Canon PowerShot A590

Following closely in the footsteps of the PowerShot A570 IS, the latest PowerShot A model comes equipped with a 4x, optically stabilized zoom lens. Resolution is up slightly, from 7.1 megapixels to a full 8.0. As with previous models, the A590 sports Canon's DIGIC III processor for improved speed and high-quality images, in addition to improved Face Detection and Motion Detection technologies.

The A590 also provides shooters access to the standard complement of manual modes: aperture and shutter priority, as well as full manual control. Canon has refined this system over several models, and to say that it's a step above the manual functionality seen on most compact cameras doesn't fully capture how much more useful this system is. While it may not replace your DSLR, the A590's full-ranging aperture and shutter-speed values and a simple, intuitive control system makes the package work for those interested in learning photography basics.

More broadly, the Canon PowerShot A590 IS lets users choose from eight shooting modes:

• Easy: The PowerShot at its most basic, this new to the A590 option is a true full auto mode with adjustment for flash function only
• Auto: Users can change flash settings and ISO (Auto or Hi) in this position
• Program: The full range of menu options, including white balance and color and metering modes, are unlocked in Program mode
• Shutter Priority: Conventional shutter priority, in which user selects the shutter speed and the camera calculates aperture value for correct exposure
• Aperture Priority: Conventional aperture priority, in which user selects the aperture value and the camera calculates the correct shutter speed
• Manual: User controls both aperture and shutter speed
• Scene: The A590 comes equipped with a basic list of 12 scene presets
• Movie: Basic video recording mode, with file size options up to 20ps at 640x480; optical zoom is locked during video recording

As on most other PowerShot A models, Canon splits the scene modes into two groups, with the most commonly accessed ones (Landscape, Portrait, etc.) appearing on the mode dial and the rest accessible via a menu in the Scene mode.

Playback mode options are basic by contemporary standards, with a slideshow function and in-camera red-eye reduction being the items of note in this area. One other interesting addition here is a Focus Check feature, which uses the camera's face detection system to pick out and zoom in on faces during playback, allowing photographers to quickly confirm that eyes are open and focus and exposure are locked in.

Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera

While Fisher-Price's Kid-Tough digital camera was already built to withstand the Guantanamo-level torture your average four-year-old dishes out to their toys, the latest model will hold up to 30 minutes of waterboarding too, despite a rounder, slimmer body. The insides have gotten an upgrade as well, with a 1.3MP sensor (up from 640x480) and 64MB of storage that'll hold 500 closeups of your kid's boogers.

Point Grey Research® Announces Remote Head Addition to the Dragonfly®2 Family

Vancouver, BC, Canada - Point Grey Research Inc., a world leader in advanced digital camera systems, today announced the addition of four remote head models to its line of popular Dragonfly2 IEEE-1394a (FireWire) digital cameras.

The Dragonfly2 remote head model’s tiny 20x30mm sensor board is extended from the main camera board using a 6-inch shielded ribbon cable, making it an ideal solution for applications that require the image sensor to be mounted in a small space or unique position. It offers several significant enhancements over the previous Dragonfly extended head model, including an improved electrical design that minimizes the effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI) between multiple remote head units, and double the full resolution frame rate.

“The new Dragonfly2 remote head model is a distinct improvement over the older Dragonfly version, but at the same time maintains its predecessor’s legacy of superior quality and engineering,” said Vlad Tucakov, Director, Point Grey Research. “It is particularly effective in applications where the image sensor must be housed in a very compact space, such as robotics research, object scanning, optical inspection such as spectroscopy, or head-mounted imaging. It also clearly demonstrates Point Grey’s ongoing commitment to addressing unique vision system requirements with innovative imaging solutions.”

Monochrome and color CCD sensor options for the Dragonfly2 remote head include the 0.3MP 1/3” ICX424 (648x488 at 60 FPS) and 0.8MP 1/3” ICX204 (1032x776 at 30 FPS). Each model comes fully equipped with a smaller and more streamlined cast metal CS-mount lens holder (C-mount adapter included), and general purpose I/O connector for trigger, strobe, and serial I/O. The Dragonfly2 also fully complies with RoHS, FCC and CE regulations.

Key features of the Dragonfly2 camera line include auto iris lens support, a high-speed 12-bit analog-to-digital converter, memory channels for defining custom power-up settings, gamma and programmable LUT, on-camera color processing, and a data flash for non-volatile memory storage. Other standard features include multiple trigger and strobe modes, regions of interest and pixel binning, and in-field-updatable FPGA that controls all camera functions.

Like all Point Grey cameras, the Dragonfly2 complies with the IIDC DCAM v1.31 specification, which allows it to be used with many third-party software packages, such as Cognex® VisionPro, MVTec™ HALCON, National Instruments® LabVIEW, and ActiveDcam. Also included with every camera is the FlyCapture® SDK—a full software package for image acquisition and advanced camera control—and the PGRPRO™ driver for low-level control of most IEEE-1394 OHCI host adapters.

The following models are available now from Point Grey Research and its network of distributors:

• DR2-03S2C-EX-CS (0.3MP 1/3” ICX424 color CCD, remote head, CS lens holder)
• DR2-03S2M-EX-CS (0.3MP 1/3” ICX424 monochrome CCD, remote head, CS lens holder)
• DR2-08S2C-EX-CS (0.8MP 1/3” ICX204 color CCD, remote head, CS lens holder)
• DR2-08S2M-EX-CS (0.8MP 1/3” ICX204 monochrome CCD, remote head, CS lens holder)

About Point Grey Research, Inc.

Point Grey Research is a worldwide leader in the development of advanced digital camera technology products. With a network of distributors throughout the world, Point Grey Research designs, manufactures and distributes IEEE-1394 cameras, stereo vision cameras and spherical digital video cameras to a broad spectrum of industries. Through a close working relationship with its customers, Point Grey continues to be at the forefront of innovation.