DIMA Digital Imaging Product Awards - 2005

The Digital Imaging Media Awards (DIMA) are given each year at the annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show. Note that these are awards given by the industry to products which the manufacturers decided to submit for consideration.. They are not awards given to the "best" product based on independent reviews of everything that's on the market. Indeed, in some categories, the award was given to the only entry - so it's not very surprising that it won! In the categories where I know the product was the only entry, I've added an "uncontested" label, but it's possible other "winners" were also uncontested.

Just because there are no Nikon Coolpix digital cameras or Canon Powershot digital cameras (or Sony, Olypmus etc.), doesn't mean that they aren't good, or even that they aren't the "best". It may mean that none were entered in the contest! Though the winners are published, it's hard to get hold of a list of the entries.

So take these awards with an appropriate degree of scepticism. I think they are almost all good products, but whether they truly represent the "best" in their respective categories is certainly debatable.

Digital Camera Shootout Winners - DIMA 2005

In the Digital Camera Shoot-Out, participants submitted images taken in live-model studios at the show. Conditions are designed to replicate the environment in which digital cameras are typically used. Entries were chosen by a panel of experts based on the overall quality of the digital print and the accuracy of color as compared to samples of fabric worn by the studio models.

Concord 3346z (under $100 category)
HP Photosmart M22 Digital Camera ($100 to $199 category)
HP Photosmart R707 Digital Camera ($200 to $299 category)
HP Photosmart R717 Digital Camera ($300 to $399 category)
HP Photosmart 945 Digital Camera ($400 to $499 category)
Casio EX-P700 ($500 to $599 category)
Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 ($600 to $999 category)
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D (Prosumer/Professional Digital SLR category)
Leica DMR (Advanced Digital SLR) - uncontested

Note that I've favorably reviewed both the HP945 and the HP R707 digital cameras on this website, so at least in this case the judges choices seem reasonable!

Printer Shootout Winners - DIMA 2005

Again, printers were judged only on the quality of the output of a standard image, not on any special features.

Commercial Inkjet:

Mimaki JV3-250SP (Over 72 inches wide (Solvent))
Roland FJ-540 (50 inches to 72 inches wide (Aqueous))
DisplayMaker 72s (50 inches to 72 inches wide (Solvent))
Noritsu MYTIS-1 (36 inches to 49 inches wide)
Mimaki JV3-75SP11 (18 inches to 35 inches wide (tie))
HP DesignJet 130 (18 inches to 35 inches wide (tie))

Consumer Inkjets:

HP Photosmart 8750 (9 inches to 17 inches wide)
HP Photosmart 8450 (8.5 inches wide or less - $200 or more) - uncontested
HP Photosmart 8150 (8.5 inches wide or less - $100 to $199) - uncontested
HP Photosmart 7450 (8.5 inches wide or less - $99 or less) - uncontested
HP Photosmart 8450 (4-by-6-inch) - uncontested

Dye-sub printers:

Sony UPD 70A (8-by-10-inch or larger - $2,500 or more)
Kodak Professional 1400 Digital Photo Print System (8-by-10-inch - $2,499 or less)
Hi-Ti Photo Printer 730 PS (5-by-7-inch)
Hi-Ti Photo Printer 641 PS (4-by-6-inch or less)

Innovative Digital Product Award Winners - DIMA 2005

An "Innovative Digital Product" is defined as "a product utilizing new technologies and/or applications in such a way as to make it either unique or the first of its kind"

Syder2 Plus color management software (ColorVision Inc)
EXPnP EZ Digimagic DM 180 (EZPnP)
DxO Mobile cameraphone image software (DxO Labs)
Picassa 2 online image editing software (Google Inc)
Kodak Easyshare One wireless zoom camera (Eastman Kodak Co.)
Flash-HD to Go (MediaGear Inc.)
Photo-D Family of Automatic Image Correction Products (KlearVision Digital Ltd.)
Wi-PICS Wireless Image Transfe rDice America Inc.)
JVC Everio GZ-MC500 Digital Media Camera (JVC)
Compact Drive (EastGear Pte Ltd)
Sanyo/Sprint MM-5600 1.3-megapixel cameraphone (Sanyo)
Wacom Cintiq LCD Tablet (Wacom Technology)
R-System of imaging products (Leica Camera AG)
Perfectly Clear Pictures software (Athentech Technologies Inc.)
Z-Drive USB drive (Dane-Elec USA)
dFP-621 digital dry inkjet printer (Noritsu America Corp.)
Marko MK10 digital minilab (SMI Group)