Castiguri on-line

Primeşti SMS-uri publicitare şi câştigi bani !

2008-05-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Acesta este un site de prezentare RoSMS aparţinand unui membru RoSMS. Site-ul oficial RoSMS îl puteţi găsi aici.

Ce este roSMS?

SMS.ro este un serviciu on-line de informare, marketing si publicitate prin SMS. SMS.roeste un serviciu inregistrat al Restate SRL.

Cum funcţionează RoSMS?

RoSMS este o companie parteneră ORANGE şi VODAFONE. Devenind membru al RoSMS puteţi trimite sms-uri în orice reţea natională la preţul de numai 4.5 Eurocenţi. Exista 2 posibilitati de colaborare cu roSMS:

1. Cea de Membru. Telefonul tau celular castiga bani sigur! E GRATIS, tot ce trebuie sa faci e sa-ti dai acordul sa primesti maxim 5 SMS-uri cu caracter publicitar pe zi si sa devii membru SMS.ro Astfel poti primi bonusuri importante in bani sau reduceri la anumite produse comercializate pe site (telefoane, accesorii, cartele Prepay si altele).

2. Cea de Utilizator. Aceasta postura iti permite sa trimiti mesaje direct pe telefoanele mobile ale prietenilor sau clientiilor tai sau sa faci o campanie publicitara folosind baza de date SMS.ro avand posibilitatea de selectie a persoanelor la care sa ajunga mesajul publicitar dupa unele criterii (varsta, domeniu de activitate, zona geografica, etc.). Serviciul poate trimite oricate mesaje direct de pe web mai comod si mai ieftin decat de pe telefonul tau.

..:: Înscrie-te GRATUIT ACUM ::..

Topul celor mai bune siteuri unde poti face bani

2008-03-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

Pentru alcatuirea topului s-au luat în vedere profitul, cât de repede po?i face bani, numarul de reclame disponibile pe zi, func?ionabilitatea site-ului. Cele mai bune site-uri sunt urmatoarele:

1. Bux.to

> Cel pu?in 12 sau 20* reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,25* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 125%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 10 $ prin AlertPay

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: Bux.to

2. Xclix.net

> Cel pu?in 12 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,5* cen?i pe reclama
> 50% sau 100%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 5 $ prin AlertPay

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: Xclix.net

3. Bux3.com
> Cel pu?in 10 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,25* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 125%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 10 $ prin PayPal

LINK PT INREGISTRARE:Bux3.com

4. Easyclik
> Cel pu?in 10 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,5* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 120%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 2 $ prin AlertPay

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: http://easyclick.ca/?r=coxc

5. Profbux.com

30 seconds fiecare link
10-11 link/zi
Castigi $0.01 pt fiecare link si 50% pentru referrals .
Plateste in AlertPay or E-gold.
Minimum payout is $10.00.

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: http://profbux.com/?r=coxc

6. MasterBux
Pun la dispozitie un numar mare de reclame pe zi platite cu 1 cent si un sistem de loterie prin care poti castiga ceva in plus.
Specificatii:
- 0.01 $ pe click
- durata reclama: 30 sec
- suma minima pentru plata: 10$
- 50% castig de la referrali
- intre 15 si 20 reclame pe zi
- Loterie cu reclame: - castig 3 centi (membri simpli), 7 centi (membri Premium)
- procesoare de plata: Alertpay, Egold, Moneybookers, Pagum, PayStone si WensterUnion

Pentru a va inscrie accesati MasterBux, JoinNow. Dupa inregistrare, va logati in contul creat si pentru a incepe sa vizualizati reclamele accesati sectiunea SurfAds.

7. 2Bux

> Cel pu?in 12 sau reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 1 $ prin AlertPay
Pentru a putea primi banii trebuie sa faceti in contul vostru minim 1$.
In momentul in care voi veti acumula acel dolar in cont veti primi 1,50$ pt faptul ca sunteti referal + 100% din ce ati facut.
LINK PT INREGISTRARE: http://2bux.com/?r=coxc

8.Adbux.org

Earnings Example (based on current averages)
You click 10 ads per day = $0.10!
10 referrals click 10 ads per day = $1.00!
Your weekly earnings = $7.70!
Your monthly earnings = $30.80!
Plata se face prin AlertPay, minimum 5$

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: http://adbux.org/?r=coxc

$0.10 signup bonus!
minim de plata 10$
20-25 message intr-o zii de 0,01 $ daca te inscrii ca membru va da 0,015
din 1 junie poti sa-ti cumperi 25 de refferalt la un pret foarte bun 39.93 $
pe care dupa calculele mele poti sa-i faci cu aia 25 de ref cam in 8-9 zile
Payment Method: AlertPay
Earnings Example
You click 10 ads per day = $0.10!
10 referrals click 10 ads per day = $1.00!
Your weekly earnings = $7.70!
Your monthly earnings = $30.80!

DOVADA:

Adbux.org

9.5centminimum.com

Este un PTC,PTS in care se face cam 3centi pe zi din PTC si din PTC eu am facut cam 2$ in 3 zile(sunt oferte de la 10$ pana la 0.05$ multe)
-Payout minim 0.05 in e-gold
-se pot face si puncte,la 500 de puncte poti sa iti cumperi 5 referali
-poti sa aduci cati referali vrei(nu are limita)

Pentru inscriere http://www.5centminimum.com/paidto/home.php?ref=coxc
Click aici pt dovada!

10.Advercash

Pentru fiecare link visitat primesti $0.01
Pentru fiecare referal pe care il ai primesti $0.01, iar cand acesta da click pe un ad primesti tot $0.01
Cand ai ajuns la suma de $10.00, poti sa ceri bani prin paypal ( valabil si in Romania )
Pe zi ai cam fiti atenti... 13 linkuri
In fiecare zi primesti $0.01 daca votezi site-ul pe un alt site...
Am calculat
In o luna cu cativa referali poti sa ajungi la aceasta suma de $10.00
Site-ul plateste.

DOVADA:

11.Bigkingpay.com

LINK PT INREGISTRARE: http://coxc.bigkingpay.com

Pla?ile se fac prin AlertPay

LINK PT INREGISTRARE:
http://www.alertpay.com/?y1wLx4n0UujS3Vaj5fPCHQ%3d%3d

MasterBux

2008-03-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

MasterBux este unul din site-urile mele preferate, alaturi de Bux si Xclik, punand la dispozitie un numar mare de reclame pe zi platite cu 1 cent si un sistem de loterie prin care poti castiga ceva in plus.
Specificatii:
- 0.01 $ pe click
- durata reclama: 30 sec
- suma minima pentru plata: 10$
- 50% castig de la referrali
- intre 15 si 20 reclame pe zi
- Loterie cu reclame: - castig 3 centi (membri simpli), 7 centi (membri Premium)
- procesoare de plata: Alertpay, Egold, Moneybookers, Pagum, PayStone si WensterUnion
Pachete:
- Premium(5 referrali, acces la zona Premium cu mai multe reclame , prioritate la plata, prioritate la oferte, cerere de plata 10$): 2luni - 12$
- 10 referrali - 12$
- 15 referrali - 15.95$
- 30 referrali - 31.99$
- 50 referrali - 48.99$
- 100 referrali - 92.99$
- 500 referrali - 450$
Numar total de membri: aprox 16000
Pentru a va inscrie accesati MasterBux, JoinNow. Dupa inregistrare, va logati in contul creat si pentru a incepe sa vizualizati reclamele accesati sectiunea SurfAds. Dand click pe o reclama vi se va deschide o pagina noua, iar la sfarsitul celor 30 de sec veti fi atentionati ca ati terminat de vizualizat reclama printr-un pop-up. Daca nu ati apasat de 2 ori pe aceeasi reclama sau daca nu ati vizualizat 2 reclame in acelasi timp, va apare in banda de sus a ferestrei un semn bifat de culoare galbena. In caz contrar, va apare un X rosu.
Dupa cum ziceam se mai pot face bani si prin alte modalitati:
- Lottery Ads: va apare o matrice de 5×5 casute pe care daca veti da click veti vizualiza o reclama timp de 5 sec. La expirarea celor 5 sec veti fi atentionati si veti fi anuntati daca ati castigat cei 3 centi (7 centi pt utilizatorii Premium)sau nu. Pe zi puteti castiga cei 3 centi doar o singura data. Cateodata va trebui sa treceti de mai multe ori prin reclamele respective pana sa castigati suma respectiva.
- Reg Ads: la aceasta sectiune va trebui sa va inregistrati la diferite site-uri pentru care veti primi intre 0.05 si 0.15 $. Daca nu veti indeplini instructiunile cerute pentru fiecare inregistrare veti fi banat pentru 2 zile.

A apărut cardul Bux.to

2008-03-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

După săptămâni de așteptări în sfârșit s-a lansat cardul Bux.to.
Update: Atentie! din cauza numărului prea mare de cereri, cardul este acum disponibil numai pentru utilizatorii premium!
Ce este cardul Bux.to?
Cardul "Bux.to" este un card de debit Mastercard, valabil în 210 țări, prin care îți poți lua banii strânși pe site-ul bux.to. El va avea scris embosat (imprimat în relief) pe el "www.bux.to".
Prețuri și taxe:
Cardul (la prima încărcare)
Minimul de bani din cont trebuie să fie de 75 $ pentru a putea comanda cardul!
- activarea cardului (în SUA) - 9,95 $
- activarea cardului (în restul lumii) - 9,95 $
- încărcare card - 2 $/încărcare
- întreținere card lunară - 3 $
Retrageri de la bancomat
- retragere de la bancomat în SUA - 1,35 $/pe tranzacție
- retragere de la bancomat în restul lumii - 2,15 $/pe tranzacție
- respingere retragere - 0,90 $/pe tranzacție
Cine poate primi cardul bux.to?
Oricine cu vârsta peste 13 ani, însă dacă ai sub 18 ani trebuie să rogi pe unul dintre părinți să comande cardul pentru tine.
Pot să folosesc cardul pe internet?
Bineînțeles, poți folosi cardul peste tot un Mastercard este acceptat ca mijloc de plată.
Cine poate folosi cardul bux.to?
Singura persoană autorizată să folosească cardul este aceea al cărui nume este scris pe card.
Care este limita maximă cu care poate fi încărcat cardul?
Acest card acceptă o limită totală de 12500 $. Pot fi scoși maxim 2500 $ pe zi. Limita de extragere pentru fiecare bancomat este de 1000 $.
Cum pot primi cardul?
Cardul va fi trimis prin poștă la adresa pe care ai scris-o în formular. Trimiterea prin poștă este gratuită. Livrarea lui durează între 7-10 zile în SUA. La noi cred că o să dureze cam 20 de zile.
Ce documente sunt necesare?
- Numele tău
- CNP-ul
- Țara care a emis cartea de identitate
Așa arată cardul bux.to:

Încă două bux-uri

2008-03-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

Se pare că piața bux-urilor în ultima vreme a explodat. În fiecare zi apar cel puțin 10 site-uri de tip bux. Unele sunt scam, altele nu, doar timpul face selecția între ele. Cele două bux-uri de care m-am hotărât să vă vorbesc sunt Xclix.net și Buxmania.cn. Să începem cu Xclix:

Xclix
> Cel puțin 12 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,5 (dacă ești premium) cenți pe reclamă
> 50% sau 100% (dacă ești premium) din câștigul celor aduși de tine
> Plata se face la minim 5 $ prin AlertPay

Astăzi tocmai i-am dat cashout, o să revin și o să vă spun atunci când îi primesc.
Update! Astăzi 10.03.2008 tocmai mi-am primit banii de la Xclix prin AlertPay. Deci, exact cum citesem pe forum, oamenii își primesc banii de la acest site într-un interval de timp destul de scurt. Uitați și dovada plății:

Buxmania

> Cel puțin 12 reclame pe zi
> 1,5 cenți pe reclamă
> 50 % sau 65%+5 refererri (dacă ești premium) din câștigul celor aduși de tine
> Plata se face la minim 2 $ prin PayPal

Update! Astăzi 20.03.2008 tocmai am primit banii și de la buxmania. Uitați și dovada plății:

Am ales aceste două site-uri deoarece au multe reclame de afișat pe zi și plata se poate cere la o sumă destul de mică.

Cele mai bune site-uri Paid to Click

2008-03-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Pentru alcatuirea topului s-au luat în vedere profitul, cât de repede po?i face bani, numarul de reclame disponibile pe zi, func?ionabilitatea site-ului. Cele mai bune site-uri sunt urmatoarele:
1. BUX.to

> Cel pu?in 12 sau 20* reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,25* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 125%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 10 $ prin AlertPay

2. Xclix.net

> Cel pu?in 12 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,5* cen?i pe reclama
> 50% sau 100%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 5 $ prin AlertPay

3. Bux3.com
> Cel pu?in 10 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,25* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 125%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 10 $ prin PayPal

4. Paid.gv
> Cel pu?in 10 reclame pe zi
> 1 cent sau 1,5* cen?i pe reclama
> 100% sau 120%* din câ?tigul celor adu?i de tine
> Plata se face la minim 10 $ prin AlertPay

Pla?ile se fac prin AlertPay

AlertPay acceptă România

2008-03-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ce este Alertpay?

Pentru cei care nu ?tiu Alertpay este un serviciu, cu înscriere gratuita, care î?i permite sa trimi?i ?i sa prime?ti bani online; compania este canadiana ?i a luat fiin?a la data de 19 iunie, 2005.

Unii oameni spun ca Alertpay este o în?elatorie deoarece unele din firmele care colaboreaza cu AlertPay devin firme fantoma. Oricum, Alertpay este ca o banca pe internet, a?adar nu poate garanta ca serviciile firmelor pe care le folose?ti vor ramâne de încredere. Eu consider ca Alertpay este un procesor de plata online destul de bun, iar serviciul de rela?ii cu clien?ii este unul eficient, raspunzându-mi destul de prompt la email-urile pe care le-am trimis.
Ce este nou?
Din data de 27.02.2008 Alertpay accepta România pentru transferul bancar. Deocamdata nu se pot transfera bani din AlertPay în contul nostru de la banca (mai dureaza cam 2-3 saptamâni), dar se pot adauga.

Ce pot face?
1. Po?i trimite sau primi bani de la alt membru. Banii sunt trimi?i instantaneu ?i amândoua par?ile vor primi un email de confirmare a pla?ii.
2. Po?i trimite bani cuiva care nu este membru. Persoana respectiva va primi un email informând-0 ca trebuie sa primeasca banii prin AlertPay, trebuind sa se înregistreze gratuit la acest serviciu.
3.Po?i plati pentru produse sau servicii online. Odata ce ai dat comanda pe un site de cumparaturi online, vei fi transferat automat la serverul securizat Alertpay pentru a confirma plata comenzii. Plata se face instantaneu ?i amândoua par?ile vor primi un email de confirmare.

Este gratuit sa trimi?i bani, dar în func?ie de cont, exista o mica taxa atunci când prime?ti bani !

Spune-le ?i prietenilor ?i câ?tiga bani!

?i ei au un program de invitare a prietenilor (referral)
Pentru a invita un prieten:
1.Intra în contul tau Alertpay
2.Click pe eticheta My Profile
3.Selecteaza link-ul tau personal de invita?ie pe care îl po?i folosi în email-uri, pe site-uri, bannere, etc...
4.De fiecare data când cineva invitat de tine va crea un cont Premium sau Secured (sau i?i va upgrada contul) ?i tranzac?ioneaza cel pu?in 250$ (trimi?i sau primi?i) prin contul Alertpay vei primi 5$. Daca invi?i mai mult de 10 prieteni vei primi câte 10$ pentru fiecare.
5.Bonusul pentru cei invita?i îl vei primi dupa 10 zile.

2008-03-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Castiga bani pe net fara prea multe
sacrifici fara sa fi banat

Bux.to este un program laudat pe toate forumurile.
Am zis sa vi-l prezint si voua.

Iata despre ce este vorba :

Clik aici pt inscriere

Siteurile au nevoie de trafic !
Asta ca sa urce in topuri cum ar fi Google ! Cu cat siteurile sunt mai vizitate cu atat vor urca mai mult in top ! Spatiul de publicitate se va vinde mai scump si de aici au aparut afacerile Paid To Click !

Bux.to este unul din siteurile cele mai populare ( datorita seriozitatii si a modului avantajos de a isi recompensa clientii )!
Acest site site iti ofera intre 10-20 linkuri pe zi pe care tu trebuie sa le vizitezi timp de 30 de secunde fiecare , fiind platit cu un cent pentru fiecare site vizitat.

Deci daca intr-o zi Bux.to iti ofera 10 linkuri, tu (ca sa le vizitezi pe toate iti va lua 300
de secunde, adica 5 minute) ! Daca primesti 20 de linkuri de vizitat, le vei parcurge pe pe toate doar in 10 minute ! Altceva nu mai poti sa faci cu Bux.to in aceea zi !
Asteapta urmatoarea zi si iarasi vei primi linkuri de vizitat ! LA ora 1 noaptea Bux.to upgradeeaza ,,siteurile de linkuit" !

Singur poti face zilnic 0,10-0,20 $ , in schimb daca aduci referali , tu primesti 1 cent pentru fiecare click dat de ei !
Asta functioneaza doar la nivelul 1 , daca referalul tau va aduce alti referali sub el , tu nu vei lua bani. Trebuie sa castige si ei nu-i asa ? Astfel se impiedica sistemul piramidal in care se stie ca doar cei din varf castiga ! Niciun sistem piramidal nu rezista in timp !
Vezi CARITAS !

Astfel :
- 2 oameni activi (tu si cu un referal de al tau) iti aduc 0.40 $ pe zi respectiv 12$ pe luna
- 5 oameni activi (tu si cu 4 referali de ai tai) iti aduc 1 $ pe zi respectiv 30$ pe luna
- 10 oameni activi (tu si cu 9 referali de ai tai) iti aduc 2 $ pe zi respectiv 60$ pe luna
Si asa mai departe ! Cu cat ai mai multi referali cu atat vei castiga mai mult !
Aici ( fata de Gomez ) castigurile nu sunt limitate !
Mentionez caci calculele au fost facute la 20 de linkuri pe zi accesate !
Nu vor fi mai mult de 20 de linkuri oferite pe zi !

Dar ce faci daca nu gasesti referali ?

Daca nu gasesti referali, poti cumpara pachete cu referali !
Da ati citit bine ! Bineinteles ca aceste pachete costa ! Exista pachete de 15 35 100 si 500 de referali . In general dispar foarte repede fiindca sunt profitabile. Cumparand aceste pachete poti face usor cativa dolari pe zi , daca toti cei pe care i-ai cumparat dau clickuri. Tu chiar te poti opri din dat clickuri cumparand acesti oameni .

Asa ca se rezolva si problema referalilor ! Eu va sfatuiesc totusi sa cautati referali !
Nu strica sa aveti referalii vostrii proprii ! Puteti bineinteles sa cumparati pachete chiar daca aveti propii vostrii referali !

15 referali = 16,98$
35 referali = 34,95$
100 referali = 98,00$ ( 5,00$ Bonus)
500 referali = 450,00$

Pe langa aceste pachete mai exista si pachetul Membru Premium !
Devenind membru premium (contra unui abonament anual) vei beneficia de urmatoarele trei avantaje :
1.Mai multe linkuri de dat zilnic click (aproximativ 20 de linkuri) deci maxim !
2.Pentru fiecare click dat de tine si de membri de sub tine primesti 0.125$ (1 cent si un sfert) fata de 1 cent cat esti platit normal !
3.Prioritate la plati. Platile se fac in aproximativ 60 de zile ! Devenind Membru Premium banii ii primesti in cel mult 30 de zile ! Adica lunar !

