In 2 out of 3 point and shoot digital cameras, Fotonation has a bit of DNA. The coolest thing is that they are making the digital photography lives of the mainstream “point and shooters” into a foolproof world. At least from a technical aspect.
Quietly at first, they introduced Face Tracker technology, which sees your subjects and then corrects focus and exposure for up to 10 faces. The Red-Eye reduction system they gave us doesn’t just take the red out, but leaves what is called a “catch light” in the eye.
What does that mean ???
Well, instead of the subjects eye going dark, and perhaps looking a little lifeless, the light reflected into it remains. take a look at Martin Shoellers photos for a more pronounced example: look into the eyes for the “catch-light”.

The company was recently acquired by Tessara Technologies, makers of some of the tiniest cameras you can imagine. Wait….you probably have one in your cell phone.
Take a look at this video to see what else is in their bag of tricks.

And click onto their website to see what is coming up. By years end, point and shoots AND mobile phones will have a whole new list of contents.

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Notice the blue circle in the top corner. Once the last person comes into the shot it becomes a number, counting down to the shutter release.

Personally, I loved FaceTime: integrating face detection with a self timer, it’ll wait for the shooter to enter the picture before it takes the shot.

I know Monday morning is not always the time you are looking for some tech stuff, but we’ve been waiting to get this to you. And a bit of the future seemed like a good way to start the week.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 8:29 am and is filed under Photo News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.