Largan Targets Mass Market

By TWICE staff -- TWICE, 4/26/1999

Rochester, N.Y.-based Largan plans to bring digital cameras to the masses. The digital division, started two years ago, kicked off distribution of its first lineup earlier this year with an emphasis on ease-of-use and economical prices.

Currently, the Lmini plastic cameras, available in five colors, carry a $149.99 suggested retail and offer VGA resolution (640 x 480), with two compression ratios and 2MB of internal memory.

In September, the company plans to offer higher-resolution models and external memory. For instance, the Easy 800 digital camera, with 1.8-inch LCD screen, will offer 800,000 pixel resolution (1,024 x 768), an 8MB CompactFlash card and will come with Adobe Photo Deluxe Home Edition V 3.0. It is expected to street at $299.99. A version without the LCD, Easy 800 Lite, would street at $199.99.

The Easy 1500, a 1.5 megapixel camera (1,360 x 1,024 CCD), will street at $399.99, a version without the LCD screen is expected to street for $299.99, and a SKU with 3x optical zoom will street for $449.99.

Additionally, Largan-branded CF cards in 4, 8, 16 and 32MB versions are also planned as well as USB CF readers. According to senior VP David Weaver, a former Kodak veteran, Largan also plans a 2-megapixel camera for the first quarter of 2000. "We plan to move up the food chain very quickly," he said. - Jamie Sorcher