COLOGNE, Germany, September 19 ¾ Kodak Professional today makes a
dramatic addition to its industry-leading digital camera line by presenting the Kodak Professional DCS Pro Back – a
Kodak-designed and manufactured medium-format camera back that features unprecedented
16-megapixel resolution and creates large, versatile 48-megabyte image files.
Providing untethered freedom of operation, a fully
featured LCD with histogram, new-generation software for exceptional workflow and a host
of other capabilities, the DCS Pro Back is designed for commercial location and tabletop
photography and high-end portraiture applications. It
will be especially welcomed by advertising and catalog photographers, table-top studios,
and in-house and independent portrait studios. Complementing the DCS Pro
Back is Kodak Professional DCS Capture Studio
Software, Version 1.5, a powerful stand-alone application for capturing and editing
digital images. This robust but simple-to-use
software delivers exceptional workflow and optimized image quality, using an open systems
approach to color management that maintains the integrity of captured images for virtually
all monitors and printers, computer platforms and imaging applications.
“The DCS Pro Back represents everything Kodak
Professional has learned about digital image capture and workflow, studio and portraiture
applications, and what photographers want after more than a decade of developing the world’s
best-selling professional digital cameras,” said Jerry Magee, Worldwide Product Line
Manager, DCS Capture Systems, Kodak Professional.
“This digital camera back marries Kodak’s
image science and color management expertise with important new photographic features and
our own 4K-by-4K ITO sensor, representing the highest standard of image quality and light
detection on the market,” Magee said. “The
result is large, precise, quality image files that are remarkably easy to capture,
evaluate and process in a professional workflow.”
The DCS Pro Back is a single-shot unit that is
designed to afford photographers as much freedom as possible. Currently compatible with Hasselblad 555 ELD and Mamiya RZ film cameras, the camera back will in
time have interfaces for a wide range of medium- and large-format camera systems. And the DCS Pro Back operates untethered, making
it suitable for high-end location photography as well as studio work.
The fully featured LCD gives photographers critical
real-time control over the images they take. The
LCD screen has a full 90 degrees of movement for waist-level operation and can be
controlled one-handed. In addition to acting
as a viewfinder, the LCD provides instant review, a histogram for precise exposure
control, focus check, and a built-in spot meter.
The DCS Pro Back can also perform 1:1 zoom and pan
functions for precise images, and offers video review capability for high-angle or other
out-of-reach camera placements. More Than Twice the Resolution
The camera back’s full-frame CCD delivers more
than twice the resolution of any single-shot, medium-format camera back currently
available. This sensor – measuring
36.86mm by 36.86mm – produces 48mb files with very low noise. A removable anti-aliasing filter, digital
anti-aliasing solutions and a non-reflecting IR cutoff filter help ensure the highest
image quality.
The DCS Pro Back captures images at the equivalent
of ISO 100. It can capture an image every two
seconds, and store up to eight images
before writing to either internal PC cards or a host computer via an IEEE 1394 “firewire.” The hardware advances of the
DCS Pro Back are
complemented by new software that uses standard photographic terms. It includes familiar imaging tools such as
masking/feathering, as well as sharpening tools and an eyedropper-style color selector.
The camera back’s new-generation software
understands how photographers work with images and greatly simplifies workflow. DCS
Capture Studio Software, Version 1.5, gets the best possible quality out of the DCS Pro
Back’s pictures with time-saving intuitive features that let professional
photographers concentrate on taking pictures. The
software is initially available for Macintosh
computer systems, with a Windows-compatible
version planned for the future. The back ships with
ICC-enabled color management tools and other software specifically
designed for photographic workflows. It can
be powered either by internal rechargeable batteries or via a “firewire” cable
attached to a host computer.
Service and support are provided by a highly trained
team of world-class Kodak Professional digital imaging specialists.
The Kodak
Professional DCS Pro Back will be available in the first quarter of 2001 from
authorized dealers of Kodak Professional
products. Pricing information is not yet
available. |