Monday, December 31, 2007

Kodak and Panasonic have reached agreement over four U.S. patents, which Kodak claimed Panasonic had violated. In the report by business website Bloomberg, Kodak issued a lawsuit in July 2007, claiming that Panasonic used “inventions for image compression, storage, color sensors and previews it patented between 1991 and 2001"."The license agreement, which will allow each company access to the other’s patent portfolio, is royalty-bearing to Kodak,’’ said a Kodak statement. A similar lawsuit was settled with Sony in January 2007.

Website: Bloomberg - Kodak, Matsushita Settle Digital Camera Patent Fight

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Carl Zeiss have just launched a photo contest looking for interesting photos from the past year. The use of a lens from Carl Zeiss is obligatory for participation in the contest. All winning photos will be published on the Carl Zeiss website. The Carl Ziess contest will end on 7th January 2008.

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Digital Foci is launching three new digital photo frames at CES 2008 (held January 7th-10th). The Image Moments 15 frame (pictured) has a large 15-inch screen and 16.2 million colors. Image Moments 8 offers an 8-inch screen with leading technology LED Backlight. Image Moments 6 comes with a 5.7-inch screen and the highest pixel density display available on the market. Image Moments 15 (IMT-153) is priced at $399, Image Moments 8 (IMT-083) is priced at $199, and Image Moments 6 (IMT-063) is priced at $149, all available from March 2008. 

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Friday, December 28, 2007

The ATP GPS Photo Finder is a a portable device that geotags photos taken by any digital camera. It’s universally compatible with any digital camera using jpeg image files. Put a memory card into the Photo Finder’s built-in card reader or USB port and it automatically finds and tags your images without any additional software or hardware required. The ATP GPS Photo Finder is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008, price to be announced.

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Sony has released a new firmware update, version 3, for the 12 megapixel Sony A700 DSLR camera. Version 3 provides the following benefits:

Benefits over firmware version 2:
Resolves an issue where the Access Lamp remains lit and the camera stops responding when several pictures are taken in rapid succession.
Resolves an issue where powering the camera off while in “MR” mode may cause some registered settings to carry over to other shooting modes.

Additional benefits over other firmware versions:
Sharper images for pictures taken under low contrast conditions
Reduced noise for pictures taken at ISO 3200
Improved flash control for objects closer than 1 meter with non ADI controlled lenses

Website: Sony A700 Firmware Update v3 (Europe)

Website: Sony A700 Firmware Update v3 (USA)

Four by six-inch digital prints through HP’s Snapfish service now cost just 9 cents each. In addition, prices for pre-paid prints are as low as 8 cents each. Either option provides more than 50 percent savings compared to those of other photo-sharing sites. “The best value in photography just got better as we’re now offering our 45 million members prints for mere pennies,” said Ben Nelson, vice president and general manager, Snapfish by HP.

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The Sony Cyber-shot S730 is a new entry-level digital camera with a 3x zoom lens, 7.2 megapixels and 2.4-inch LCD screen. A new multi-point autofocus mode ensures pin-sharp images, and selecting ‘High Sensitivity’ mode boosts sensitivity to ISO 1250. If you’re new to photography, the Sony S730 guides you with a handy display of functions, plus there’s on-screen advice to help you select the right settings. The Sony Cyber-shot S730 will be available throughout Europe from mid January 2008, price to be announced.

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Ricoh have released the first firmware update, v1.12, for the GR Digital II, a new 10 megapixel compact digital camera with a 28mm, f/2.4 fixed focal length lens. Version 1.12 adds the following improvements:

- Improved an image quality in a small size (VGA etc.)
- Modified the following phenomena.
If you operate the ADJ lever in the macro mode, display switching speed may change.
If you operate the ADJ lever while compensating exposure, any keys will not work.
- When you exit a macro mode, the lens unit operating will become initialized in order to improve a focus accuracy.

Ricoh GR Digital II Firmware Update v1.12

Olympus have released a new program which imports and displays RAW files in Windows Vista. The RAW codec works with the following Olympus cameras:

E-1, E-3*, E-300, E-330, E-400, E-410, E-500 , E-510 , E-10, E-20, C-70 ZOOM, C-5050ZOOM, C-5060 Wide Zoom, C-7070 Wide Zoom, C-8080 Wide Zoom, SP-310, SP-320, SP-350, SP-500UZ, SP-510UZ, SP-550UZ, SP-560UZ
*A part of the parameter does not apply to RAW developing of images.

Olympus RAW codec for Windows Vista

Friday, December 21, 2007

Wishing you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2007 has been a fantastic year for PhotographyBLOG. The site has grown by a massive 65% year-on-year, now receiving over 570,000 unique visitors and 1.7 million page views every month.

Our regularly updated breaking News, in-depth product Reviews and popular Gallery and Forums community have all contributed to making PhotographyBLOG one of the largest online photographic websites around.

Thank you to everyone for visiting us during 2007.

Mark Goldstein
Editor, PhotographyBLOG