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labDV newsletter
Contents:
- Christmas best seller: digital picture cameras to beat DVD players
- Tips and tricks: choosing a digital picture camera
- Our suggestions: a selection digital picture cameras
- Major release: Nero 6 Reloaded
- Guide: capture, edit and burn photos with Nero Reloaded
- labDV roadmap (new web site postponed to early January)
1. Christmas best seller: digital picture cameras to beat DVD players
According to marketing specialists, especially from the U.S. and from Europe, sales of digital picture cameras will explode in december 2004.
It seems that DVD recorders are still too expensive to be the best seller this year and that digital picture cameras are now providing excellent quality, easy to use, and instant printing, for very popular prices.
And we can see that the latest Nero software release includes a new component, Nero PhotoSnap, providing easy viewing, importing, editing and burning of digital photos. This may confirm the trend.
So we've decided to emphasize on digital picture tools for this newsletter.
2. Tips and tricks: choosing a digital picture camera
In 2002, Kimo and Vincent published an outstanding article to help in buying a camcorder (read it). The choice of a digital picture camera is somehow different.
First, if you're a demanding person and you've got the money, don't hesitate, go for a digital reflex. It's far faster and you may be able to re-use the parts you've got for your analog device.
If you can't afford a digital reflex, you will have to choose in between a compact or a bridge camera.
REFLEX |
BRIDGE |
COMPACT |
 |
 |
 |
- Direct viewfinder - Instantaneous - Re-use your analog optics |
- Looks like a reflex - Not a reflex (but smart viewfinder) - Not as fast as a reflex - Rich programs (auto, speed, aperture etc) - Affordable |
- Small box (convenient for trip) - Very easy to use - Can be very slow - Very affordable |
US$ 1,000.00 (+optics) |
US$ 400.00 |
US$ 250.00 |
When you know what will be the best for you, you'll have to compare the following features:
| Pixels | » More pixels, more details, more expensive. |
| Optics | » Best optics are provided by Canon, Nikon and Sony. » If you can compare result, others (such as HP and Olympus) are eligible as well. |
| Flash light | » If you're going to take a lot of pictures indoor (parties, birthday etc.), most red eyes features are inefficient. The solution is to choose a camera with external Flash socket, a direction adjustable Flash and take pictures orienting Flash towards ceilings (no direct light to eyes). |
| Special features | » Video recording, audio recording can be helpful (but rarely) » 360° panoramic is valuable » Direct printing is very interesting with appropriate inkjet. |
| Memory card | » 256MBytes is a correct size for a start. » MemoryStick is Sony's format (so only if you've Sony PC's). » SmartMedia, SD Card and xD Card are small ones (so for pocket devices) » CompactFlash are the fastest one, choose fast ones such as Pretec (also biggest capacity, up to 2 GBytes) |
| Software | » Have a look at the software package provided with the camera but it won't be a significant aspect in comparison. |
We've looking around what is available at the moment, so here are our suggestions below.
3. Our suggestions: a selection digital picture cameras
I personally bought a Nikon Coolpix 800 (compact) in January 2000, I was very happy for a start. In January 2003, I bought a Canon PowerShot G2 (bridge) and a Canon Ixus 400 (compact) for my daughter. Again I'm very happy, particularly with my Canon PowerShot G2, which I bought an adjustable Flash, a lens adaptor, a telephoto lens, a wide angle lens and a nice bag! And the camera was bundle with a 1GB IBM CompactFlash hard-drive for 1Euro!
With this bridge-based equipment which cost me about 1,000 Euros, I started to do very very nice pictures, with real colors, no more red eyes. Recently I added a small tripod support and started to use delayed shot for birthday pictures.
Event more recently I learn to use semiautomatic programs to ensure shot speed or aperture. And I guess next step (maybe next year) I'll go for a digital reflex, but I've to buy all reflex optics so is a significant investment.
A few words about video capture with my picture cameras. It was useful only once in five years, during a trip in Tunisia, we were visiting the medina of Monastir, I wasn't carrying my camcorder and I made a very short clip with the Ixus I've had in my pocket for this visit. The quality is mediocre but with the audio, the scene is immortalized, and it worth it.
