The launch date of the new Phase One medium-format camera has been confirmed as March 19th 2008. In an interview with Phase One Product Manager Bo Abildgren at Focus On Imaging, Abildgren revealed that the camera will be unveiled to the world on March 19th (but not at the at the WPPI show in Las Vegas, as previously reported). Phase One’s medium format camera has been developed in conjunction with Mamiya as an open-source platform. Abildgren commented that the new camera “is all about providing choice for the professional photographer” and represents a move by Phase One to “get back to craftmanship”.

Sigma have published a selection of sample images taken with the Sigma DP1 compact camera. There are no less than 37 full-size JPEG images available to download, although unfortunately all of them are shot at ISO 100, so you can’t judge how good the DP1 is going to be in low-light. The DP1 will cost £549.99 in the UK, or £599.99 as a kit with the optical viewfinder and will be available in the UK from April. The Sigma DP1 is available for pre-order at Amazon for $800.

Website: Sigma DP1 Sample Image Gallery

The new Sony Cyber-shot W300 is a new 13.6 megapixel digital camera with a scratch-resistant titanium coating. The Sony W300 offers a fastest ISO speed of 6400, Super SteadyShot image stabilisation and Clear RAW Noise Reduction. A 3x optical zoom lens, 2.7 inch LCD screen, Smile Shutter and Face Detection and HD output round-off the specification. The Sony Cyber-shot W300 will be available throughout Europe from early May for about $350.

The Sony Cyber-shot H50 is a new 15x ultra-zoom digital camera. The Sony H50 offers a 9 megapixel sensor, large 3 inch LCD screen that tilts up or down, and Enhanced Face Detection and Smile Shutter modes. To help combat camera shake, the Cyber-shot H50 incorporates ISO 3200 and an optical image stabilisation system. The Sony Cyber-shot H50 digital camera will be available from early May for about $400.

Nikon are offering up to £75 / €100 off any new D40 or D80 camera kit. You can save £30/€40 on a single D40 lens kit and £45/€60 on a twin lens kit, and for the D80 £50/€70 cashback on single lens kits and £75/€100 cashback on twin lens kits. The promotion will run from the 25th February until the 30th June 2008.

The Essence of Photography with John Upton is a new educational DVD from Calumet Photo. It’s the perfect guide for beginners and advanced amateurs who want to learn photography from the legendary John Upton. The Essence of Photography provides a discussion of topics that include Upton’s mentors, understanding how cameras work, learning to see pictures, photographic history and development of the photographic image. The Essence of Photography with John Upton costs $39.99.

RectFish aims to make fisheye image remapping simple, accurate, and efficient. RectFish is for users of fisheye lenses remapping in software to other projections, which produces images with an angle of view wider than that provided by rectilinear lenses. All the user has to do is to select a camera and lens, then RectFish will use appropriate parameters for both RectFish and rectilinear remapping. RectFish costs $30.

Getty Images has been purchased by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion. Getty Images stockholders will receive $34.00 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock they own. Completion of the transaction is subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. Andy Ballard, managing director of Hellman & Friedman, said, “Getty Images is the leader and pioneer in the visual content and digital media business. We believe in the vision and execution capabilities of Jonathan Klein and his team, and share their commitment to the Company’s stakeholders and customers.”

TrustedReviews have reviewed the 7.2 megapixel Casio EX-Z77 camera, which features a special YouTube mode that saves movies at the optimum size, quality and other settings.

“Unfortunately the Z77 does have one major weakness, and that is its final image quality. It’s “only” a 7.2-megapixel model, so it’s not going to be able to match more powerful rivals for total resolution, but its main problem its lens quality. The ultra-compact folding lens suffers from significant barrel distortion at the wide-angle end, and pincushion distortion at the telephoto end, but it is overall sharpness that is the real problem. It’s not too bad in the centre of the frame, but it gets very soft toward the edges, and also suffers from some chromatic aberration. Image noise isn’t too much of a problem, mainly because the Z77 is limited to a maximum of 800 ISO. At the lowest setting images are nice and clean, but above 200 ISO noise does become very noticeable.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Casio EX-Z77 Review

“Layers: The Complete Guide…” is a new book about the most powerful feature in Adobe Photoshop. “Layers” covers such topics as working with and managing multiple layers, building multi-layer images, blending layers together, and layer masking. Layers: The Complete Guide to Adobe Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature is published by Peachpit Press and costs $39.99.

Panasonic are giving away a free 16Gb Pro High Speed SD card with the new DMC-L10 DSLR camera. Allowing over 6000 still images to be captured, the Panasonic 16GB card provides fast data transfer speed of up to 20MB/S. This offer is valid until the end of April 2008 and is offered via participating retailers only.

