Linda and Bud Johnson, Rollies Camera Shop, Sedona, Ariz., get a rundown on an HP kiosk at The Complete Picture at PMA 07. The Johnsons had visited the pavilion at last year's show, coming back this year to see the changes and to shop for a kiosk.

Photo and reporting by PMA Senior Editor Don Long

This year consumers will be able to get the digital camera they've always wanted, but couldn't afford, says a recent article in USA Today. DSLR cameras from Canon and Nikon generally run around $1,000, but discounters will likely drive the price down to $299 by year's end, says Chris Chute, an analyst at researcher IDC.

  "This will dramatically reshape the digital camera market," Chute says. "It will give consumers a reason to jump into features they've always wanted, but didn't know they could get."

  Chute says the point-and-shoot market peaked in 2006 at 29.8 million cameras. He expects flat sales this year. Meanwhile, 1.7 million DSLRs sold in 2006, which he expects to jump to more than 2 million for 2007.

  At PMA 07, Olympus and Nikon introduced new SLRs for $799 that are expected to greatly fall in price in the coming months, says the article. The price as well as the usability of some of these new models will encourage more consumers to get into the DSLR market, many for the first time.

Olympus America Inc., Center Valley, Pa., announced the Stylus 780, a 7.1-megapixel digital compact camera with technologies from Olympus' next-generation DSLR camera for taking crisp, clear photographs in a variety of active situations, says the company. The ultra-compact 5x optical zoom point-and-shoot camera includes:

·   Dual Image Stabilization: By combining mechanical Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization with Digital Image Stabilization, the two technologies compensate for both camera shake and a moving subject -- ensuring blur-free images.

·   New Shadow Adjustment Technology enables users to preview and capture details that are hidden within shadows -- perfect for outside shots in bright sun when dark shadows are prevalent or shooting in backlit situations, says the company.

·   Perfect Shot Preview allows users to see the effects of various settings while previewing the shot.

·   TruePicTM III image processor for superior image quality with truer-to-life color.

·   A large 2.5-inch HyperCrystal LCD and Bright Capture Technology dramatically improve composition, capture and review of images in low-light situations.

  The Shadow Adjustment Technology Combined with Face Detection Auto Focus and Auto Exposure, enables the Stylus 780 to capture smiles in shadows without getting a dark image in difficult lighting such as in backlight situations. The technology can also be turned-off for any shooting situation. The Stylus 780 also features a Perfect Shot Preview mode that enables users to view and select various photography effects on the multi-view screen before even snapping the shot. The new feature allows users to see precisely what the image will look like when adjustments are made, ensuring users are capturing the exact image they want.

  The Stylus 780 features a metal body that is durable and lightweight with rubber gaskets throughout the interior to help ensure that rain, dust and snow won't get in the way of great photos. It also features the Help Guides function in which by holding down the Guide button users can access brief descriptions of each of the camera's functions and scene modes. Also incorporated are in-camera editing features such as red-eye fix, resizing, frames, text options, color brightness, and saturation adjustments. The Stylus 780 will be available in May for an Estimated Street Price of $349.99.

Casio Inc., Dover, N.J., and its parent company Casio Computer Co. Ltd., launched the 7.2-megapixel EXILIM Hi-ZOOM EX-V7, the most powerful zoom camera in the EXILIM series of compact digital cameras. This new model features a super slim camera body with a 7x optical zoom lens, says the company.

  The new camera also introduces an innovative function for reducing photo blur, made possible by Casio's mechanical CCD shift technology. It also combines Casio's Anti- Shake DSP, which reduces blur due to shaky hands or a moving subject by using higher ISO sensitivity and faster shutter speeds, with new motion analysis technology that uses the most appropriate ISO sensitivity and shutter speed to capture a moving photo subject. Even at high zoom settings, the EX-V7 reduces most occurrences of image blur, says the company.

Vivitar, City of Industry, Calif., debuted several new digital imaging products at PMA 07 highlighted by the 6-megapixel ViviCam 6200W underwater camera -- the company's first new product since its acquisition by digital entertainment company Syntax-Brillian, Tempe, Ariz.  

  The ViviCam 6200W is waterproof up to 30 feet, features 4x digital zoom, a 2-inch LCD display, SD card support, and a rubber armored exterior for enhanced ruggedness and durability.