This week, I bought some digital picture related magazines and look at several reviews around the web to propose you a short list suggestion. Here it is:
REFLEX |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
Canon EOS 20D + optics EF-S 18-55 |
Nikon D70 + optics AF-S DX 18/70 |
Canon EOS 300D + optics EF-S 18-55 |
Pentax ist DS + optics 18-55 |
US$ 1,600.00 |
US$ 1,100.00 |
US$ 1,000.00 |
US$ 1,200.00 |
- 8.5 Mpix - my preferred choice - a future start - expensive |
- 6.1 Mpix - a very good bargain to start with a reflex |
- 6.3 Mpix - a very good bargain to start with a reflex |
- 6.1 Mpix - the smallest and lightest reflex |
BRIDGE |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
Canon PowerShot G5 |
Nikon Coolpix 5700 |
Olympus C-770 |
HP PhotoSmart 945 |
US$ 460.00 |
US$ 600.00 |
US$ 550.00 |
US$ 400.00 |
- 5 Mpix - optical zoom 4x - CompactFlash - 2592 x 1944 - exceptional quality - best bargain |
- 5 Mpix - optical zoom 8x - CompactFlash - 2560 x 1920 - easy to use - exceptional quality |
- 4.2Mpix - optical zoom 10x - xD Card - 2282 x 1712 |
- 5.3 Mpix - optical zoom 8x - MM Card, SD Card - 2668 x 1970 - HP Instant Share - only if you're OK with Flash socket missing |
COMPACT |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
HP PhotoSmart R707 |
Fujifilm FinePix E500 |
Canon Ixus 40 |
Sony DSC-W1 |
US$ 300.00 |
US$ 250.00 |
$US 370.00 |
US$ 350.00 |
- 5.1 Mpix - optical zoom 3x - MM Card, SD Card - 2690 x 1994 - smart features for beginners |
- 4.1 Mpix |
- 4 Mpix - optical zoom 3x - SD Card - 2272 x 1704 |
- 5.1 Mpix - optical zoom 3x - Memory Stick - 2592 x 1944 - excellent picture quality |
Once you've quite sure of your choice try to find a detailed review of the related camera, you may find it at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp.
4. Major release: Nero 6 Reloaded
Nero 6 Reloaded is a major release which brings significant enhancements to video editing, authoring, playback, streaming media an digital imaging.
Both Nero Burning ROM 6 and Nero Express 6 now have support for ISO 9660:1999 for multi-system compatibility, automatic media size detect, increased verification options, and short lead out recording that can give an additional 12MB of valuable data space.
NeroVision Express in now version 3: supporting the import and editing of DVD-VR on DVD-RW/DVD-RAM, and accepting content directly from DVD+VR, DVD-VR, DVD-Video, SVCD and VCD discs. Nero’s MPEG-2 encoder has also seen notable speed and quality improvements.
Nero Recode version 2.1 supports direct file encoding to Nero Digital™ (MPEG-4). Nero Recode 2.1 adds new profiles for CE device compatibility including Mobile, Portable, Standard, Cinema, and High Definition TV. Additionally, 2 sub-titles, 2 audio tracks and chapter creation are now supported.
Nero ShowTime 2 DVD/Media player now includes MPEG-4 H264/AVC decoding in readiness for future DVD and TV content delivery. This improved MPEG-2 visual quality brings a new experience to any DVD movie. Nero ShowTime 2 also includes the integration of Nero MediaHome, a new addition to the suite.
Nero MediaHome addresses the needs of the home network user, allowing files to be shared on a LAN (Local Area Network) for full playback and control within Nero ShowTime to the media home server. With converging markets and the connected home becoming a reality, Nero MediaHome will play an increasing role in the way your content is distributed.
The ‘Reloaded’ update now includes an additional photo-image utility that allows the easy viewing, importing and editing of digital photos and images. Nero PhotoSnap makes the whole process to CD and DVD as transparent as possible adding even more value to the Photo and Video section of the Nero 6 Suite.
