Eastman Kodak Co has brought out a megapixel device with an unmatched combination of image quality, ease of use and portability. The Professional DCS 420 Digital Camera features a full-frame charge-coupled device imager that delivers total resolution of 1.5m pixels 36-bit colour or 12 bits per RGB colour. It has the ability to store images on removable PCMCIA cards and includes a power battery pack that will take about 1,000 images per charge. The battery takes an hour to recharge. A built-in microphone for image annotation enables the user to record sound clips before or after exposing an image. Kodak has designed the camera for people that need high quality images in a fast turnaround time: it has a burst rate of five images in 2.25 seconds. It can therefore be used for desktop publishing, presentation development, catalogue publishing and scientific research. Kodak reckons the camera is also well-suited for a range of military, law and government applications. The DCS 420 consists of a special electronic back fixed to the body of a Nikon N90 camera. It can also be used as a PCMCIA card reader once photographers are ready to retrieve their images. A standard SCSI cable connects the camera directly to a Macintosh or Windows computer using a host adaptor. Kodak software shipped with the camera enables Mac users to acquire image information from the camera’s card reader directly to Adobe Systems Inc PhotoShop software. Separate Kodak software enables Windows users to move image information into Aldus PhotoStyler software. The DCS 420 line includes three models, the DCS 420c colour, DCS 420m black and white, and DCS 420IR infra-red All three DCS 420 models ship with the camera itself, an AC adaptor and Macintosh and iAPX-86 cables and driver software and manuals. Lenses and removable storage media are available separately. The camera will cost from $11,000.
