Konica Minolta Dynax 7D, Nikon COOLPIX 8800 and Canon Digital IXUS 40 are the latest DIWA Gold Award winners.

DIWA Press Releases

DIWA Gold Award to Konica Minolta Dynax 7D

Amsterdam, 9. March 2005 - Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), an international organisation of websites focusing on digital imaging, today announced a DIWA Gold Award to Konica Minolta Dynax 7D. The gold medal represents the highest level of performance and is a summary of numerous rigorous tests conducted by DIWA camera experts.

With the Dynax 7D, Konica Minolta makes their debut into the fast growing market of digital system cameras. Founded on a long history as high quality camera and optical manufacturers, the high performance Konica Minolta Dynax 7D comes as no surprise. 

It continues the legacy of the highly successful and reputed analogue Dynax SLR cameras, with distinct design resemblance to make the conversion from film to digital as smooth as possible for any experienced Dynax enthusiast. Supporting the full range of existing AF lenses, the Dynax 7D also eases the financial aspect.

Olympus E-300, Olympus µ-mini [mju:] DIGITAL and the Nikon COOLPIX 8400 are the latest DIWA Silver Award winners.

DIWA Press Releases

Olympus E-300 achieves DIWA Silver Award

Amsterdam, 9. March 2005 - Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), an international organisation of websites focusing on digital imaging, today announced a DIWA Silver Award to Olympus E-300 D-SLR. The camera, a high resolution entry-level priced E-System D-SLR, received very high scores for its system features and overall handling from a number of reviews made by DIWA members throughout the world, rating the Olympus E-300 to win a DIWA Silver Award.

The Olympus E-300 is the second D-SLR camera based on the FourThirds Standard and delivers a high resolution of 8 Megapixels. Like its professional brother, the Olympus E-1, the E-300 incorporates a Supersonic Wave Filter that prevents dust and other foreign particles to ruin the captured image. This is just one of many features distinguishing the E-300 from its rivals, another being its unique appearance in an ultra-compact body. The silver medal represents recognition of high overall performance and is a summary of numerous rigorous tests conducted by DIWA camera experts.

DIWA Press Release

02/14/2005 - DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) discloses the secret behind its success story, the world’s most comprehensive and reliable testing procedure for digital imaging products. Not one, but a minimum of four randomly selected test samples are tested, each by individual technical experts, to find the real truth about a product’s performance. Get the inside story and be amazed.

Too many “tests and reviews” on the Internet are worthless, often misleading more than guiding the reader. Lack of expertise is a major concern, but also lack of time seems to be a frequent factor. Many so-called “reviews” are merely a transcript of the manufacturer’s own brochure, supplemented by some fancy words to please the industry and the advertising department.

DIWA Awards is an international organisation of digital imaging websites, all focussing on digital cameras and imaging tools. All member websites have highly skilled technical experts with a passion for photography, making reliable, unbiased tests and reviews. These are published on their local website, in their own native language and in their own editorial style. The core of the DIWA philosophy is to merge all these valuable test results into one final conclusion, to build a neutral, balanced picture of any given product.

DIWA Press Release

02/14/2005 - DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) Awards is an international organisation of digital imaging websites, continuously publishing new product tests and reviews. Now, you can easily tune in to these reviews at the moment they appear on the DIWA Awards portal website. It’s an easy and free service to any digital imaging enthusiast.

The DIWA Awards website is a portal to some of the world’s most reliable and trustworthy tests and reviews on digital cameras. Now, a new feature is added to the DIWA Awards website, the RSS feeder. This handy feature is available via a free downloadable program, called the RSS Reader. It collects news in the background at user configurable intervals and warns with a little popup in the system tray as soon as a new story is published. You then click on the message to read the new DIWA review. It’s easy, it’s free and very useful.

DIWA Press Release 26/11/04

Amsterdam, 26. November 2004: DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating websites, today has the pleasure of announcing that the DIWA Innovation Award is granted to the new Extreme III series of SanDisk flash memory cards. The Extreme III cards use the newly developed ESP (Enhanced Super-Parallel Processing) technology. This is a groundbreaking development that provides the world?s highest read and write speeds up to a minimum of 20 megabytes per second (MB/sec.). High-end photographers are in constant search for fast storage products and SanDisk Extreme III is designed to fulfil this need. Beside significantly improved speed, the new cards also feature extended operating temperature range, enabling them to work under virtually any condition.