Posibile probleme :
1.Cumparand pachete , nu ai garantia ca oamenii vor da clickuri . Poate si ei au cumparat la randul lor pachete de oameni si se asteapta ca refereali sa ii aduca bani si astfel ei nu mai dau clickuri. Vei gasi oameni suparati pe referali lenesi cumparati dar si oameni care au facut in 25-28 de zile sute de dolari . Este alegerea ta daca risti sau nu .
2.Fiind membru standard nu ai prioritate la payout , deci atunci cand iti vei cere banii , ei pot ajunge la tine si in 60 de zile!
3.fiind membru premium ai prioritate la plati si vei primi banii pana in 30 de zile.

Inscriete aici nu ezita

Avantaje :
1.Prin investirea banilor in upgrade la cont premium si cumpararea de referali ajungi la sute de dolari pe luna
Si acum cel mai important lucru ! PLATA ! De unde va ridicati banii ?
Banii se trimit prin Alertpay sau cec !
Alertpay este un serviciu de transfer de bani online exact ca Moneybookers !
Deci ca sa va primiti banii trebuie sa va deschideti intai cont la Alertpay !
Suma minima pe care o puteti transfera din contul Bux.to in Alertpay este de minim 10$ !
Apoi din Alertpay, banii intra (la fel ca la Moneybookers) in contul cardului !
Ca sa va deschideti cont la Aertpay folositi acest link:

Inregistrare Alertpay

Astea fiind spuse spor la ,,clickuit” !
Deviza Bux.to este
,,Fa-ti treaba si da click pe linkuri ca si altii sa-si faca treaba ! “

Bafta tuturor !
Daca aveti neclaritati nu ezitati sa puneti intrebari !

Inscriete nu ezita

Nico şi Vlad Miriţă vor reprezenta România la concursul Eurovision

2008-02-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

Piesa "Pe o margine de lume", interpretată de Nico si Vlad Miriţă, va reprezenta România la finala Eurovision, organizată la Belgrad, pe 23 mai.

Melodia interpretată de cei doi a obţinut un total de 271 de puncte din partea juriului şi din partea publicului.

Pentru cei doi, emoţiile încă nu au luat sfârşit. Pentru că anul trecut ţara noastră nu a reuşit să se claseze în primele 10 locuri, Nico şi cu Vlad Miriţă vor trebui să treacă şi de preselecţia de pe 20 mai.

Sursa: Realitatea TV

Ticketing UEFA EURO 2008

2008-02-17T01:37:00.000-08:00

Ticket sales for UEFA EURO2008™ are in principle over, with the exception of the tickets being distributed by the 16 participating national associations, who have been allocated around 20 per cent of the seats available at each match. The individual associations are free to decide their own ticket sale procedure. Further inquiries should be directed to the relevant national association.

The Application phase for Tickets for UEFA EURO 2008™ ended on 31 March 2007. Due to the overwhelming demand for Tickets (all matches were oversubscribed), a lottery took place, under the supervision of a notary. All Applicants have been informed whether they were successful in the lottery. You can find more information on the next steps (e.g. payment dates and delivery of the tickets) by clicking on the link 'Timeline' in the menu on the right.

If you have submitted an application/an order, you can log into the Ticket Portal to follow its status at any time. Please note that you can only make limited changes to your data. If you have noticed a mistake in your information which you cannot correct in your Ticket Portal, please contact our customer services via the contact form available in our FAQ section. You will be able to update all relevant information such as shipment information via the Ticket Portal again in due course. To enter the Ticket Portal, please click on the 'Existing Applicants' link in the menu on the right.

Ottawa puts up almost $20 million for aircraft company in London, Ont.

2008-02-17T01:28:00.000-08:00

The federal government says it will provide almost $20 million dollars to a company in London, Ont., for the research and development of a new class of small business jet.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice said Saturday the $19.6-million "repayable investment" will allow Diamond Corporation to work on the single-engine D-Jet
The plane would seat five passengers and be made from composite materials.
The project, which will initially focus on developing four prototypes, is expected to cost $95 million.

It could mean the creation of another 500 jobs for the city's aerospace industry.

Terms of the investment were not immediately available.

"The D-Jet project will build on Canadian strengths and help maintain Canada's place as a world leader in small all-composite aircraft," Prentice said.

The Diamond Group has manufacturing facilities in Canada, Austria, China and Germany.

The company employs more than 1500 people worldwide, 580 of them in Canada.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700, previewed

2008-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Nearly two years after Konica Minolta transferred its camera division over to Sony, and over a year after Sony's first DSLR (the A100), today is the day that the curtain is finally lifted on the long-awaited 'high end' Alpha digital SLR (in principle the replacement for the Konica Minolta 7D). The new model sports an impressive specification including magnesium alloy construction, 12MP CMOS sensor (with on-chip A/D conversion), 5fps shooting and a wealth of features and customization options, though interestingly (given the recent spate of announcements) no live view option. There's also a couple of new lenses and a new vertical shooting grip.

SONY’S NEW D-SLR CAMERA SETS HIGH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 5, 2007 — Sony is expanding its a (Alpha) digital SLR system with the introduction of the DSLR-A700 camera, which is aimed at photo enthusiasts or serious photo hobbyists.

The new model features advanced imaging technologies and ultra-responsive operation, as well as a lightweight, dust- and moisture-resistant, magnesium alloy construction common to enthusiast-class D-SLR cameras.

Like Sony’s mainstream DSLR-A100 model, the new A700 unit incorporates Super SteadyShot® Inside image stabilization in the camera body and is compatible with most Minolta Maxxum® mount lenses in addition to Sony lenses.

“Discerning photo enthusiasts will be impressed with the rugged construction and outstanding performance of the A700, said Phil Lubell, director of marketing for digital cameras at Sony Electronics. “We also expect that this new camera will re-define the post-capture experience with HDMI™ output for high-quality playback of images on high-definition televisions.”

Picture Quality

The camera’s new 12.2-megapixel Exmor™ CMOS sensor conducts analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion and dual noise reduction right on the sensor itself. Noise reduction is applied to analog signals before A/D conversion and the resulting digital signals are then subject to a second round of noise reduction.

According to Lubell, “These digital signals are virtually immune to external noise and interference.”

Clean, noise-free digital signals are then sent to the newly developed BIONZ™ processing engine. Lubell said this engine has been optimized to process data-rich picture information at high speeds, and to reduce picture noise in the RAW data stage before final image compression and encoding. The results are high-resolution, detailed images with rich tonal reproduction.

Extraordinary Responsiveness

The A700 camera is engineered to be fast and ultra-responsive so as to become “a virtual extension of your own senses,” Lubell said, “capturing fleeting moments as you see them.”

A newly developed, auto-focus system features 11 wide-area sensors, including a center dual cross sensor comprised of two horizontal and two vertical line sensors for exceptional AF precision. An F2.8 line sensor leverages the brightness of fast aperture lenses for even greater precision. Lubell said that extraordinary focusing speed has been realized through improved algorithms and a high-torque focusing drive motor.

The large, bright, viewfinder uses a precision-ground optical glass pentaprism and a high refractive index eyepiece lens to provide 0.9x viewfinder magnification and 95 percent frame coverage. Manual focusing is aided by an interchangeable spherical acute matte focusing screen.

The camera has a high-performance vertical traverse shutter with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second to freeze fast-moving action. A high-power coreless motor charges the shutter and mirror mechanism, allowing continuous shooting at up to five frames per second. In JPEG fine or standard mode, continuous shooting is limited only by the capacity of the media card (sold separately), while up to 18 frames can be captured in RAW.

Expanded Creativity

The new camera features fourteen creative styles, including night view, autumn leaves or vivid, which can be selected to enhance images. These effects can then be fine-tuned by customizing contrast, sharpness, zone matching and other parameters.

Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) function has been updated on this model so users can choose the desired level of detail recovered in areas of shadow. The advanced mode offers the option of five levels of user selectable correction. Additionally, DRO bracketing creates three images from a single capture with three different levels of DRO.

There is an extensive array of customization options to personalize the camera to match shooting styles. The unit’s quick navigation interface can be accessed instantly with the four-way multi-selector, and selected parameters can be adjusted directly by control dials.

Up to 28 camera settings can be stored in one of three user memories for instant recall. The unit’s custom function button can be assigned to 15 frequently-accessed functions.

With the supplied remote capture application, the camera can be controlled from a compatible PC via USB without even touching the camera, and files can be stored on the computer instead of the media card.

High-Quality Pictures on an HDTV

The A700 model features an HDMI output for connection to HDTV sets, putting a high-resolution spin on the conventional photo slideshow.

When connected to a Sony BRAVIA® LCD HD television, photos are optimized for viewing with the new “PhotoTV HD” mode. This mode brings the look of actual printed photography to the television, reproducing high-quality digital photos by fine-tuning such image parameters as sharpness, gradation and color specifically for photographs.

The exceptional viewing experience of this camera also extends to viewing photos on its 3-inch LCD screen. The screen’s size and ultra-sharp resolution (921K) makes it possible to check focus and image quality with much greater accuracy.

A Flexible System

The camera will be introduced with two new lenses, bringing Sony’s lens and teleconverter catalog up to 23 models. Supplied as a standard kit lens, the new DT 16-105 mm f.3.5 – 5.6 lens features a distinctive zoom range (35mm equivalency of 24 – 157.5 mm); compact, lightweight design; and internal focusing. The other addition is a powerful and compact high-magnification DT 18 – 250 mm f3.5 – 6.3 lens. Sony is also planning to introduce a specialty 70 -300 mm f4.5 – 5.6 SSM G telephoto lens featuring super sonic wave motor auto focus drive system for smooth auto focusing in Spring 2008.

Sony’s full line of accessories will also expand to include a new vertical grip. Equipped with buttons and switches for the most essential control functions, it offers the same ease of operation and handling as when shooting vertically. It houses two InfoLithium® batteries (sold separately), which will automatically switch to the second battery when the first one runs out. Remaining charges of both batteries are displayed on the camera’s LCD screen.

Memory That Keeps Up With The Camera

The model also features separate slots for Memory Stick Duo™ media cards compatible with the Memory Stick PRO-HG™ high-speed data transfer standard, as well as CompactFlash™ Type I/II media cards compatible with the new Ultra Direct Memory Access standard for up to 300x write speeds. Sony is also introducing new 300x high-speed CompactFlash™ memory cards, ideal for high-end photographers requiring fast write speeds. The new models, available in 2GB or 8GB capacity, expand Sony’s current line of CompactFlash cards that also include 66X and 133X speeds, with capacities ranging from 1GB to 4GB.

The DSLR-A700 camera body, DT 16 – 105 mm lens, and DT 18-250 mm lens will be available for about $1,400, $580 and $550, respectively. The DSLR-A700K kit with an 18-70 mm lens will be available for about $1,500, and the DSLR-A700P kit with the 16-105 mm lens will be available for about $1,900. The camera body and DSLR-A700K kit will ship in October and the DSLR-A700P kit in November. All will be available at sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail), at military base exchanges, and at authorized dealers nationwide.

Additional images

2008-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Nikon D300 digital camera specifications

Nikon D300

Image

More information

Announced 23-Aug-07

Preview article

All Nikon products

Discussion

Nikon D300/D200/D100 Forum

Find related discussion

Owners opinions

Read owners opinions (113)

Post / Edit your opinion

Support this site by
purchasing from our
affiliate merchants

Format

SLR

Price (street)

$1799.50

Also known as

Release Status

Max resolution

4288 x 2848

Low resolution

3216 x 2136, 2144 x 1424

Image ratio w:h

3:2

Effective pixels

12.3 million

Sensor photo detectors

13.1 million

Sensor size

23.6 x 15.8 mm

Sensor type

CMOS

Colour filter array

RGB

Sensor manufacturer

Sony

ISO rating

200 - 3200 in 1, 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps (100 - 6400 with boost)

Zoom wide (W)

n/a

Zoom tele (T)

n/a

Digital zoom

Image stabilization

Auto Focus

Yes

Manual Focus

Yes

Auto focus type

Nikon Multi-CAM3500 DX

Normal focus range

n/a

Macro focus range

n/a

White balance override

6 positions, plus manual preset and Kelvin

Aperture range

n/a

Min shutter

30 sec + Bulb

Max shutter

1/8000 sec

Built-in Flash

Yes, pop-up

Flash guide no.

12 m (39.3 ft) m

External flash

Yes, hot-shoe plus sync connector

Flash modes

Front curtain, Rear curtain, Red-Eye, Slow, Red-Eye Slow

Exposure compensation

-5 to +5 EV in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps

Metering

3D Matrix metering II, Center weighted, Spot

Aperture priority

Yes

Shutter priority

Yes

Focal length multiplier

1.5

Lens thread

Nikkor AF / F-mount, D-Type

Continuous Drive

Yes, 6 fps, 100 JPEG / ?? RAW

Movie Clips

Remote control

Optional

Self-timer

2 to 20 sec

Timelapse recording

Yes

Orientation sensor

Yes

Storage types

Compact Flash (Type I or II)

Storage included

None

Uncompressed format

RAW, TIFF

Compressed format

JPEG (EXIF 2.21)

Quality Levels

Fine, Normal, Basic

Viewfinder

TTL

LCD

3.0 "

LCD Pixels

922,000

Video out

Yes

USB

Yes, 2.0

Firewire (IEEE 1394)

Battery / Charger

Yes

Battery

Nikon EN-EL3e Lithium-Ion battery

Weight (inc. batteries)

925 g (32.6 oz)

Dimensions

147 x 114 x 74 mm (5.8 x 4.5 x 2.9 in)

Notes

Resolution Chart

Colour Patches

2008-02-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

Canon PowerShot G9 digital camera specifications

Canon PowerShot G9

Image

More information

Discussion

Find related discussion

Owners opinions

Read owners opinions (87)

Post / Edit your opinion

Support this site by
purchasing from our
affiliate merchants

Format

Compact

Price (street)

$452.98

Also known as

Release Status

Max resolution

4000 x 3000

Low resolution

3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480

Image ratio w:h

4:3, 3:2

Effective pixels

12.1 million

Sensor photo detectors

12.4 million

Sensor size

1/1.7"

Sensor type

CCD

Colour filter array

RGB

Sensor manufacturer

Unknown

ISO rating

Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Zoom wide (W)

35 mm

Zoom tele (T)

210 mm (6 x)

Digital zoom

Yes, 4 x

Image stabilization

Yes, Lens

Auto Focus

Yes

Manual Focus

Yes

Auto focus type

TTL

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

1 cm

White balance override

6 positions & manual preset

Aperture range

F2.8 - F4.8

Min shutter

15 sec

Max shutter

1/2500 sec

Built-in Flash

Yes

Flash guide no.

4.0 m (13.1 ft) 0 m

External flash

Yes, hot-shoe

Flash modes

Auto, Fill-in, Red-Eye reduction, Slow Sync, Off

Exposure compensation

-2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV steps

Metering

Evaluative, Center Weighted, Spot

Aperture priority

Yes

Shutter priority

Yes

Focal length multiplier

Lens thread

Yes, optional adapter

Continuous Drive

Yes

Movie Clips

Yes, 1024 x 768 @ 15 fps, 640 x 480 @ 30/15 fps, 320 x 240 @ 30/15 fps, 160 x 120 @ 15 fps

Remote control

Self-timer

2 or 10 sec

Timelapse recording

Unknown

Orientation sensor

Yes

Storage types

SD/SDHC/MMC card

Storage included

32 MB SD card

Uncompressed format

RAW

Compressed format

JPEG (EXIF 2.2)

Quality Levels

Super-Fine Fine, Normal

Viewfinder

Optical

LCD

3.0 "

LCD Pixels

230,000

Video out

Yes

USB

Yes, 2.0

Firewire (IEEE 1394)

Battery / Charger

Yes

Battery

Canon Lithium-Ion & charger

Weight (inc. batteries)

370 g (13.1 oz)

Dimensions

106 x 72 x 43 mm (4.2 x 2.8 x 1.7 in)

Notes

Resolution Chart

Colour Patches

Whatever happened: DirecTV-Microsoft

2008-02-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

It happens all the time.

Company X and Company Y get together and announce a broad partnership to do a whole bunch of things. Executives smile, shake hands, and talk about all the great things they are going to do together.

Then they go back to their respective cities, little comes of the deal, and everyone forgets it ever happened. Well, in our immense spare time, we're going to look back at some of those deals and try to figure out where things stand.

First up is a deal that Microsoft and DirecTV announced two years ago at the Consumer Electronics Show. According to the press release, the two companies were forming a long-term agreement that would allow digital content to flow between Windows-based PCs, DirecTV set-top boxes, Xbox consoles, and portable media players.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer offered a glowing forecast of what the arrangement would mean for consumers. "This agreement is a significant milestone for consumers and content owners, since it will greatly extend the reach and flexibility of digital entertainment in the home," Ballmer said in a statement at the time. "By integrating our Windows Media platform technologies with the DirecTV service, we have created a pipeline for an incredible variety of premium digital entertainment to move seamlessly and securely throughout the home to anywhere a DirecTV customer wants to enjoy it."

So what has come to market? Absolutely nothing.

In fairness, Microsoft has been working even longer to try to get CableCard support into Vista PCs.

Asked about the DirecTV deal, a Microsoft representative said the two companies are still actively working together but declined further comment on what the two might be doing or when anyone might be able to get their hands on it. Does anyone in Microsoftland want to share more?

Also, give us your thoughts on what deal should be featured in the next edition of "Whatever happened." There are a lot of deals that come to mind: Sun Microsystems' big partnership with Google. Sun's partnership with Microsoft. Heck, even Sun's deal with Enron--or maybe we should pick on someone other than Sun.

European Session − CAD Under Pressure

2008-02-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

Once again non farm payroll providedthe market with plenty of fireworks. The surprisingly weak NFA figure dropped to -17k vs. 70k revised prior 82k reading. While the reading in itself doesn’t decisively say recession the odds that the US is slipping in that direction are favoring this scenario. Perhaps the Fed's aggressive 125bp cut over 8 days seems to have been on the mark. After the health ADP survey the market had begun to speculate that the figure would be better then expected clearly this was not the case.

In general the Fx markets shifted lock in step selling the Usd with the one expectation of the Gbp which went the opposite direction. Market recognized that a major slowdown in the US will have significant spillover/shadow effect in the UK. GbpUsd had been under pressure all day but traded down to 1.9764 on the US release.

Market will be eagerly anticipating this afternoon ISM and U. Michigan survey. We should expect another high volatile release.


Global Indexes	Current Level	% Change
FTSE 100 Index	5,984.10	+ 1.77
CAC 40 Index	4,951.67	+ 1.68
DAX Index	6,939.06	+ 1.27
SMI Index	7,782.94	+ 1.46
DJIA Index	12,617.52	- 0.26
S&P 500 Index	1,377.01	- 0.11
NASDAQ 100 Index	2,392.52	+ 0.11


World Markets	Current Level	% Change
Gold	928.25	+ 0.24
Silver	17.14	+ 1.30
VIX	26.20	- 5.11
Crude wti	90.86	- 0.97
USD Index	75.04	- 0.18


Todays Calender	Estimates	Previous	Country / GMT
Univ. of Michigan Cons. Conf. Index (Jan Final)	79.0	80.5p	US / 15:00
ISM Manufacturing Index (Jan)	47.3	48.4	US / 15:00
Construction Spending	-0.5%	0.1%	US / 15:00

Currency Tech

USDJPY
R 3: 114.00 P
R 2: 110.10 S
R 1: 107.89 M
CURRENT 106.16
S 1: 105.85 S
S 2: 104.97 M
S 3: 104.20 T

GBPUSD
R 3: 2.0245 S
R 2: 2.0100 S
R 1: 1.9985 M
CURRENT 1.9860
S 1: 1.9765 M
S 2: 1.9560 M
S 3: 1.9177 S

EURUSD
R 3: 1.5000 K
R 2: 1.4967 S
R 1: 1.4907 M
CURRENT 1.4867
S 1: 1.4600 P
S 2: 1.4366 T
S 3: 1.4280 S

S: Strong, M: Minor, T: Trendline, K: Keylevel, P: Pivot

Dollar rises against euro, pound

2008-02-03T00:04:00.000-08:00

The U.S. dollar rose Friday against the euro and the British pound, helped by rising stock prices and a modest expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector despite a weak report on jobs.

