Concord and Olympus Expand 4- And 5-Megapixel Lines

New York — As the holiday selling season hovers on the horizon, Concord and Olympus announced new additions to their digital camera lineups, setting their sites on a feature-driven consumer base.

Concord introduced several new camera lines from 4-megapixel and 5-megapixel/3x optical zoom models to a $29.99 VGA camera.

The 5-megapixel 5340z will ship in November and features a 2-inch LCD, MPEG-4 video capture at QVGA resolution up to 30 frames per second (fps), 16MB of internal memory and an SD card slot for a suggested $249.99.

The 4-megapixel 4340z also ships next month and features a QVGA movie mode up to 24 fps, a long shutter mode up to eight seconds and a self-portrait mirror for a suggested $149.99.

The company also refreshed its 3-megapixel lineup with three new models, two of which will sell for under $100. The Concord 3043, for $99.99, is under an inch thick and features a 4x digital zoom. It will be available in red, blue or silver and offers 16MB internal memory, an SD card slot, a 1.8-inch LCD and a 15 fps VGA movie mode.

The 3046, also for $99.99, sports a 24 fps QVGA movie mode, 16MB of internal memory and a 1.5-inch LCD. The 3346z adds a 3x optical zoom, seven pre-set scene modes, AVI movie capture and continuous shooting for a suggested $119.99.

The company also created a “Just for Fun” line of sub-$50 models including the 1-megapixel 1500 and the VGA quality Eye-Q 642. The Eye-Q 642 will have a suggested retail price of $24.99 and ships this month. It offers 2MB of internal memory, a 3 fps continuous shooting mode, self-timer, Web-cam-capability, and QVGA video clip recording

The 1500, shipping in December for a suggested $49.99, adds a strobe, 8MB of internal memory with an SD card slot and a 15 fps QVGA movie mode.

Finally, the company introduced a six-in-one digital video camera. The DVx captures MPEG-4 video, 2-megapixel still images, can play MP3 files, serve as a voice recorder or SD card reader and its LED light can serve to both illuminate a dimly lit scene and serve as a stand-alone flashlight.

The unit features a 230 degree rotating lens, 1.5-inch LCD screen and will be available in white and charcoal gray with removable face plates. It ships with headphones and a 32MB SD card. The unit can store an additional memory card in a compartment under the faceplate. It ships in November for a suggested $199.99.

Olympus introduced a new digital camera and a series of interconnected peripherals aimed at liberating common imaging tasks from PC connectivity.

Called the Olympus Total Imaging Solution, the introductions include a new digital camera, a hard drive, a 4-inch by 6-inch dye sublimation printer and a forthcoming DVD burner. All, save the DVD burner, will ship in January. No ship date was announced for the burner.

The new camera, via a cradle, connects to any and all of these devices to save, print and archive photos automatically without first connecting them to a PC.

The 4-megapixel IR-500 features a 2.8x optical zoom lens and a 2.5-inch LCD that can rotate 360 degrees. The LCD can show photo albums stored on an xD-Picture Card through the camera's Album Function. The camera features 19 scene-program modes and a QuickTime movie mode with camera-shake correction to reduce image blur.

The IR-500 will have a $499.99 suggested retail price.

The hard drive, the S-HD-100, has a 40GB capacity and is equipped with a built-in CPU that lets users manage their image files — such as automatically scanning the drive and memory card to avoid duplicate downloads. The S-HD-100 will have a $299.99 suggested retail and can also be connected to a computer when necessary to transfer, edit and back up images.

The P-S100 dye-sublimation photo printer can produce a 4-inch by 6-inch print in roughly 84 seconds. It features a 50-sheet paper capacity, PictBridge compatibility and seals each print with a light and moisture-resistant over-coating,

It will sell for a suggested $199.99.

A spokesman for the company noted that forthcoming Olympus cameras will be compatible with the Total Imaging System.