CAMERA GRAND PRIX2007/Japan
The past CAMERA GRAND PRIX AWARD models1984-2007
Outline
Pentax Corporation's Pentax K10D won the CAMERA GRAND PRIX AWARD in 2007. For the six consecutive year, digital SLR cameras have been chosen for the Grand Prix. As for Pentax's records, the company won the award for the third time, following the Pnetax 645N in 1998.
CAMERA GRAND PRIX is hosted by CAMERA JOURNAL PRESS CLUB/JAPAN (C.J.P.C, established in September 1963, with current members of eleven from eleven journals), a group of technical editors from photographic/camera magazines. Under the organization of its Camera Grand Prix Executive Committee, annually the best still camera released within the past year is selected and awarded the GRAND PRIX.
A total of 50 voters, including the members of the C.J.P.C, the editors-in-chief and publishers of the member magazines, the experts commissioned by the executive committee members, technical writers, photographers were involved in the selection process this year. 159 models of camera newly released over the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007 were under review.
Since 1990, C.J.P.C also presents CAMERA JOURNAL PRESS CLUB SPECIAL PRIZE to those whose excellence is recognized in terms of popularity, newsworthiness and innovativeness after the GRAND PRIX was selected. The SPECIAL PRIZE were selected from all the entries except from the Grand Prix winner through consultation with the club members. This year, the awards went to Sony Corporation's digital SLR camera, Sony Alpha α100, and to Adobe Systems Incorporated's image-processing software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The latter one was the first software to win the award.
Details
CAMERA GRAND PRIX2007
Objects:The still cameras which can be purchased in the Japanese market.All of the target SLR Cameras,Digital SLR Cameras,Compact Cameras,Digital Compact Cameras and other still cameras.
Period:1 Apr 2006-31 Mar 2007
Selectors: A total of 50 voters.Chief editors of Camera and Photo Magazines in JAPAN,Camera technical writers,photographers,Academic experts of Camera and Photo,Photograph related organization representation and Members of Camera Journal Press Club(C.J.P.C).
-CAMERA JOURNAL PRESS CLUB- SPECIAL PRIZE
Special Prize was chosen by Members of C.J.P.C.
CAMERA GRAND PRIX2007
CAMERA JOURNAL PRESS CLUB SPECIAL PRIZE
Remarks on the selection
The K10D provides a high-quality image reproduction by a CCD with 10.2 effective megapixels. Also it features Shake Reduction (SR) within the body that is compatible with wide range of lenses; Dust Removal (DR) system to inhibit particles from sticking; the robust, dust and splash proof construction that you can use safely regardless of various shooting conditions. In addition to its many shooting functions that include some unique exposure modes addressing the user's shooting intentions, K10D delivers a reasonable price for many users.
In particular, the SR technology is superb. Because of the system, you can get the effective camera shake reduction range equivalent to approximately 2.5 to 4 shutter-speed steps with all lenses ranging from K mount to even M42 screw mount using adaptors.
As for other great charms of K10D, Pentax's exclusive Hyper Program function provides some unique shooting modes, including Hyper Manual, Sensitivity-Priority (Sv), Shutter & Aperture-Priority (TAv) modes, all of which accurately respond to users' shooting intentions.
In addition, the product has the following various features:
Wide-frame AF system of 11 sensor points, with nine cross-type sensors positioned in the middle.
Newly designed PRIME image engine allows high-speed and high-resolution processing.
High-performance A/D converter that makes it possible to realize the highest resolving power of 22 bits, or 4.2 million gradations.
Extended bracket enables shooting on gradually different levels of white-balance, sharpness, saturation and contrast.
New RAW button on the side to switch from JPEG or RAW mode to simultaneous recording of RAW and JPEG images with one when desired.
The USER position to register the settings such as shooting mode, ISO sensitivity, image quality, exposure compensation according to your usual camera operations.
Clear viewfinder of a 95% field of view with Natural-Bright-Matte focusing screen that allows natural brightness and easy focusing.
We judged Pentax K10D as an excellent camera system from the users' perspective. Because the users would fully enjoy the fun of digital photographs with its core function of shake reduction, as well as optimal chances of the maximum use of past lens assets they might have, we decided that the Camera Grand Prix 2007 would go to this product.
Remarks on the selection
The news headlined "Sony Enters The Digital SLR Market" attracted tremendous interest even through general economic coverage and turned the public interest on to the digital SLR and digital photographs. Since the α100 inherited from Konica Minolta various assets including a large number of α mount interchangeable lenses and the old α-series accessories, the product was largely supported by photography enthusiasts and played a big role in stimulating the digital SLR market for the fiscal year of 2006.
The product itself delivers good performance with the following features,
10.2 effective megapixcel high-performance CCD sensor
CCD-shift handshake compensation function being unaffected by the lens
Anti-dust function to reduce dust and keep the CCD imager clean
Dynamic Range Optimizer to automatically correct for the optimal exposure and gradation according to each shooting image
The beginner-friendly Scene Selection function delivers pictures according to the image you hold
The improved image adjustment by its "Image matching" and "Zone matching" functions
The rich lineup of the initial α-system accessories including flash and close-up equipment
The use of cinnabar color to accentuate the logo and some important body parts as well as the naming positions itself apart from other brands
So it has a lot of capabilities that would largely attract photo enthusiasts, digital SLR lovers and those who are sensitive to the newest trends and fashions.
Sony has aggressively introduced various new interchangeable lenses including Carl Zeiss's, and has actively announced prototype models that showed the direction of future systems. The company also has a good capability to develop electronic parts mainly for imaging devices. Based on these factors, we selected the product for the Camera Journal Press Club Special Award based on Sony's commitment to its DSLR line, which didn't seem temporary but real.
Remarks on the selection
Adobe's Photoshop family is one of the most common image-editing software for amateur and professional users alike. The Photoshop CS is a key component of the Creative Suite and one of the major software programs for professional photographers, while the Photoshop Elements is software for amateur users to fully enjoy the fun of photographs not only with image editing but also making animated images and putting their works on the Web. Both of the lines have been enjoying a large market share so far.
On the other hand, the efficiency of image management and adjustment has become an issue of image processing as more and more photos were shot by general enthusiasts with the full-scale diffusion of digital LSR cameras. At this very moment, Photoshop Lightroom is on the market as a more efficient digital image-processing tool with a range of workflow where you can easily manage, develop, adjust and present your photos after shooting.
Features of the software include the following:
Users can swiftly import and organize a large number of photo images.
Users can intuitively understand how to operate the software since the screen is laid out in line with the typical digital photo processing workflow.
The software supports over 140 raw file formats, positions the raw development as the main job of the workflow.
Various image adjustment functions including altering white balance, exposure, tone curves, lens aberrations, and color casts. Dust buster is also available.
A wide range of presentation functions including printing, web publishing and creating slide shows.
The Photoshop Lightroom incorporates the functions and capabilities required for digital photo processing, which can be done efficiently and along with the set of workflow. Introducing the product to the market contributed to the further progress of digital photos. For that reason, we selected the Photoshop Lightroom for the Camera Journal Press Club Special Award allowing for the role of the whole Photoshop family as the strongest digital processing tool.
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