In late New York trading, the dollar rose to $1.4803 per euro from $1.4877 per euro late Thursday. The dollar jumped to $1.9677 per British pound from $1.9900 per pound.

The dollar also inched up to 106.47 Japanese yen from 106.43 yen.

The dollar rebounded after an industry group reported U.S. manufacturing activity rose in January and helped galvanize Wall Street. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday its index of manufacturing activity rose to 50.7 from 48.4 in December. Wall Street had expected the figure would come in at 47, which would have indicated a contraction of the manufacturing sector.

The single European currency failed to reach a new high after the Labor Department reported earlier Friday that employers cut 17,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent from 5 percent. That sent a signal to currency investors that the euro may not have the legs to go much higher. It had risen nearly 6 U.S. cents since Jan. 22.

Once the euro fell below a previous technical resistance level around $1.4920, investors who were betting on more euro strength decided to give up their positions before the weekend, Carl Forcheski, vice president of foreign exchange at Societe Generale in New York, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The dollar sank to a record low of 1.0734 Swiss francs after the jobs report, according to Dow Jones' Interbank foreign-exchange rates, but recovered to 1.0888 Swiss francs by late afternoon in New York, above 1.0823 Thursday.

Worries about U.S. bond insurers, continuing fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis and a string of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have kept the dollar down.

The Fed lowered its benchmark rate to 3 percent on Wednesday, its second cut in eight days, putting it well below the euro zone rate of 4 percent and Britain's 5.5 percent.

Lower rates can help jump-start a country's economy, but at the same time weaken a currency as traders transfer funds to assets where they can earn higher returns.

In other New York trading, the dollar fell to 99.38 Canadian cents from 1.0040 Canadian dollars.

Yahoo says it needs time to mull Microsoft offer

2008-02-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yahoo Inc said it may take "quite a bit of time" to weigh its strategic options, including keeping the company independent, following Microsoft Corp's $45 billion offer to buy the company.

In a weekend posting on the company's Web site, Yahoo said it was undertaking a deliberate review of Microsoft's unsolicited offer to pay Yahoo shareholders either $31 in cash, or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock.

The review "will include evaluating all of the Company's strategic alternatives including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company," the posting said. "A review process like this is fluid, and it can take quite a bit of time."

In response to a frequently asked question about whether Yahoo would seek proposals from other companies, also posted on its Web site, the company said it was going to evaluate all options.

Analysts cited Comcast Corp, Viacom Inc and General Electric Co among possible bidders, although they also said few companies had the balance sheet to compete with Microsoft or were as natural a fit for Yahoo.

Microsoft's bold move to buy the Silicon Valley company would create a combined entity better able to respond to the growing dominance of Google Inc in Web search and digital advertising.

Microsoft said it has courted Yahoo for the last 18 months, but its earlier approaches were rebuffed and it decided to make its offer public to Yahoo shareholders.

Yahoo shares shot up about 48 percent to $28.33 on the news of Microsoft's offer.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Review

2008-01-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two years since Konica Minolta pulled out of the photo business and transferred its entire camera division to Sony, and well over a year since the first Sony DSLR (the DSLR-A100) was announced. Two years is a long time in the digital SLR market, but the three years Minolta (latterly Konica Minolta, now Sony) SLR users have been waiting for a high end model to replace the innovative Maxxum (Dynax) 7D must have felt like a lifetime. But, finally, it's here, and it looks very much like the mockup shown earlier in the year.

Like the A100, the new camera still wears its Konica Minolta heritage very much on its sleeve, and when you start to look a little more closely at the specification it's obvious that there's still an awful lot of Konica Minolta DNA in the A700. This is hardly surprising given that the circumstances behind its development.

And, just as the A100 was obviously based on - and designed to be a successor to - the KM 5D, the A700 follows on from the 7D, and - despite lots of Sony touches and an attractive new design - 7D users are likely to find using the new model reassuringly familiar.

But of course Sony doesn't only have existing system users in its cross hairs; the A700 is designed to go head to head with the latest 'prosumer' models from Nikon, Canon and Pentax. Whether the A700 offers enough to really put Sony on the DSLR map will be decided when we get to look properly at the image quality, but on specification, features and handling it certainly seems to have what it takes to play with the big boys.

Interestingly the one thing the A700 doesn't have is any form of live view; when we spoke to Sony about this the answer was simple; they believe that the compromises involved in current systems are satisfactory, and they won't implement live view until they can 'get it right'. Whether the lack of live view has any real relevance in a camera at this level remains to be seen; we doubt it.

The A700 shares many technologies with earlier Konica Minolta models (including, naturally, the lens mount), plus all those introduced in the A100 - though virtually all have been uprated or upgraded in one way or another (we've been told the A100 and A700 share virtually no components). From the sensor to the construction of the body to the GUI to the extensive feature set, this is a very different camera to the entry-level A100 (more of which later in this review). We'll start by looking at what's specifically new to this model:

What's new (highlights)


12.2 megapixel APS-C 'Exmor' CMOS For its first 'advanced amateur' model Sony has dropped the CCD used in the A100 and moved to a totally new 12MP CMOS sensor. Designed to offer low noise and high speed (thanks to its on-chip A/D conversion) the 'Exmor' sensor puts the A700 in direct competition with Nikon's new D300.	Bionz Image Processor Continuing Sony's habit of slapping a daft name on every component is an all-new version of the Bionz image processor, optimized for the new CMOS sensor. Again, this is claimed to boost speed and features a two-stage RAW noise reduction system. The combination of fast sensor and fast processor mean the A700 can offer 5 frames per second for up to 18 raw 12MP files.

New AF Sensor The A700 features an 11 point focus system with a newly developed Center Double Cross AF sensor, claimed to offer 'the highest precision AD ever in a D-SLR'. The center focus point has two horizontal and two vertical sensors plus a new high precision (horizontal) sensor in the middle. This sensor has a baseline that is about twice as long as earlier AF sensors, enabling in theory, twice the focusing accuracy with lenses with a maximum aperture of F2.8 or larger.

Faster focusing Sony has also redesigned the focus mechanics, AF algorithm and microprocessor to offer faster AF. The target, apparently, was the fastest AF in any SLR, and to match Minolta's Maxxum 7 film SLR.	New High Speed shutter Carbon fibre shutter offering 1/8000 sec top speed and 1/250th sec x-sync (1/200th if SteadyShot is on). Sony is quoting a 100,000 shutter cycle life.

Anti-Blur Refinements to the Super SteadyShot CCD-shift stabilization system are now claimed to deliver up to 4 stops advantage.	Optical Pentaprism In place of the A100's pentamirror design comes an optical pentaprism viewfinder with anti reflective coating offering better brightness, better eye relief and high magnification. The spherical acute matte focus screen is now interchangeable.

Aluminum chassis/Magnesium body Newly-developed high strength aluminum chassis which is 5% lighter and 3x stronger than the A100. Sony tells us the aluminum used is as strong as duralumin and required the development of new processing technology (it is apparently very difficult to work with). The body shell itself is constructed from Magnesium Alloy.	Environmental Sealing The A700's buttons and levers are sealed to protect against dust and moisture (though it's worth pointing out that the camera is in no way 'waterproof' or 'splashproof').

X-Fine 3.0" LCD One of the first things you notice about the A700 is the stunning 3.0 screen. With 922,000 (well, 640 x 480 x RGB) pixels it has a resolution of 267ppi, plus high contrast and a wide viewing angle. A new high resolution GUI takes full advantage of the new screen.	Full 1080 HD output The A700 has an HDMI terminal and offers full 1080i HDTV output, plus a new 16:9 aspect ratio shooting option for TV viewing. The A700 is the first SLR to support Sony's new PhotoTV HD viewing protocol (which basically tells a Bravia TV to optimize the picture for stills viewing and produces better quality).

Wireless remote control The A700 includes a wireless remote control offering a fairly comprehensive set of controls (though all but the shutter release only work when the camera is attached to a TV).	Dual Storage Formats Not sure how important this will be to most users, but the A700 now offers both Memory Stick Duo and CompactFlash storage options.

New kit lens Along with the A700 comes a new compact wide range bundle lens, the DT 16-105mm F3.5-5.6. The lens covers a range equivalent to 24 to 160mm and has internal focusing (though not zooming).	New Vertical Grip Most interesting of the new accessories launched with the A700 is the VG-C70AM Vertical Grip. The grip offers a portrait shooting shutter button, two control dials (and a full set of buttons) and accepts two battery packs.

Other new / upgraded features of note:

New advanced Dynamic Range optimizer functions (also supported in RAW)
New software bundle with all-new raw converter
Dedicated AF illuminator (red LED)
New Creative Styles (expansion of color modes function on A100)
0.3 EV steps (or 0.5 EV if you prefer)
ISO 3200-6400 expanded range
Compressed Raw mode and X-Fine JPEG mode
High ISO noise reduction control
Grip sensor (optional trigger for eye control)
RGB histograms
New 'Quick Navi' control system

3 years on: A700 vs Konica Minolta Maxxum (Dynax) 7D

Before we look at the A700 and how it compares to Sony's first DSLR (the A100) and the rest of the market it's worth having a quick look at how it compares with the Konica Minolta 7D. Our first impression of the A700 was that in spirit (and very much in reality when you look closely) it is the successor to KM's first (and only) high-end digital SLR, introduced almost exactly 3 years ago at PMA 2004. it's obvious that the A700 contains a lot of Minolta DNA (there are elements of the D7D and the Maxxum/Dynax 7 film SLR in its design and control layout) and it's fair to say that - for users of Minolta's lens system - it can be considered a (long awaited) successor.

Nikon COOLPIX P60

2008-01-30T12:29:00.000-08:00

Pre-PMA 2008: The Nikon Coolpix P50 intrigued with it's combination of (relatively) low price, 'mini P5100' styling and 28mm wideangle lens. The 8 megapixel P60 is no less alluring but for different reasons; for a start the wide lens is gone, replaced with a 5x 36-180mm equiv. unit backed up by sensor shift stabilization. Then there is something we don't see very often in non-superzoom compacts - an electronic viewfinder. A (decent) EVF is arguably better than the rather crummy optical viewfinders usually seen in mid-range compacts, at the very least in terms of accurate framing. Of course, Any type of viewfinder is preferable than trying to compose on a sun-splashed LCD.

Nikon COOLPIX P60

Solid photographic performance, functional styling and an advanced feature set for excellent photos

January 29, 2008, Tokyo — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the COOLPIX P60. Delivering reliability and familiarity within its orthodox design, the COOLPIX P60 satisfies the traditional camera enthusiast. Built on a custom application of Nikon's innovative EXPEED digital image processing concept and incorporating the precision optics of a NIKKOR lens, the COOLPIX P60 realizes optimum performance and maximum image quality.

An impressive effective megapixel count of 8.1 enhances the potential of the high performance digital image-processing engine for outstanding image quality, while an improved 5x Zoom-NIKKOR lens delivers yet more flexibility by ably covering a range from panoramic landscapes to close-up portraits.

Image sensor shift VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization compensates for camera shake or movement by unsteady subjects to realize yet sharper results. And extended light sensitivity up to ISO 2000 further helps prevent blurred shots in lower light, or when capturing fast-moving subjects. The COOLPIX P60 also offers Programmed Auto [P] and Manual [M] exposure modes, enabling the user to enjoy shooting in a variety of styles.

A functional body design with a defined grip for secure finger placement allows for intuitive operation including the use of the Mode dial. Compositional versatility, even in bright sunlight, is achieved thanks to its electronic viewfinder and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor.

Power is supplied by readily available AA-size batteries, which means the COOLPIX P60 can be used in virtually any location without worrying about recharging or running out of power.

Note: Specifications, design, product name, standard accessories, and release schedule may differ by country or area.

Nikon COOLPIX P60 Feature Highlights

Intuitive access to a wealth of practical shooting modes
The handy Mode dial includes settings for two exposure modes that provide greater personal control over camera operation. Programmed Auto [P] mode automatically selects the optimal shutter and aperture settings, while Manual [M] exposure mode provides full control over both the aperture and shutter speed settings. In addition, the COOLPIX P60 is equipped with a selection of 15 scene-optimized modes and four different movie modes.

Image sensor shift VR image stabilization for sharp images
The COOLPIX P60 features the image stabilizing performance of image sensor shift VR capability. The system applies in-camera image processing to help overcome the effects of camera shake and produce satisfyingly crisp results, while also contributing to a reassuring shooting experience.

ISO 2000 capability for better pictures in lower light
With an extended light sensitivity range from ISO 80 all the way up to ISO 2000, the COOLPIX P60 makes it easier to take great-looking pictures in lower lighting conditions, or to capture fast moving subjects with impressive clarity.

AA-size batteries for shoot-anywhere convenience
Experience the convenience of an AA-size battery compatible compact digital camera. Thanks to the advantage of being able to pick up a new set of batteries in virtually any corner of the world, users can shoot with reassurance, free of any worries about recharging batteries or running out of power when a special shutter chance arises.

Nikon COOLPIX P60 Other Features

Three Unique Nikon Image Innovations
– Face-priority AF, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, D-Lighting
Macro shooting from as close as 10 cm (4 in.)
4x digital zoom extends compositional freedom
Time zone function for easy setting of multiple locations
SDHC card compatibility
Approx. 12 MB of internal memory
USB connectivity
PictBridge support

Nikon COOLPIX P60 specifications


Sensor	• 1/2.5" Type CCD • 8.5 million pixels total • 8.1 million effective pixels
Image sizes	3264 x 2448 (8M), 2592 x 1944 (5M), 2048 x 1536 (3M), 1600 x 1200 (2M), 1280 x 960 (1M), 1024 x 768 (PC), 640 x 480 (TV), 3264 x 2176 (3:2), 3264 x 1836 (16:9)
Lens	• 5x optical zoom • 36-180 (35mm equiv.) • 6.4 - 32.0mm • f/3.6 - 4.5
Image stabilization	• Sensor-shift VR
Conversion lenses	no
Digital zoom	up to 4x
Focus distance	• 40cm (1 ft. 4 in.) to infinity (∞) • Macro close-up mode: 10cm (4 in.) to infinity (∞)
ISO sensitivity	ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 2000, Auto (auto gain ISO 80 - 800)
Viewfinder	0.2-in., approx. 201k-dot, equivalent
LCD monitor	2.5-in., approx. 153k-dot, TFT LCD
Connectivity	USB 2.0 High Speed
Storage	• SD/SDHC card • Approx 12MB internal memory
Power	• 2x AA battery • AC Adapter EH-65A (optional)
Weight (no batt)	160 g (5.6 oz.)
Dimensions	95.5 x 63.5 x 36 mm (3.8 x 2.5 x 1.4 in.)

Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi digital camera specifications

2007-12-17T23:36:00.000-08:00

Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi

Announced 24-Aug-06
Format
SLR
Price (street)
$563.76
Also known as
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Release Status

Max resolution
3888 x 2592
Low resolution
2816 x 1880, 1936 x 1288
Image ratio w:h
3:2
Effective pixels
10.1 million
Sensor photo detectors
10.5 million
Sensor size
22.2 x 14.8 mm
Sensor type
CMOS
Colour filter array
RGB
Sensor manufacturer
Canon
ISO rating
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Zoom wide (W)
n/a
Zoom tele (T)
n/a
Digital zoom
No
Image stabilization
No
Auto Focus
Yes
Manual Focus
Yes
Auto focus type
Multi-BASIS TTL, 9 focus points (EOS 30D AF)
Normal focus range

Macro focus range
n/a
White balance override
6 positions & manual preset
Aperture range
n/a
Min shutter
30 sec + Bulb
Max shutter
1/4000 sec
Built-in Flash
Yes, pop-up
Flash guide no.
12 m (39.3 ft) @ ISO 100
External flash
Yes, hot-shoe, E-TTL II
Flash modes
Auto, On, Red-eye reduction, Off
Exposure compensation
-2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps
Metering
35 area eval, center weighted, partial
Aperture priority
Yes
Shutter priority
Yes
Focal length multiplier
1.6
Lens thread
Canon EOS EF, EF-S mount
Continuous Drive
Yes, 3.0 fps, 27 JPEG or 10 RAW frames
Movie Clips
No
Remote control
E3 connector, InfraRed
Self-timer
10 sec (2 sec with mirror lock-up)
Timelapse recording
Yes, by USB cable and PC
Orientation sensor
Yes
Storage types
Compact Flash (Type I or II)
Storage included
None
Uncompressed format
RAW
Compressed format
JPEG (EXIF 2.21)
Quality Levels
Fine, Normal
Viewfinder
TTL
LCD
2.5 "
LCD Pixels
230,000
Video out
Yes
USB
Yes, 2.0
Firewire (IEEE 1394)
No
Battery / Charger
Yes
Battery
Canon 720mAh Li-Ion & Charger
Weight (inc. batteries)
556 g (19.6 oz)
Dimensions
127 x 94 x 65 mm (5 x 3.7 x 2.6 in)
Notes

Resolution Chart

Colour Patches

2007-12-17T23:31:00.000-08:00

CIBER to Present at UBS Global Technology and Services Conference

CIBER, Inc. (NYSE: CBR) is a pure-play international system integration consultancy with superior value-priced services and reliable delivery for both private and government sector clients. CIBER’s services are offered globally on a project- or strategic-staffing basis, in both custom and enterprise resource planning (ERP) package environments, and across all technology platforms, operating systems and infrastructures. Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo., CIBER now serves client businesses from over 60 U.S. offices, 25 European offices and seven offices in Asia/Pacific. Operating in 18 countries, with more than 8,000 employees and annual revenue over $1 billion, CIBER and its IT specialists continuously build and upgrade clients’ systems to “competitive advantage status.” CIBER is included in the Russell 2000 Index and the S&P Small Cap 600 Index. CIBER, ALWAYS ABLE. www.ciber.com
Forward-Looking and Cautionary StatementsStatements contained in this release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, as discussed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CIBER undertakes neither intention nor obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. CIBER and the CIBER logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CIBER, Inc.

