Friday, October 31, 2008

If you’re looking for a pocket camera that complements or even replaces your DSLR, then the new Canon PowerShot G10 and Nikon Coolpix P6000 should be high on your list. But which one is the best? Find out now by reading our in-depth head to head review.

Website: Canon G10 V Nikon P6000 Review

Ricoh have released a new firmware update, v1.51, for the Ricoh GX100 digital camera. Version 1.51 includes the following improvements:

1. Modified the following phenomenon.
After switching from the Auto mode to a My setting mode, and then you get back the Auto mode again, the zoom position of the lens will always become at wide end.

Website: Ricoh GX100 Firmware Update 1.51

Thursday, October 30, 2008

WD has added a high-speed FireWire 800 interface to its popular My Passport Studio portable drive. With FireWire 800/400 and USB interfaces, the new My Passport Studio portable drives offer up to 500 GB of storage capacity, are formatted for Mac computers and weigh less than 7 ounces. “Photographers and videographers, be they creative pros or Mac computer enthusiasts, have a genuine need for large amounts of fast, portable storage for their high-definition files,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s Branded Products and Consumer Electronics Groups. “With a new FireWire 800 interface, My Passport Studio speeds up editing and transferring of big media files making it perfect for performance-minded Mac computer users on the go.” My Passport Studio with FireWire 800/400 interfaces and 500 GB capacity is $249.99, and for 400 GB capacity is $229.99.

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According to a report by InfoTrends, the number of snapshot photographers has increased, while the number of hobbyists has decreased. Kodak is the leading brand among “family memory keepers”, maintaining its lead since 2004, while Canon leads the way in the hobbyist sector. According to InfoTrends’ Director Mette Eriksen, “This is important for Canon because it will have helped secure sales of entry-level digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras to brand loyal hobbyists.”

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The Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 is a new pocketable photo viewer from Digital Foci. Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 holds over 4,000 photos and features a 2.8-inch OLED screen with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1.  It allows photos to be viewed by scrolling manually or randomly with an automatic photo slideshow with adjustable intervals. Available in Red, Sky Blue and Charcoal, the Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 is priced at $99.

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CameraBag allows iPhone and iPod Touch owners to quickly and easily improve their photos by flipping between pre-defined camera filters. CameraBag’s advanced filters that emulate several different camera and film styles, giving your photos an old-school, cinematic appeal. Version 1.3 offers 8 different filters, including the new fisheye lens filter. CameraBag costs £1.79 / $2.99 for a limited time.

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Win a session with a professional family photographer, $50 Target Gift Cards, or a year’s supply of milk (!) in Gather.com’s Halloween photo contest. Simply share a favorite Halloween costume photo to enter, with the five most-viewed entries in each of 5 categories being announced as finalists. The winner of each category will receive a $50 Target Gift Card, and one Grand Prize Winner will receive a professional photo shoot with a local photographer for his or her family. From today through Thursday, November 6th, entrants can post their photo contest submissions.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The new Nikon Coolpix P6000 is a serious compact camera, with a wealth of features on offer to tempt the enthusiast. Built-in GPS support, LAN connectivity, RAW file format, and a 28mm wide-angle lens are the headline-grabbers, plus there are a number of more subtle touches including a DSLR-like handgrip, optical viewfinder, flash hotshoe, and not forgetting the 13.5 megapixel resolution. Does all of this add up to make the Nikon P6000 the ultimate prosumer digicam, and can it challenge the likes of the Canon PowerShot G10 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3? Mark Goldstein braved the icy London weather to find out…

Website: Nikon Coolpix P6000 Review

The Trek-Tech Optera is a flexible, hold-tight tripod that securely secures your DSLR camera. The Optera is designed for rugged outdoor use, with a water-resistant bottom and rubber feet for added grip, and it even wraps around your camera for protection whilst carrying. Available in two sizes, the Optera 230 has a 230mm leg length and the Optera 460 Pro 460mm. The Optera 230 will be available from the middle of November for £44.99, and the Optera 460 Pro for £54.99.

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XDepth 48 is a new technology that allows JPEG images to reach a maximum of 16 bit for each RGB component. XDepth 48 employs the same image reconstruction algorithm offered with XDepth Raw, thus avoiding common JPEG and JPEG2000 artifacts. It also offers improved compression of files, with XDepth asserting that a 48bit TIFF of 6088x4550 pixels would be 166MBs in size, with the equivalent XDepth 48 JPEG only being 17MBs. Further details are scarce, but there is a full-sized sample available for download.

Website: XDepth 48