When Sony Ericsson released W800i, their very first camera phone designed specifically as a lifestyle gadget with telecommunication capability. The W800i was put together in light of the popularization of MP3 players and a booming industry of online music stores. Although it was not the first camera phone to boast of MP3 playback functionality, it was however the first camera phone to leverage on the Sony ‘Walkman’ branding and along with it, the first ‘Walkman’ camera phone featuring a dedicated MP3 media interface, controls and impressive audio quality; for a phone.

Following months later, Sony Ericsson decides to give the “Walkman” makeover to the brand new W550i. Similar features include user-friendly MP3 playback interface, the signature orange theme, as well as the “Walkman” logo.

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We saw the original Zigview a while ago but nothing stays still in the world of technology.

The original model was a nice idea as far as it went - the ability to see preview of your image when you’re not looking through the viewfinder (high level crowd shots for example) is one of the very few advantages point and shoot cameras have over digital SLRs and the zigview gives SLR shooters the same capability.

The new “R” model though brings a whole load of new toys to the party.
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I’m more of a point and click camera person and am very happy with my 5.1 Mega Pixel Sony Cyber-shot (recommended by our camera buff Marc) but after reading up on a new 22 Mega Pixel monster I thought it only right to report it here.

I’ve never heard of Mamiya before but if you know your cameras I’m sure they’ll be a familiar name (they’ve been around for over 60 years). Their calling this new 22 Mega Pixel beast theMamiya ZD digital camera and it will be available in Japan any time now whilst the rest of the world will have to wait until early 2006.

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For one of the most easiest compact digital cameras on the market today you have to check out the Key Ring USB Wearable Digital Camera. Not only is this digital camera compact but it is also one that you can carry along with you and fit into your pocket.

This camera is a digital still picture camera that ahs a USB flash memory drive. It can hold up to 400 photos, so you will be able to take many, many pics while you are out and about anywhere you go. It uses the VGA picture capture technology and comes with Photo Manager Software that will enhance your photos up to 1.3 mega pixel quality on a computer.
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Just the thought of a digital camera for a gift is a wonderful idea, but when you couple it with a very small size, the intrigue is even more appealing.

With the Credit-Card Sized Digital Camera, being only around ½ inch thick and not much wider than a credit card you will be able to take it anywhere you go. It will fit practically anywhere you wish to carry it, in your purse, briefcase, or even your shirt pocket.

This Credit-Card Sized Digital Camera is a full featured digital camera that has all the same great qualities that you can find in the larger cameras with out the bulky size. This great camera offers a 5-mega pixel image sensor that will produce the best quality prints for photos up to 11 inches by 20 inches, with many great image enhancements such as the cropping feature. It has a 3x optical zoom lens and a 2.2-inch LCD viewfinder screen. The size of this camera certainly does not take away from its quality and features which allow you to compose, edit, and delete any shots that you wish.
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I’ve been using the free version of Pixmantec’s RAW conversion software for a while now and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of the permium edition that hit the shelves earlier this week.

If you use a digital SLR you need to try the RAW mode of your camera and see for yourself the quality difference it can make over using the normal JPEG setting. RAW files are the digital equivalent of film negatives - they contain all the original information captured by the sensor which can later be manipulated on the PC (”developed” in the old world) without any loss of quality. Once you’ve got a CF card full of RAW images you’ll need to convert them into some useable format like TIFF or JPEG and that’s where Rawshooter comes in.
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I’ve long been a fan of Sony’s digital camera range. Partnering their undoubted electronics expertise with the respected name of Carl Zeiss optics has produced consistently class leading results.

The DSC-N1 is the latest in a long line of Sony digicams and has most of the features associated with a high end camera: 8 megapixels, a video mode, a range of manual controls and a 3.8x zoom lens covering a 38mm-114mm range.

It also goes to ISO 800 - I’d like to see the noise performance of that!

The big news on this camera is the touch screen, allowing you to pick a focus point by touching it on the screen as well as operate the standard menu functions It’s an interesting idea - could make for a nice UI. It could make for an expensive repair when you drop it too!

RRP is $499, more details at sonystyle.com

New cameras appear from all corners on an almost daily basis but the DSC-R1 from Sony is worthy of some attention. It’s the latest and greatest model in Sony’s line of “prosumer” digital cameras and it’s got a few very interesting features:

- An APS-C sized sensor. To put it simply the sensor is responsible for capturing the incoming light from the lens and turning it into an image. Bigger sensors = better picture quality and this sensor is the same physical size as the ones Canon and Nikon put in their SLR’s! This is a first for the smaller digital cameras.

- The bigger sensor gives them more room to play with, so they used it wisely. The DSC-R1 has 10.3 megapixels which makes it completely unique.

- A 24-120mm (35mm equivalent) Carl Zeiss zoom lens. Zeiss make some fine optical glass and Sony have partnered with them before on their high end models to very good effect.

DPReview have the lowdown and a hands on preview.