While one of the attractions of digital SLRs is the ability to change lenses, this feature can allow small specks of dust to make their way onto the image sensor and show up in photos as dark fuzzy spots. For housekeeping, the XTi combines two approaches previously offered separately by other camera makers. High-frequency sound waves vibrate dirt off the sensor and onto a small adhesive strip. Any remaining specks can be masked electronically using software in the camera.
The new model has a 2.5-inch liquid-crystal monitor, replacing the XT's 1.8-inch monitor, and a separate data display. A sensor in the viewfinder shuts off the LCD when the camera is raised to the eye and switches it back on when the camera is lowered.
Scan, print and copy, no computer required
Photo printers are getting so smart that most of them can print without a PC. The Epson Stylus Photo RX580 improves on even that level of autonomy: it scans, restores, prints and copies without ever needing to be connected to a computer.
This US$229 printer has a 2.5-inch color screen and can print a 4-by-6-inch photo in about 15 seconds. It uses Epson's Claria line of ink for improved quality and color. The printer color-corrects each shot before printing — a feature that can be turned off by expert users — and even improves skin tone and removes red-eye without a PC.
The RX580 allows you to design greeting cards on the screen and scanner, using coded templates, and it can print images and text on special CD's and DVDs.
The printer, due out next month, scans images at a resolution of 1,200 by 2,400 dots per inch and copies up to 30 color or black-and-white pages per minute. It can even save images directly onto a memory card.
It's nice to see printers gaining their independence after years of being chained to desktops.
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