Digital Camera News and Reviews

Canon Pixma MG4150

Canon has announced a new All-in-One printer called Canon Pixma MG4150 that is web-enabled. The Canon printer is able to print up to 9.9 images per minute, or so Canon claims.

Some key features for the Canon Pixma MG4150 printer:
-Print speeds up to 9.9 images per minute in black and 5.7 images per minute in color
-Wi-Fi connectivity
-Web-enabled
-All-in-One that is able to print, copy and scan
-Able to print a 10x15cm borderless photo in approximately 44 seconds
-6cm LCD display

The Canon Pixma MG4150 printer will be available in March 2012 and cost about £119/€139.

Press release:
Canon launches new affordable web-enabled All-In-One – PIXMA MG4150

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, 1st February 2012 – Canon today announces a new compact, web-enabled, All-in-One printer packed with clever features to suit students or families looking for an affordable, quality printer with the latest web features. The PIXMA MG4150 comes in a stylish black design with enhanced functionality and connectivity features to make printing from smartphones and tablets easier than ever before.

The MG4150 also features duplex printing functionality and environmentally responsible design features, as well as a range of smart software to enable users to get the most out of their printed documents and photos.

Connect and Share
Thanks to integrated Wi-Fi capabilities, the MG4150 can scan and copy from virtually anywhere in the home. With Canon’s Easy Photo-Print App, PC-free printing and scanning and wireless mobile printing from iOS™ or Android™ devices is also quick and easy. With direct access to the cloud, users can even print their favourite photos stored on online albums, including CANON iMAGE GATEWAY and Picasa Web Albums, using Online Album Photo Print via the PIXMA Cloud Link.

The time saving MG4150 also includes a range of print-ready templates, including calendars, envelopes, stationery, memos and other useful resources, which are all available at the touch of a button with Web Template Print.

Enhanced Functionality
Printing premium quality documents and photos at home is fast with the new MG4150; a quality 10x15cm borderless photo, printed in default mode, is produced in approximately 44 seconds, with ISO speeds of 9.9ipm for black and white documents and 5.7ipm for colour. For frequent users, Canon FINE ink cartridges now come in a high yield XL size offering up to 50% cost per page savings over standard tanks (based on Canon RSP, compared to equivalent non XL Canon cartridge, using ISO/IEC24712 page yield). The models are ideal for both text documents and photo printing; FINE print head technology with a minimum 2pl droplet size, combined with maximum 4800dpi print resolution, produces beautiful photo prints and crisp word documents. The MG4150 also features a 6.0cm LCD display for easy operation and comes with Auto Duplex Print allowing for automatic printing on both sides of the page for greater efficiency.

Smart Design
The MG4150’s smart design and eco settings also mark it out from the crowd. A stylish high-gloss look and compact design makes the MG4150 fit into the most stylish of homes. Canon’s FastFront design allows paper and ink cartridges to be loaded into the front of the printer, so it can be placed against a wall or on a shelf, saving valuable space. For eco-conscious users, the new ECO Setting monitors paper and CO2 reductions and demonstrates the savings made by using the Auto Duplex mode. The Auto Power Off feature ensures the main power can be automatically turned off after a set time to save energy, whilst the Quick Start function allows the MG4150 to power up again quickly, for on-demand printing.

Smart Software
The new MG4150 comes with a range of software solutions for smart printing that will appeal to those looking for the very latest features.

A comprehensive suite of intuitive software for photo and document printing and scanning comes as standard. For example, for keen photographers, Auto Photo Fix II software uses Face Detection and Scene Analysis technology to remove common flaws for great looking prints every time.

When used with Canon genuine inks, the MG4150 comes with access to CREATIVE PARK and CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM, a fantastic free resource for printing cards, printable crafts and calendars. It also includes access to exclusive imagery and artwork from famous artists and photographers.

Easy-WebPrint EX (With Internet Explorer 7, 8 and 9 (for Windows) prints web pages exactly as required which means wasting paper or ink when printing from the internet is a thing of the past. The intuitive software means multiple web pages can be combined and printed on one page using Auto Clip or the one click fit-to-page option, offering truly intelligent printing from the web.

