Steves Digicams have reviewed the 8 megapixel Pentax M40 camera, which offers a 3x optical zoom lens, 2.5 inch LCD, metal body, Face Recognition and digital Shake Reduction.

“When shooting outdoors, the M40 captures nice images showing pleasing exposure and rich colors. I did notice a slight amount of softness along the left hand side of the frame in many of our samples. Luckily, this model features in-camera sharpness adjustment, which will allow you to “dial in” the preferred amount. Image noise is an issue we touch on with almost every camera, especially when the model features such high sensitivity settings (like up to 3200 on the M40). With this camera, noise levels were average throughout the sensitivity range, becoming more noticeable from ISO 800 and above.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax M40 Review

CameraLabs have reviewed the new wide-angle Sony DT 11-18mm lens.

“In its favour the DT 11-18mm suffers from little geometric distortion or light fall-off considering its ultra wide range, and it’s always good to find a lens hood included as standard – if only Canon would do the same. On the downside though, there’s noticeable softening in the extreme corners, a manual focusing ring which turns during AF, and a relatively slow focal ratio of f4.5 when it’s zoomed-out to 11mm.”

Website: CameraLabs - Sony DT 11-18mm Lens Review

The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28 is a new high-speed, wide-angle lens for SLR cameras. With an aperture of f/2.0 and 28mm focal length, the Distagon T* 2/28 lens is ideally suited for taking pictures in unfavorable lighting conditions. The new lens is available as the Distagon T* 2/28 ZF for cameras with the F bayonet and Distagon T* 2/28 ZK for cameras with a K mount. The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/28 will be available by the end of 2007 for 1,049.00 €.

Fujifilm’s digital camera production operation will be fully transferred to their Chinese factory in Suzhou, as the company seeks to optimize its manufacturing and R&D businesses. In addition Fujifilm are subcontracting the pre-process production (wafer process) of their CCD sensors to Toshiba Corporation. Fujifilm have committed to “further acceleration in the development of digital cameras with distinctive features” based on their Super CCD, image processing and lens technologies.

Adobe has achieved record revenues of $851.7 million for its third quarter of 2007, 41% year-over-year growth. “Our record results were driven by outstanding Creative Suite 3 adoption and continued Acrobat momentum,” said Bruce Chizen, chief executive officer of Adobe. “As we near the end of fiscal 2007, we remain well positioned for continued double digit revenue growth.” For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, Adobe announced it is targeting revenue of $860 million to $890 million.

Lacie Little Disk is a new range of portable hard drives designed exclusively for LaCie by award-winning designer Sam Hecht. With storage potential from 30 to 250 gigabytes, the LaCie Little Disk is driver-free and pre-formatted for simple, one-step installation across all platforms. The new drives are available in either 1.8- or 2.5-inch formats and with USB or Firewire connectivity. “Designed for simplicity, the 1.8- and 2.5-inch drives are extremely portable and are bus powered, eliminating the need for A/C power. So whether you are on a bus, taking the train, or relaxing at the park, your data is always accessible.” said Nolwenn Rozen, LaCie product manager. Suggested retail prices start at $99.99 for the 1.8-inch, $89.99 for the 2.5- inch USB 2.0 and $119.99 for the 2.5-inch Combo.

The new Lacie Portable DVD±RW Drive with LightScribe has been designed exclusively for LaCie by award-winning designer Sam Hecht. The FireWire or USB 2.0 bus-powered LaCie Portable DVD±RW Drive is less than one inch tall, and one pound in weight. “Burning professional-looking CD/DVDs in any work environment is made easy through Sam Hecht’s simple and elegant design coupled with buspower, LightScribe labeling and a complete software suite.” said Anne Bordet, LaCie Product Manager. The Lacie Portable DVD±RW Drive costs $99.99 for USB 2.0 and $149.99 for FireWire.

UK at Home invites you to document through digital photography the incredible range of places you call home. From 24-30th September 2007, you can submit a a digital photograph relating to a single announced theme. Throughout the week participants are also invited to take general shots of what makes their home special. Fifty of the world’s leading photographers will also be taking part. “We want to capture the emotions of being home,” says John Easterby, the photography director of UK at Home.  “The word ‘home’ itself means something very special to us Brits; yet at the same time, it also evokes different things for each of us.  Our goal is to capture those commonalities – and those differences.” The best pictures, as chosen by a team of leading picture editors, will be published in a book in February 2008

16 winning photos from CITY Magazine’s “One City, Many Destinations” travel photography competition have been announced. Konstantino Hatzisarros’s stunning image of two young monks in a Burmese temple was selected as the grand-prize winner. Along with the coveted cover shot for CITY’s Fall Travel issue, Hatzisarros won a Leica M8 professional camera, a trip for two to any W Hotel in North America and a gift certificate to Calumet Photographic.

The Transcend Multi-Card Reader M3 supports almost every memory card currently on the market. Each type of slot is clearly labeled on the top of the reader AND in your computer browser next to the drive letter. The Transcend M3 has a USB 2.0 interface and support for newer high-speed memory cards (up to 480Mb/s). Available in black, white and pink, the Transcend Multi-Card Reader M3 costs 8.55€.