The Year of Desktop Linux

2007-12-17T23:30:00.001-08:00

We caution any investor from getting too enthusiastic about the impact of the “new new” thing. The impact of inertia, and the sophistication of technological solutions, often overwhelms the apparent benefit of the new solution. The new solution often either takes much, much longer to have an impact, or it never really takes hold.
We advise looking for companies with significant market share and a proven ability to defend their position with innovation and continual enhancements. In fact, we think that the rise of consumer appliances such as laptops and cell phones may favor the most established large cap companies, despite their proprietary devices and solutions.
We think that open source computing offers an excellent example as to the limited impact on market leaders of disruptive technologies. Open source computing remains one of the more interesting potentialities in the information technology market. Unfortunately, it has remained a potentiality rather than a major force in several markets despite ebullient prognostications.
At the turn of the century, we thought that Linux could make significant inroads on the desktop software market and erode Microsoft’s dominance. Back in 2001, we noted in this column that Linux had failed to gain share in the desktop/laptop market, which we attributed to the dominance of Microsoft Office and the lack of complete hardware compatibility. In 2002, we loaded a copy of Red Hat 8.0 with a new user interface and a number of software applications at home. While it had decent hardware compatibility, we still had problems getting the sound card to work. As a “newbie,” we also were frustrated at the limited customization options of the interface using just a mouse to change the options.
Based on this limited experience, we didn’t think that the impact of Linux on the desktop would be significant at first; however, we thought that the sophistication of this open source solution would increase and its relative attractiveness would rise over time. In short, we thought that the gap between Microsoft Windows would diminish and that Linux’s market share on the desktop would rise.
We had no explicit timeframe based on any detailed analyses, but we thought that Linux’s desktop impact could be felt in three to five years, mostly via a continuing reduction to Microsoft’s growth rate in revenues. The selection of Linux as a desktop solution in high profile organizations such as the Munich city government lent some credence to this thought; governments and emerging markets should have great incentives to shift to a low cost alternative. Market research firms supported this thesis and were predicting significant desktop share gains for Linux.
Whoops. Over the past five to six years, we have probably been right in terms of the closing of the gap between the two desktop solutions. The desktop interface has gone through several generations. OpenOffice seems to be a perfectly viable office productivity suite, and there are many other effective applications available. However, Linux still suffers from modest hardware incompatibilities and a far more limited selection of desktop applications. These failings are evidenced by the perennial failure of the “Year of Desktop Linux” to appear. Market shares seem mired in the low single digits.
More important, perhaps, is the attitude of the development community towards unsophisticated users. In 2004, we read an excellent article by Eric Raymond entitled “The Luxury of Ignorance: An Open-Source Horror Story.” His argument that the Linux development community fails to consider the user’s point of view struck a chord with us. In it, he effectively demonstrated how an archetypal Aunt Tillie would run screaming from her attempt to use Linux. The presence of hundreds of different Linux distributions and at least two different graphical user interfaces seems to support this; the software seems to be developer/enthusiast-oriented rather than mainstream user-oriented.
In the meantime, proprietary operating systems have prospered. The real gains in the desktop have been by Apple, a premium-priced, proprietary vendor. Microsoft has not failed to prosper, even in emerging markets, despite the advent of an overhauled operating system in Vista and a radically different interface in Office 2007. In the smartphone market, Windows Mobile, the Blackberry and Nokia’s Symbian dominate. Apple’s iPhone is the latest splash and is a closed system. Despite all the hoopla over Google’s Android open source software stack, we are skeptical that open source will make real inroads into the smartphone market.
So where does this leave us regarding the Year of the Desktop Linux? Well, in about three to five years we think that… seriously, we do think that open source can play a significant role in many areas, but if history is a guide, well-packaged complete solutions should continue to dominate the consumer technology market.

Tech stocks should lead the rebound

2007-12-13T00:26:00.001-08:00

If you think the economy is going to bounce back from the current slowdown before next spring, as I do, then the natural question is which stocks will lead the market recovery.

There's a strong argument that big growth stocks - and particularly the shares of technology companies - will figure prominently among the next crop of market leaders.

In fact, tech stocks have been outperforming the rest of the market for some time. They may have been getting hammered for the past few weeks. But over the past six months, they've outpaced the S&P 500 by about eight percentage points.

And the fact is, many tech stocks are still relatively cheap. They greatly underperformed the market during the tech wreck from 2000 to 2002. And despite a bit of a comeback in 2003, their price/earnings ratios remained low for such fast-growing companies - even before the most recent selloff.

Fewer worries

The argument for the group isn't just statistical. It's true that the P/Es of big growth stocks are at least 15 percent below their historical averages, while value stocks are above their norms.

But what's more important is that tech, in particular, isn't directly exposed to many of today's biggest problems.

Unlike financial services, tech stocks aren't especially affected by falling home prices and defaults on mortgage-backed investments.

In addition, many tech companies carry little debt, so they aren't threatened by tighter credit conditions.

And in contrast to many industrial and transportation companies, tech isn't particularly vulnerable to soaring oil prices - in some cases it actually benefits. The quest to make chips more energy-efficient, as opposed to simply faster, is a big driver of growth in the semiconductor industry. Software firms, meanwhile, are labor-intensive, not energy-intensive. The power they need to tap is brainpower.

Technology companies are also better positioned than many mature businesses to maintain earnings growth if high oil prices start pushing up inflation. Technological innovators typically have more freedom to set prices than do makers of most consumer goods (who can say how much an iPhone should cost?). And because high-tech production typically gets cheaper over time, companies can absorb inflation simply by cutting their product prices more slowly than their manufacturing costs decline.

None of these advantages would matter if the industry's fundamentals were deteriorating. But prospects for many tech companies were visibly improving before the latest economic troubles hit.

After years of hoarding cash, businesses were again making capital investments.

And consumers have been spending on gadgetry even if they're cutting back in other areas such as home improvement.

What to buy

Tech stocks remain volatile and would probably be hurt disproportionately if the economy deteriorated further. So it makes most sense to add such stocks little by little to your portfolio - and it's crucial to diversify as much as you can.

The easiest way to do that is by putting money into exchange-traded funds that focus specifically on tech stocks.

Two prime examples are the Technology Select SPDR (XLK (Charts), which I own, and iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology (IYW (Charts).

In addition, two of the technology stocks in the Sivy 70 look like particularly good opportunities.

Intel, the world's leading producer of microprocessors, has enjoyed a turnaround this year. Earnings for the third quarter were up 43%, beating analysts' estimates.

The chief reason has been better than expected growth in personal-computer sales, which have risen about two percentage points faster than forecasters anticipated. Much of this growth is coming from overseas.

Two other factors are contributing to Intel's superior performance. The company has slashed costs, reducing the number of employees by more than 8% this year. That could save $2 billion in 2007 and another $1 billion in 2008.

Intel (Charts, Fortune 500) has also been making gains in its perpetual, fiercely competitive struggle with No. 2 producer Advanced Micro Devices, which is now losing money. As AMD (Charts, Fortune 500) struggles, Intel should cash in big for several years.

Corning, which I added to the Sivy 70 in September, continues to offer high potential growth in its three major businesses.

Liquid crystal display panels, used for computers and large-screen televisions, have been the fastest grower over the past few years. And the outlook remains positive, with sales gains projected at 30 percent a year and costs slowly coming down.

Optical fiber, the product that made Corning (Charts, Fortune 500) such a hot stock during the late 1990s, went through several bad years because telephone and cable-TV companies seriously overbuilt. But as that excess is used up, demand is rebounding, helped by new products such as bendable, high-capacity cable.

Corning's third business, high-tech emissions controls, especially for truck engines, is small but could potentially be quite profitable as an environmental play.

After reporting great third-quarter earnings, Corning has been fairly cautious in its earnings forecast. But last week, the company raised its projections for the current quarter. And both stocks are projected to grow at an annual average of 15 percent or more over the next five years.

2007-12-12T00:45:00.001-08:00

Sony DSC-T2 digital camera specifications

Sony DSC-T2

Image

More information

Announced 24-Oct-07

All Sony products

Discussion

Sony Talk Forum

Find related discussion

Owners opinions

Read owners opinions (1)

Post / Edit your opinion

Support this site by
purchasing from our
affiliate merchants

Format

Ultra Compact

Price (street)

$348.69

Also known as

Release Status

Max resolution

3264 x 2448

Low resolution

3264 x 2176, 1920 x 1080, 2592 x 1944, 640 x 480

Image ratio w:h

4:3, 3:2, 16:9

Effective pixels

8.08 million

Sensor photo detectors

8.29 million

Sensor size

1/2.5 "

Sensor type

CCD

Colour filter array

RGB

Sensor manufacturer

Sony

ISO rating

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Zoom wide (W)

38 mm

Zoom tele (T)

114 mm (3 x)

Digital zoom

Yes, 6x

Image stabilization

Yes, Lens

Auto Focus

Yes

Manual Focus

Auto focus type

TTL

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

8 cm

White balance override

7 positions

Aperture range

F3.5 - F4.5

Min shutter

1 sec

Max shutter

1/1000 sec

Built-in Flash

Yes

Flash guide no.

3.2 m (10.4 ft) (Auto ISO)

External flash

Flash modes

Auto, Red-Eye reduction, On, Off, Slow Sync

Exposure compensation

-2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV Steps

Metering

Multi-Segment, Center weighted, Spot

Aperture priority

Shutter priority

Focal length multiplier

Lens thread

Continuous Drive

Yes, 2 fps

Movie Clips

Yes, 640 x 480 (30/16.6 fps), 320 x 240, 8.3 fps

Remote control

Self-timer

2 or 10 sec

Timelapse recording

Orientation sensor

Storage types

Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo + Internal

Storage included

4 GB Internal

Uncompressed format

Compressed format

JPEG (EXIF 2.21)

Quality Levels

Standard

Viewfinder

LCD

2.7 " Touch screen

LCD Pixels

230,000

Video out

Yes

USB

Yes

Firewire (IEEE 1394)

Battery / Charger

Yes

Battery

InfoLithium (NP-BD1) & charger

Weight (inc. batteries)

156 g (5.5 oz)

Dimensions

87 x 57 x 20 mm (3.4 x 2.2 x 0.8 in)

Notes

Resolution Chart

Colour Patches

Canon Powershot SX100 IS Review

2007-12-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

My first thought on seeing the Canon Powershot SX100 IS was it looked like the A-series PowerShots (not a bad thing), even though Canon USA’s website had it slotted in their "High-End, Advanced Digital Cameras" roster. (My second thought was "where did the viewfinder go?"). Canon’s press release didn’t help dispel the "user-friendly, good value for the money" attributes Canon ascribes to the A-series:

"We developed the PowerShot SX100 IS digital camera with all the zooming power and creative control a traditional photo-taker could ever want in a compact and value-priced package," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "At a price point of just under $300 with a simple and intuitive user interface, this camera is just as appropriate for beginners as it is for more seasoned enthusiasts with a need to capture quality images from a distance."

Turns out Canon sees the SX100 IS as the first of a new line of PowerShots, even though it still looks like an A-series to me. But after shooting the camera for a couple of weeks, I am reminded of Shakespeare’s "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

A CLOSER LOOK

The camera features a 10x optical zoom lens that provides a 36 to 360 mm focal length range (35mm film equivalent), 8MP sensor, DIGIC III processor, optical image stabilization, 2.5 inch LCD monitor, face detection technology, automatic and manual red eye correction, ISO sensitivity to 1600 and a full set of manual controls to complement the usual automatic and programmed scene options. Here’s a sample of that focal range:

Wide angle (view medium image) (view large image)

Telephoto (view medium image) (view large image)

Canon provides 2 AA batteries, a 16MB SD memory card (the camera will accept SD/SDHC, MultiMedia, MMC Plus and HC MMC Plus memory cards), wrist strap, Digital Camera Solution CD-ROM, and USB and A/V cables with each camera.

Camera dimensions are 4.28 x 2.81 x 1.84 inches with the lens retracted, and a shooting weight (batteries and memory card onboard) of about 10.5 ounces.

Still images may be captured in JPEG format in the following pixel sizes: 3,264 x 2,448 (Large), 2,592 x 1,944 (Medium 1), 2,048 x 1,536 (Medium 2), 1,600 x 1,200 (Medium 3), 640 x 480 (Small), 3,264 x 1,832 (Widescreen).

Movies may be captured in AVI format at the following rates and sizes: 640 x 480 (30 fps/30 fps LP), 320 x 240 (30 fps) available up to 4GB or 60 minutes, 160 x 120 (3 minutes at 15 fps). The LP option gives priority to recording length over image quality and provides almost double the recording time for the same sized media.

CAMERA FEATURES AND LAYOUT

The camera is offered in black and silver versions and the composite body looks and feels well built. The built-up handgrip style body is pleasant to use one or two-handed – subtle indentations in the back and top of the camera offer resting places for the right thumb and left forefinger. It would be nice to have some tacky material in the grip area to promote an even more secure-feeling hold – there was a definite death-grip on the camera while making the second of these two shots at Hoover Dam:

(view medium image) (view large image)

(view large image)

SHOOTING WITH THE SX100 IS

Auto Mode

On the SX100 IS, default settings include auto ISO (80-200 sensitivity), large size/fine quality jpeg, auto white balance, evaluative metering and image stabilization enabled. Unless stated otherwise, images captured by the SX100 IS to illustrate this review were at the large/superfine quality standard.

The SX100 IS, like most point and shoot (P&S) cameras, does a good job right out of the box with default settings. A novice to digital cameras can leave the camera on "auto" and expect to produce technically good images virtually all the time.

(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)

Specific Scene Modes / Special Scene Modes

In addition to auto, portrait, landscape, night snapshot, kids & pets and stitch assist scene modes may be selected directly via the mode dial. "Special scene" modes may be selected via the "SCN" setting on the mode dial – these include night scene, indoor, foliage, snow, beach, fireworks and aquarium.

Manual Modes

The SX100 IS also features Programmed auto (P), Shutter priority (Tv), Aperture priority (Av) and full manual (M) exposure settings, accessed directly on the camera’s mode dial. In Tv and Av modes, the user has the option to enable "Safety Shift" via internal menu. Safety Shift will automatically adjust aperture or shutter speed for correct exposure when it cannot be otherwise obtained.

In-Camera Editing Tools

An automatic red eye correction feature detects and corrects red eye during image playback. For those occasions where the automatic feature doesn’t detect red eye, a manual correction function is provided. Images saved at a high pixel settings may be manually saved at lower pixel counts. Sound memos may be attached to images.

Exposure Compensation

Exposure compensation of +/- 2EV in 1/3 EV increments is available in all but movie, auto and manual (M) modes.

Light Metering

Evaluative metering is the camera default setting, but center-weighted or spot metering methods may be selected by the user in P, Tv, Av or M modes.

Evaluative metering was used for all shooting with the SX100 IS for this review, and did a good job overall. As with many cameras, there was some loss of highlights in bright, relatively high contrast scenes, but the camera meter got it right far more often than it was wrong.

Focus/Macro Focus

Normal focus range at wide angle is 1.6 feet to infinity; 3.3 feet to infinity at telephoto.

Macro focus at wide angle is 0.39 inches to infinity.

Manual focus is 0.39 inches to infinity at wide angle; 3.3 feet to infinity at telephoto.

There is an AF-assist beam to help with low light conditions; AF acquisition time in good light is in the half-second range.

Monitor

The 2.5 inch LCD monitor is of 172,000 dot composition, about midway in the range that sees some monitors with as high as 230,000 or as low as 115,000 compositions. The monitor can be difficult to use in bright outdoor light, but is adequate for photo review and/or composition in good lighting conditions. The monitor is adjustable for fourteen levels of illumination.

The monitor can be set to display shooting information or present a virtually clear screen, and grid lines may be overlaid to assist with photo composition.

There is no viewfinder.

Flash

Flash on the SX100 IS is manually deployed, and offers a range of about 9.8 feet at wide angle or 6.6 feet at telephoto. Flash performance was generally good as to exposure and color rendition, but recycle times are, according to Canon, "twelve seconds or less".

I found shots at near or full flash output generally meant a seven to ten second recharge time; shots in brighter conditions or at closer range would sometimes find the flash ready again in 4 seconds. I tried fresh alkaline and NiMH (2700 mAh) batteries and got similar recharge times with each – if anything, the alkalines may have been a tiny bit quicker. While the flash recharges the monitor goes black and the camera goes with it, but you can always hum the tune to "Jeopardy" as you wait for them to come back to life. Lowering the flash while it recharges doesn’t seem to do any good – the camera stays off line until the flash comes back up, even though you’re trying to convince it you don’t want the flash.

Shutter performance with flash drops off a bit as the camera uses the AF assist beam in red eye reduction mode before firing the flash, but the camera is still fairly responsive with flash enabled.

(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)

Color

Default color on the SX100 IS was pleasing and accurate to my eye. "My colors" options are available in stitch assist, movie, P, Tv, Av, and M modes. These include vibrant and neutral color settings, sepia, black and white and a custom setting that allows the user to set sharpness and saturation before shooting.

Normal (view medium image) (view large image)	Vivid (view medium image) (view large image)
Neutral (view medium image) (view large image)	Sepia (view medium image) (view large image)
B&W (view medium image) (view large image)

ISO

Auto ISO is the default setting and will establish a sensitivity of 80 to 200 ISO depending on conditions – this setting puts a priority on image quality according to the Canon manual. There is a High ISO Auto setting that expands this envelope to 800 ISO on the high side. Manual settings of 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600 are available in P, Tv, Av and M modes.

That auto ISO range should be our clue as to where Canon considers this camera’s ISO strength lies, and the blue sky shots bear this out. 80 and 100 are pretty close with 200 a bit noisier, but still not bad. Noise starts ramping up above 200, with a fairly dramatic jump between 400 and 800. The ISO levels don’t look quite so bad in the "real world" daytime shots, particularly if they stay small, but you clearly want to shoot the SX100 IS at 200 or less if noise avoidance is a paramount consideration.

ISO 80	ISO 100	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 800	ISO 1600

ISO 80 (view medium image) (view large image)	ISO 100 (view medium image) (view large image)	ISO 200 (view medium image) (view large image)
ISO 400 (view medium image) (view large image)	ISO 800 (view medium image) (view large image)	ISO 1600(view medium image) (view large image)

White Balance

Auto white balance was used for all the shots taken by the SX100 IS for this review, and performed well. Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H and Custom settings are available in stitch assist, movie, P, Tv, Av and M modes.

Battery Performance

Canon rates the camera for about 140 shots with alkaline AAs, and 400 shots with Ni-MH types. I was using new batteries doing flash and other comparisons and didn’t get a chance to verify these figures, but the camera definitely went through the alkalines much quicker than the Ni-MH. I would think two pairs of Ni-MH would handle a day’s shooting.

Shutter Performance

The SX100 IS shutter can range from 15 to 1/2500^th of a second. Shutter lag once focus is acquired with the SX100 IS in good light is negligible – the camera shoots immediately once the shutter button is fully depressed. Shot-to-shot times in single shot mode ran about 2.7 seconds with a SanDisk Extreme III SD card, and about 3 seconds with a standard SanDisk (shoot, wait for camera to write, re-acquire focus and shoot), for images at the Superfine/Large quality level. If your shooting style/subject allows you to acquire focus and then shoot when the time is right, you’ll like the SX100 IS.

(view medium image) (view large image)

The continuous shooting mode produced 5 shots in about 3.25 to 3.5 seconds with the Extreme III and took about 3.75 to 4.25 seconds with the standard card. Continuous shooting applies the focus from the initial image to all subsequent shots as long as the shutter button is depressed, so if your subject moves off of the initial focus point you may find that your shots go off as well. After the initial shot there is a brief blackout of the monitor, then the first shot is displayed as the next shot is being taken. The camera lags about one shot behind the subject, so panning with the monitor is an exercise in anticipation.

Continuous shooting with Auto Focus applies AF to each shot, but shooting times drop off – 5 shots in 5.25 to 5.5 seconds with the Extreme III, 5.75 to 6.25 seconds with the standard card. Continuous with AF results in about a 1 second blackout after each shot, but then the monitor comes back on live.

There is a "continuous shooting with live view" mode where the camera monitor stays live and you shoot continuously with a manually set focus position, but it’s only available in "fireworks" mode.

