New Breakthrough Works with Other Real Photo Technology Features to Produce Better Pictures.
(Press Release) Fujifilm continues to make top-quality picture-taking a snap for consumers with today's introduction of the SLR-styled FinePix S6000fd, the first digital camera in Fujifilm's line-up with the company's new Face Detection Technology.
Face Detection Technology operates exactly as its name implies, identifying up to 10 faces in a framed scene. Once faces are identified and prioritized, the 6.3 MegaPixel FinePix S6000fd adjusts its focus and exposure accordingly to ensure the sharpness and clarity of human subjects in the picture, regardless of background. And since it is hardware rather than software based, Fujifilm's Face Detection Technology works in as little as 0.05 seconds, faster than similar in-camera detection systems currently on the market or soon to be available. Quicker operation reduces the likelihood of missed or blurry photos, frustrations often associated with digital photography.
Face Detection Technology is the latest addition to Fujifilm's suite of Real Photo Technology digital camera components that work collaboratively on the FinePix S6000fd to produce the best possible photographs. One of those components is i-Flash, the intelligent flash system introduced by Fujifilm earlier this year on the FinePix F30 compact digicam. The system reads scene conditions and adjusts its flash power output and exposure automatically, based on gathered information. The results are backgrounds with finer detail and sharp, accurate subjects without the 'washed out' look that often accompanies flash photography. Together, the Face Detection and i-Flash technologies will produce photographs with prominent subjects exhibiting pleasing, natural tones.
Like the FinePix F30, the FinePix S6000fd has a full-resolution ISO equivalency of 3200, a rarity in consumer-level digicams. Such high light sensitivities allow for faster shutter speeds, which reduce blurring caused by both camera shake and subject movement. This marriage of higher sensitivities with a faster shutter is the basis for Fujifilm's Picture Stabilization, another feature found on the FinePix S6000fd. The easy-to-access feature (selectable on the mode dial) enables the FinePix S6000fd to automatically choose the correct light sensitivity and best-matching shutter speed for the scene.
Other helpful features found on the FinePix S6000fd for top-quality picture-taking include:
Dual Shot Mode: In this mode the FinePix S6000fd quickly shoots two images in succession -- one with and one without the flash -- saving both. This convenient function lets the user perform an on-the-spot picture comparison and decide which photo is the most pleasing.The FinePix S6000fd is equipped with a 28-300mm Fujinon 10.7X optical zoom lens with full manual control via the lens barrel. This high-quality Fujinon lens configuration offers tremendous flexibility for either zoom or wide- angle shots - almost like having two lenses in one, and without the risk of dust accumulation that comes with having to change lenses. Due to come to market in September, the FinePix S6000fd will sell at a price of $499.95.
About Fujifilm
Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. is a subsidiary of Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. and delivers technology solutions to meet the imaging and information needs of retailers, consumers, professionals and business customers. As a global leader in digital imaging, Fujifilm pioneered the development of digital medical systems, and today is the leader in digital minilab systems. The company was ranked number 15 for U.S. patents granted during 2004, employs more than 75,000 people worldwide and in the year ending March 31, 2006, had global revenues of more than $22.8 billion.
In the United States, Fujifilm is a leader in delivering high quality, easy-to-use imaging and information solutions in the following categories: Digital Imaging Systems, Film and Imaging Systems, Recording/Storage Media, Motion Picture Film, Graphic Arts and Printing Systems and Medical Imaging and Diagnostics Systems. Fujifilm is an environmentally friendly, humane enterprise and an exemplary corporate citizen.
For more information on Fujifilm products, consumers can call 800-800-FUJI or access the Fujifilm USA Web site at www.fujifilmusa.com.
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We have touched on the variety of on line video uploading services that are out there these days for you digitial video enthusiasts. The number of sites seems to almost grow daily. What will the shakeout be from this booming sector? Well check out this article that talsk about the sites in the digital video sharing sector.
You've heard of YouTube.
You might have also heard of iFilm, Revver or Grouper. But have you heard of Frozen Hippo? Blennus? Eefoof?
Maybe, maybe not. But as more people go on the Web for video, the phenomenon has inspired an explosion of sites, all vying for a little bit of your time and attention.
By one count, about 240 sites now dabble in online video. And chances are many won't survive the next year. Some will simply shut down; others likely will be gobbled up by larger companies.
"I think 90 percent of them will disappear," said George Zachary, a venture capitalist with Charles River. "And it won't be pretty."
The froth of activity surrounding online video is reminiscent of the dot-com boom and bust just a handful of years ago, when companies were created seemingly overnight to tackle Web site hosting, online retail and other new avenues made possibly by the Internet. In many of the most popular fields, a glut of companies would be formed, setting the stage for a shakeout. Most closed, unable to attract enough customers or sales, leaving customers and investors in the lurch.
Today, the same cycle could be playing out again as online video sites are lured by the potential to rake in millions or even billions of dollars in online advertising revenue, subscriptions and pay-per-view, much like the cable and satellite television industry. This year, the cable industry alone is expected to earn $24.6billion in advertising, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
Eventually, many of those dollars are expected to shift to online sites as the Internet becomes a primary source for video entertainment, said David Hornik, a partner at August Capital and an investor in VideoEgg, a San Francisco video publishing site. "That's the opportunity," he said.
The transition is coming. Even now, the Internet is starting to look more and more like television. Sites such as Ask a Ninja and Hope is Emo produce regular episodes. Networks such as ABC are streaming popular television shows with commercials. Apple's iTunes and Google Video, among a growing number of smaller companies, sell downloads of current and classic television shows.
