The system comes with three components, the (e)film Cartridge, (e)port Carrier, and (e)box Storage module. The three products can be ordered separately, if you wish. (e)film is the image capture device (pictured above). It’s shaped like a 35mm film cartridge, with a CCD — the part that captures the digital image — that rests where the exposed film would. To transfer images to your PC card-equipped laptop or USB-equipped computer, you use (e)port. If you’d prefer just to store your (e)film for later processing, the company’s (e)box device provides remote image storage and acts as a power supply for the (e)film as well.
Silicon Film Technologies says that the initial shipment of the EFS-1 is designed to work specifically with Windows 98-based PCs, and plans to release the components in North America within about six to eight weeks. The company also expects to release a Mac-compatible version later this year. A European version is also planned; its release will commence following European regulatory approval.
(e)film itself is a 1.3 megapixel imager that stores up to 24 images at a time, so it’s not likely to replace film or more expensive digital imaging systems designed to work with SLRs just yet. Silicon Film says that each (e)film’s battery set is good for about 200 exposures, and the (e)film itself can be reused thousands of times.
According to Silicon Film’s Web site, (e)film supports the following cameras:
More details can be found at the Silicon Film Web site.