DIWA Press Release

Amsterdam, 19. November 2004: Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA) today announced that an Innovation Award is granted to the revolutionary Fujifilm Image Intelligence System.

Remarkable image processing software was disclosed by Fujifilm at the international Photokina 2004 trade show. Combining modern computer technologies and 70 years of photographic expertise, Fujifilm made this intelligent imaging system possible. The core of this exciting innovation is formed by the sophisticated Scene Classification, Face Detection and Face Recognition functions, all playing key roles in the development of future products.

Even the basic information revealed at this moment is highly convincing, with enormous potentials for both amateur and professional applications. One of these features is the ?Scene Classification? that allows automatic recognition of various image characteristics to secure correct exposure and image processing. The second innovation is the Face Detection technology, which is capable of automatically optimizing skin tones, cropping portrait pictures and eliminating red eyes from flash pictures. The most surprising technology is the Face Recognition feature, which will automatically detect and identify human faces and sort pictures accordingly.

DIWA finds these new innovations highly interesting, as they may prove extremely useful for amateur photo albums as well as professional ID and security systems in the future.

DIWA Press Release 12/11/04

Amsterdam, 12. November 2004 - DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating websites, today has the pleasure of announcing that a DIWA Gold Award is granted to the Canon EOS 20D digital SLR for its outstanding image quality and excellent performance.

The semi-professional EOS 20D provides the end-user with first class professional quality images from an 8.2 Megapixel low-noise CMOS image sensor. The built-in DIGIC II architecture delivers 5fps continuous shooting with a maximum burst of 23 frame JPEG images, bringing the camera on a par with comparable analogue SLRs. Furthermore, the EOS 20D is honoured for its lifelike colour rendition, instant start-up, rapid image display and simultaneous storing of JPEG and RAW files. All-in-all, the EOS 20D proves to be an excellent choice for the semi-professional photographer.

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon EOS 20D

DIWA Press Release 12/11/04

Amsterdam, 12. November 2004 - Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA) today announced their first Design Award to the unique Olympus mini DIGITAL construction.

The Olympus mini DIGITAL is a radical diversion from traditional camera designs, replacing conservative symmetrical camera shapes with an indefinable oval profile. Unlike many other design products, the Olympus mini DIGITAL is not an over-priced collector?s item for the few, but a useful imaging tool for any design conscious lifestyle enthusiast.

Despite its exciting, soap-like form, the camera complies with all conventional rules of ergonomics, making it just as user-friendly as any ordinary digital camera. It even features a large dial for easy setting of primary camera functions, as well as a bright and user friendly 1.8? LCD-screen. Being part of the [mju:] camera range, the mini DIGITAL also features a weather resistant construction.

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus mini [mju:] DIGITAL

Dual DIWA Awards to Nikon: Gold Award to D70 and Silver to COOLPIX 8700

24. September, 2004: DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating digital imaging websites, today announced that two Nikon digital cameras have been awarded for outstanding test results. On all accounts, the Nikon D70 satisfied the DIWA testing experts, who honoured its overall performance with a DIWA Gold medal in the category of digital system cameras. Also another high-quality Nikon digital camera, the compact megazoom model COOLPIX 8700, has passed the rigorous DIWA tests with excellent results, qualifying for a DIWA Silver medal.

The Nikon D70 took the D-SLR market to new heights by introducing exceptional features and qualities at a very reasonable price. Although the camera is targeted for advanced amateurs, also numerous professional photographers have found the D70 to deliver exceptionally good value for money. The DIWA testing team confirms this impression. Numerous individual reviews conclude that the Nikon D70 qualities are indisputable, regardless of the price issue.

The Nikon COOLPIX range of high-performance digital compact cameras is topped by the 8 Megapixel COOLPIX 8700. Several reviews, based on the comprehensive DIWA testing procedure, confirmed that the camera performs better than many of its rivals, with scores well within the DIWA range for a Silver medal.

DIWA Press Release 22/09/04 3.00pm CET

DIWA Gold and Silver awards to Sony for their excellent Cyber-shot DSC-F828 and DSC-V1

22. September 2004: The DIWA organisation of collaborating worldwide websites (Digital Imaging Websites Association) today announced that Sony Inc. has been awarded Gold and Silver medals for two of their excellent digital cameras. The DIWA test experts honoured the Cyber-shot DSC-F828 with gold, accompanied by the Cyber-shot DSC-V1, which qualified for a silver medal. The awards are the results of comprehensive, independent reviews of different samples, made by a number of DIWA camera testing experts from Europe and USA.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 proved its excellence by scoring extremely well on DIWA?s unique evaluation scoreboard. Its first class 8x zoom lens from legendary Carl Zeiss and the top ranked 8 megapixel Super HAD CCD image sensor provided outstanding image quality. Besides, the unconventional camera design is met with enthusiasm both among amateurs and professionals.

