News

Since the announcement of our new Seitz 6x17 Digital and Roundshot D3 cameras at photokina in Cologne the entire team has been busy finalising sensor design, camera electronics, hardware and software.

All of our image tests have confirmed our previous results: very high image acquisition speed and image quality (resolution, colour, low noise at all sensitivity levels).

The project is well on track and we will introduce our new cameras in 1st and 2nd quarter of 2007 as planned. 

New computer unit

We initially proposed a separate control unit (handheld PDA connected with WLAN), storage device (Mac Mini) and battery. During our field tests we have come up with a better solution: an portable tablet PC which we will offer in two versions: the mobility set "mini" and the mobility set "maxi". 

The advantage of this solution is that the unit combines control, display and storage functions in a single device. This computer is controlled via touch screen and a digital pen which is very convenient and thanks to a large screen (800 x 600 or 1,024 x 768 pixels) offers a perfect visualisation of the image. It has a sleek and light design and its battery is optimised for long operation times (up to 7 hours). Data is transferred via Gigabit Ethernet from the camera to the computer. The tablet PC is ideal for outdoor photography thanks to its special outdoor-readable display with 180° viewing angle and its bump case for rough outdoors assignments.

The handheld PDA device will be available as an optional accessory for remote control (WLAN) of the camera.

Read more about the new mobility sets here:

Seitz 6x17 Digital >>>

Roundshot D3 >>>

2007 price list

Our new D3 price list is ready and is now available for download:

Seitz 6x17 & Roundshot D3 [137 KB]

To be one of the first photographers to own a D3 camera contact us and we will send you a detailed pdf offer by email.

Next steps

• January 2007: sample images for download
• January 2007: announcement of workshops (dates, locations) and start of workshop registrations through our e-shop
• February 2007: start of D3 workshops
  (starting in Switzerland, followed by Europe and overseas)    

Today we added the latest modern CNC machine to our production fleet:
the Hurco VMX24S.

This new machine runs at fast speed (15,000 RPMs) and allows the automated change-over of up to 24 tools with direct transfer of designs directly to the machine via our server.

With this addition we continue to expand our production and automation capacity.

The Seitz Roundshot team proudly presents the new Seitz 6x17 Digital and Roundshot D3 panorama cameras

This year's photokina in Cologne was certainly a milestone for our company. With the Seitz 6x17 Digital and the Roundshot D3 panorama cameras (High Definition Digital >>>) we presented two exciting products that are about to expand the boundaries of digital photography. The feedback from our customers and the press has been enthusiastic and overwhelming.

A big thank you to all those who visited us at photokina! We appreciate your support and feedback and are working hard to ensuring highest quality and to bringing our two new cameras to market in early 2007.

Check this news section again later this year for D3 product updates, sample images for download and Seitz D3 workshops.

The Alpa & Seitz / Roundshot booths at photokina 2006

Big is beautiful!                                                                             "Pebbly Beach", 2.5m x 1.6m print, image by Leo Meier
Thomas Knoll, Dave Story (both of Adobe), Aboubakr Bekkali,            image by Leo Meier (www.leomeier.com)
Urs Krebs (both of Seitz Roundshot), Henry Wilhelm
(Wilhelm Imaging Research) converting raw ideas to reality

Following the great success of the first round of our Roundshot Panorama Competition (2004-05) we are now launching the second edition entitled:

"People in Motion"

Participate and win a beautiful Roundshot camera!

Prizes in the amount of 18'170 Swiss Francs (11'600 Euro) will be awarded to the winners.

Roundshot Panorama Competition >>>

The Competition starts today and ends by the end of May 2007.

We wish you best of luck!

Our business is evolving and growing. We are introducing a new "Seitz" logo, which incorporates a product and corporate logo.
At the same time, we have refreshed our Roundshot brand which represents our line of 360° rotating products:

Join us at photokina 2006 and discover our new exciting Seitz and Roundshot products!

We are pleased to announce the extension of our warranty to two years. Our warranty is valid internationally.  

For more information visit our Warranty & Service website.

At the same time we have revised our Instruction Manuals. Given the rapid evolution of our VR Drive product we have added new practical tips and resources.

You can download the instruction manuals from our Downloads page or from the product pages.

We are strictly committed to our quality - now and in the future.

We are proud to present our latest product development: the Roundshot Weathercam.

It builds on our Roundshot Livecam system and combines a high-resolution webcam (up to 25 Million Pixel) with a professional weather station for the internet (temperature, wind chill, humidity, rain, wind velocity and direction as well as air pressure). Archive functions allow the weather look-up over time. Real-time graphics give a lively impression of how the weather has changed over the last 24 hours, 7 days, 1 month or the entire year. Additional features include the image archive (download panoramas for print), direct image zoom, personal time-lapse movie (images over time), personal ecards, hot spots (points of interest in the image with text and links) and a link to the network of Roundshot webcams.

Contrary to traditional webcams that use low resolution video capture the Roundshot camera is based on digital photo technology. This is how panoramas of up to 25 million pixels can be achieved. As a comparison: the Roundshot Weathercam reaches a 20x higher resolution than a very good standard video webcam.

Press presentation 2 May 2006 >>> 

Over the course of last winter we have installed some new and very nice Livecams in Austria, France and Switzerland.

Visit our Livecam reference installations >>> and travel in cyber space from mountains high to the valleys down below.

As you will see we have substantially improved the website design and functions of our Livecams.
A detailed technical update on these changes will follow shortly. 

Just in time for spring and the new photography season we have finished the latest generation of VR Drives. In the spirit of continuous improvement we have - again - made some practical improvements.

The water bubble indicators allow perfect levelling of the Drive which is important to achieve high quality results and accurate stitching. The new firmware has been further simplified to give the photographer just the essential elements for an efficient and high quality workflow.  

More and more digital photographers, webdesigners, and multi-media artists discover the beauty of working with the VR Drive. All those photographers who possess a digital SLR camera and want to expand their horizon towards 360° cylindrical or spherical find the VR Drive a cost-effective, precise, practical and easy-to-use instrument. A wide variety of virtual reality products - from the manual VR Head to the fully automatic VR Drive - allow full flexibility and a VR equipment that suits your personal needs:

Virtual Reality (overview)
VR Drive Panorama Set (cylindrical, spherical or cubic panoramas)
VR Drive Object Movie Set (object movies on turntable)
VR Head (cylindrical, spherical or cubic panoramas)