IFA 2009: Thursday, 03 September – Part 1

Of course, the new Viera models, which Panasonic calls "home cinema in XXL", and Panasonic's Lumix digital cameras are put in the spotlight of the products. Hence, the electronic titan presents further plasma models of its high-end series V10 with a screen size of 147 and 165 centimeters. We could convince ourselves in the Panasonic hall: It's really possible to experience a razor sharp home cinema feeling in XXL size. Panasonic presents its BluRay models DMR-BS850, the DMR-BS750 as well as the DMR-XS350 as High Definition DVD recorders for the new HDTV era.

Panasonic's digital camera Lumix G was predominant in the keywords of Panasonics picture topic as a system camera with an interchangeable lens of the new generation. The new Lumix GF1 is as handy as a compact camera and as versatile as an SLR. Really impressive: The Lumix GF1 has turned out extremely flat. Due to the small size and the compact lenses, the GF1 is a very practical small and mobile camera. Panasonic also presents a further top-class camcorder for full HD videos with 1920x1080 pixels: The HDC-TM350.

Short stop at Kodak

Pocket cameras are experiencing a boom even in Germany. No wonder! Because the compact and light jacks-of-all-trades for motion pictures fits in every pocket and have, aside from a foolproof utilization, a quite felicitous HD image quality. Pocket video cameras simply fit into the generation of Facebook, Twitter and mobile blogs and, for many, simply belong to a mobile "digital lifestyle", as already the netbook and smartphone.

Kodak has recognized this trend some time ago and therefore has already offered both the pocket video cameras Zx1 and Zi6 in this country for quite some time with success. Whilst the weatherproof Zx1 and the Zi6 can process HD movies in 720p and VGA, as well as pictures with three megapixels, the brand new Zi8 HD video can now record in 1080p (1920 x 1080, 30 frames per second). The Zi8 takes pictures with 5.3 megapixels (interpolated) in a display size of 16:9. Additionally, the Zi8 has an improved focus because of the integrated image stabilizer. We could convince ourselves of this a in a quick stop at the Kodak booth in hall 9, stand 101/1. We weren't allowed to make a short hands-on test of the Zi8 on site, though – too bad!

As luck would have it, we met Robert Löved, an editor of the pros for digital video, slashCAM.de, on the press shuttle after the Kodak rendezvous. Robert assured us that slashCAM will take a closer look at Kodak's Zi8 shortly. We'll wait anxiously. We have also requested a test device of the enthralling pocket video camera, Zi8, for a short practical-usability-test from Kodak.

Nikon: Innovative design and ground-breaking technology

Despite a tight schedule, Markus Hillebrand, Communications & Public Relations Manager from Nikon, introduced us to two revolutionary digital compact cameras out of Nikon's Coolpix series: The Coolpix S1000pj, as the first camera in the world with a built-in projector, and the Coolpix S70 with an innovative OLED touchscreen technology. Interested? But of course! As (almost) everyone has a digital compact camera somewhere in their pockets – no matter if in the shirt or pants pocket or even that of a notebook case. And – it's undoubtedly about time for the "elderly digital cam" to go in retirement in view of the numerous, exciting innovations.

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj

The Japanese camera expert presents a world premiere with its Coolpix S1000pj at the IFA 2009 and underlines its title as the leader of innovations. The Coolpix S1000pj integrates an ultra-small projector with LED technology for the first time ever into a camera, with which pictures and videos can be projected with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and an image size of up to about 1 meter. The integrated mini-projector naturally isn't, with a luminosity of 10 lumens, a substitute for a full-fledged projector.

We could convince ourselves, live, that it's possible to share pictures with other spectators in an especially easy way with the Coolpix S100pj's projection technology at the Nikon exhibition booth in hall 17, stand 121. No matter if hip picture and video shows in the party lounge or entertaining and striking vacation picture presentations in the evening at the hotel. Multimedia content can be shared in a completely new way with the Coolpix S1000pj. Nikon adds a fitting projector stand (ET-2) and a remote control in its package of the mini-projector-camera right away. Therefore, the S1000pj can be set up securely to project pictures and be controlled comfortably from a couch.

Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj is anticipated to be in retail, in the colors Aluminum Silver and Matt Black, as of mid September 2009 at a recommended retail price of 429 Euros.