by David
Nagel
Executive Producer
dnagel@digitalmedianet.com
Olympus says it will start shipping the first model in its new
line of point and shoot digital cameras this May. The first model,
the Camedia Brio D-100, offers a 1.3 megapixel CCD for producing
images at 1,280 x 960. It also offers a 5.5 mm f2.8 to f11 autofocus
lens with 2x telephoto, a shutter release time of 0.3 seconds
and a USB interface.
The Brio D-100 isn't particularly small. It measures 4.3" (W)
x 2.4" (H) x 1.3" and weighs about 6 ounces. The main thrust of
this new camera seems to be its speed. It starts up in less than
a second and can shoot two pictures per second at full resolution
in burst mode without the need to change the camera's settings,
according to Olympus.
It's also meant for ease of use, including its USB interface,
which requires no additional drivers or software. Just plug it
in, and it's connected to the host computer. Under Mac OS 8.6
or higher, the camera will automatically mount on the Desktop
like a hard disk. This also works on Windows 2000 and Windows
ME systems, and card readers are available for machines that lack
USB connectivity.
The Brio D-100 uses SmartMedia for image storage (8 MB card included),
which can also be inserted into one of Olympus' dye-sublimation
printers for direct printing. The Brio D-100 also supports the
Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) standard for adding data to
images and tagging specific photographs to print to DPOF-compatible
printers.
The camera includes a 1.5" LCD viewfinder, as well as an optical
viewfinder. All camera settings can be accessed through the LCD
panel.
Available in May, the Brio D-100 will ship with an 8 MB SmartMedia
card, USB cable, video output cable, Olympus Camedia Master software,
user guide, strap, and CR-V3 Lithium battery pack. The camera
can also be powered by two AA alkaline or Ni-MH batteries. Olympous
expects the camera to sell for about $299. For more information,
visit http://www.olympusamerica.com.