  In addition to the ViviCam 6200W, other digital cameras debuting for Vivitar were the 7-megapixel ViviCam 7388s, 6-megapixel ViviCam 6385u, 10-megapixel X625, and the 5-megapixel DVR 530 digital video recorder.

Consumers are finding out -- the hard way -- their easy-to-use digital cameras don't necessarily take any better pictures than their old film cameras. Enter the software designers who have come up with any number of ways to make those pictures better, manipulate them, organize them, store them, print them, display them on a digital picture frame, and share them.

  HP Co., Palo Alto, Calif., says its Photosmart Essential 2.0 software provides consumers a fast and easy way to organize, edit, print, share, and creatively use photos - all in one place. The software features an entirely new and engaging user interface and personalized home page with simple web-like navigation and integrated screen help. Currently this interface is used on HP's retail printing solution, the HP Photosmart Studio, and will now be available across its entire line of home photography products including printers, digital cameras and scanners.  It will ship with HP 2007 hardware products and PCs world wide. 

  Snapfire 1.2 from Corel Corp., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is an upgrade of the digital photo and video enhancement and sharing software. It has received Vista certification.

  Photobot from Tribeca Labs, New York, N.Y., is what the company calls the first zero-click picture correction software for the consumer marketplace. This fully-automatic program instantly brightens dark images, reduces red-eye and gives their pictures more vibrant, life-like color -- and the user never has to lift a finger. Photobot works in the background. Once Photobot is installed, it is always on, constantly searching the user's hard drive for photos. Adjustments to images are made only if needed, and then only to the degree necessary to achieve optimal results. As an added bonus, Photobot also automatically uploads the pictures to the user's personal Swiss Picture Bank account, where they are protected from hard drive failure, accidental deletion, theft and disasters. A Mac version of Photobot is in the works.

  Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., Valhalla, N.Y., is demonstrating three concept applications currently in development: Photo Movie, Story Photo Print, and Shuffle Print. Photo Movie is a photo organizing application that uses Fujifilm's Image Intelligence and Face Recognition technologies. Story Photo Print and Shuffle Print are new concept applications intended to encourage creativity with photography. Shuffle Print creates a "fun print" with digital still-camera images chosen at random using a shuffling function. Story Photo Print creates a print with an assortment of selected images, and enables the consumer to expand the image of two scenes on each page. With high-quality presentation functions, the lab operator can interact directly with the consumer to create the Story Photo Print.

  Frame My Photos LLC, Tustin, Calif., has upgraded its Framing Station software to v6.24. All the consumer has to do is choose a photo, pick a frame (from the 18,500 available), add text if desired, then print or save the framed picture. The software, says the company, is designed to be non-intimidating. Frames styles range from new baby, happy birthday, and thank you, to sports trading cards and Halloween.

  muvee Technologies Inc., Lynbrook, N.Y., has upgraded its automatic muvee slide show creation software. Not only will it work with images from digital cameras and video, but it also now accepts images downloaded from mobile phones. The easy-to-use software is designed for those without any technical interest in "movie-making," or desire to learn it. The company says the software will also upload to mobile phones, and there's an add-on for iPods coming, as well as YouTube and MySpace. The idea is to make the finished muvee -- and the pictures it contains -- easy to share.

  Preclick Corp., Atlantic Highlands, N.J., says its Preclick IPM software, now in beta form, should be available to consumers before mid-year. This is an Internet photo messenger designed to eliminate the hassles of emailing photos. The software borrows "social" rules from instant messaging, letting users leverage buddy lists to keep an instant photo sharing display on their computer desktop.

  Additionally, three companies have announced a collaborative effort with the launch of Nice2Use, an integrated and automated system for sharing and printing images. eXaNetworks, Colorplaza, and Switzerland-based Colour-Science. Nice2Use offers wireless transfer from camera to computer (via Bluetooth) and automatic image enhancement. It automatically uploads captured content to a Web album, generating an email with link where the uploaded images can be ordered.

By PMA Senior Editor Don Long

DreamColor from HP Co., Palo Alto, Calif., is designed to produce visual experiences that are accurate, predictable and consistent across media including print, displays and big screens -- in the home, online, office or theatre.

