The new Rayovac I-C3 battery charger will charge your Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries in an amazing 15 minutes or less and up to 1,000 times.

“With older rechargeable battery systems, controlled by the charger, “it’s like pouring soda,’’ said John Daggett, Rayovac’s director of marketing services. “You control the flow by the angle of the can, pouring at a slow and constant pace so foam doesn’t build up.’’ But with the I-C3, “you can pour in a charge as fast as you want because the battery won’t let you go too fast.”

The Rayovac I-C3 battery charger is now available in the US. A pair of the AA or AAA batteries costs about $10. The I-C3 chargers cost about $25 for the two-battery model; a four-battery version costs about $10 more.

Website: Rayovac

Website: New York Times

The UK website Photo-i are reporting today that Epson are set to release the PhotoPC P-1000 Photo Viewer in the UK on the 1st November. The Photo Viewer allows you to transfer files from your memory cards onto its buil-in 10Gb hard-drive. It has an integrated CF/Micro Drive card slot and Memory Stick, Smart Media, MMC and SD memory cards are supported via an optional adapter.

Rather worringly, though, the Espon press releases says “The PhotoPC P-1000 supports the Jpeg file format, a standard amongst digital camera users. Hmmmm…there’s no mention of Tiff or RAW files. Also the price of the Photo Viewer, at ?499, seems a little high to me, especially as the hard drive is only 10Gb in size.

Website: Photo-i - PhotoPC P-1000 Photo Viewer

The new FireWire compact flash reader from Delkin will certainly speed up the transfer of files from your digital camera to your computer. FireWire is one of today?s fastest interface protocols, transferring data at a lighting-fast speed of 400Mb/s. Delkin?s new external tabletop eFilm FireWire Reader/Writer (Reader-24) is uniquely designed for high-end digital photography enthusiasts and professionals who want to dramatically speed workflow. The full contents of high-resolution images from CompactFlash Type I, Type II and Microdrives can be quickly downloaded to a computer in seconds, and you can write back to the card as well. Since the Reader-24 runs on its own power, it doesn’t require any power cables.

Website: Delkin

Michael Reichmann is a professional wildlife and landscape photographer who runs the popular website Luminous Landscape and who exclusively uses digital cameras. Today he has decided to give you all a glimpse of what’s inside his camera bag.

“A common question, asked by readers and workshop members is ? what’s in your bag? The cameras and lenses that I use are well detailed in articles and reviews on this site. Which ones I bring on any given shoot very much depends on whether I’m primarily after wildlife, or landscapes. Also, whether I’m traveling by air or by car, or if I’ll be doing a lot of hiking when I get there. But, in addition to my camera gear, what accessories, gadgets, gizmos and tools are needed for field work, and which ones are best?”

This could be the start of a long-running series, as photographers around the world decide to tell each other what is contained within their camera bags :-)

Website: Luminous Landscape - In the Bag

Fujifilm Press Release 18/09/03

Fujifilm has announced a new range of digital card readers and storage products. These powerful devices, part of Fujifilm’s ever-expanding range of digital accessories and media, can be slotted straight into your PC or Mac for speedy file access and transfer.

Fujifilm xD-Picture Card(tm) USB Pen Drive & MP3 player - DPD-MP3
Music and images on the move

If you like gadgets, you’ll love Fujifilm’s new silver xD-Picture Card(tm) reader. At a price of less than ?50 you can use the reader as a smart digital wallet to store all types of files, whilst the in-built MP3 player allows you to listen to your favourite music tracks on the move.

Just plug the USB drive into your computer and transfer your files in one simple manoeuvre. Exclusive to the xD-Picture Card(tm), this wearable device comes complete with headphones, AAA battery and Roxio software (Windows 98, Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP), which allows you to convert music tracks to and from MP3, copy, play and burn digital music to CD/DVD.

Available late October / early November 2003. Price: ?49.99

Wouldn’t it be great if you could take photographs without using a camera or pressing the shutter release button? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could look cool and trendy at the same time?!

