Olympus and Ferrari announce new digicam By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource (Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 01:39 EDT)Olympus Japan has today announced a new digital camera model dubbed the "Ferrari DIGITAL MODEL 2004", in cooperation with Ferrari S.p.A. of Italy.
The new model, celebrating Olympus' sponsorship of the Ferrari Formula One racing team, follows in the footsteps of "Ferrari DIGITAL MODEL 2003" (first announced in September of last year). As with that camera, the '2004 model is based on an existing Olympus digital camera, and will be sold in limited quantities as a collector's item of interest to camera and Formula One motor racing enthusiasts.
The DIGITAL MODEL 2004 is based on the ultracompact Olympus Camedia AZ-1 which was announced last month, and hence most features are identical to that camera. 10,000 cameras will be sold worldwide, with 1,000 of these allocated to the Japanese market. The camera will be unveiled officially during this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, probably the most prestigious event on the 18-race 2004 Formula One calendar. Reservations for the camera will be accepted from June 21st in Japan, with pricing set at ¥84,000 (approximately equivalent to US$736 / €614 / CAD$1,029 / £417, ignoring exchange rate fluctuations, taxes and duties.
As with the previous Ferrari digital camera, the new model gets a Ferrari-red color scheme and a new startup screen showing a Ferrari F2004 Formula One car. The startup screen is accompanied by a new startup sound replicating the engine sound of a Ferrari F2004, and a new Ferrari "picture frame" has been added to the slideshow function. The camera case and strap have been replaced with Ferrari-styled versions, and a photograph showing Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, plus a CD-ROM with pictures from 1999 to 2003 (the five years in which Ferrari has won successive Formula One championships) are also enclosed.
Finally, since the cameras are released in a limited edition, each camera is engraved with its production run number and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
If/when the camera is announced in the USA, we'll post a separate news item detailing this. Specifications and product images follow:
Ferrari DIGITAL MODEL 2004
Number of Effective Pixels
3.2 million pixels
Image Pickup Element
CCD
Lens
Structure
9 elements in 7 groups
Focal Length
5.8-17.4mm (equivalent to 38-114mm zoom in 35mm camera format)
Aperture
F2.9 (W) - F4.9 (T)
Optical Zoom
3x
Digital Zoom
2.7x (approx. 8x seamless zoom when combined with 3x optical zoom)
90 degrees / -90 degrees (Rotation information written in Exif)
Still Image Slideshow
Yes
Motion Image Playback
Normal, Fast Forward, Fast Reverse, Frame-by-Frame
Sensitivity
Auto (approx. ISO64-250)
Focusing System
Auto focus, TTL contrast detection system
Still Image Exposure Control
Modes
Program Auto, Scene Program (Landscape, Landscape & People, Night Scene, Night Scene & People, Party, Fireworks, Sunset, Beautiful Skin Tone, Macro, Super Macro, Cuisine, Document, Manner Shot, Sports, Beach & Snow, Solo Travel, Candle, Sleeping Face, Show Window, 2-in-1, Panorama)
Shutter Speed
1/2 sec. - 1/725 sec. (Night Scene mode: up to 4 sec)
PictBridge Support (supported functions vary according to printer)
Supported Printers
PictBridge-enabled printers
Paper Size Settings
Varies according to printer (up to A0 supported)
Print Settings
Single-image print, multi-image print (up to 10), all image print (1 copy each), all image index print, date imprinting, file name printing (avail. only with single-image, multi-image, and all image print functions)
Print Layout
Full-page (with / without border), multi-pane (2-250 multi-pane layout of single image)
DPOF
DPOF print scheduling
Connectivity
PC
USB interface
(Windows XP / Me / 98 / 2000, Mac OS 9.0-9.2 / X),
PictBridge
TV
AV output terminal (NTSC / PAL switchable)
Power Supply
DC input terminal
Power Supply
AC adaptor
D-7AC (optional)
Battery
LI-20B lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Dimensions
94 (W) x 67(H) x 21.9(D) mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight
160g (excluding battery and media card)
Bundled Accessories
xD-Picture Card (16MB), USB cable, AV cable, cradle, neckstrap, CD-ROM (CAMEDIA Information Disk, CAMEDIA Master 4.2), lens cap, lithium ion battery, AC adapter, AC adapter power cable
Olympus and Ferrari announce new digicam