Lens Performance

The 10x optical zoom lens performed well overall. There is some barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from center of image) at the wide end and perhaps a tiny hint of vignetting (darkening of the corners) at the telephoto end. The telephoto end of the lens seemed a little sharper overall, and there is some chromic aberration (purple fringing) in high-contrast boundary areas of images, but this will go largely unnoticed in all but the biggest enlargements.

The lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 at the wide end, and f/4.3 at the telephoto end, making it a fairly fast light gatherer. Canon makes 400mm lenses with maximum apertures of f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6 for its DSLR line, so at its 360mm length the SX100 IS lens falls into the middle of the speed range of the lenses Canon provides for its top cameras.

We came upon a herd of Desert Bighorn Sheep grazing along the roadway on the outskirts of Boulder City, Nevada and were able to put the SX100 IS lens range to good use. The sheep were obviously not completely afraid of humans, but they were not entirely trusting, either. The zoom range of the lens allowed us to stay far enough away to not spook the animals into running, yet capture some fairly good close ups at the same time.

(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)

MISCELLANEOUS

The SX100 IS is PictBridge compliant and also features a Print/Share button for easy downloading to Pixma, CP and SELPHY printers.

The mode dial and controls located on the camera back allow the user to access many shooting settings without having to resort to internal menus, including "my colors", image size and quality, metering method, exposure compensation and white balance.

There is a 4x digital zoom capability.

(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)
(view medium image) (view large image)	(view medium image) (view large image)

CONCLUSION

The Canon Powershot SX100 IS offers a blend of automatic and manual shooting options that should appeal to a broad range of users. The novice can shoot in auto with confidence that the camera won’t let her down, and the more experienced user can make use of the manual controls to exert creative license on their shots. This relatively compact camera mounts a 10x optical zoom lens and offers good shutter performance, image color and quality along with optical stabilization.

Like Shakespeare’s rose, the SX100 IS has a few thorns – flash recycle times can shut the camera down for ten seconds after a shot, and continuous shooting capability isn’t particularly strong. If you shoot a lot of flash or like to shoot in bursts, the SX100 IS may not be for you. But if you need a small camera with a big lens, give this camera some serious consideration.

PROS

Long focal length lens
Good shutter performance
Compact size
Good image quality

CONS

Flash recycle times
No viewfinder
Unspectacular continuous shooting capability

European Bank holds rates steady, Bank of England cuts

2007-12-07T06:34:00.001-08:00

FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank held its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4% Thursday, despite surging inflation and a stronger euro, as it considers how ripples from the U.S. subprime mortgage morass will affect the economy.

Earlier Thursday, the Bank of England, worried about a slowing economy, cut its key rate a quarter of a point to 5.5%.

Analysts expect the ECB, which oversees monetary policy the 13 countries that use the euro, to wait until the second quarter next year before it moves again, in no rush to follow rate cuts in the United States and Canada.

"Inflation has increased over the recent months and economic data are not so weak that the ECB is really concerned about the economy in Europe," said Commerzbank economist Matthias Rubisch. "If you look in the future, probably weaker economic data will lead to the ECB lowering rates."

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB stands ready to counter upside inflation risks.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: | | | |

"We will ensure that ... risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialize," he said.

Trichet said the fundamentals of the euro zone economy remain sound but financial market turbulence means continued uncertainty around the effect on the economy.

Higher prices for oil and food have led inflation higher in the euro zone — a bloc of 317 million people that accounts for more than 15% of the world's gross domestic product. Inflation surged to a 3% rate last month, according to a first estimate, highest since the euro was introduced into general circulation in 2002 and well above the ECB's guideline of just under 2%.

Nearly all analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires believe the ECB will keep its rate unchanged until the second quarter next year, with some predicting gradual decreases to as low as 3.5% by the end of the year.

"Money market rates are rising again, but with the ECB Council unconvinced about either a dramatic slowing of growth prospects or an impairment of credit supply, it won't feel compelled to alter its policy course," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note to investors.

Most of the uncertainty in the markets traces back to the subprime mortgage debacle that originated in the United States and spread worldwide because the bad loans had been repackaged and sold to other banks. The worries about the U.S. housing market and U.S. interest rate cuts have hurt the dollar, which has been setting new lows against the euro and trading around 26-year lows against the pound.

UnitedHealth ex-CEO will pay $466M to settle options case

2007-12-07T06:32:00.001-08:00

n the federal government's largest stock-option-backdating case, the Securities and Exchange Commission and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) announced Thursday a record $468 million settlement against former company CEO William McGuire.

In its civil complaint, the SEC charged that McGuire signed backdated documents that repeatedly led UnitedHealth to grant in-the-money stock options to himself and other company executives and employees without disclosing the expenses, as required by accounting rules.

McGuire approved documents that falsely showed the stock options had been granted on earlier dates, when UnitedHealth's share price was at low points — thus increasing the value of the options.

McGuire, without admitting or denying the charges, will disgorge gains of $11 million, pay a $7 million civil penalty and reimburse UnitedHealth about $448 million of all equity-based pay and cash bonuses he received from 2003 through 2006. McGuire also is barred from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded firm for 10 years.

UnitedHealth said that former general counsel David Lubben will repay the company $21 million in exercised stock options from March, plus return unexercised stock options valued at $3 million.

FIND MORE STORIES IN

An arbitrator will determine a settlement amount for former director William Spears, who resigned last year after an investigation by private attorneys hired by UnitedHealth found that he had worked as an investment manager for McGuire and his family.

The settlement comes as a special committee of former Minnesota Supreme Court justices concluded its investigation into the backdating scandal and released an 80-page report and settlement.

The special committee, UnitedHealth and shareholders' attorneys also announced a $300 million settlement to end a civil lawsuit against the company's executives and officers by pension funds in Ohio and elsewhere.

2007-12-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had for the ADP Non-Farm Payroll (for USD) a very good result. 189000 as against 50000, last result, what made the USD to get stronger. The ADP result make us believe that the result for the Non-Farm Payroll will be a very good one.

EUR

For the euro we have today at 13:00 Factory Orders for Germany where the forecast is 0.9% as against -2.5%.

At 14:45 we have the Interest Rate for the euro where the forecast is-no change, but at 15:30 Trichet will speak.

EUR/USD

R1: 1.4591; R2: 1.4645; R3: 1.4696; R4: 1.4785

S1: 1.4519; S2: 1.4467; S3: 1.4426

GBP

For the GBP we have at 14:00 the interest rate where the forecast is-no change, but the BoE governors comments are very important.

The pound get weaker because the traders are betting for a 0.25% cut.

R1: 2.0260; R2: 2.0336; R3: 2.0476

S1: 2.0207; S2: 2.0148; S3: 2.0089

USD

For the greenback we have at 15:30 Initial Jobless Claims where the forecast is 340.0k as against 352.0k, last result.

CAD

For the CAD we have at 17:00 Service PMI where the forecast is 55.0 as against 57.1, last result.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700

2007-12-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 ($1400) is the second digital SLR from the Japanese electronics giant. This camera was first shown at PMA earlier this year, and had been referred to as the "advanced amateur" model. The camera is a descendant of Konica Minolta's digital SLRs, as Sony bought their assets in 2006. Thus, the A700 has many of the same features that were found on Minolta D-SLRs of days past. These include the Alpha lens mount, hot shoe, sensor-shift image stabilizer, EyeStart AF, and more.

Here are some standout features on the A700:

12.2 effective Megapixel Sony "Exmor" CMOS sensor with on-chip noise reduction
Support for Minolta and Sony lenses that use the Alpha mount
Super SteadyShot image stabilization system
Rugged, weather resistant body
Dust reduction system
Ultra high resolution 3-inch LCD display
5 frame/second continuous shooting
Fully adjustable Dynamic Range Optimizer; user can bracket for DRO as well
11-point center dual cross autofocus system
Dual memory card slots (CF + MS Duo), with the former supporting UDMA cards
HDMI output

One feature you won't find on the A700 is live view. Three months ago I don't think anyone would care, but with the introduction of the Canon EOS-40D, Nikon D300, and Panasonic DMC-L10, the A700 seems a bit out-of-place.

How does the A700 perform against this tough competition? Find out now in our review!

What's in the Box?

The A700 is available in three kits: one with just the camera body ($1400), another with a 18 - 70 mm lens ($1500), and a third with a 16 - 105 mm lens ($1900). Here's what you'll find in the box for all three of these kits:

The 12.2 effective Megapixel DSLR-A700 camera body
F3.5 - 5.6, 18 - 70 mm Sony DT lens [DSLR-A700K kit only]
F3.5 - 5.6, 16 - 105 mm Sony DT lens [DSLR-A700P kit only]
NP-FM500H lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Battery charger
Wireless remote control
Body cap
Shoulder strap
USB cable
Video cable
CD-ROM featuring Picture Motion Browser, Image Data Converter, Image Data Lightbox, and Remote Camera Control software
19 page Read This First guide + 179 page camera manual (both printed)

The 18 - 70 mm lens in the cheaper kit isn't new -- it was the kit lens for the DSLR-A100. The 16 - 105 mm lens is a new one, and its what I used for all of the sample photos in this review. The 16-105 lens is available separately for $580, if you don't buy to buy the pricey A700P kit right now. Otherwise, you can use most Minolta and all Sony-branded lenses with the A700, with a 1.5X focal length conversion ratio.

Digital SLRs never come with a memory card, so unless you have a CompactFlash or Memory Stick Duo card laying around, you'll need to buy one. The A700 supports both of these formats, and I'd recommend a 2GB card as a good starter size. It's absolutely worth spending the extra bucks for a high speed card, as D-SLRs really takes advantage of them.

The A700 uses the brand spankin' new NP-FM500H lithium-ion battery pack. This battery packs a lot of power, with 11.8 Wh of energy inside its plastic shell. Being what Sony calls an "InfoLithium" battery, the camera is able to tell you exactly how much charge the battery has left. Now, here's a look at how the A700 compares to other D-SLRs in terms of battery life:

Camera	Battery life, 50% flash use, live view disabled (CIPA standard)	Battery used
Canon EOS-40D	800 shots	BP-511A
Fuji FinePix S5 Pro	400 shots	NP-150
Nikon D80 *	600 shots	EN-EL3e
Nikon D300	1000 shots	EN-EL3e
Olympus E-3	610 shots	BLM-1
Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10	450 shots	DMW-BLA13
Pentax K10D	480 shots	D-LI50
Sony Alpha DSLR-A100	750 shots	NP-FM55H
Sony Alpha DSLR-A700	650 shots	NP-FM500H
* Not officially calculated with CIPA standard, but same methodology used Battery life numbers are provided by the manufacturer

The A700's battery life is just a hair above the average for this group. It's numbers are actually 15% worse than the original DSLR-A100 -- usually its the other way around.

I should point out a few issues regarding the proprietary battery used by the A700. First, they're really expensive -- an extra one will set you back at least $55. Second, you can't use an off-the-shelf battery when the rechargeable dies, as you could with an AA-based camera. Some cameras, however, can use AA batteries via their optional battery grips, but the A700 isn't one of them.

Above you can see the A700's optional battery grip, which is known as the VG-C70AM (priced from $315). It replicates quite a few of the buttons found on the back of the camera, including the two command dials, the four-way controller, and the shutter release button. The grip can hold one or two NP-FM500H batteries, allowing for double the battery life.

When it's time to charge the A700's battery, just pop it into the included charger. A typical charge takes around 175 minutes, while a full charge will take a whopping 235 minutes. The charger doesn't plug directly into the wall (which I like) -- you have to attach a power cable.

Sony includes a wireless remote control in the box with the A700. As you can see, it can be used for both taking and viewing your photos. This will come in handy when you're hooked into a HDTV. Speaking of which, in order to take advantage of the camera's HDMI port, you'll need a Mini HDMI to HDMI cable, which is not included.

Being a digital SLR, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that the DSLR-A700 supports plenty of accessories. Here's a summary of what's available:

Accessory	Model #	Price *	Description
Lenses	Varies	Varies	The A700 supports all Konica Minolta and Sony lenses that use the Alpha mount
External flash	HVL-F36AM HVL-F56AM	From $206 From $309	You'll get more flash power and less chance of redeye with an external flash. These two models fully integrate with the camera.
Macro twin flash kit	HVL-MT24AM	$500	For taking close-up flash photos
Ring light	HVL-RLAM	$250	Light up your macro shots
Angle finder	FDA-A1AM	$160	For looking through the viewfinder from above
Wired remote control	RM-S1AM RM-L1AM	From $53 $60	Basically a shutter release button on a cable. The S1 has a short cable, while the L1's is quite long (5 meters)
Battery grip	VG-C70AM	From $315	Get double the battery life and a comfortable vertical grip
AC adapter / Dual battery charger	AC-VQ900AM	From $103	Power your camera without draining your batteries; can also charge two batteries (though not simultaneously)
Mini HDMI cable (5 ft)	VMC-15MHD	From $25	For connecting to an HDTV; you can find non-Sony cables for less online
LCD protect cover	PCK-LH1AM	$12	A polycarbonate cover than snaps over the LCD to protect it from scratches and fingerprints
Soft carrying case	LCS-AMLC2	$100	A fitted leather case for camera and one lens
Accessory kit	ACC-AMFM11	$100	Includes a canvas camera bag and extra battery
* Prices were accurate at time of publication

A pretty standard selection for a D-SLR, I'd say -- and that's a good thing.

Normal thumbnail view in Picture Motion Browser

Sony includes several software products with the A700. The first one is Picture Motion Browser, and it's for Windows only. PMB can be used for acquiring photos from the camera, organizing them, and performing basic editing tasks.

Calendar view in PMB

Photos can be viewed in the traditional way (first screenshot) or in calendar view (above). Whichever view you're using, you can print photos, e-mail them, or burn them to a CD or DVD. Photos can also be quickly rotated, and a slideshow features is also available.

Edit screen in PMB

Editing options are fairly limited in Picture Motion Browser. Tools include auto enhancement, brightness, saturation, and sharpness adjustment, redeye reduction, and cropping. You can also adjust the tone curve, or print the date on your photo.

While Picture Motion Browser can view RAW files, it can't do anything with them. For that you'll want to fire up one of the following programs.

Image Data Converter SR

Image Data Converter SR 2.0 is your main RAW editing application. It works on both Mac and Windows, and it seemed relatively quick at performing edits. If you can imagine an image property to edit, chances are that IDC can do it. Some of the highlights include D-Range Optimizer adjustment, noise reduction, tone curves, and staples like white balance and exposure. A "version stack" option lets you go back in time through your various adjustments. Users can also save processing formulas, which can be applied to other images with the click of your mouse. Finally, there's a one-push "send to Photoshop" button, which exports the file to TIFF format and opens it up in Adobe's photo editor. Speaking of which, you can also open the camera's RAW files in Photoshop CS3, presuming that you have the latest Camera Raw plug-in.

Image Data Lightbox SR

A related program is known as Image Data Lightbox SR. This is an image browser that lets you select up to four images and view them zoomed in and side-by-side so you can compare details. The "synchronous" option moves the images you're comparing at the same time, which is quite handy.

Oh, and if you have no idea what the heck RAW is, I'll tell you. Basically, it's a file containing unprocessed image data direct from the camera's sensor. You'll need to process it on your computer (or on the camera -- more on this later), but this allows you to adjust things like white balance, exposure, and noise reduction, without reducing the quality of the original image. It's almost like taking the photo again. RAW files are quite a bit larger than their JPEG counterparts, though thankfully Sony offers a compressed RAW format, which helps to keep the file sizes down (by about 33%).

Remote Camera Control

The final piece of software included with the A700 is called Remote Capture Control. As its name implies, it lets you take photos from your computer via a USB connection. Photos are saved on your Mac or PC, so no memory card is needed. You can adjust many of the camera's settings in the software, though not even close to all of them.

The manual for the DSLR-A700 is split into two parts. There's a "Read This First" guide to get you up and running, and a much thicker manual that covers the details. The quality of the manuals is very good -- they're easy to read, with large type and a minimum of "notes" on each page. And that's a good thing, since this is a pretty complex camera.

Look and Feel

The DSLR-A700 is a midsize, rectangular-shaped digital SLR. It's made of a magnesium alloy (with some high grade plastic thrown in for good measure) and feels like a brick in your hands (that's good). The right hand grip is excellent, giving the A700 a secure feel in my hands. The buttons, dials, and doors on the camera are sealed against dust and moisture. Speaking of buttons, the camera has a lot of them -- it's a bit of a poster child for button clutter. Thankfully, they're all well-labeled.

The A700 is a larger, less-rounded version of the "old" DSLR-A100. Here's how the two look side-by-side:

DSLR-A100	DSLR-A700



Images courtesy of Sony Electronics. Photos not to scale.

As you can see, there are some similarities between the two, but a lot of differences as well.

Now, here's a look at how the A700 compares to other D-SLRs in its class:

Camera	Dimensions (W x H x D, excluding protrusions)	Volume (bulk)	Mass (empty)
Canon EOS-40D	5.7 x 4.2 x 2.9 in.	69.4 cu in.	740 g
Fuji FinePix S5 Pro	5.8 x 4.4 x 2.9 in.	74 cu in.	830 g
Nikon D300	5.8 x 4.5 x 2.9 in.	75.7 cu in.	825 g
Nikon D80	5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0 in.	64 cu in.	585 g
Olympus E-3	5.6 x 4.6 x 2.9 in.	74.7 cu in.	810 g
Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10	5.3 x 3.8 x 3.1 in.	62.4 cu in.	480 g
Pentax K10D	5.6 x 4.0 x 2.8 in.	62.7 cu in.	710 g
Sony Alpha DSLR-A100	5.3 x 3.8 x 2.9 in.	58.4 cu in.	545 g
Sony Alpha DSLR-A700	5.6 x 4.3 x 3.3 in.	79.5 cu in.	690 g

While it's not quite the heaviest camera in its class, the DSLR-A700 is the largest, with the Nikon D300 close behind. I don't think the target audience of this camera will mind, though (I certainly don't).

Okay, enough about all that, let's start our tour of the A700 now, beginning with the front.

Here's the A700 without a lens attached. The A700 uses the Alpha (α) lens mount, which was first developed by Minolta. That means that your old KM lenses will work, plus the 20+ Sony-branded lenses that are now available (many of which are just rebadged Minolta lenses). There's a 1.5X focal length conversion ratio, so a 50mm lens has the field-of-view of a 75mm lens. To remove a lens from the camera, just press the button to the immediate right of the lens mount.

There are two important features hidden behind the mirror in the above photo. First is the A700's image stabilization system, which Sony calls Super SteadyShot. Sensors inside the camera detect the "camera shake" caused by the tiny motions of your hands, which can blur your photos (especially in low light, or when using a telephoto lens). The A700 compensates for this motion by shifting the sensor. Sony says that their IS system can give you a 2.5 to 4 stop advantage over unstabilized cameras. Since the IS system is built into the camera body, every lens you attach to the A700 will be stabilized (similar to the Olympus E-3).

Here's a quick example of the camera's OIS system in action:

Image stabilization off

Image stabilization on

The two shots above were taken at the VERY slow shutter speed of 0.8 sec, so it's not surprising that it came out blurry without image stabilization. However, with SteadyShot turned on, I got a pretty darn sharp photo -- most impressive. Remember that image stabilization can't work miracles, though. It cannot freeze a moving subject, nor will it allow for multi-second exposures without the use of a tripod. Still, it's an extremely helpful feature to have.

The same system that prevents camera shake is also used to remove dust from the CMOS sensor. Whenever you turn off the camera, the sensor is quickly shaken, which helps to knock dust off of the low pass filter. This same low pass filter is "charged", to help dust from settling there in the first place. As someone who has experienced dust issues on my own cameras, this is a feature I'm happy to see.