And viewers are flocking online. YouTube is the dominant destination, attracting 43 percent of the video market, according to Hitwise, an Internet research firm. Among all Internet sites, San Mateo's YouTube gets about as many hits as online encyclopedia Wikipedia, and more than Yahoo Finance, the Weather Channel and even PayPal, where YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen met. On any given day, people watch more than 100 million videos on YouTube, the company said.
But what about the rest? The top 10 online video sites, which besides YouTube includes those developed by Internet giants Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, have largely remained the same for several months, said LeeAnn Prescott, director of research at Hitwise. The rest have played a continuing game of musical chairs, fighting for less than 1 percent of market share, with much of the traffic directed to them not by users going to the site, but by going through Yahoo's video search engine.
Still, in the hopes of enticing regular fans, the sites are trying to set themselves apart from the pack, carve out a niche and, though many won't admit it, dethrone YouTube.
"People lump us in with YouTube, but we have the technology to be much more than that," said Dmitry Shapiro, chief executive officer of Veoh.
Veoh hopes the computer will become the future set-top box for television. To that end, it lets users download high-quality shows and films free, including those from Turner. San Francisco's Guba, meanwhile, sells movie and television-show downloads from Warner Bros. and Sony, including "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "The Jetsons," which appear alongside free user-generated clips.
Variety of specialties
MediaScrape, on the other hand, focuses on broadcast news culled from local stations around the world. Blip.tv--not to be confused with Blip TV--is tuned into videobloggers, helping them store and publish clips on their blogs.
Dabble, a Berkeleystart up, plans to start its online video search site this week. It lets users search for and collect video from other sites on a personal page; members can also join communities on topics such as cooking, where they help identify the best the Web has to offer on cooking-related videos.
For several months, as part of the database it's building, Dabble has been tracking the growing number of online video sites, which by its count has reached nearly 240.
Not all will last, said Dabble founder Mary Hodder. But if cable and satellite television can have more than 200 channels, Hodder said, why can't the Internet? And why can't there be something like Dabble to act as a TV Guide for the Web? (Incidentally, TV Guide offers an editorial guide online on the latest, most entertaining video clips and shows on the Web, though it's mainly focused on traditional Hollywood fare from Lifetime, Comedy Central, Disney and others.)
"When you turn on your TV, do you just go to NBC?" Hodder said. "If (the online video sites) are creative and provide different services, then they can end up thriving."
Certainly some tactics will prove more successful than others. The trick is drawing enough users, and keeping them happy, so they'll return again and again. Naturally, having more users generates the power to charge more for advertising; on sites that depend on users to submit video, having more users also translates into a bigger collection of interesting clips.
"There's already a lot of competition" on the Internet, said Todd Chanko, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "On top of it you have competition between the video sites themselves ... and competition against the networks. (The sites) will rise and fall on their ability to get their next incremental potential viewer over on their Web site and not someone else's."
Robert Sokol, a 47-year-old San Franciscofreelance writer and graphic designer, said he finds what he's looking for three-quarters of the time on YouTube. He hasn't bothered to try other sites.
"Even though I know there are other sources, there are just so many you can get your arms around at one time," he said. "You have to have a life beyond the computer screen."
YouTube plans to keep it that way. Besides homemade clips uploaded by members, YouTube has also struck deals with media companies such as NBC, which uses YouTube to advertise its fall shows. It has also published movie trailers and music videos.
"The reason people go to eBay to sell products is because the most buyers are on eBay and the most products are on eBay," said Julie Supan, YouTube's senior director of marketing. "It goes hand in hand. YouTube has the most content in the system and therefore we have the largest audience. ... We're going to try to stay two steps ahead of companies looking to emulate our model. We created this market and we think we understand what the community (including advertisers) wants."
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Ellen Lee / San Francisco Chronicle Check out our store!
Canon has a great new contest for photographers running this summer. Take some great images in one of our great National Parks and win some great prizes from Canon.You must be a US Resident and an amateur photographer to enter. If that applies to you then you should sign up for the Canon National Park Photo Contest that runs through September 30, 2006.
The contest confines the contestant list to non-pro photographers, so regular folks stand a better chance of getting a winning shot. As the contest rules put it, "The Contest is open to any U.S. resident over 21 years of age who is not a 'professional photographer,' that is, one who has not earned 51% or more of his or her annual income by taking, selling or marketing photographs, whether as an employee or a freelance photographer, during the last three (3) years."
Now get your digital camera, fill up the tank in the car, and head on our to see the sights and win the prizes which include:
First - Canon EOS 5D with an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, a PIXMA Pro 9500 printer, and a one year membership to photoworkshop.com
Second - Canon EOS 30D with an EF 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, a PIXMA Pro 9500 printer, and a 6 month membership to photoworkshop.com
Third - Canon Digital Rebel XT with an EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 lens, a PIXMA Pro 9000 printer, and a 6 month membership to photoworkshop.com
The Grand Prize, chosen from the two First Prize winners, also includes "two (2) coach airline tickets (from the major metropolitan airport closest to the Grand Prize winner's home), one (1) hotel room (double occupancy) for 5 days/ 4 nights and entrance fee to a participating national park* (approx. retail value: $2,500.00)."
Now get out and take some great outdoors shots and enter!.
For more information and contest rules visit:
http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/nationalparks/index.htm