That idea could soon become a reality, as Hewlett Packard have created a prototype pair of sunglasses that have a camera built into them. The camera apparently takes a constant stream of photos of what the sunglass wearer is viewing, so there is no decisive moment as such. The camera uses a metadata system to record information about the composition and subject matter of each image, which helps to sort out the good images from the bad ones.

Somewhat predictably, some people are already up in arms about the potential misuse of this technology:

“It’s a cool piece of technology but frankly the idea of people wandering around wearing sunglasses photographing me all the time is really disturbing,” said technology analyst Bill Thompson.

“HP need to look at the implications on privacy and stuff like that before they flood the market with these.”

What do you think? Are HP onto a winner with the whole camera sunglasses idea? Or is it destined for the black hole of forgotten technology?

Website: BBC News - “Camera specs take candid snaps”

Michael Reichmann over at Luminous Landscape has taken a brief look at the best ways of transferring your photos from memory card to computer. Michael highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using PC card readers, Firewire and USB 2.

“Anyone shooting with a digital camera faces the issue of transferring the content of their memory cards to their computer, (usually CompactFlash for those with pro-level cameras).

There are three ways of doing this. If you have a laptop computer then the card can be inserted in to a PC Card adaptor and placed in that slot. Desktop as well as laptop computers may have either Firewire or USB 2 connectors, or both, and there are card readers available for both types of interfaces.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Transferring Memory Cards: Which Way is Best?

PhotographyBLOG reader Mike Strock has let me know that Pretec have just announced a 6Gb compact flash card. Yes, you read that right, 6Gb! What’s the catch? Well, the price tag of $4,499.95 might put you off…

Note also that you will only be able to use the full 6GB of space if you own a camera featuring FAT32. If the camera is using FAT16, the standard file system that is used on older or low-end digital cameras, only 2.2 GB of the 6 GB card would be accessible.

Website: Gizmodo - Pretec’s 6GB CompactFlash card

Bob Atkins over at Photo.net has published a very informative article which I’m sure will prove to be a valuable resource for all new digital photographers. And some of the information will help clear up a few misconceptions that more experienced photographers may have :-)

” In this basic guide to digital camera technology we hope to try to give digital beginners at least some basis to use in deciding which digital camera is appropriate for them. When shopping for a digital camera it’s at least good to know what the basic terms like white balance, pixel, ppi and dpi mean and how they affect image and print quality. It’s also important to know the difference between things like optical zoom and digital zoom as well as the advantages and disadvantages between storage formats such as Compact Flash (CF), Microdrives, Sony Memory Stick, Secure Digital (SD), Multimedia and camera interface technologies such as USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and Firewire IEEE 1394.”

Website: Photo.net - “Digital Cameras - A beginner’s guide”

LetsGoDigital’s coverage of the IFA 2003 - World of Consumer Electronics show has been updated with new reports on the Datafab FP2 (plus) portable storage device, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2 , and the Sanyo DVP-P1 EX printer.

I haven’t seen the Sanyo printer mentioned anywhere before; it uses the dye-sublimation process to create prints up to a maximum size of 10x15cm. The DVP-P1 EX supports the PictBridge standard, so you don’t need a PC to use it. The new printer will be available in September 2003 with a suggested retail price of ?349.

Website: LetsGoDigital

LetsGoDigital’s coverage of the IFA 2003 - World of Consumer Electronics show has continued with reports on the Canon EOS 300D, Canon i560 and i350 printers, and the Hitachi 4Gb microdrive that I reported last week. There’s a great photo that shows the internal workings of a 1Gb microdrive, which is a mere 1 inch in size. Interestingly Hitachi have taken steps to improve the protection of the microdrive if it is dropped:

“The housing of the Microdrive now has a rubber fender all around, something that the first generation was lacking all around. This fender makes it possible for the Microdrive to survive a fall of 75cm on a concrete floor. When falling on carpet of a minimum of 1cm it may be 1m.”

