(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Fuji Photo Film to Sell 2.3-Million-Pixel Digital Camera
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February 10, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. announced Feb.
4 that it will release the FinePix2700, a compact digital camera with
a charge coupled device (CCD) featuring 2.3 million pixels, on March
4.
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It will succeed the FinePix700, which was released in March 1998. The
FinePix700 helped fuel the popularity of digital cameras with more than
1 million pixels.
"In 1999, more than 2 million digital cameras are expected to be shipped,
and together with peripherals and recording media, digital cameras will
comprise a very large market in excess of 90 billion yen (US$797 million),"
said Tasuku Imai, a director at Fuji Photo Film.
"Fuji intends to become a top maker in the digital camera market by gaining
a 30 percent share," Imai said.
FinePix2700 is priced at 94,800 yen (US$840). It has
a 1/2 inch CCD with 2.3 million pixels, for a 50 percent increase over
the CCD used for the previous model.
The appearance of the FinePix2700 is similar to that of the FinePix700
model, but it is more compact and lighter at 80mm wide, 33mm deep and
97.6mm in height. The body weighs 230g, or 265g with batteries and other
accessories for shooting.
FinePix2700 has a function called Automatic Scene Recognition White Balance.
The camera determines the color temperature by automatically gauging
the light intensity of the shot and the type of the light source. It
can produce colors that are more natural in appearance than the older
models, which depend on flashes with fixed color temperatures.
The new camera features shorter shooting times due to its improved image-processing
algorithm. The startup time after the power is switched on requires
about two seconds, much faster than the older models. The shooting interval
is six seconds. Although the number of pixels is increased, the processing
time is almost the same as with earlier cameras.
Fuji Photo Film said that the new camera has a single-focal lens with
a focal length equivalent to 35mm in terms of a 35mm camera. It has
an optical viewfinder and a 2-in. low-temperature polysilicon thin film
transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD).
An image is selected from among three sizes: 1,800 x 1,200 dots, 1,280
x 1,024 dots, or 640 x 480 dots. Image data is recorded in SmartMedia
in the format of Exif Ver. 2.1 (compatible with JPEG).
The MG-32SB, a 32MB SmartMedia device, which was announced at the same
time, will be released on March 4. The FD-A2B, an adapter for SmartMedia
to be used in an FDD, and SM-R1, a Smart Card reader with a USB interface,
also will be available.
Related story: Sony
Unveils Digital Camera with 2.1 Million Pixel CCD
(BizTech News Dept.)
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