Ricoh PC Peripherals has announced two new digital cameras. The company has announced the RDC-6000, aimed at the consumer market, and the RDC-7, which is aimed at mid and high end users. According to Ricoh:
Ricoh PC Peripherals Business Unit, has designed two new multimillion-pixel digital cameras that will deliver an unsurpassed feature set to both entry level and advanced users. Both cameras are designed from the CCD up to be optimal for their specific target markets. The RDC-6000 is for the digital camera buyer who wants quality images and dual-mode versatility in an easy to use design, while the RDC-7 caters to the mobile professional who demands maximum image quality and multimedia features in a highly portable compact form factor.
RDC-6000
With an emphasis on the consumer, the RDC-6000's versatility is exemplified by the fact that it is a dual-mode camera. In other words it may be used as a digital still camera or Web cam to broadcast over the Internet via its USB connection. In addition, the camera captures full motion video in high quality Motion JPEG AVI file format and uses onboard interpolation to create high resolution JPEG stills equivalent to 3 million pixels to be stored on the camera's SmartMedia card. A 4X stepped digital zoom, full featured flash and a multitude of customizable settings ensures optimal image capture flexibility. A large dial control for setting the camera modes and an easy-to-use menu interface ensures the camera is user friendly for ages 8 to 80.
RDC-7
Aimed at mobile professionals and power users, the RDC-7's sleek, ultra-thin design looks more like an advanced personal information tool, than a camera and its features are more diverse than any digital camera on the market today. Starting with its high resolution 3.34MP CCD for capturing JPEG or uncompressed TIFF stills, the camera can also create ultra-sharp images or images equivalent to 7MP using Ricoh's Image Enhancement Technology, a unique onboard image processing system.
The high quality 3X optical zoom and 1cm macro capabilities provide a full range of composition while the 8MB onboard memory and SmartMedia expandability ensures ample storage. Beyond image capture, the camera is also a digital voice recorder allowing users to capture and playback unlimited lengths of digital audio in WAV file format, as well as incorporate sound into images. The camera also supports capture of full motion video with sound in Motion JPEG file format. Another capture mode turns the RDC-7 into a portable document scanner by utilizing a special black and white TIFF file format to capture images of text and graphics with unsurpassed clarity.
Both cameras will be available for use on Windows or Macintosh platforms and will support the optional Ricoh infrared remote control.
Pricing has not yet been announced for the cameras, and the company has not yet added information about these cameras to its web site. The RDC-6000 should be available late in the 2nd quarter or early in the 3rd quarter. The RDC-7 should be available after that, sometime in the 3rd quarter.