Website: LetsGoDigital

Some news from LetsGoDigitals coverage of the IFA consumer electronics show currently being held in Berlin. Sandisk have announced the SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash and SD flash memory cards, which they claim are “the fastest performing flash memory cards in the world”. Available in 256Mb, 512Mb and 1Gb capactities, the Ultra II range is 50% quicker than the current Ultra compact flash cards, and will eventually replace the older Ultra range.

Prices are are $104.99 (about ?95, excluding VAT), $209.99 (about ?191, excluding VAT) and $429.99 (about ?391, excluding VAT) respectively for the compact flash cards, and $129.99 (about ?118 excluding VAT) and $289.99 (about ?264 excluding VAT) for the 256Mb and 512Mb SD flash cards.

“Cor Vos, an internationally-famed photographer and an official photographer at the recent Tour de France bike race, used a new SanDisk Ultra II CF card to shoot the race. ?With this new SanDisk Ultra II card, ? said Vos, ?I was able to take pictures so rapidly that I captured every fast-moving scene that I wanted. Previously when I shot the race, I sometimes missed key pictures because my slower performing flash card was still downloading images from the buffer and I couldn?t use my camera. I see a huge performance difference with these new Ultra II CompactFlash cards, and I think that every professional and serious photographer will want to have them in their equipment bag.”

Website: SanDisk ULTRA II Press Release

Website: LetsGoDigital - SanDisk ULTRA II CompactFlash card

Canon is pleased to announce a new version of the free-of-charge service called ‘Your Print’. ‘Your Print’ allows customers to receive a Canon print sample of any digital image they choose to submit*.

Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging in the UK and Ireland, explains,  “Our innovative and unique ‘Your Print’ service was first launched in January 2003 and we have printed and posted thousands of print samples to users interested in trying a Canon Bubble Jet printer. The feedback to ‘Your Print’ has been fantastic and we hope to build on our
success with the new look site. Visitors can now choose from six different printer models including the award winning Bubble Jet i850 and i950.

The explosion in digital camera sales means that many more users now require a high quality printer to produce their photos at home. With such a vast array of models on the market, choosing the right printer can be a difficult and confusing decision to make. Our ‘Your Print’ service gives potential customers the opportunity to see one of their own photos printed
on a Canon Bubble Jet printer without having to buy the printer first.”

The website Petteri’s Pontifications has posted an interesting look at the subject of blown highlights, which can often be a problem for digital photographers:

“Some old curmudgeon of a photographer once said that any scene that has more contrast than slide film can handle isn’t worth photographing anyway. I think he was exaggerating a bit, but there is an important point hiding in there.”

Another recent article is called “Lens Lore for Newbies” by Forrest Croce, which offers a personal viewpoint about lenses aimed at beginners to SLR photography.

“Canon’s Digital Rebel promises to be a great camera and a fantastic bargain. It’s drawing a lot of people into the dSLR arena who have so far only been using digital point-and-shoots, or 35 mm film. Many are migrating from other lens systems, or have never had to think seriously about lens choice before. A 75+ lens catalogue and a new “format” takes a while to get a handle on. I’ve seen a lot of questions and some misconceptions about the subject… so here’s my perspective on it.”

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications

Hitachi has announced that it is currently delivering a tiny 4GB hard drive to electronic device manufacturers for testing. Blaupunkt, Eastman Kodak, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sigma and Sony are all evaluating the new storage device, which will also be available in a 2Gb version.

The most interesting thing about Hitachi’s announcment is the aggressive pricing. The 4Gb Microdrive is relatively cheap compared to other similar storage options. “The company expects the 4GB Microdrive to sell for $499. Lexar Media sells 2GB and 4GB flash memory cards that cost as much as $799 and $1,599, respectively, according to its online store.”

