Cameras and camcorders go HD-crazy at CES 2008
With CES looming, we look forward to some of the delights we'd like to see during next month's whirlwind tour of the technology world, from the likes of Toshiba, Pentax, Eye-Fi and Zink
The Christmas turkey sandwiches won't even have run out by 7 January, let alone the New Year's Eve hangovers, but that's when the world's elite press corps of technology journalists descend upon Sin City for the Consumer Electronics Show. Your brave Cravers will be right in the thick of things, selecting the pick of the show for your delight and delectation. Here's a quick taster of some of the delights this Craver would like to see.
All the major camera manufacturers will be at CES, showing off their latest products. With the Photo Marketing Association trade show at the end of January it's unlikely we'll see many big new models in Vegas, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. There will also be plenty of nifty peripherals such as the Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace, a 160GB portable storage device for computer-free memory card backup. It'll be all about Internet connectivity -- whatever that means -- so we'll also be looking out for the Eye-Fi wireless memory card.
The rumour mill is spinning in overdrive regarding suggestions that Pentax is planning to announce two new SLR models, the K20D and K200D. We like the K100D so much, we can't wait to get our hands on the new models. People familiar with the matter are pretty certain that the K20D and K200D will be launched prior to PMA. Pentax has a presence at CES, and we're not sure if it will want the new models drowned in the noise there, but we'll still be sniffing around like the dogged journalists we are.
We'd like to see Toshiba expand on its recent foray into the camcorder market with the Camileo Pro, a highly affordable but feature-packed model. With Tosh already in the HD space with televisions such as the Regza range, we'd like to see some higher-specced HD camcorders arrive to challenge the Sony and Canon axis at the top of the market.
Of course, if CES 2007 showed us anything, a big part of the show is the unusual, the weird and the downright odd. We've noticed that Zink have a stand at the show. We craved Zink's wacky idea back in August, and we're looking forward to getting hold of the camera that prints images without ink. We'll have a look to see if Zink-printed images involve Polaroid-style dancing about and waving the picture, and if not, heck -- we'll probably just do it anyway.
We could go on, of course, but there's mince pies to start on. See you in Vegas! -Rich Trenholm
Update: Read our full Pentax K200D review and Pentax K20D review.