Above the lens mount is the A700's pop-up flash, which is released manually. The flash has a guide number (GN) of 12 meters at ISO 100. Checking the competition, the Canon EOS-40D and Olympus E-3 have a guide numbers of 13, the Nikon D300 is 12, and the Pentax K10D scores an 11. If you want more flash power, you can add an external flash via the hot shoe or flash sync port that you'll see in a bit.

Next to the A700 logo is the camera's dedicated AF-assist lamp (most D-SLRs use the flash). The camera uses this as a focusing aid in low light situations. This lamp also serves as a visual countdown for the self-timer.

Over on the grip you can see the remote control receiver and the "grip sensor". The grip sensor is tied into the EyeStart AF system, basically telling the camera that you're holding the camera and preparing to take a photo. More on this in a bit.

Though they're hard to see here, you'll find the depth-of-field preview button to the lower-left of the lens mount, with the focus mode dial on the opposite side. The focus mode dial lets you choose between, single, continuous, automatic, and manual focus. Single focus mode locks the focus when you halfway press the shutter release. In continuous mode, the camera continues to focus while the shutter release is halfway-pressed, which is useful when your subject is in motion. Automatic mode will switch between the two automatically, depending on what's going on in the frame.

Now that's a lot of buttons, dials, and switches! But before I get to those, I want to talk about the real star of the A700's "backside" -- its 3-inch LCD. The screen is stunning, and I'm guessing that Nikon is using the same one on their D3 and D300 cameras. The screen resolution is 640 x 480 (most are 320 x 240), with 921,600 dots (307,000 pixels) -- which is four times more than your typical LCD. The screen is exceptionally sharp, bright, and easy to see from a variety of angles. As I mentioned earlier, the A700 does not have a live view feature -- the screen is for menus and reviewing photos only.

Since there's no LCD info panel on the top of the camera, the main LCD has to pick up the slack. As you can see above, plenty of data is available, and if that's too much, a simpler view is also available. By pressing the Function button, you can use the four-way controller to adjust any of these settings, as you can see in the screenshot on the right. I should also mention that if you have the camera in the vertical orientation, that the data on this screen will be rotated appropriately.

Directly above the LCD is the camera's large and bright optical viewfinder. It has a magnification of 0.90x, and it shows 95% of the frame. Inside the viewfinder, just under the field of view, is a line of data in green. Here you'll see the shutter speed and aperture, exposure, buffer capacity, and how much camera shake the camera is detecting at that moment. A diopter correction knob, located on the right side of the eyepiece, focuses what you're seeing in the viewfinder.

On the bottom of the viewfinder are the sensors that make up the camera's EyeStart AF system. In a nutshell, if the camera detects that you're holding the camera (via the grip sensor) and you put your eye against the viewfinder, it will start to focus. I actually found this feature a bit annoying, and turned it off. Part of the camera's Minolta heritage, I guess.

Now let's talk about all the buttons, dials, and switches on the back of the A700. To the left of the viewfinder is the power switch -- easy enough. On the opposite side we find the AE lock button, which is also used for activating slow sync when you're using the flash. Around this button is the metering mode dial, which lets you select from multi-segment, center-weighted, and spot metering.

Next to that is the AF/MF button, which lets you quickly switch between auto and manual focus -- handy if you need to make a quick adjustment to the focus. Continuing to the right, we find the first of two command dials on the A700, which is used for adjusting manual settings or navigating the menus.

Working our way down now, we find the four-way controller. You'll use this for menu navigation, adjusting settings on the info display (described above), and for selecting one of the camera's 11 focus points.

Below that we have the custom and function buttons, plus the on/off switch for the Super SteadyShot system. By default, the custom button opens up the Creative Style menu (which I'll discuss later), but it can be programmed to do many other things. In playback mode, this button shows you more details about your photos. The function button activates the Quick Navigation feature that I described above, while in playback mode it will rotate the current photo. Oh, and why would you want to ever turn off the image stabilization system? A great time to do so is when the camera is on a tripod, where IS can actually do more harm than good.

Moving now to the left side of the LCD, we have four, very easy-to-describe buttons:

Menu
Display - toggles info shown on LCD
Delete photo
Playback mode

Believe it or not, that's the last of the items on the back of the A700!

Now onto the top of the camera. On the left side of things, we find the camera's mode dial, which has the following options:

Option	Function
Auto mode	Point and shoot with some menu options locked up.
Program mode	Still automatic, but with access to all menu options. A Program Shift lets you quickly adjust the shutter speed or aperture by using the command dials.
Aperture priority mode	You choose aperture, camera picks appropriate shutter speed. Range depends on lens used.
Shutter priority mode	You choose shutter speed, camera picks aperture. Shutter speed range is 30 - 1/8000 sec.
Manual mode	Choose both the shutter speed and aperture yourself (same ranges as above). A manual shift mode lets you adjust the shutter speed and aperture together; a bulb mode will keep the shutter open for as long as the shutter release is pressed.
Memory recall mode	Stores up to three sets of your favorite camera settings
NIght view / portrait	These are all scene modes
Sunset
Sports action
Macro
Landscape
Portrait

The full selection of manual controls on the A700 should not come as a surprise. The camera also lets you store three separate sets of cameras settings via its Memory Recall feature. If you don't want to even think about manual controls, then don't worry: the camera has both automatic and scene modes.

Next up, we have the A700's hot shoe, which is normally protected by a plastic cover. This is the legacy Konica Minolta hot shoe, so it won't work with your average off-the-shelf external flash, though you can use the flash sync port if you have one of those. The A700 works best with the two Sony flashes I described in the accessories section: you'll get TTL metering, high speed flash sync, and wireless support. Other flashes will probably have to be controlled manually. The A700 can sync as fast as 1/200 sec with image stabilization turned on, and 1/250 sec with it turned off.

Now I want to talk about the four buttons on the right side of the above photo. Here are what they control:

Drive (Single shot, high/low continuous, 10/2 sec self-timer, AE bracketing, WB bracketing, DRO advanced bracketing, remote control)
White balance (Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, flash, color temp/color filter, custom 1-3)
ISO (100 - 6400, in 1/3-step increments)
Exposure compensation (-3EV to +3EV, in 1/3-step increments)

Lots to talk about before we move on. First, those drive modes. In high speed continuous mode, the camera took 14 RAW (including cRAW) and an unlimited number of JPEGs at an impressive 5 frames/second. If that's too fast for you, you can downshift into low speed continuous mode, which shoots at 3 frames/second. Checking the competition, the Olympus E-3 also shoots at 5 frames/second, while the Canon EOS-40D and Nikon D300 can do 6.5 and 6.0 fps, respectively.

Most of the other drive options are related to bracketing. You've can bracket for exposure (3 or 5 shots, either one at a time or continuously), white balance (3 shots in a row with either 10 or 20 mired between each shot), and now for dynamic range as well. The DRO advanced bracket feature will take just one exposure, but it will process it into three photos, each with an increasing amount of DRO applied to it. The more DRO that is applied, the more the shadow detail is brought out. I'll have an example of the DRO feature when I get to the mention discussion.

Manual white balance adjustment

The camera has more than its share of white balance controls as well. You have the usual presets, plus a custom mode that will let you use a white or gray card to obtain accurate color in mixed or unusual lighting (the A700 can store up to three of these custom WB settings). If that's still not enough, you can either set the white balance by color temperature (2500K - 9900K) or tweak the color in the green or magenta directions.

The lines around the three highest ISO settings are a warning about noise

The camera lets you adjust the ISO from 100 to 6400 in 1/3-step increments, and the camera highlights ISO 4000, 5000, and 6400 to remind you that photo quality will be compromised at those settings.

The last two items on the top of the DSLR-A700 are the shutter release button and the second command dial.

The main thing to see on this side of the A700 are its I/O ports. I should also mention the focus mode dial, which I mentioned earlier.

And now, those I/O ports, all of which are protected by rubber covers:

The left-most I/O ports are for an external flash (via a flash sync cable), the optional wired remote, and the optional AC adapter.

The port on the top is for HDMI video output. The A700 isn't the first camera to support HDMI out, but it's still a nice way to view your photos -- in HD. The included remote control lets you do it from the comfort of your recliner. Again, you'll need to buy a mini-HDMI to HDMI video cable, as it's not included with the camera.

If you don't have HDMI on your TV, don't worry -- that second port is for regular composite video output. That port is also used for USB, and the A700 supports the USB 2.0 High Speed standard, as you'd expect.

On the other side of the camera you'll find its dual memory card slots, which are protected by a plastic door of decent quality. The smaller slot on the left is for Memory Stick Duo cards, while the big one is for CompactFlash Type I and II cards. The A700 supports UDMA CompactFlash cards, which can write data as fast as 40MB/sec.

On the bottom of the camera you'll find a metal tripod mount and the battery compartment. The door over the battery compartment is of average quality.

The included NP-FM500H InfoLithium battery is shown at right.

Using the Sony Alpha DSLR-A700

Record Mode

The A700 is ready to shoot a fraction of second after it's been turned on.

Autofocus speeds will vary depending on your choice of lens. With both the 16 - 105 mm kit lens as well as the optional 16 - 80 mm Zeiss lens, focus times were very snappy. Typically you'll wait between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds for the camera to lock focus, with slightly longer waits at the telephoto end of the lens. If the camera really had to "hunt", the wait could exceed a second, but that wasn't common. Low light focusing was very good thanks to the camera's AF-assist lamp. Even in near total darkness, the camera was able to lock focus.

Shutter lag wasn't an issue, nor would I expect it to be.

Shot-to-shot delays were minimal. You can literally shoot as fast as you can compose your shots, or at least until you hit the buffer limit (which isn't easy).

You can delete a photo after you've taken it by pressing -- get ready -- the delete photo button!

Now, let's take a look at the numerous image size and quality choices on the A700:

Resolution	Quality	Approx. file size	# images on 1GB CF card (optional)
Large (12MP, 3:2) 4272 x 2848	RAW	18.8 MB	52
	cRAW	12.9 MB	76
	RAW+JPEG	24.4 MB	40
	cRAW+JPEG	18.4 MB	53
	Extra fine	10.5 MB	93
	Fine	5.6 MB	174
	Standard	3.8 MB	255
Large (10MP, 16:9) 4272 x 2400	RAW	18.8 MB	52
	cRAW	12.9 MB	76
	RAW+JPEG	23.8 MB	41
	cRAW+JPEG	17.8 MB	55
	Extra fine	9.0 MB	109
	Fine	4.9 MB	201
	Standard	3.4 MB	291
Medium (6.4MP, 3:2) 3104 x 2064	RAW+JPEG	22.2 MB	44
	cRAW+JPEG	16.3 MB	60
	Extra fine	6.1 MB	160
	Fine	3.4 MB	286
	Standard	2.4 MB	400
Medium (5.4MP, 16:9) 3104 x 1744	RAW	22.2 MB	44
	cRAW+JPEG	16.0 MB	61
	Extra fine	5.3 MB	185
	Fine	3.0 MB	325
	Standard	2.2 MB	446
Small (3MP, 3:2) 2128 x 1424	RAW	21.2 MB	46
	cRAW+JPEG	15.0 MB	65
	Extra fine	3.7 MB	266
	Fine	2.2 MB	452
	Standard	1.7 MB	589
Small (2.6MP, 16:9) 2128 x 1200	RAW	20.8 MB	47
	cRAW+JPEG	14.8 MB	66
	Extra fine	3.2 MB	305
	Fine	1.9 MB	503
	Standard	1.5 MB	650

If that's not the longest table in the history of this site, then it's close. The DSLR-A700 supports tons of different image size and quality options, including two RAW modes, two RAW+JPEG modes, and three different JPEG compression levels. The RAW and cRAW formats both allow for the same post-shot manipulation, with the latter being compressed, allowing for a smaller file size.

The DSLR-A700 names its files DSC0####.JPG where M = month, D = day, and #### = 0001 - 9999. As you'd expect, the numbering is maintained until you choose to reset it.

The A700 has an stylish and easy-to-navigate menu system that looks absolutely gorgeous on the high resolution LCD (the screenshots below don't do it justice). The menu is divided into several tabs, containing recording, custom, playback, and setup options. Here is the complete list:

Recording Menu Image size (Large, medium, small) Aspect ratio (3:2, 16:9) Quality (RAW, cRAW, RAW+JPEG, cRAW+JPEG, extra fine, fine, standard) D-Range Optimizer (Off, standard, advanced auto, advanced level 1-5) - see below Creative Style (Standard, vivid, neutral, Adobe RGB, custom 1-3) - see below Custom button (AF lock, AF/MF control, DOF preview, ISO, white balance, exposure compensation, flash compensation, drive mode, AF area, image size, quality, creative style, DRO, flash mode, memory) - define what this button does Exposure step (0.3, 0.5) Flash mode (Auto, fill flash, rear sync, wireless) Flash control (ADI flash, pre-flash, manual flash) - how the flash metering works Power ratio (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16) - only available when manual flash is selected Flash compensation (-3EV to +3EV in 1/3-step increments) ISO Auto max (400, 800, 1600) ISO Auto min (200, 400) AF-A setup (Automatic AF, direct manual focus) - the latter lets you manually focus after autofocus has run AF area (Wide, spot, local) - the latter allows you to manually select one of the eleven focus points Priority setup (AF, release) - whether the shutter will release if focus isn't locked AF illuminator (Auto, off) AF w/shutter (on/off) - whether camera focuses when you halfway-press the shutter release Long exposure noise reduction (on/off) High ISO noise reduction (Low, normal, high) Memory - save current settings to memory for later retrieval Record mode reset
Custom Menu EyeStart AF (on/off) - whether camera focuses when you put your eye against the viewfinder EyeStart trigger (With grip sensor, without grip sensor) - and whether the grip sensor is involved AF/MF button (AF/MF control, AF lock) AF/MF control (Hold, toggle) - only shown when previous option is set to AF/MF control AF drive speed (Fast, slow) AF area display (Off, 0.3, 0.6 secs) Focus hold button (Focus hold, DOF preview) - for lenses that have this button AEL button (AEL hold, AEL toggle, spot AEL hold, spot AEL toggle) - what this button does Control dial setup (Shutter speed/aperture, aperture/shutter speed) - which dial does what Dial exposure compensation (Off, front, rear) - allows you to adjust exposure comp with the command dials Control dial lock (on/off) - whether the control dials are active at all times Button operations (Exclusive display, quick navigation menu) - whether the direct buttons take you to their own menu, or just to their spot on the quick navigation menu (rec info screen) Release w/o card (Enable, disable) Release w/o lens (Enable, disable) Redeye reduction (on/off) Exposure compensation set (Ambient & flash, ambient only) Bracket order (0/-/+, -/0/+) Auto review (Off, 2, 5, 10 secs) Auto off w/viewfinder (on/off) - whether the LCD info screen turns off when you use the viewfinder Rec info display (Auto rotate, horizontal) - whether the rec info display rotates when the camera does Image orientation (Record, do not record) Custom reset
Playback Menu Delete (Marked images, all images) Format Protect (Marked images, all images, cancel all) DPOF setup (Marked images, all images, cancel all) Date imprint (on/off) Index print (Create, delete) Playback display (Auto rotate, manual rotate) - whether portraits are automatically rotated) Slideshow Interval (1, 3, 5, 10, 30 secs)
Setup Menu LCD brightness (-5 to +5, in 1-step increments) Info display time (5, 10, 30 secs, 1 min) - how long the rec info display is shown Power save (1, 3, 5, 10, 30 mins) Video output (NTSC, PAL) HDMI output (1080i, 720p, SD) Language Date/time setup Memory card (Memory Stick, CompactFlash) File number (Series, reset) Folder name (Standard form, date form) Select folder New folder USB connection (Mass Storage, PTP, Remote PC) Mass Storage card (Both cards, selected card) - whether one or both memory cards are shown when you're connected to a PC Menu start (Top, previous) - where you start off in the menus Delete confirm (Delete first, cancel first) - this one's dangerous Audio signals (on/off) Cleaning mode - flips up the mirror so you can use a blower to clean off any leftover dust Reset default

I want to mention two items before we move on. The first one I already touched on, and that's the Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO). This will boost the dynamic range of your photo, bringing out shadow detail. The basic "standard" option corrects the brightness and contrast of the entire image. The Advanced option optimizes brightness, contrast, and color area-by-area. You can also adjust how much DRO is applied to the image by adjusting the "level" from 1 to 5. The bracketing option I mentioned earlier makes this quite easy. Below is an example of the DRO system in action -- click the links to change the DRO setting.


Standard	Advanced auto	+1 DRO	+2 DRO	+3 DRO	+4 DRO	+5 DRO

As you can see, there are only minor differences between Standard and Advanced Auto mode, with the latter being a bit darker in the shadows. Things brighten up quickly when you're manually adjusting the DRO, and it becomes a little over-the-top at the highest settings. In my own time with the camera, I usually kept it at +3 when I needed the shadows brightened. If you're shooting in RAW mode, you can adjust this settings using Image Data Converter, as well.

The only other feature I want to describe is called Creative Styles, which is a whole lot like Picture Styles on Canon's D-SLRs. There are four preset (standard, vivid, neutral, and Adobe RGB) plus three custom styles (1 - 3). For those custom styles you can start with various presets, including the four I just listed plus clear, deep, light, portrait, landscape, sunset, night view, autumn leaves, B&W, and sepia. If you want to further tweak the settings, you can: contrast, saturation, sharpness, brightness, and zone matching can all be adjusted. If you're shooting RAW, you can adjust all of these items when you're post-processing.

And that's all I really want to say about the menu options! Let's move on to the test photos now, all of which were taken with the 16 - 105 mm kit lens.

The DSLR-A700 did an excellent job with our macro test subject. Colors are spot-on, and nicely saturated as well -- the A700 clearly had no trouble with my studio lamps. The subject has a very smooth appearance, which is what you expect to see on a digital SLR.

How close you'll be able to get to your subject depends on your choice of lens. If you plan on doing a lot of close-up photography, then you may want to consider getting a dedicated macro lens. Sony makes two of them, with focal ranges of 50 and 100 mm.

The night shot turned out just as well. The camera took in plenty of light, which isn't surprising, as you have full control over shutter speed. The image is a tad soft, but there's still a lot of detail captured here. If you're looking for noise or purple fringing, keep looking -- there isn't any. I should also mention that the camera handled that US Bank sign perfectly, which is frequently blown out by other cameras.

I have two ISO tests for you in this review, and the first one uses the night scene you see above. In each shot, I increased the ISO in full-stop increments. Long exposure noise reduction was turned on. Here we go:

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

There's very little difference between the first two crops. At ISO 400 we start to see a bit of detail loss due to noise reduction, but a mid-to-large print is still possible here. The ISO 800 shot is slightly worse, but still usable for midsize prints (and larger, if you shoot in RAW). Noise reduction really starts to smudge details at ISO 1600, so I'd save this setting for small prints only. I'm not sure what you can do at sensitivities above that -- details are really wiped out. I'd definitely shoot in RAW mode at the higher sensitivities, as you'll be able to extract more detail out of the photos (more on that later). At the highest ISO settings, I think the Canon EOS-40D does slightly better than the A700, though shooting in RAW could negate this.

I wouldn't expect to see redeye on a digital SLR (since the flash is so far from the lens), and the A700 didn't disappoint. No red eyes here!

There's moderate barrel distortion at the wide end of the 16 - 105 mm kit lens. In real life, this will make things like buildings appear to curve inward. While vignetting (dark corners) wasn't a problem, I did see mild corner blurriness in a few of my photos.

