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March 9, 2005 — The Digital Imaging Websites Association announced their Best of 2004 Platinum awards this morning, with the Canon EOS 20D, Olympus Camedia C-8080, and the HP Photosmart R707 taking top honors in their categories. DIWA’s 11 member web sites test the cameras and compare results, then select the best cameras for awards. When the testing and reviewing of 2004 releases is finished, DIWA selects three cameras for its coveted Platinum prizes.
The Canon EOS 20D took home the award for "Best Digital System Camera" for its technological advances and low-noise images on its 8-megapixel CMOS image sensor. The digital SLR is praised for its quick response and shooting speeds, and obviously surpassed most high-end cameras in 2004. "The EOS 20D took a giant leap in the never-ending process of technological development, improvement and perfection, elevating image quality and camera performance to a new standard," read the DIWA press release. The Canon 20D boasts extensive manual options at an affordable price, making it an attractive digital camera for professionals and serious enthusiasts.
The "Best Advanced Digital Camera" award went to the Olympus Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom. This Camedia offers flexible automatic to manual options with a quick 5x optical zoom lens and an 8-megapixel image sensor. Cited for its comfortable grip, 1.8-inch LCD screen, compatibility with flash and conversion lenses, and high image quality, the Olympus C-8080 offers plenty of options for a decent retail price of $899.99.
Named the "Best Digital Amateur Camera," the HP Photosmart R707 received the award for its combination of innovative HP technologies and ease of use. The DIWA press release stated, "Test reports from the DIWA reviewers were filled with surprised enthusiasm over the camera’s construction, features and performance." Indeed, the R707 comes with a sturdy aluminum body that has rubber grips on the back for comfortable handling while still maintaining a stylish design. The 5-megapixel digital camera has a 3x optical zoom lens and HP technologies such as red-eye removal, adaptive lighting exposure compensation, vignetting, automatic panorama stitching and tip menus. The user-friendly HP R707 can be found for about $300 online.
DIWA also named 3 gold medalists and 3 silver medalists to its awards podium. The following cameras received gold medals from the association: Nikon Coolpix 8800, Canon PowerShot A95 PowerShot SD300, and the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D. The Nikon Coolpix 8400, Olympus Stylus Verve, and the Olympus E-300 were awarded with silver medals.