Website: Hitachi 4Gb Microdrive

PCWorld.com have just published an interesting article which compares brand-name inkjet cartridges with cheaper third-party ones. I’ve recently tried out some third-party cartridges on my Epson Stylus 890 printer (and experiened clogging problems) - do any of the third-party cartridges in PCWorld.com’s test fare any better?

“Buying third-party ink online can be frustrating. Some retailers’ Web sites don’t identify products by name, only by printer or cartridge compatibility, so getting a steady supply of an ink you like can be a challenge. Computer Friends, whose generic inks are unidentified on its Web site, sent us G&G ink to fill most of our initial order for Epson C82-compatible ink but completed the order later with a different brand.”

Website: PCWorld.com - “Cheap Ink Probed”

New digital cameras are often positively marketed as having more megapixels than rival models. More megapixels, however, might not necessarily be a good thing, as Bob Atkins of Photo.net explains in his latest article, “Size Matters”.

“There’s a lot of attention paid in the digital camera world to pixel count. Cameras are often categorized by the number of pixels they have in their image sensor. However not all pixels are equal and, as in many contexts, size matters!”

Website: Photo.net - “Size Matters”

Michael Reichmann has published a new article, “A Digital Workflow Primer”, which should be an interesting read for both beginner and more advanced digital photographers alike.

“One of the most frequent requests I get from readers is ? can you please explain from start to finish the steps taken in creating a print. What they mean by this is not just what to do first in Photoshop, but the entire creative journey, including the tools used.

With this article I will attempt to do so, but please be aware of two things. Firstly, it’s just one man’s approach. There are a multitude of ways of accomplishing the same or similar tasks, and every photographer will do things somewhat differently.  Secondly, what is described below applies to this specific image. Every photograph is, of course, different. Another image may require different approaches and tools, though what’s shown below is typical of how I work with a non-problem image.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - A Digital Workflow Primer

Canon has launched a new service that offers online ordering of lab-quality photo prints for all CANON iMAGE GATEWAY (CiG) members in the UK. Since its launch on 27th January 2003, the CiG site has attracted and registered over 31,000 members. Statistics collected so far show that the U.K. boasts the largest number of members. At present, statistics show that Canon Digital IXUS V3 owners are the most likely customers to visit and use the site.

“Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is pleased to announce the UK launch of its new Print Fulfilment Service, which enables Canon (UK) digital camera customers to order prints online via the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY (CiG) portal. Canon has appointed A-One-M, a specialist photo-print laboratory and distribution house to print and distribute the photographs. The service will be extended to other European countries in the near future.

The Service is exclusive to CiG members who gain site membership, and 100MB of free storage space, by purchasing any of the latest Canon compact digital still cameras or digital SLRs.  Photos are held in intuitive member-defined albums, which can be shared online at the member?s discretion. The Print Fulfilment Service allows users to select either whole albums or individual photographs for printing, and define variables such as number of copies, print size, cropping/image centering and media type before submitting their order.  If the image resolution of a selected photograph is too low for the enlargement size requested, the CiG image gateway generates a warning before submitting the order.  Payment is by credit card and prints are delivered by post within two working days.”

Website: CANON iMAGE GATEWAY

Hewlett Packard are apparently releasing details of new digital cameras and photo printers today, according to stories from Yahoo Finance, the Miami Herald and other online news agencies. Here’s a quote from Yahoo:

“Hewlett-Packard Co. is introducing more than 100 new consumer gadgets on Monday, from digital cameras to photo-quality desktop printers, in anticipation of what could be a grinch-like holiday shopping season.

CEO Carly Fiorina and other senior executives were to unveil the devices at a New York gala that HP called its largest product rollout ever. The focus is on photography, entertainment and home computing, including some all-new products and upgrades of HP’s popular printers and other favorites.”

HP’s website isn’t reporting anything new so far - I’ll let you all know if and when they announce something…

Website: Yahoo Finance

Website: Miami Herald

Website: Hewlett Packard