Cameras with lenses that swivel in a circle. Cameras so tiny they get lost in a shirt pocket. Cameras smart enough to analyze the scene and decide where to focus.
Welcome to the next generation of picture taking.
The “sweet spot”–the amount mainstream consumers are willing to pay for a digital camera–is now entrenched at $200 to $400.
All the major manufacturers–including Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus and Sony–offer 2-megapixel cameras within the sweet spot. That’s enough resolution to make 4×6 prints that are nearly indistinguishable from 35 mm photos, and even respectable 8x10s if the image isn’t heavily cropped. In other words, 2 megapixels are sufficient to meet the needs of ordinary people.
Having achieved an attractive price point, camera-makers are now stressing innovative features and designs to stand out in a crowded field.
Among the recent examples:
Kodak scored a big win in the 2001 holiday shopping season with its EasyShare cameras and docking stations. The docking station does double duty, recharging the battery and starting a program that pulls pictures from the camera into a computer.
Hewlett-Packard announced a similar dock in January called Instant Share. Going a step beyond Kodak, Instant Share cameras store as many as 14 e-mail addresses. Users can designate a photo for e-mailing to one of those addresses whenever the camera is next docked.
Minolta has introduced the world’s smallest full-featured 2-megapixel camera, the DiMage X. The $399 silvery camera is just 3.3 inches wide by 2.8 inches high by 0.8 inches thick and weighs a mere 5 ounces, yet contains an internal 3X zoom lens and comes with features common on midrange digital cameras.
The DiMage X is significantly smaller and lighter than any 35 mm camera and shows one future direction for digital cameras: models so easy to carry that people have a camera with them at all times, and therefore take more pictures.
Sony has announced three new models in its Cyber-shot line–the $220 2-megapixel DSC-P31, the $300 2-megapixel DSC-P51 and the $400 3-megapixel DSC-P71–with a sophisticated “multipoint auto focus” that examines three parts of the frame and decides which zone contains the intended subject of the shot.
Nikon is putting a twist on the familiar 2-megapixel, 3X-zoom digital camera. The Coolpix 2500, due in April for $375, has what Nikon calls an “inner-swivel lens design.” The lens unit is mounted on a swivel that turns 180 degrees. Using the LCD screen as a viewfinder, the swivel makes it easy to shoot from the floor or from high overhead.
Panasonic is making a pitch to camera buffs with its new Lumix line, the first consumer digital cameras with lenses from the revered Leica camera company of Germany. The four models in the Lumix line–priced from $349 to $899, offering 2 to 4 megapixels–all have Leica zoom lenses.
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