Kyocera Optics Inc. has released their Contax SL300R T digital camera, a 3.2 megapixel camera featuring a swivel body design and Carl Zeiss optics. The unusually-designed camera measures about 4 x 2.5 x 0.6 inches and weighs about 4.5 ounces with battery and media removed.
The SL300R T* gets its nomenclature from the Carl Zeiss-Vario Tessar T* 5.8-17.4mm lens, equipped with a 3x optical zoom. Clad in magnesium and leather and equipped with a special hood over the lens, the SL300R T* is noticeably different than Kyocera’s Finecam SL300R model, which shares the same body design.
The SL300R T* uses Kyocera’s RTUNE imaging engine, which the company says eliminates shutter speed lag time and slow “shot to shot” speed. The net result is a diminutive digital still camera that can capture up to 3.5 frames per second at its full resolution of 2048 x 1536, depending on the speed of the media it’s writing to. It uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery.
Special capabilities of the camera include seven different “scene modes” including Standard, Sport Action, Night View and more. It also has five different flash modes and six white balance modes, along with five sharpness settings, two chroma settings and exposure compensation. The camera features AVI video capture and voice memo recording capabilities.
The SL300R T* sports a 1.5-inch LCD TFT display. It uses a USB interface to connect to PCs or Macs and is Mac OS X compatible (it also works with Mac OS 9); it’s recognized as a mass storage device by the computer. It writes content to a SD flash media card. You can also print directly to an Epson PRINT Imaging Matching-compatible printer.
The Contax SLR300R T* is shipping in North America now at a street price of US$499.99. Further information had not been posted to the Kyocera Optics Inc.’s Web site as MacCentral posted this article, but you can get more information from Kyocera’s Global Web site.