Also the handy Cyber-shot DSC-V1 digital compact camera was very well accepted by the DIWA testing team. Not only did the robust body impress them, but also image quality surpassed their expectations for a compact camera with a 4x zoom lens. The well reputed Carl Zeiss lens brand, 34-136 mm zoom range and high speed f/2.8-4.0 attribuites, proved them wrong.

DIWA Press Release 22/09/04 3.00pm CET

Konica Minolta wins their first DIWA Gold Award for the versatile, high-performance DiMAGE A2

22. September, 2004: DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating websites, today has the pleasure of announcing a DIWA Gold Award to the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 megazoom digital camera for its outstanding performance and innovative technologies.

The DiMAGE A2 is packed with useful features for making photography comfortable and successful, even under demanding shooting conditions. From the long list of such functions and features, it is enough to mention the camera’s excellent wide-angle to telephoto 28-200 mm. (35 mm film equivalent) zoom lens and the ingenious Anti-Shake CCD image stabilizer. However, features alone do not qualify for any DIWA Award. Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 users may also expect outstanding image quality and a multitude of creative options, all packed in a compact and robust camera body. Its attractive design and ergonomic layout further enhance the public appeal and adds value to its reasonable price tag.

DIWA’s test manager, Kai Thon, says: “The recent digital SLR price drop attracts many advanced amateur photographers. Yet, many of them, even professionals, enjoy the comfort of the all-in-one package provided by the DiMAGE A2. The fast, high quality 7x zoom lens alone gives the DiMAGE A2 more value for money than can be expected from any D-SLR camera. Then, add to this the benefit of a highly effective Anti-Shake technology. Still, its most important feature is the DIWA proof of professional performance”.

DIWA Press Release 20/09/04

Olympus siblings, Camedia C-8080 WZ and C-5060 WZ, win DIWA Gold and Silver awards as proof of excellence

20. September, 2004: DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating websites, today announces two awards to Olympus for their remarkable wide zoom digital compact cameras, Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom and C-5060 Wide Zoom.

Both cameras passed the rigorous DIWA test procedure with excellent results. The 8 Megapixel Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom scored well above the limit for a DIWA Gold Award, thanks to its fast 5x zoom lens with 28-140 mm. (35 mm film equivalent) zoom range, outstanding overall image quality, flexible handling and good value for money. Similar qualities were noted for the 5 Megapixel Camedia C-5060 Wide Zoom and its 27-110 mm. (35 mm film equivalent) 4x wide zoom lens. The average score from a number of DIWA testing experts rated this fine Olympus camera as a worthy winner of a DIWA Silver Award.

Kai Thon, DIWA’s test manager, says: “Our testing methodology filters out the poor, the good and the excellent digital cameras in a cruel way. Only the best survive, and Olympus cameras are among the few that frequently pass our tests with dignity. Perfect harmony between construction, features, performance and price for its targeted audience may very well be the secret behind Olympus’ success, in particular for these two awarded models”.

DIWA Press Release 17/09/04

HP Photosmart R707 honoured with the highest recognition in the digital imaging industry - a DIWA Gold medal

17. September, 2004: DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association), a world-wide organisation of collaborating websites, today announced that Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P. has been awarded a Gold medal for the remarkable compact digital camera; HP Photosmart R707. The DIWA group of digital imaging experts in Europe and USA came to this conclusion after performing multiple tests of different product samples, based on the comprehensive DIWA test procedure.

For a compact amateur digital camera, the HP Photosmart R707 is equipped with a sensible array of user-friendly functions for beginners, as well as advanced modes for experienced or ambitious amateurs. The DIWA testing team also appreciated the camera?s unique features, such as on-board “Tips & Tricks” Image Advice menu, automatic red-eye removal and in-camera panorama stitching.

Thanks to 5 Megapixels resolution and innovative HP technologies, like Adaptive Lighting, Adaptive Demosaic, Vignetting and Shading Correction, and Noise Filter, the overall image quality is very impressive for the camera’s price tag.

Representatives from the eleven DIWA testers say: “The R707 test results were most surprising for most of us. Obviously, HP possesses far more imaging expertise than is found in their excellent printers and scanners. With this compact camera, HP also proves that high performance and low price is not an impossible combination. It just took an outsider to do it”.