Here's that second ISO test I promised you. This one is taken in the studio, and the results can be compared to those from other cameras I've reviewed. While the crops give you a hint about the noise levels at each ISO setting, I highly recommend viewing the full size images to get the most out of this test.

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

Everything looks as smooth as butter through ISO 800. Noise reduction starts to degrade the image a bit at ISO 1600, though there's plenty of detail left for a large-sized print. At ISO 3200 there's a slight color shift, and more noticeable detail loss due to noise reduction. If you look over at the ISO 3200 shot from the EOS-40D you'll see that Canon applies a lot less noise reduction to their photos, retaining more detail (at the expense of noise) than the A700. The A700's ISO 6400 setting isn't great -- there's a drop in exposure and color, and the whole image is pretty mottled. These are best left alone, in my opinion.

Want to see how to get more detail out of the A700? Just shoot in RAW mode!

The RAW image (left) looks considerably better than the straight-out-of-the-camera JPEG (right)

Above you can see a comparison between two images, which I created using Image Data Lightbox. It's the same photo, which I took as a RAW and a JPEG at ISO 3200. As you can see, there's more detail and a lot less mottling in the RAW image (at left) than in the JPEG. Thus, if you don't mind post-processing your high ISO shots, it's worth shooting in RAW. Another option is to turn the high ISO noise reduction to low, though this won't give you the same level of control as shooting in RAW.

Overall, I was very pleased with the photos produced by the DSLR-A700. My only complaint is that the camera had the occasional tendency to underexpose photos, but that's easy enough to fix. Aside from that, the news is good. The A700 produces pictures with vibrant colors, minimal noise, and near-zero purple fringing. Like most D-SLRs, images are on the soft side out of the camera, and if you agree, you can turn up the in-camera sharpening by using the Creative Styles feature.

Now, have a look at our photo gallery, which has all the usual suspects, plus some bonus shots of cars I can't afford. While you're there, print a few of the photos as if they were yours. Then you should be able to decide for yourself if the camera's photo quality meets your expectations!

Movie Mode

Digital SLRs do not have movie modes.

Playback Mode

The DSLR-A700 has a pretty basic playback mode. You get slideshows, DPOF print marking, image protection, image rotation, thumbnail view, and zoom and scroll. This last feature lets you enlarge the image by as much as 13 times, and then move around in the enlarged area -- perfect for verifying focus or sharpness. You can also move from image to image -- keeping the same zoom and location -- by using the top command dial.

The camera doesn't have any photo retouching or editing functions, unlike the Nikon and Olympus D-SLRs. The only thing you can do to photos is rotate them.

Various thumbnail views on the A700

Photos can be deleted all at once, one at a time, or as marked. To quickly delete a bunch of photos you can switch into one of the thumbnail views you see above.

By default, the camera doesn't show you much information about your photos, but press the custom (C) button and you'll get a lot more, including a histogram.

The A700 moves from photo to photo instantly in playback mode.

How Does it Compare?

With their Alpha DSLR-A700, Sony has created a midrange digital SLR that keeps up with the "big boys". The A700 offers an excellent mix of photo quality, performance, features, and build quality -- not to mention support for legacy Minolta lenses. Yes, it's lacking the live view feature of its competitors, but I don't really miss it, to be honest. While I don't see Canon and Nikon owners rushing to eBay to sell their gear to buy the A700, it's a great D-SLR for those with a collection of Minolta lenses. I enjoyed my time with the DSLR-A700, and can recommend it without hesitation.

The A700 is a fairly large, rectangular-shaped digital SLR. Not only does it look a bit like a brick, it feels like one too, courtesy of its magnesium alloy body. The camera's substantial right hand grip allows the camera to sit comfortably in your hand. The A700 features Sony's new 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor, which features a dust reduction system. The camera's Super SteadyShot image stabilization system moves the sensor to compensation for the effects of "camera shake", and it worked quite well for me. Since the IS system is built into the camera, every lens you attach will be stabilized, so there's no need to spend more on special stabilized lenses. The LCD on the A700 is absolutely fantastic. The resolution is leagues better than everything else on the market (save the D3/D300), though you'll only be using it for reviewing photos and operating the camera's menu system. The A700 is loaded with I/O ports, with the most notable one being an HDMI output port (cable not included). It also has dual memory card slots: one for CompactFlash, and the other for Memory Stick Duo. My only design complaints are the "legacy" hot shoe, and the scattering of buttons all around the camera, some of which are hard to find when you're shooting.

The A700 has quite a feature set, though it's a bit weak in the playback department. If you want point-and-shoot, you've got an auto mode and six scene modes. I imagine that most people will be using the camera's manual controls, and there are plenty to choose from. You've got the usual manual exposure modes, the ability to tweak the white balance to your heart's content, a custom button on the back of the camera, and the ability to store three sets of camera settings to the "MR" spot on the mode dial. Want more? The Creative Styles option lets you have preset contrast/saturation/sharpness/brightness/zone matching settings that you can access at the push of a button. There's also a dynamic range enhancement feature (which works well, just don't overdo it), and you can even use bracketing for that one. Naturally, the A700 can shoot in RAW format, and Sony has included a compressed RAW option as well. Editing RAW files is easy with the included Image Data Converter software, which lets you adjust virtually every parameter imaginable. The camera can also be controlled remotely via the bundled software.

Camera performance was excellent. The A700 is ready to shoot as soon as you turn it on, so you'll never miss a shot. Focus times were very good with the lenses I tested, with minimal delays. Low light focusing was accurate even in very low light, thanks to the camera's dedicated AF-assist lamp. Shutter lag wasn't a problem, and shot-to-shot speeds were excellent. While it can't shoot quite as fast as the 40D or D300, the A700 can still fire off 14 RAW/cRAW or an unlimited number of JPEGs at 5 frames/second. The camera's battery life was about average, and you can double it by using the optional battery grip. As you'd expect, the A700 supports the USB 2.0 High Speed standard, for fast data transfer to your Mac or PC.

ROMANIA IN GROAPA CU LEI!

2007-12-02T22:38:00.000-08:00

GHINION Deschamps, cel care a extras bila cu numele României, “i-a aruncat” pe tricolori în “grupa mortii”, una cu trei favorite la titlul european: Olanda, Franta si Italia.

Agitatie mare ieri-dimineata la Centrul de cultura si conferinte din Lucerna. Un covor rosu imens astepta delegatiile celor 16 echipe care urmau sa fie implicate la tragerea la sorti pentru turneul final al Euro 2008.

Câteva sute de curiosi frematau înainte de sosirea VIP-urilor, care, de la Jose Carreras la Sepp Blatter si Michel Platini, au început sa îsi faca aparitia înca de la ora 10:30 (ora Elvetiei). Oficialii tricolorilor au ajuns printre primii, cu aproximativ o ora înainte de startul ceremoniei. Toti erau optimisti. “Nu vom fi noi cei mai ghinionisti din lume”, spuneau la intrarea în cladire.

Nu banuiau însa ca aceste vorbe se vor dovedi profetice peste numai doua ore. Pozitionati în sala în ordinea urnelor valorice, oficialii FRF au fost directionati în dreapta Germaniei si în fata Spaniei si Portugaliei, undeva pe la mijlocul salii. Primul si-a ocupat locul Didi Prodan, în stânga caruia s-au asezat, în ordine, Victor Piturca, Bella Kassai, Mircea Mihail, Florin Prunea, Paul Zaharia, Cristi Iancu si Ionut Lupescu. Nasu’ a prins un loc mai bun, în fata, în primul rând, alaturi de mai marii UEFA. De altfel, Mircea Sandu avea si un costum inscriptionat cu sigla Comitetului Executiv, gri, asortat cu o cravata grena. Si ceilalti federali erau la patru ace, cu pantaloni gri, sacou albastru si cravata rosie. Exceptie a facut, ca de obicei, Piti, îmbracat într-un costum negru si camasa alba, fara cravata.

De ce ne-a fost frica n-am scapat

Gazdele au pregatit un program artistic. Dupa ce au fost prezentate câstigatoarele editiilor precedente ale turneelor finale si dupa ce s-a facut o trecere în revista a ultimului CE, cel din Portugalia, atentia a fost captata de tenorul Jose Carreras si de corul baietilor din Viena. Piti si compania pareau însa nerabdatori, nu-si gaseau locul pe scaune. Usor agitati, asteptau sa înceapa lucrurile serioase, adica tragerea la sorti. Sunt invitati pe scena fotbalisti reprezentanti din formatiile câstigatoare ale CE, care au primit rolul de a extrage numele echipelor din urne. Primele doua formatii se stiu dinainte, Elvetia si Austria, în grupele A si B. Urmeaza Olanda si Grecia, în C si D. Se trece apoi la urna 4. Turcia cu Elvetia, într-o reeditare a razboiului din barajul pentru CM 2006, Polonia cu Austria. “Aici ar fi bine!”, gândea Piti, completând constiincios pe o hârtie cele patru grupe. Austria probabil ca nici nu s-ar fi calificat daca nu ar fi fost gazda, iar Polonia nu ne-a speriat niciodata. Rumoare apoi. Franta în grupa Olandei! Prodan îsi face cruce. “Sa ne ajute Dumnezeu sa nu cadem aici!”.

Ramâne Rusia, care merge la greci. Incepe sa creasca pulsul, pentru ca urmeaza urna României. “Oriunde, numai în Grupa C nu!”, soptesc oficialii tricolorilor. Didier Deschamps e cel care se pregateste sa extraga bilele. Prima echipa: Portugalia, în grupa Elvetiei. Piti nu are nicio reactie. Am ratat una, mai sunt doua sanse. Dar Deschamps nu are mila. Germania cu Austria si Polonia. Chipul lui Piti e în continuare imobil. Acum e acum! Si inevitabilul se produce. România în grupa mortii! Cu Olanda si Franta. Piturca parca nu realizeaza, îsi trece doar mâna prin par, pentru a alunga un vis urât. Spania merge în grupa Greciei. Mai sunt doar patru echipe. Cehia se duce la Elvetia. Prodan începe sa faca haz de necaz si îi spune lui Piturca sa completeze numele Italiei în spatiul ramas liber în Grupa C. Croatia cu Austria, iar gluma se îngroasa. Si când e sa se aleaga praful... Vine si Italia!

Piti, epuizat, îsi lasa capul în jos. E prea mult. In sala, rumoare. Au început deja comentariile. Grupa de foc, cu finalistele ultimului Mondial, Italia, Franta, si Olanda, pretendenta la titlul european. România, ghinionista zilei.

1,5625% Acestea erau sansele teoretice ca România sa pice în cea mai grea grupa la Euro 2008, cu Olanda, Franta si Italia, adica 1 din 64!

2007-11-26T23:16:00.000-08:00

Canon Powershot G9 Review

The Canon Powershot G9 is a 12 megapixel digital camera with a 6x optical zoom lens. Those headline features only tell part of the story as the Powershot G9 is about the most advanced compact camera on the market. In terms of features it has a roll call similar to what you would expect from an SLR camera. It is ideal for a photography enthusiast or someone who owns an SLR, but is looking for a more portable second camera.

Image Quality
Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
My first outdoor scenic shot gets my tests off to a good start. I can see from the brickwork on the building that the camera is capable of taking sharp photos where the light is good. The sharp focus also holds as you move out towards the edges of the photo.

The Powershot G9 handles the glare of the sun as well as most other cameras manage. This means that there is a loss of detail where the sun directly strikes the boats. This problem is accentuated at this time of the year when the sun is lower in the sky.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
This is a good attempt at a wide angle shot. As with any camera with the scene somewhat distant this photos is not as sharp as all the other test photos.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
With the zoom lens fully extended the Powershot G9 manages to produces a pleasingly sharp shot. There is plenty of detail evident on the boats in the photo. Again checking the brickwork on the buildings in the shot I can see the camera is still capable of very sharp focus from a decent distance.

Outdoor Portrait
I like this photo. I have used the face detection setting to ensure the face is in sharp focus and a white balance setting of cloudy to pep up the colours in the shot. Both of these settings work well and this is a good result. I also like the brightness of the shot.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This is another photo that works well. The photo is sharp and bright. There was a touch of red eye in the original shot, but I was able to clean this up by using the red eye correction tool.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
Perhaps this photo is just a bit darker than I would like to see, but it is still a much better effort than most cameras manage. Considering the indoor lighting the shot is much sharper than I am used to seeing.

Colours
Colours more than any other part of a photograph are all about personal taste. The colours produced by Canon digital cameras in general are more or less perfect for me. They are vibrant without being too strong.

Macro
On a recent review I mentioned the fact that the macro shot was a good indicator as to the overall quality of the lens. Well the macro shot I have taken with the Powershot G9 is outstanding and is one of the very best I have taken in all the tests I have made. The key point for macro shots is clarity and I don't think this photo could be much sharper.

ISO 400
There is more detail showing in this shot than most other cameras are able to manage. You should be able to use this setting and get acceptable shots in some lower light situations.

ISO 1600
By the time you have pushed the ISO level above 400 picture quality does begin to fall. At ISO 1600 there is a clear fall off in the standard of the photo.

Overall
The Powershot G9 scores well in just about every area. It outperforms just about every other consumer camera on the market.

Shutter Lag
I was able to take a single photo in 0.39 seconds and five in 9.65 seconds. Although these are reasonable times they are disappointing for such an advanced camera. With flash times increased to 0.57 seconds or 11.92 seconds.

Style: The Powershot G9 has quite a chunky design. If I say it resembles a small brick you may get the wrong idea as what this does is give the camera a very sturdy feel. It is a good size to take a decent grip of and will appeal to many people looking for a "real" camera.

Dimensions: 106.4 x 71.9 x 42.5 mm

Weight: 320g

Batteries: Lithium ion. A battery and charger are supplied with the camera. Canon estimates you should be able to take around 240 shots between recharges.

Memory cards: A 32mb SD card is supplied with the camera. I was able to take 10 photos before the card was full. It is also compatible with SD HC cards.

Ease of use rating:Good. With all the features packed into the camera it is never going to score highly for ease of use. By adding a couple of extra dials though Canon have certainly improved usability and it is quicker to change key settings with the Powershot G9 than with most other compact cameras.

Points I like:
Picture quality - viewfinder - features - red eye correction tool - macro shot - LCD screen quality

Where it could improve:
Shutter lag times are longer than SLR lag times

Alternatives:
If you like the idea of an advanced compact, but find the price tag of this camera difficult to justify then try taking a look

Verdict:
The Canon Powershot G9 ticks all the right boxes for me. In terms of picture quality it is difficult to find much better in a compact camera. It is also packed with features and it will be hard for me to let this camera go. Recommended.

Front View

Top View

Back View

Sample Menus

	Canon Powershot G9 Summary
Description:	12 megapixels and a 6x optical zoom lens
Ease of Use:	8
Features:	10
Colour:	9
Macro:	10
Indoors:	9
Value for Money:	8
Style:	8
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	9
Build Quality:	9
Total:	88
Verdict:	If quality is what counts for you the Canon Powershot G9 should be towards the top of your shortlist. It is packed with features, offers excellent picture quality and has a good build quality too. Recommended.
Review Date:	November 2007
Click for:	Specification Sample Images Features

Similar Digital Cameras You May Like To See
Camera	Rating
Nikon Coolpix P5000	88
Nikon Coolpix P5100	88
Canon Powershot G9	88
Canon Powershot G7	86
Fuji Finepix S9600	84
Panasonic DMC LX2	81

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

2007-11-26T23:15:00.001-08:00

Olympus E-510 EVOLT Review,

Review based on a production E-510

Just before PMA in March 2007 Olympus lifted the curtain on two new Four-Thirds system compact digital SLRs, the E-410 (reviewed here in June) and this model, the E-510 (which is essentially a replacement for the well regarded E-500). Although the E-510 has much in common with its little brother, including an all-new (Matsushita) Live MOS Image Sensor that can provide Full Time Live-View on the LCD monitor and an updated TruePic image processor, it is a considerably more sophisticated tool with some important extra features. Key amongst these is a sensor-shift image stabilization system and more sophisticated external controls, though are also numerous minor feature differences too. Note that some of the text in this review (when describing identical functions) is repeated from the E-410 review.

Compared to E410 - key differences

Once you start to look under the hood there are actually a surprising number of differences between the E-410 and the E-510, even putting aside the obvious; the latter's CCD-shift image stabilization system and bulkier design (the E-510 has a true 'grip', something the E-410 does without). This is obviously a camera aimed far more squarely at the 'enthusiast' market than its kid brother, and it offers a far more sophisticated level of control and customization. Below is a far from exhaustive list of the key differences:

Larger and heavier
Sensor-shift Image Stabilization
Dedicated buttons for WB, ISO, Metering and AF mode
Dedicated AF area button
Customizable Fn button
Two 'MyMode' custom modes
Finer, customizable EV steps (1/3, 1/2 and 1 EV)
Wider range of custom settings and minor extra features (e.g. file naming options, customizable HQ mode, Auto ISO limit etc)
Very slightly different continuous shooting / buffering (6 raw frames vs 7 on the E-410)
Optional wireless remote control

Key feature comparison (vs E-500 EVOLT)

Of course the E-510 is actually the successor to the E-500 (and the E-300 before it), and although the headline changes are significant (new sensor/processor, live view, in-body stabilization), there are also a number of minor feature tweaks and improvements (in fact far too many to list here, so we'll stick with the basics).

New 10MP Live MOS sensor and TruePic III processor
CCD-shift image stabilization
The return of Live View
New kit lenses
Faster USB interface ('real' USB 2.0 speed)
All-new body shape
Wired remote option
Slightly higher continuous shooting frame rate and larger raw buffer
New high resolution LCD screen
Loss of some minor features (ISO step control, manual focus bracketing, time lapse, customizable display color scheme, TIFF)
A few new and/or improved features (true auto ISO with limit setting, noise filter)

	Olympus E-510 EVOLT	Olympus E-500 EVOLT
Sensor	• 4/3 type Live MOS sensor • 17.3 x 13.0 mm active area • 10.9 million total pixels • 10.0 million effective pixels • RGB (Primary) color filter array • Fixed low pass filter (anti-alias filter)	• Kodak 4/3 Type CCD • 8.0 million effective pixels • Modified Hot Mirror (InfraRed filter)
Stabilization?	Yes, CCD-shift	No
Live View?	Yes	No
File Formats	• RAW • RAW + JPEG • JPEG (EXIF 2.2) - three levels	• RAW • RAW + JPEG • TIFF • JPEG (EXIF 2.2) - three levels
Processor	TruePic III	TurPic TURBO
Continuous	• 3.0 fps • RAW: 6 frames maximum • JPEG: Up to card capacity @ HQ 1/8 (with high speed media)	• 2.5 fps • RAW: 4 frames • JPEG: Unlimited with high speed card
My Mode?	Yes (2)	Yes
Flash	• Auto electronic pop-up • TTL auto / manual • Guide no. 12	• Electronic release pop-up • TTL auto / manual • Guide no. 13
Scene modes	• Portrait • Landscape • Landscape & Portrait • Night Scene • Night Scene & Portrait • Children • Sport • High Key • Low Key • Digital Image Stabilization • Macro • Nature Macro • Candle • Sunset • Fireworks • Document • Panorama (req. Olympus xD-Picture Card) • Beach & Snow • Underwater wide and macro	• Portrait • Landscape • Landscape & Portrait • Night Scene • Night Scene & Portrait • Firework • Sunset • Macro • Sports • High Key • Low key • Document • Beach & Snow • Candle • Children
MF Bracketing	No	Yes
Viewfinder	• Eye-level TTL Optical Pentaprism • Field of view 95% • Magnification 0.92x with a 50mm lens and -1 dioptre • Clip-fit eyecup	• Top mounted pentaprism • 95% field of view • 0.9x magnification • Clip-fit eyecup
LCD monitor	• 2.5" TFT LCD monitor (wide viewing angle, semi-transmissive) • 230,000 pixels • 100% frame coverage	• 2.5" TFT LCD monitor • 215,250 pixels • Wide viewing angle
USB speed	2.0 High Speed	2.0 Full Speed (i.e. USB 1.1 speed)
Dimensions	136 x 92 x 68 mm (5.4 x 3.6 x 2.7 in)	130 x 95 x 66 mm (5.1 x 3.7 x 2.6 in)
	• No battery 460 g (16.2 oz) • With battery 535 g (18.9 oz)	• No battery: 435 g (15.3 oz) • With battery: 479 g (16.9 oz)
Other	• Auto ISO limit • Noise Filter • New kit lens	• ISO step options • ISO 400+ must be enabled using 'ISO boost' option • TIFF mode • Control panel color options

Casio Exilim EX-S880

2007-11-26T23:13:00.001-08:00

t's nearly a year since I reviewed the Casio Exilim EX-S770, gave it a "Recommended" award with 9/10 in all four score categories and described it as "currently the best ultra-compact digital camera on the market". As far as I know the S770 sold very well, so it's a bit surprising that Casio has taken as long as it has to launch an updated version. Still, it's here now, so let's take a look at the new Exilim EX-S880.

