Konica Cameras Stop the Shakes

Konica-Minolta has announced a digital SLR and a compact camera that feature anti-shake technology to prevent digital pictures becoming blurry due to less-than-steady handling.

Steady SLR

The Dynax 5D is a smaller and lighter version of the popular Dynax 7D digital SLR. It's built around a 6.1-megapixel CCD, which utilizes Konica-Minolta's CxProcess III image-processing technology, which the company claims offers fine image detail and stunning color rendition.

The anti-shake technology uses a CCD-shift mechanism to compensate for the blurring caused by the camera's motion. According to Konica-Minolta, the technology provides an equivalent correction effect to having the shutter speed two to three stops, while keeping compatibility with Dynax-series lenses and working even in dimly lit scenes and in macro mode.

The camera's body is 22 percent smaller than the Dynax 7D, according to Konica-Minolta, and features a rubber grip based on new ergonomic research. The Dynax 5D has a 2.5-inch LCD screen, which automatically switches from horizontal to vertical format when shooting in a portrait fashion.

The Dynax 5D will ship in September at $895 for the body only, or $975 with an AF DT 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 lens. Alongside the announcement, Konica-Minolta has reduced the price of the Dynax 7D to $1195 for the body alone or $1345 with an AF 28-100mm f3.5-5.6 lens.

Colorful Compact

The Dimage X1 sleek compact camera is based around an 8-megapixel CCD that allows it to capture images up to 3264 by 2448 pixels in size, and which uses the same CxProcess III image-processing technology as the Dynax 5D. It also measures only 95 by 58 by 20 mm, and is available in three colors: red, black, and silver.

The 3x optical zoom lens (37-111 mm in 35-mm equivalent) is non-protruding, so that front of the camera is always flat. It's backed up by the same anti-shake technology as the Dynax 5D (though without the compatibility with Dynax series lenses).

The camera features a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and saves pictures on SD memory cards.

The Dimage X1 costs $450.