC is also releasing/updating their mini-DV line. Look for pretty standard stuff here, other than the notable F1.2 34X optical lenses, new 2.7-inch LCDs and a tiny 1/6-inch 680K CCDs (one per camcorder). JVC claims to have improved battery consumption by 50% with this mini-DV line, which is also promising.

Once again - we'll let you know what we think when we get our hands on these new models. But so far, JVC is looking good. – Mark Wilson

(c) www.gizmodo.com