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Digital Comes Into Focus |
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Cannon Powershot Pro 1 and Olympus C-8080 |
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By MARK HALPER |
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Posted Sunday, February 14, 2004 14:05 GMT
Still skeptical that digital cameras can match film's picture quality? Zoom in on two point-and-click cameras scheduled for worldwide release over the next month. Both the Canon PowerShot Pro 1 and the Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom snap individual photos containing as many as eight megapixels. Two to three megapixels is considered sufficient resolution for a decent 10-cm-by-15-cm print; so isn't eight overkill for the average consumer? It might be, except that advances in home printer and paper technology make it easier, cheaper and faster to print high-quality A4-size (and larger) renditions of family photos, so cameras need to keep pace. With price tags of around $1,230 for Olympus and $1,480 for Canon, neither product is meant for the mass market. Rather, they are aimed at the "prosumer" — professional or serious amateur shutterbugs who want the smaller point-and-click for occasions when they can't lug their single lens reflex gear. Point-and-click doesn't offer sophisticated levels of control, but both the PowerShot and the C-8080 bring high-quality zoom lenses into the point-and-click format. Try either device and you're likely to agree that eight is enough.
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