The Exilim EX-S880 is an 8.1-megapixel, 3x zoom ultra-compact camera featuring a 2.8-inch high-resolution widescreen monitor. It will come as little surprise to anyone who watches the digital camera market that externally the S880 is almost identical to its predecessor. It has exactly the same strong and stylish steel body, with exactly the same slim dimensions, just 94.5 x 60.4 x 17.3mm, making it once again one of the thinnest cameras on the market. That 17.3mm thickness is genuine too, and includes the thickness of the monitor and lens, unlike the dubious practice of some manufacturers who claim tiny dimensions by measuring only the thinnest part of the camera. Weighing just 128g the S880 is the ultimate shirt-pocket camera. You can take it on a night out with you and barely know you're carrying it. As with the S770 the build quality is superb, and the camera is available in silver, charcoal grey or the striking dark metallic red of my review sample. I have frequently been accused of having the fashion sense of Jeremy Clarkson, but I have to say that in my opinion it is one of the best-looking cameras I've seen.

Casio's EX-S series of high-quality ultra-slim cameras exists in a fairly competitive end of the market. It is up against Canon's popular IXUS range for a start, including the new IXUS 860 IS (£235) and 950 IS (£210), as well as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 (£245), the Nikon CoolPix S510 (£190) and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 (£200). As well as these high end models, Casio is also competing with less ambitious cameras such as the Olympus FE-250 (£120) and Pentax Optio M40 (£130). It competes well though, because the S880 is available for £129.99, which is actually cheaper than the current price of the S770.

Canon PowerShot TX1

2007-11-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Canon Powershot TX1 Major Features

7.1 Megapixels effective resolution
10x optical zoom lens (39-390mm equivalent) with Optical Image Stabilizer
Still Images and Video: The Best of Both Worlds With MovieSnap Newly adapted for the PowerShot TX1 digital camera’s 7.1 megapixel CCD image sensor, MovieSnap enables users to capture high-resolution still images while recording movies, helping to ensure that milestone memories are preserved

1280 x 720 movie recording with sound (720P Wide Screen 16:9 ratio)

1.8" LCD viewing monitor 115K

Advanced Face Detection and Red Eye Correction

Up to 1600 ISO sensitivity for low light shooting

Secure Digital (SD) Memory Media storage

Canon has today introduced the Canon PowerShot TX1 digital camera, with 7.1 megapixels of effective resolution and a 10x optical zoom with optical image stabilizer offering an equivalent to 39-390mm focal range in 35mm terms.

What makes the Canon Powershot TX1 digital camera stand out in particular is that it is a camera that combines high resolution still capture with the ability to capture movies with resolutions up to 1280 x 720 pixels, and frame-rates up to 60fps in QVGA resolution.

2007-11-22T03:01:00.000-08:00

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7 Review

Almost exactly 12 months after the launch of the Cyber-shot DSC-H2 and DSC-H5 Sony announced the replacement cameras; the DSC-H7 (reviewed here) and the top-of-the-range mode the DSC-H9 (reviewed at the end of May). That Sony chose to increase the pixel count (to 8MP) and to include this year's 'must have' features (face detection and ludicrously high maximum ISO) can't have surprised many, but there are a few less predictable new features, and a few welcome changes. The former include a 15x zoom and HDTV (well, 1080i) output. The latter include an improved focus system, faster performance and a new (in the box) remote control. The H7 and H9 appear to be internally pretty much identical, though there are some feature differences that explain the $80 price difference (chiefly, the H9's screen and NightShot mode) - the H7 is basically the 'budget' model.

Note: Some sections of this review are taken directly from the Sony H9 review as in most respects the cameras are functionally identical. All test images are from the H7 unless indicated.

Cyber-shot DSC-H7 vs DSC-H2 - key changes

New sensor (8MP versus 6MP)
longer lens range (15x up from 12x)
Higher maximum sensitivity (ISO 3200)
Larger screen (2.5-inch vs 2.0 inch)
Lithium Ion battery
Control dial has moved to rear of camera
9-point AF (was 3-point)
New Sports mode
HDTV (1080i) video output (via optional component cable)
Face detection
D-Range optimization (auto contrast)
In-camera retouching
Remote control included
Entirely new user interface

	Sony DSC-H7	Sony DSC-H2
Sensor	• 1/2.5 " Type CCD • 8.1 million effective pixels	• 1/2.5” CCD, • 6.0 million effective pixels
Lens	• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar • 31-465mm (35mm equiv) • 15x optical zoom • F2.7-4.5	• 36-432mm equiv • 12x optical zoom • Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar • F2.8-3.7
Maximum Image Size	3264 x 2448	3072 x 2304
Sensitivity	• Auto • ISO 80-3200	• Auto • ISO 80-1000
Top shutter speed	1/4000th	1/2000th
Autofocus modes	• 9 Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF • Flexible spot AF	• 3 Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF (selectable) • Flexible spot AF
Scene modes	• Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Portrait • Landscape • Beach • Snow • Fireworks • High Sensitivity • Advanced Sports Shooting	• Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Portrait • Landscape • Beach • High-speed shutter • High Sensitivity
Continuous Shooting	100 shots, 2.2fps, 8MP (max)	1.1 fps, up to 7 frames
Flash range, Auto ISO	Up to 9.8m (wide)	Up to 9.0m (wide)
LCD screen	• 2.5" TFT • 115,000 pixels	• 2.0" TFT • 85,000 pixels
Power	• Lithium-ion NP-BG1 battery	2x AA
Battery life (CIPA standard, using LCD)	280	340
Weight (inc batteries)	514g	537g
Remote control	Included	No
Other	• Face Detection • HDTV output (optional cable) • Bionz processing engine • In-camera effects

Cyber-shot DSC-H9 vs DSC-H7

As with the previous generation (H2 and H5) there are two almost identical 'H' cameras. The camera on review here, the H7, is a cut-down version of the H9, though the differences are fairly minimal (the big one is the screen).

H9 has a larger (3.0 inch), higher-resolution tilting screen (H7: 2.5-inch non-articulated)
H9 has external buttons for metering and continuous shooting modes, H7 doesn't
H9 is around 32g (1.1 oz) heavier
H9 has NightShot function, H7 doesn't.

DSC H-7 specifications

Street price	• US: $380 • UK: £245
Body Material	Plastic
Sensor	• 1/2.5 " Type CCD • 8.1 million effective pixels
Image sizes	• 3264 x 2448 • 2592 x 1944 • 2048 x 1536 • 640 x 480 • 3264 x 2176 (3:2) • 1920 x 1080 (16:9)
Movie clips	• MPEG VX Fine / Standard (640 x 480 @ 30 / 16 fps MPEG-1 with audio)
File formats	• Still: JPEG • Movie: MPEG VX (MPEG-1)
Lens	• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar • 31-465mm (35mm equiv) • 15x optical zoom • F2.7-4.5
Image stabilization	Super SteadyShot®
Conversion lenses	Yes
Digital zoom	• 2x (24x total) • Up to 30x Smart Zoom (dependent on selected resolution)
Focus	• Auto • Macro • Single • Monitoring
AF area modes	• 9 Area Multi-Point AF • Center AF • Flexible spot AF • Contrast detect
AF assist lamp	Yes
Focus distance	• Normal: 50cm (19.7 in) minimum (W), 120cm (47.25 in) minimum (T) • Macro: 1cm (0.4 in) wide only
Metering	• Multi-pattern (49 zone) • Center weighted • Spot
ISO sensitivity	• Auto • ISO 80 • ISO 100 • ISO 200 • ISO 400 • ISO 800 • ISO 1600 • ISO 3200
Exposure compensation	• +/-2EV • 1/3 EV steps
Exposure bracketing	+/- 0.3, 0.7, 1.0 EV
Shutter speed	• Auto: 1/4-1/4000sec • P: 1"-1/4000sec • S: 30"-1/4000sec • A: 8"-1/2000sec • M: 30"-1/4000sec
Aperture	F2.7-5.6 (w) F4.5-8 (t)
Modes	• Program • Aperture priority • Shutter priority • Manual • 9-preset select scene modes
Scene modes	• Twilight • Twilight Portrait • Portrait • Landscape • Beach • Snow • Fireworks • High Sensitivity • Advanced Sports Shooting
White balance	• Auto • Daylight • Cloudy • Fluorescent 1, 2, 3 • Incandescent • Flash WB • Manual
Self timer	• 10 or 2 secs
Continuous shooting	100 shots, 2.2fps, 8MP (max)
Image parameters	Natural, Vivid, Sepia, B&W, Sharpness, Contrast
Flash	• Auto • On • Slow Synch • Off • Red-eye reduction • Front/rear synch • Auto/Daylight synch • Range: 0.2 - 9.8m (wide) 1.2 - 6m (tele)
Viewfinder	• 0.2" EVF • 201K pixels
LCD monitor	• 2.5" TFT • 115K pixels
Connectivity	• USB 2.0 high speed • HD • AV w/multi-jack • DC in
Print compliance	PictBridge, DPOF
Storage	• Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo compatible • 31MB internal memory
Power	• Lithium-ion NP-BG1 battery • BC-CSG Charger
Weight (excl batt)	514 g (1lb 2.1 oz) - incl. strap, adaptor ring, lens hood, cap etc.
Dimensions	109.5 x 83.4 x 85.7 mm (4.6 x 3.3 x 3.7 in)

Olympus firmware updates

2007-11-22T02:57:00.000-08:00

Update firmware (E-300/330/500)

Description:
Here is the description of the operation in OLYMPUS Master Plus Ver. 1.0.

Caution:
To update the firmware of your digital camera, you should meet the following conditions:

-	Your computer is connected to the internet.
-	You have logged on as a user with the administrator’s privileges (for Windows XP/2000 or Mac OS X).
-	Reminder: Please remember to remove the card from your digital camera (for Windows XP).

Please follow the steps below:

Connect the digital camera to your computer using a USB cable.

Memo:

-	Be aware that you cannot return to the previous version once the firmware is updated.
-	Make sure that the battery level of the camera is sufficient. If not, use the AC adapter (not supplied).
-	Do not press the buttons on the digital camera, turn off the camera, or disconnect the USB cable from the camera during firmware update.
-	To update the firmware of your E-500, E-330 or E-300, please set your camera as follows before connecting your camera to your computer.
	-	E-500 / E-330 : MENU > set up menu > USB MODE > STORAGE
	-	E-300 : MENU > set up menu > PC MODE > STORAGE

From the [Online Service] menu in the [Browse] window, select [Update Camera].
Please click [Online Service] button in the toolbar located at the top of the window, and select [Update Camera] from the pull-down menu.

Tips:
You can also select the [Online Service] menu from the [RAW Development], [Screen Saver], or [Movie Maker] window.

Follow the instructions on the screen to access the OLYMPUS server.
When connected to the server, the [Update Camera] dialog box appears. Please click [OK] button.
From [Selecting device], select the device to be updated, and click the [Check for latest version] button.
If the latest version of firmware is available for download, the list of firmware is displayed in the dialog box.

Select the firmware to be applied, and click [Update] button.

Tips:
If you want to check the contents of update before downloading, select the firmware to apply, and then click [Details]. A web browser launches, and the details about the firmware are displayed.

When the license agreement is displayed, read the license agreement, and click [Agree].
The selected firmware is downloaded and transferred to the digital camera. Then, the digital camera performs the update.
When OK is displayed on the LCD display of the digital camera, as shown on the right in the dialg box below, updating the camera is complete. Click [Next].
Disconnect the USB cable connecting the digital camera and the computer.

All procedure is complete.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

2007-11-21T06:07:00.001-08:00

It’s a strange sense of satisfaction when I come to the same decision as a photography blog. I have been waiting for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 for almost a year now. I currently own the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2. It has been an excellent camera with only a couple of items wanting: I wanted SDHC support and I wanted better video quality. I have watched Panasonic’s progress for a long time, just waiting for this camera to become available. Imagine my delight when PhotographyBLOG gave it a 4.5 out of 5 star rating:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review - PhotographyBLOG

They have lots of juicy pictures and lots of technical photography talk explaining why this camera deserves such a good rating. Honestly, I am so indebted to Panasonic’s Optical Image Stabilizer (anti-shake) that I wouldn’t even consider buying another camera. It makes my videos smooth as glass when I’m walking, which is more than half the battle to filming good walking videos. The fact that I’ll have 10X Zoom, a larger Leica lens and the approval of the PhotographyBLOG is just icing on the cake.

Sony CyberShot T200 et T70

2007-11-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Sony CyberShot T200 et T70 appareils photo : Avec les nouveaux Sony CyberShot T70 / T200 qui disposent d’un éventail impressionnant de fonctionnalités et complètent la gamme des « bijoux » Cyber-shot série T, il n’aura jamais été aussi facile de prendre de superbes photos. Ces appareils photos associent une qualité d’image Haute Définition à des innovations telles que la détection automatique des sourires (Smile Shutter) ou les très grands écrans LCD tactiles dans des boîtiers ultra compacts. Le produit phare Sony CyberShot T200 se distingue des autres appareils photo numériques, tant au niveau de l’allure que des performances. Disponible en argent, noir ou rouge, sa conception unique et raffinée cache un puissant zoom optique 5x, parfait pour se rapprocher des sujets même de loin.

Sony CyberShot T200 - Smile Shutter
Il est complété par le modèle Sony CyberShot T70, encore plus compact et très tendance, décliné en argent, noir, blanc et rose. Les modèles Sony CyberShot T200 et CyberShot T70 sont équipés du nouveau mode « Smile Shutter » qui permet à l’appareilde détecter automatiquement un sourire, une première dans l’histoire de la photographie numérique. En effet, grâce à cette technologie, les Sony Cyber-Shot T70 / T200 sont capables de détecter un sourire et de prendre la photo immédiatement sans que vous ayez besoin d’appuyer sur le déclencheur : vos portraits n’en seront que plus réussis. S’il y a plusieurs personnes dans le cadre, le déclencheur ne se met en marche que lorsque le sujet principal (sélectionné à l’aide de l’écran tactile) sourit. Il est ainsi possible de prendre jusqu’à six photos de suite sans devoir appuyer manuellement sur le déclencheur. Vous aurez ainsi toujours des photos d’enfants ou d’adultes rayonnants !

Sony CyberShot T70 - Détection des visages
Grâce à la détection automatique des visages et des sourires, les derniers nés des Cyber-shot SONY ajustent automatiquement la mise au point, l’exposition et le niveau du flash. Vous pourrez alors réussir très facilement de superbes portraits, nets et aux couleurs de peau naturelles, quelles que soient les conditions (zoom élevé, faible luminosité ou sujets en mouvement).

Sony CyberShot T200 et T70 - Ecrans LCD géants
Les deux modèles se distinguent par leurs grands écrans LCD tactiles qui permettent de visionner les photos et d’accéder très facilement à toutes les fonctions de l’appareil. Le Cybershot T200 est équipé d’un écran LCD de 3,5’’ alors que le Sony CyberShot T70 dispose d’un écran de 3’’. La technologie Clear Photo LCD Plus assure plus de clarté et des couleurs éclatantes. Le revêtement antireflet maximise le contraste et la visibilité même en condition de forte luminosité. Le format 16/9 des écrans LCD offre des proportions idéales pour visualiser directement et très facilement des photos sur un téléviseur HD Ready ou Full HD.

Sony CyberShot T200 et T70 - Double solution anti-flou
La double solution anti-flou combine un stabilisateur optique Super SteadyShot et un mode Haute Sensibilité ISO 3200. L’alliance de ces deux technologies permet de réduire le risque de flou lors des prises de vue en condition de basse lumière. La technologie « Clear RAW NR » réduit le bruit et optimise les couleurs pour que les photos prises avec une sensibilité élevée soient plus naturelles.

Sony T200 et T70 - Partager des photos en qualité Full HD
Vous pouvez facilement profiter de vos photos prises avec les Sony CyberShot T70 / T200 en Haute Définition sur un téléviseur HD Ready ou Full HD grâce à une sortie Haute Définition et un câble composante VMC-MHC1 (optionnel). Vous pouvez accompagner vos diaporamas de musique pour leur apporter une nouvelle dimension. Choisissez parmi quatre effets visuels et quatre chansons (possibilité d’importer 4 titres format MP3 depuis un PC) puis admirez vos photos sur votre écran dans une qualité d’image Haute Définition. Les nouveaux Cyber-shot T70 et T200 ainsi que la dernière génération de téléviseurs Haute Définition BRAVIA sont équipés d’un mode Photo TV HD qui permet d’optimiser les images pour leur donner des couleurs et des textures encore plus fines et naturelles. Ce nouveau mode Photo TV HD représente un véritable progrès par rapport à l’affichage de photos sur un téléviseur traditionnel qui est optimisé pour la vidéo.

Sony CyberShot T70 et T200 - Processeur BIONZ
Les deux modèles combinent des optiques de haute qualité Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar (zoom optique 5x pour le Sony CyberShot T200 et 3x pour le CyberShot T70) à une résolution effective de 8,1 millions de pixels et à un puissant processeur BIONZ développé par Sony. Ce processeur d’image réactif contrôle la mise au point automatique, l’exposition et d’autres réglages de l’image pour des résultats parfaits dans de nombreuses conditions de prise de vue ; même les portraits à contre-jour sont réussis !

Sony T70 et T200 - Fonction flou rayonnant et rétro
Les deux modèles sont également dotés d’options supplémentaires pour peaufiner vos photos. Les fonctions de retouches intégrées incluent désormais la fonction de « flou rayonnant », pour un effet d’arrêt sur image dynamique, et la fonction « rétro » qui donne un aspect ancien authentique à la photo. Vous pourrez également retravailler directement vos photos pour corriger les yeux rouges.

Sony Cyber-Shot T70 et T200 - Caractéristiques
• 8,1 millions de pixels effectifs avec le processeur d’image BIONZ
• Détection automatique des visages / des sourires (Smile Shutter)
• Grand écran LCD tactile au format 16/9 de 3,5’’ (T200) ou 3’’ (T70)
• Sortie Haute Définition et mode Photo TV HD
• Stabilisateur optique Super SteadyShot
• Haute Sensibilité élevée ISO 3200
• Zoom optique Carl Zeiss 5x (T200)