Easy-PhotoPrint EX software means users can impress friends and family and get creative with content – printing photos, calendars and albums. With new Fun Filter Effect, apply fun and artistic image effects to prints including Blur Background, Fish-eye, Soft Focus, Miniature and Toy Camera.

HD Movie stills can be captured and printed from full HD video footage shot on Canon’s range of Digital SLRs or Canon Digital Still Cameras. Multiple images can be combined to give a sense of motion to the printed photos with Merge Frames, while Layout Print lets users select a small movie clip and use a comic-strip effect to print a storyboard.

PIXMA MG4150 – key features:
All-in-One: Print, Copy, Scan & Wi-Fi
Compact FastFront design
Up to 4800dpi, min. 2pl quality
ISO ESAT speed 9.9 mono/5.7 colour ipm
10x15cm photo in 44sec
Auto Duplex Print
PIXMA Cloud Link
Full HD Movie Print
CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM

Pricing and Availability
The PIXMA MG4150 is available from March 2012, priced at £119.00/€139.00 RRP incl. VAT.

HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275

Printer Comparison has tested a multifunction printer from HP with a pretty original feature. The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 is able to do 3D scanning of objects. This sounds like a gimmick, but is it actually useful? Let us hear what the reviewer over at Printer Comparison thinks.

Some key features for the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275:
-Ability to scan 3D objects
-Overhanging arm with a high resolution camera
-Print speeds up to 17 pages per minute in black and 4 pages per minute in color
-Print resolution up to 600 x 600 dpi
-3.5-inch touchscreen control panel
-150-sheet paper tray

Printer Comparison ends up giving the TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 an overall score of 3 out of 5 possible stars. The HP printer scores highest on print quality, a little lower on ease of use and operational costs, while it scores lowest on features. The 3D scanning part of the printer is actually quite good, but the reviewer finds it to be a bit useless. The print speeds are pretty slow especially color printing. Even though this is a very niche printer there might be someone out there that find this model attractive.
Read the full review of the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 multifunction printer with 3D scanning here.

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100

Trusted Reviews has tested a portable scanner from Fujitsu. The scanner is called Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 and measures only 273 x 48 x 34mm.

Some key features for the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100:
-Able to scan thick postcards, greeting cards, and plastic ID cards
-Scans a letter size page in about 7.5 seconds
-Able to produce PDF files directly
-Powered by USB

Trusted Reviews ends up giving the ScanSnap S1100 an overall score of 8 out of 10 possible points. The mobile scanner scores highest on scan speeds, scan quality and features, while it scores a little bit lower on value for your hard earned money. On the positive side the reviewer finds the software that comes with this scanner to be good, it scans in high resolution and the quality of photo scans are pretty good. There are a few negative points keeping it from getting a top score including that it is not able to scan from books or magazines and you do not get a case for the scanner.
Read the full review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 mobile scanner here.

Nikon Coolpix P7100

Imaging Resource has reviewed a high end compact camera from Nikon called Nikon Coolpix P7100. This Nikon camera has a large 10 megapixel image sensor and an optical zoom lens that has a max aperture of 2.8.

Some key features for the Nikon Coolpix P7100 camera:
-10.1 megapixel image sensor
-7.1x optical zoom lens (28-200mm)
-3″ LCD screen with high resolution (921,000-dot)
-HD movie (720p) with stereo sound
-ISO sensitivity from 100 to 6400
-Optical viewfinder

Imaging Resource ends up giving the Coolpix P7100 a good review and it even gets a “Dave’s Pick”. The reviewer finds many positive sides including very good image quality, improved speed compared to the P7000 model, tilting LCD screen and the zoom range is nice. There are some negative sides also including a bit chunky camera design, the HD movie quality could be higher and the camera is actually a bit slower than competing models from other camera brands. Overall this Nikon camera is a very good choice if you are looking for a compact camera that produces images of high quality.
Read the full review of the Nikon Coolpix P7100 high end compact camera here.