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Editor's Choice 2006: Imaging Essentials

More and more imaging devices defy categorization, yet can be just as indispensable as the familiar tools of the photographic trade. That's why you'll find them here, along with a late-breaking camera or two and a few good bags to put it all in.


July/August 2006


Editor
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Nikon Coolpix S4

This six-megapixel point-and-shoot defies categorization, which is why we put it here. A pocket-sized superzoom (an oxymoron until now), it achieves its combination of small proportions and high magnification with the same split-body rotating design pioneered by Nikon in early Coolpix models. When you align the module that incorporates its 10X zoom with the main body, the camera will fit in a shirt pocket. Twist the module 90 degrees and you're ready to shoot at focal lengths from the equivalent of 38mm to 380mm, composing on the body's big 2.5-inch LCD monitor. The design is also great for shooting at high and low angles and for self-portraiture. About $330.

KODAKV610-smKodak EasyShare V610

It took great optical and electronic ingenuity to squeeze the optics into this tiny camera, the smallest 10X superzoom in creation. The V610's zooming is accomplished with two separate lenses that don't even extend from the camera body when they change focal length. Instead, they're oriented horizontally inside the camera body -- a design made possible by a sort of periscopic mirror arrangement -- and do all their zooming internally. Each lens, one the equivalent in 35mm of 38-114mm and the other of 130-380mm, has its own six-megapixel image sensor. When one lens reaches the end of its range, the camera automatically switches to the other. Optics aside, the V610 features one of the biggest (2.8-inch) and sharpest (230,000 pixel) LCD screens you'll find, plus the latest high-speed Bluetooth 2.0 EDR wireless connection, which can zap images to cell phones, PDAs, printers, and photo kiosks. About $500.

Logitech-navigator-sm

Logitech NuLOOQ Professional Series

When you're working at the computer, your right hand holds your mouse or the pen to your Wacom tablet. What does your left hand hold? Coffee, maybe. And while the benefits of coffee in speeding up workflow are debatable, those of Logitech's NuLOOQ Navigator are not. Operated with your nonmouse hand, and about the size of half a tennis ball, this all-new desktop device may be the best thing since the scroll wheel. It doesn't move like a mouse, gripping your desk firmly by its stainless-steel base as you rotate its rubber ring and tap or slide your finger on its touchpad. These controls allow you to quickly access tools and make adjustments in Photoshop and other new Adobe apps, including Illustrator CS2 and InDesign CS2 (Mac only). The Navigator is specifically designed to work with the supplied NuLOOQ Tooldial plug-in: The software's interface is essentially a small dial-like display that floats above the cursor, wherever it happens to be on the screen. The dial contains up to eight pie-like wedges, all user-selectable, that you click to access frequently-used tools, sparing you having to move the cursor all over a big screen. You can even zoom in and out with the Navigator's ring—no need to use menus or keyboard shortcuts. But if you prefer to let your right hand do all the work, and hang on to your coffee, you can get the Tooldial software alone and use your mouse or pen to run it. About $150.


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