DIWA member Photoxels have reviewed the Olympus Stylus 790 SW, a new shockproof, waterproof digital camera.

“Overall, good image quality for a 7.1MP digital camera. Despite the availability of high ISOs, the Stylus 790 SW is not a low-light camera, but for its intended purpose of sunny beach, boating, and rough outdoors, the Olympus 790 SW can be expected to capture good image detail and colours.”

Website: Photoxels - Olympus Stylus 790 SW Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Pentax K100D Super, an updated version of the K100D entry-level DSLR which first shipped in July 2006.

“The K100D Super’s default Image Tone setting of Bright produced well-saturated images right out of the camera; Natural Image Tone produced more subdued colors, suitable for post-processing. The normal sharpness setting produced images that some would call soft; most users will prefer a hard sharpness setting, or the application of an image editor’s Unsharp Mask filter. The image noise was practically non-existent at ISO 200, at ISO 400 it’s still very clean, and at ISO 800 shadow noise becomes noticeable. “

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax K100D Super Review

Website: Read our Pentax K100D Super Review

Steves Digicams have just reviewed the new Kodak 5500 All-in-One printer.

“The bottom line - This a great multi-function device. Kodak print head technology helps to create real- life photos with fine details. If your desk space is limited you’ll really appreciate the All-in-One features of this device since it prints, copies, faxes and scans for you. Do you need to print directly from your camera’s memory cards? Want to print wirelessly from a Bluetooth device in another room? Need to scan a lot of items? You can do all of these, and be assured of Kodak’s famous print image quality, while saving money on ink too.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Kodak 5500 All-in-One Review

Wacom Bamboo is a new consumer range of pen tablets. Available in three editions - Bamboo, Bamboo Fun and Bamboo One - each product combines a tablet with an ergonomically designed, cordless and battery-free digital pen and supporting software. Wacom Bamboo comes with JustWrite Office software and costs £54.99. Bamboo One comes with ArtRage 2.0, a simple-to-use painting package and is priced at £34.99. Bamboo Fun comes in two sizes – small and medium – and includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for PC (Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 for Mac OS), as well as ArtRage 2.0, priced at £69.99 and £139.99 respectively.

Corel MediaOne Plus is fast, fun and easy photo and video software. “Our focus with Corel MediaOne Plus was to create a software package that would provide users with the perfect companion to their point-and-shoot digital camera,” said Denise MacDonell, Director of Product Management, Digital Media at Corel.  Previously known as Corel Snapfire Plus, MediaOne Plus adds online backup and sharing with Sharpcast, new creative templates, DVD authoring and a simpler user interface. Corel MediaOne Plus is available now for $49.99 (US and Canada). Corel MediaOne Starter edition is also available as a free download.

PhotoArtist 2 from BenVista is a new software program for creating picturesque artwork based on digital photos. Version 2 of PhotoArtisit adds more than 30 additional filters, various new brushes, increased fine-tuning options, and an improved software interface. PhotoArtist 2 costs €69.00 and a free demo version is available.

AKVIS Frame Suite 2.5 applies artistic frames and edge effects to your photos. Frame Suite 2.5 adds a new texture effect that imitates an image drawn on different surfaces, for example, canvas or a brick wall. AKVIS Frame Suite costs $49 USD, and there’s a free 10 day trial version.

The PhotoShelter Collection is the first edited stock image library that delivers the diversity of photography on the Internet with the resources of a high-end agency. Submission is free; all interested photographers are then invited to fill out an application and submit images for PhotoShelter’s team of commercial photo editors to review. “I was approached by a photo buyer who found one of my images on Flickr,” said photographer Chris Cho. “He offered me $100 to license an image with unlimited rights. I’m not a professional, so I didn’t initially realize that this offer was far below the going rate for this type of use. It’s really great to see PhotoShelter develop a platform that allows me to license my images properly, through a system I can trust.” PhotoShelter will spend $1 Million in 2008 marketing this new collection to commercial buyers. The existing PhotoShelter that has been online since 2005 will be now known as the PhotoShelter Personal Archive.

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T20 digital camera, which features 8 megapixels, a 3x optical zoom lens and a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and is in pink, white, black and silver.

“If you want 5x zoom instead of the Sony T20’s 3x and a 3.0 inch LCD instead of a 2.5 inch LCD and you have an extra $70 floating around with nothing to do, take a look at the Sony T100. If 3x works for you, with its 3x zoom and 2.5-inch LCD, the Sony T20 doesn’t give up much, except that $70. Which you can put toward a Cyber-shot Station or, maybe, an Apple TV.”

Imaging Resource - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T20 Review

CNET have reviewed Sony DSC-H3, the smallest ever Cyber-shot camera featuring a Carl Zeiss 10x zoom lens.

“If you want a long zoom lens in a camera that’s smaller, if not lighter, than most superzooms, Sony’s DSC-H3 is a decent choice. Since this is a new category, it’s hard to draw comparisons, but when Canon’s Powershot SX100 hits the market in October, we should be able to get a better idea of how this Sony compares with the competition.”

Website: CNET - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3 Review