So Nero 6 Reloaded is likely the most complete all-in-one Digital Media Solution available today. And it has anticipated the coming needs of tools for digital picture camera users, announced worldwide for Christmas.
Ahead servers can be very slow sometimes, about 64 to 100Kbp/sec maximum allowed per user, so we recommend that your download from labDV, more than 1,024Kbps per user from our servers!
5. Guide: capture, edit and burn photos with Nero Reloaded
So you've bought a nice digital picture camera, you shot a bunch of pictures and you now want to show them to your friends or family. You have also bought a multimedia card reader (USB2 hopefully for speed) and have it connected to you Windows PC.
The solution I prefer is to burn a CD, display on TV and copy for the one who want it. And Nero 6 Reloaded is good at this
Nero SmartStart
Open Nero SmartStart, fly the mouse over Photo and Video large icon, you'd see the new PhotoSnap icons to view or edit pictures. You may have to move the bottom cursor to right to see these new icons.
Insert your multimedia card in your reader. and click on View pictures, it will open PhotoSnap.
Nero PhotoSnap
Click Open and browse to your picture folder in the media card, then open the first picture. It appears in the viewer and you can view picture by picture thanks to Next and Previous buttons.
You can also click on the Edit button to edit the current picture (rotation, exposure, color balance, crop, lens distort, brightness and contrast, add/remove noise, blurr/sharp, red eye removal and more effects available). You even like more your pictures, close PhotoSnap, go back to SmartStart and click on Make a photo slideshow (VCD), it will open Nero VisionExpress. You can also choose SVCD Slideshow, you'll get better quality (but your friends' DVD player may not be compliant) but personally I prefer DVD Slideshow to get maximum quality and maximum compatibility.
Nero VisonExpress 3
Click on the Browse for Media button and go to your picture folder. Select all of part of the pictures (use Windows shift-click or ctrl-click standard behaviors to select many pictures at a time). Click on Open, a popup window will inform you that your pictures must be copied to your hard drive, choose or create a new folder and click OK, il will copy all pictures in the destination folder.
Now in right area you can see your pictures as miniatures and the available transitions. You drag and drop bunch of pictures or one by one onto the timeline. You can drag and drop transitions in slots in between pictures in the time line .Four buttons are available to crop (unfortunately the cropping doesn't work) or rotate pictures and to apply some effects.
You can preview your slideshow in the right area, press the Play button, rendering is fast on my 3GHz machine. I suggest you try the 3D - Fold up transition, it rocks! And don't forget to Save your project. When your done, click Next, and you can see your slideshow as a chapter, so you can click on Make Slide Show to create a second slideshow as a new chapter, and so on so forth. this time try 3D - Spherize and 3D - Vertical Spinning Strokes transitions, nice effects for my Egyptian photos!
And you import audio files in your project and add them as background audio. You can also overlay text onto pictures, just double click on the picture in the timeline and add text. If you're finished, click Next and again Next then you're in the menu authoring module. Choose a template (you can download more ones, NVE2 content is compatible), here you can edit the menu, save as new template, but it's another story (I'll explain you in further article) so click Next.
Now you can test your slideshow, and then clickNext and click Burn To... to select the recorder before pressing final button: Burn.
Enjoy your picture show with your friends!
6. labDV roadmap (new web site postponed to early January)
To
insure quality and reliability of the web site source code, I've to
spend more time that I was forecasting and I won't be able to release
the new web site until early January.
It will complicate our work in the labDV team to ensure software updates and to publish new guides as well as preparing the newsletter. Nevertheless, we're committed to provide you with the most useful information and tools for Digital Video and we'll do it!
Part of the migration has been completed, I'm now working on PayPal APIs which was requested by several VIPs.
I guess most you you are preparing their Christmas gifts, again digital toys and devices will be for a large part this year. I'll follow on carefully the sales reports world wide to prepare a series of guides to answer your expectations in enjoying your new toys ;-)
Jim, Founder of labDV.com