  HP worked in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation during the making of the movie "Shrek the Third" to solve Dreamworks' need for predictable, consistent colors across devices -- all based on the demanding standards of computer-generated (CG) animation.

  Professional photographers and the graphic arts community are now able to utilize HP DreamColor with the new HP Designjet Z3100ps GP. Users can create customized RGB and CMYK profiles for any media, as well as personalize and edit the profiles to specific needs with the HP Advanced Profiling Solution; get more detailed, accurate Pantone emulations, as the monitor calibrator ensures consistent colors between the printer and monitor while maintaining color fidelity from print to print; and seamlessly work with PS and PDF files via an embedded Adobe PS/PDF RIP.

The common theme among much of the minilab equipment introduced at PMA 07 is ease of use.  

  San Marcos, Texas-based DNP Photo Imaging America Corp. (formerly Pixel Magic) unveiled a prototype of the next evolution of its existing NexLab digital minilab PMA 07. The prototype will be ready for mass market by this fall. The unit is a dye sublimation minilab that sorts to one output location and includes back print capabilities of up to two lines of 40 characters each. Use of a single output tray reduces time and labor in the photo lab, the company says.

  Additionally, the prototype includes rack-mountable printers, allowing retailers to seamlessly switch out printers based on seasonal capacity and/or to offer a broader selection of print sizes. Workflow improvements include an adjustable monitor for easier use by the operator, increased storage, integrated power and electronics and an automated conveyor to handle and sort high volume order printing. The NexLab features DNP Photo Imaging America software renowned for an intuitive interface that shortens training time and lowers labor costs.

  Fujifilm U.S.A. Inc., Valhalla, N.Y., announced the Frontier 710 Digital Lab System, a compact digital printer processor capable of producing up to 810 4R prints per hour. It can be installed in a 14 feet-square space, offers a standard printing capacity of up to 24 inches in length, and features Fujifilm's Image Intelligence technology, which automatically compensates for problematic conditions such as poor lighting, backlighting and high contrast, as well as over- or under- exposure. The Frontier 710 also offers a "one-touch" replenishing chemistry system, using Fujifilm CP-49E chemistry.

  Also new is the Fujifilm Frontier Lite dry digital minilab, an economical and customizable, chemical-free printing solution for both new market entrants and traditional photofinishers. It incorporates Fujifilm's Image Intelligence color management software and two Fujifilm ASK-2000 Thermal Photo Printers to generate 4-by-6-inch prints in approximately 4 seconds, and 8-by-10 prints in approximately 40 seconds, using the ASK-4000 Thermal Photo Printer. A wide variety of other print sizes are also available, using these same printers.

  KIS Photo-Me Group, based in Echirolles, France, introduces its new self-service Digital Automatic Minilab, a versatile "dry lab" with a productive Pro Pack option that produces standard thermal prints from 3.5-by-5 to 10-by-12 inches, as well as a variety of customized photo consumer photo products such as greeting cards, calendars and post cards. Besides a memory card reader, an on-board flatbed scanner allows consumers to digitize and enhance existing pictures/art work, and its self-payment options enable 24/7 self-service operation. Designed mainly for drug stores, supermarkets and convenience stores, the Digital Automatic Minilab is available in both two- and four-printer (Speedlab Pro Pack) configurations with production speeds as fast as 2.5 seconds per 4-by-6-inch print.

  AAA Imaging Solutions, Santa Ana, Calif., introduces a full line of Minilab Factory d-lab digital minilab equipment. The d-lab.1 basic, d-lab.1 allrounder, d-lab.1 netlab and d-lab.2plus start at $39,000 and include installation and a 3-year parts warranty.

  New from Palo alto, Calif.-based HP Co. is the Photosmart pl1000e Microlab system, a scalable and configurable system that provides an economic photo-fulfilment solution targeted at low- to medium-volume retail locations. The microlab system is built around HP's microlab printer, which is designed to deliver high-performance printing, producing lab-quality 4-by-6-inch prints at up to 700 prints per hour. HP's modular microlab system offers support for a variety of input products, such as film, as well as output products, such as creative output (i.e., photo books, calendars, posters) and various size prints.

By PMA Senior Editor Jennifer Barr Kruger