DIWA Press Release 05/02/04

Two top awards from the Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA) for the Olympus E-1 and Olympus E-System

09:00 CET, Thursday, 5th February, 2004: The Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), a new industry organisation that seeks out the best in imaging products and recognises them in the form of DIWA gold, silver and bronze medal awards, today awards Olympus Corporation a DIWA Gold medal for the Olympus E-1 in the category of Professional System Digital Camera. In addition, DIWA has decided to make a supplementary Innovation award in recognition of the Olympus E-System, which is in turn based on the new open Four Thirds standard.

Consistently high scores were returned by DIWA testers reviewing a number of different Olympus E-1 samples. At the lower cost end of the professional system digital SLR camera market, DIWA’s Olympus E-1 testers liked the camera’s robust, weather-proofed and innovative design that did not sacrifice relatively compact dimensions and light weight. Optical performance of the ‘standard’ 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom lens was of a very high standard, bearing out the radical design philosophy of the Four Thirds standard. Excellent, ergonomics, controls and handling, mated to responsive electronics complete the picture. And no serious shortcomings were identified.

DIWA’s test manager, Kai Thon, summarised: “Despite its compact and light-weight design, the E-1 complies with professional requirements with a rugged camera body, well protected against harsh environments and rough use and a high quality Full Frame Transfer 5Mp CCD sensor. Supported by high performance optics and accessories from the Olympus E-System, the E-1 is well equipped to give digital images of professional quality. With the E-1, Olympus has laid a solid foundation for further development of a unique standard.”

DIWA Press Release 01/12/03

NEW IMAGING INDUSTRY ORGANISATION LAUNCHES MULTI-LINGUAL AWARDS WEB SITE

The Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), a new independent international industry organisation formed to identify excellence in imaging products, has formally opened its Web site at www.diwa-awards.com. The site will announce awards made by DIWA and link visitors to the Web site publications of DIWA members and their reviews of products that have earned DIWA awards.

Over time, the DIWA site’s interactive database will establish itself as a central point of reference for high quality and high value information to help members of the public determine their most appropriate purchasing choices. Details on products tested and rated by DIWA members will be freely available to site visitors.

DIWA is an international organisation comprising member Web site publications from many different countries. The cosmopolitan nature of DIWA is reflected in the design of its new Web site, which accommodate the languages of all its members in terms of navigation and specific language sections.

As an industry organisation, DIWA’s Web site will also become a focus of attention from manufacturers and resellers from all over the world.

DIWA Press Release 08/11/03

IDENTIFYING DIGITAL IMAGING PRODUCT EXCELLENCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Introducing: the Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), a new and independent international organisation comprised of experienced, professional, online publications.

Identifying and rewarding product excellence
DIWA’s purpose is to identify excellence in digital imaging products, including cameras, photo printers, scanners, accessories and software. DIWA awards marks of excellence for selected products that have shown their superiority through rigorous, standardised, testing procedures. These awards are designed to give consumers complete confidence in making the best digital imaging choices for their needs.

Fundamental differences
Two fundamental differences mark DIWA from other awards organisations. Firstly, DIWA doesn’t restrict itself to a single annual meeting to choose award winners. Un-restrained by the traditional print medium, DIWA is a dynamic association that can keep up with the brisk pace of industry developments and issue timely awards throughout year. Secondly, DIWA awards are decided through a detailed and standardised testing process undertaken by each member website.

Once a year exclusive annual awards will also be made, celebrating the very best of the products to have won awards earlier in the preceding twelve months.

Rigorous standardised testing
Only products repeatedly tested by different DIWA members are eligible for awards. Multiple testing by different testers addresses issues of sample variability and isolated testing errors. DIWA awards are set to be the most trusted and authoritative independent awards in the industry, valued by manufacturers and consumers alike.

Members
DIWA commences with member sites in Norway (www.digit.no), Poland (www.fotopolis.pl),  Spain (www.nuevafotografia.com), The Netherlands (www.letsgodigital.org), The United Kingdom (www.dp-now.com and www.photo-i.co.uk), and Turkey (www.diginorm.com).  In its first year, DIWA aims to encompass all the main countries of Europe and also welcome members from other parts of the world.

The first official DIWA award will be revealed in the next few weeks, coinciding with the formal launch of the DIWA website. The DIWA home page is at http://www.diwa-awards.com

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