Canon Debuts New All-In-One Printer, New Camcorders

by , 4:30 PM EST, January 4th, 2006

Canon on Wednesday introduced a new all-in-one printer, the PIXMA MP150, as well as four new camcorders -- the ZR500, ZR600, ZR700 and Elura 100 -- at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The PIXMA MP150 (US$89.99) prints 4 x 6-inch photos in just under one minute, according to the company, and can produce 22 pages per minute in black-and-white or 17 pages per minute in color. Maximum scanning resolution is 1200 x 2400 dpi. PictBridge support is included for directly printing from compatible cameras or camcorders, and the printer also has "fit to page" and "borderless copy" functions.

Canon also introduced new Photo Paper Glossy, which will ship in early March. Packs of 4 x 6 sheets will be $7.99 for 50 and $11.99 for 100. Packs of 8.5 x 11 sheets will be $17.99 for 50 and $29.99 for 100.

Four New Camcorders

Canon's new Mini DV camcorders feature the company's Widescreen HR feature, which enables viewing recorded video on widescreen TVs. On standard TVs, the video is letterboxed with bars on the top and bottom of the image. The camcorders also include 2.7-inch widescreen LCD screens.

The ZR models offer a joystick on the display panel's housing, giving users easier access to the menu system and playback controls. They also feature 25X optical zoom and Smooth Zoom Control, which features three fixed zoom speeds that help prevent jerky zoom-ins. A Level Shot Control marker also assists with avoiding crooked shots.

The ZR600 and ZR700 models come with various still photo features and can save snapshots to an SD storage card. They support PictBridge connectivity and offer USB and FireWire ports. The ZR500 has a microphone port while the other two ZR models include a remote control, Zoom Browser software and audio dubbing. The ZR700 has a higher-capacity battery, a built-in video light and an analog-to-digital converter, along with 1000X digital zoom.

Canon expects to ship the ZR500, ZR600 and ZR700 at the end of January for $299, $349 and $399, respectively. The Elura 100 will ship at the end of February for $399. It includes many of the features found in the ZR models.

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