TrustedReviews have tested the new 8 megapixel Samsung NV8 digital camera.

“For what is practically a budget price the Samsung NV8 provides a level of quality on a par with premium-range cameras from any of the other manufacturers. It has a lot of style, excellent build quality, fast performance and a range of useful and entertaining features, made more accessible by the clever Smart Touch control system. It lacks a little in the picture quality department due to its image noise problems, but makes up for this somewhat with good low-light performance.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Samsung NV8 Review

In a shock move, Leica has sacked its CEO, Steven Lee, following comments that he recently made about a full-frame Leica M-system rangefinder camera. UK magazine Amateur Photographer, who initially broke the full-frame news back in January, are reporting that Leica’s owner, Andreas Kaufman, has now replaced Lee with immediate effect.

“This change of management allows Leica Camera AG to immediately review strategies and make changes where required.’ Leica UK’s MD David Bell tells AP. ‘One of the first tasks for Dr Kaufmann will be to positively review all options for the M system’s future. There will be more details in the following weeks.”

Amateur Photographer - Leica Camera sacks CEO Steven K Lee

Nikon have also released a new version, 1.3.2, of Capture NX. Modifications enabled with ver. 1.3.2:

  * Support for RAW images captured with the D60 has been added.
  * When Exposure Compensation was adjusted from Base Adjustments > Exposure Compensation while Picture Control settings were applied from Base Adjustments > Camera Adjustments > Picture Control, the sharpening effect was cancelled. This issue has been resolved.
  * When images captured with the D1 and an AI Fisheye Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D lens, “Fisheye Lens” could not be selected from Base Adjustments> Lens Adjustments. This issue has been resolved.

Website: Nikon Capture NX 1.3.2 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Capture NX 1.3.2 (Mac)

Nikon have released a new version, 2.1.0, of Camera Control Pro. Modifications enabled with ver. 2.1.0

- Support for the D60 has been added.
- Response is faster when thumbnails are selected in the Viewer.
-When a camera with a PC lens was connected, the lens name displayed in the Mechanical tab indicated that it was a G-type lens. This issue has been resolved.
Lenses with which this occured:
PC Micror-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D
PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED
Cameras with which this issue occurred:
D3, D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, D2H, D300, D200, D80, D70s, D70, D50, D40X, D40
-When a D40 or D40X with a PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED lens was connected, the lens name displayed in the “Mechanical” tab indicated that it was an AF-S 24mm f/3.5D lens. This issue has been resolved.

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.1.0 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.1.0 (Mac)

The 2pad private online photo and video gallery has just launched. 2pad provides the most user-friendly approach to managing and exchanging media, and you can control who can view your gallery. Every time a photo or video is sent to [email protected]. it will be added to your private gallery. 2pad was created to counter the trend of excessive public media sharing online.

PhotoReflect.com, a photography storefront hosting and e-commerce site, has expanded into the UK. PhotoReflect.com is the largest professional photographer Internet storefront in North America, with over 28,000 professional photographer customers. UK photographers can now create internet business storefronts that will sell photos to their clients 24/7. “PhotoReflect.com is a necessary and powerful tool for all professional photographers who want to take their business to the next level in the Internet age,” said Graham McFarland, Founder and CEO of ExpressDigital.

PCMag have just reviewed the new Epson R1900 printer.

“For serious photographers, the most important issue with any printer is photo quality, another area where the R1900 performs well. For our standard photo test suite, output on Epson’s Premium Photo Paper Glossy was in the top tier of photo quality—the level you’d expect from a photo lab for professionals rather than from your local drugstore.”

Website: PCMag - Epson R1900 Review

CameraLabs have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“The PowerShot S5 IS is certainly a powerful super-zoom camera with some neat features. The 12x range gives you decent coverage, the stabilisation is effective, the flip-out screen allows for unusual angles, the movie options are some of the best around on a still camera, and the literal icing on the cake is the hotshoe, supporting external flashguns.”

Website: CameraLabs - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

For keen photographers on a shoestring budget, Photoshop Elements 6 is the latest version of Adobe’s popular entry-level image editor. New features include the Guided Edit mode, which helps walk users through the steps of improving a photo, and Photomerge, which combines facial expressions from a series of shots to create a single cohesive group shot. Photoshop Elements 6 for Windows costs £70 / $99, and a MAC version is on the way very soon. Jon Canfield found out if Elements 6 is all the image editor that you really need…

Website: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 Review