Chinon, Kodak, and Ricoh unveil new consumer cameras.
Pamela Pfiffner
Digital Cameras
POINT-AND-CLICK digital cameras are now as easy to use -- and almost as economical -- as the automatic 35mm film cameras so popular today.
Chinon ES-3000 and ES-1000.
The Chinon ES-3000 Advanced 24-bit Color Digital Camera, with its 3x zoom lens, multiple resolution modes, and automatic flash, has been around since August 1995, but you can now find it for under $1,000. The latest news from Chinon is the ES-1000 Pocket Digital Camera (not shown), a pint-sized point-and-shoot unit that's close to its film-based cousins in price, size, and convenience. Priced at $499, the ES-1000 weighs less than 5 ounces and has a shutter-speed range from 1/30 of a second to 1/4,000 of a second.
Eight 640-x-480-pixel images can be stored in its 1 MB of internal RAM, or 2-, 4-, 8-, or 16-MB flash-memory cards can be used to expand image-storage capacity. An AC adapter and a connection kit for downloading images directly to the Mac are sold separately.
Available this spring, the ES-1000 ships with Chinon's own image-acquisition software as well as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop. 800-441-0222 or 310-533-0274.
Kodak Digital Science DC50.
This big brother of Kodak's popular DC40 digital camera zooms from 7mm to 21mm with a focal range of 19 inches to infinity. Shutter speeds are equivalent to 1/16 to 1/500 of a second, with aperture settings from f2.6 to f16. Weighing in at 22 ounces, the DC50 runs on four AA batteries -- expect 500 shots per charge of its lithium batteries.
Priced under $1,000, the DC50 captures images at a resolution of 756 x 504 pixels. You can store 7 "Best," 11 "Better," or 24 "Good" images in the DC50's 1 MB of internal RAM; Type I and Type II PC Cards can also be used. Images can be downloaded via the supplied cable or with a PC Card reader. PictureWorks' image-acquisition and -editing software, PhotoEnhancer, is included. 800-235-6325 or 716-724-4000.
Ricoh RDC-1. Taking a different approach, Ricoh's lightweight digital camera can record and play back full-motion video as well as still images -- and its $1,800 price tag reflects its versatility. It captures 24-bit images at a resolution of 768 x 480 pixels, comparable to S-VHS, and its lens zooms from 7 mm to 21 mm, comparable to a 50mm-to-150mm zoom lens on a 35mm camera.
The RDC-1 captures any combination of still images, video, and audio, including still images with audio and audio with no images. One 24-MB PC Card can hold 246 still images in standard mode, 492 stills in economy mode with JPEG compression, 4 five-second video clips with sound, or 1 hour and 40 minutes of audio. You can play back video in slow motion or frame by frame; erase images on the fly; and view images on a computer monitor, television screen, or optional attachable 2.5-inch LCD (approximately $500). The cable for downloading images through the serial port is available separately. The 9-ounce RDC-1 operates on three NiCd batteries. 201-625-4180.
