HP introduced the Photosmart R927 Digital Camera featuring an 8.2 megapixel sensor and a bright 3 inch LCD display. The camera has a 3X optical zoom with an 8 digital zoom. A fascinating thing about this camera is that it features image advice that tells you better ways to improve your future shots. The HP Photosmart R927 Digital Camera will be released in March.

Overview
The premium styled, ultra-compact HP Photosmart R927 Digital Camera features a bright 3-inch LCD with a 170-degree viewing angle for unsurpassed indoor and outdoor viewing. Take brilliant 8.2-megapixel photos with the powerful HP Precision 24x total zoom. With the latest features such as automatic in-camera red-eye removal, HP Design Gallery and other HP Real Life technologies, users can easily take brilliant digital photos perfect for printing and sharing.
Key Features and Benefits
• 8.2-megapixels for brilliant resolution for beautiful prints and enlargements up to poster size
• HP Precision 3x optical lens, 8x digital zoom for 24x total zoom
• 3-inch image display with an extra-wide viewing angle for shooting indoors or out.
• 32 MB internal memory allows users to store photos in the camera
• 17 shooting modes, macro multi-zone auto focus and burst mode for quality shots in a variety of conditions
• On-camera button to easily order and share photos on Snapfish using HP Photosmart Express (1)
• Features an ultra-compact, durable metal body with a sleek, premium finish
Additional Features
• HP Real Life technologies help take the guesswork out of digital photography and make it easy to produce great photos that are crisp, realistic and true-to-life. HP Real Life technologies include:
o NEW: Automatic In-camera red-eye removal to remove red-eye while images are still in the camera
o NEW: HP Design Gallery adds artistic effects and borders right in the camera – includes slimming feature for your best possible photos
o Improved Image Advice now provides real-time feedback to users on how to improve a specific picture the next time it is captured—like having a professional photographer with you at all times!
o Adaptive Lighting Bracketing allows you to adjust high-contrast photos to bring faces out of shadows and details out of backgrounds while automatically capture 3 versions of the same scene – one with adaptive lighting off, one with adaptive lighting on low and the final with adaptive lighting on high
o In-camera panorama stitching allows the user to align, capture and review a panorama image on the camera and stitch up to 5 photos together to save as one image for easy printing before downloading to a computer
o High-quality VGA video with audio shoots at 24 frames per second and offers the ability to save still shots for printing
• HP Photosmart Express makes sharing, printing and saving digital photos easy – users simply take a photo and select its destination right on the back of the camera – up to 34 destinations, including e-mail addresses, online albums, printers and Snapfish for ordering photos
• Included dock recharges the camera and makes it easy to print and e-mail photos.
• Optional HP Photosmart 6221 Premium Camera Dock lets users easily save, view, print and share photos on a PC, Snapfish and TV, and recharge in-camera battery, plus a spare. Add Wireless capabilities by purchasing the HP Photosmart 6222 Wireless Dock Base to share your photos via a wireless home network. (2)
Technical Specifications
• 8.2-megapixel resolution
• 24x total zoom—3x optical, 8x digital
• Dimensions/Weight
o 96 mm (W) x 25.6 mm (D) x 62 mm (H)
o 170 grams without batteries
• PictBridge support
• JPEG (Exif 2.2 support)
• Support/Connectivity
o USB Connectivity
o USB-compatible PC with Microsoft Windows® XP, x64, 2000, Me, 98SE, or 98, Intel® Pentium® II, Celeron® or compatible CPU, Internet Explorer 5.01SP2 or later
o USB-compatible Macintosh computer with Mac OS v10.2.8, v10.3, v10.4
• HP offers a comprehensive support package for the HP Photosmart R927 Digital Camera that includes one-year of phone support as well as real-time chat and email support beyond the warranty as part of its HP Total Care portfolio of services.
Pricing and Availability
Estimated U.S. street price is TBD
Expected to be available for purchase March 2006 in North America, and specific countries in Latin America and Europe.

Engadget has the goods on two new Norcent digital cameras, the DC-820 and the  DC-520 in time for CES. The new models “are their new “ultra-slim” (at 0.94-inches it’s not that slim) DC-820 and DC-520 eight and five megapixel digital shooters. Both models feature SD/MMC slots, PicBridge support, MPEG-4 video recording at 640 x 480, and 3x optical zoom — standard fare — and neither camera offers a viewfinder.

The DC-520 sports a 2.5-inch LCD and 16MB internal memory while the DC-820 goes a touch smaller at 2.4-inches, but with 32MB on-board.

Expect the 820 and 520 to hit the US streets this January for the low low price of $299 and $199 respectively.” via Engadget

The Kodak EasyShare P880 is the best of Kodak’s consumer EasyShare series. The P880 offers a top quality lens and lcd monitor. Megapixel offers this review of the camera. “Featuring an 8-megapixel resolution, a super wide — 24 to 140 mm — 5.8 X manual zoom manufactured by Schneider-Kreuznach; a 2.5-inch, 115,000 pixel LCD monitor; and a 237,000 pixel electronic viewfinder, the P880 is aimed at users looking for more flexibility than is available with a point and shoot, short of moving to a dSLR.”

For more information on the Kodak EasyShare P880.

The Nikon Coolpix P1 is an 8 megapixel camera which offers wifi connectivity. Lets Go Digital has a review of the camera. “During the IFA event 2005 in Berlin I attended the press conference of Nikon Europe. In this conference Nikon introduced their first series of digital cameras with built-in Wi-Fi functionality. Nikon were not the first to announce a camera with Wi-Fi availability, but they were definitely the very first to deliver a camera with this function built-in the camera unlike Kodak did with the EasyShare-One; using a memory card with Wi-Fi functions. Nikon has obtained a lot of experience in the professional segment and by introducing the Nikon Coolpix P1 and P2 with built-in Wi-Fi functionality they take the first steps in the consumer market. “

Get more information on the Nikon Coolpix P1 here.

The  Casio EXILIM CARD EX-S600 miniature camera has a 6 megapixel, 3x optical zoom to go with the anti-shake technology. The camera is thin, Kate Moss thin, I mean seriously thin. 16 mm would not even leave a dent in your shirt pocket.

To make this small camera work, it has the “Anti Shake” technology, to allow such a small camera take quality pictures.

Digital Lifestyles has this to say about the Casio EXILIM CARD EX-S600 digital camera:

As is de rigeur on consumer compacts, there’s a built in movie mode with the Casio capturing MPEG-4, VGA (640×480 pixels) at 30 frames/second.

Battery life is a beefy 300 still pictures or 1 hour and 50 minutes of movie recording per battery charge, with the EX-S600 connecting to a TV or PC via the multi cradle, which also doubles as the battery charger.

This camera is available only Japan right now, but should be coming to America soon.

(more…)

DPreview has a review of the Olympus E-500 EVOLT:

The E-500 EVOLT was announced on 26th September 2005, almost exactly a year after the E-300 which was the first affordable Four Thirds System digital SLR. The E-500 features an eight megapixel Kodak 4/3 Type CCD sensor, a Four Thirds System lens mount and a more traditional pentaprism viewfinder. Appearance wise the E-500 looks more like a traditional film SLR than the long and flat E-300 with its sideways swinging mirror and viewfinder setup. Improvements over the E-300 include an all new metering system, a larger 2.5″ LCD monitor, better control layout and other firmware delivered improvements.

Read the rest of the review at DPreview.