The BenQ E820 and BenQ C740i digital cameras are upgraded versions of the E720 and C740 models. Both feature a large bright 2.5-inch LTPS screen, face-tracking function and 3x Pentax lens. The BenQ C740i has a 7 megapixel sensor, whilst the E820 offers 8 megapixels. Pricing and availability of the BenQ E820 and BenQ C740i to be announced.

The winners of the Nikon Photo Contest International 2006-2007 have been announced. The Grand Prize was awarded to Mr. Tung Khanh Le of Vietnam for his work entitled ” crossing waves.” More than 16,000 entrants submitted in excess of 47,000 photographs, with works coming from a total of 135 countries and regions.

HP has teamed up with 30 retailers across the UK to offer photographers the chance to try the HP Photosmart Pro B9180 A3+ printer in-store. Additionally, HP is offering a ‘buy and try’ option to photographers, with the option to have the printer collected by HP in the first 30 days for a full refund, less £15 handling fee, if they’re not satisfied with the product.

German Eduardo Hernández Saavedra from El Salvador was chosen from more than 10,500 entries as the winner of HP’s Street Photography competition. Winning entrants will have their photographs exhibited at the Rencontres d’Arles Photography festival. The online street photography gallery (http://www.hypegallery.com/streetphotography) will continue to run for the rest of the year creating a comprehensive collection of Street Photography.

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Casio EX-V7, the world’s slimmest digital camera with a 7X optical zoom lens (equivalent to 38-266mm on a 35mm film camera).

“The zoom shots taken in my barren living room show that the camera can not pull in enough light to cope with the zoom and has to push the ISO to handle it, this instance had the wide angle set at ISO200 and the zoomed image set to ISO800 which seems to me that maybe Casio were in a rush to get a big zoom on a small camera and either didn’t think of light availability or put in some shortcuts to cope with it.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Casio EX-V7 Review

Website: Read our Casio EX-V7 Review

CameraLabs have just reviewed the Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens.

“In this review we’ve concentrated on using the EF 17-40mm with the full-frame Canon EOS 5D, where its enormous wide angle coverage can be truly unleashed. We’ve compared it against the EF 24-105mm f/4.0L and the older EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, as many photographers will actually consider using the EF 17-40mm as their main general-purpose walk-around lens. While it clearly can’t zoom-in to anything you’d describe as telephoto, the 40mm ‘long’ end makes it more flexible for day to day use than you’d think.”

Website: CameraLabs - Canon 17-40mm f/4L Lens with Canon EOS 5D Review

Website: CameraLabs - Canon 17-40mm f/4L Lens with Canon EOS 400D / XTi Review

DigiCamReview have reviewed the Ricoh 500SE, a GPS-ready digital camera with an integrated precision GPS module.

“The camera has good image quality - the camera has good detail and very good colour (accurate, and quite natural) and there was little to no noticeable corner softness in the images - despite the wide-angle lens. Images have good saturation and contrast, although with fairly high noise even at the lower ISO settings. The higher ISO settings of ISO400 and above are probably best avoided as detail is noise is very high. Indoors photos were good, although noise was noticeable in some shots and red-eye occurred occassionally.”

Website: DigiCamReview - Ricoh 500SE Review

The winners of the June 2007 PhotographyBLOG Competition have been selected by a panel of judges. The theme for June was “Rust” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Rust Never Sleeps by eebee

Prize: Photobird.com one-year subscription with 500Mb of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

The Canon CP740 printer features a two-inch color LCD display, red-eye correction and multiple direct printing options. The CP740 prints borderless, full-photo lab quality, 4”x6” image in approximately 58 seconds. When used with Canon high quality paper and ink, the Canon CP740 Compact Photo Printer produces images that resist fading for up to 100 years. The Canon CP740 Compact Photo Printer will be available in Autumn for $99.99.

The Canon MP470 and Canon MP210 printers offer 46 second 4” x 6” borderless photo printing speeds plus new “AutoImage Fix” and “Quick Start” features. “Canon’s aim with these printers is to raise the bar for performance, design and ease-of-use, while still maintaining a value price point.” commented Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. The the Canon MP470 Photo All-In-One is $99.99. The Canon MP210 Photo All-In-One will cost $79.99.

You can now rent the Hasselblad H3D-39 digital medium format camera through Calumet Photographic for $699 per month. Trade in an 18 megapixel or larger medium format back, and at the end of the 36-month lease, the H3D can be purchased for one dollar. “We’re thrilled to provide this opportunity to own a camera that raises the standard of digital photography to a new level,” said Michael Miller, president of Calumet Photographic. This special trade-in leasing offer is good through August 31, 2007 and is limited to quantities on hand.

The Kodak Inspiration Tour gives consumers the opportunity to touch and use the latest cameras, printers, digital frames and more. “We designed the Inspiration Tour to inspire consumers to be creative and have more fun with photography,” said Michael Korizno, Vice President of Eastman Kodak Company. “Kodak gives amateur photographers the tools right at their fingertips to take amazing pictures and share them in truly innovative ways.” Kodak’s Inspiration Tour visits 12 cities throughout the United States this year.

The Adobe CS3 Master Collection and Production Premium bundles are now available in North America, completing the CS3 lineup. Other language versions - including French, German and Japanese - will be available by mid July. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection costs US$2,499, and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is US$1,699.

Leica have released four new Nature sets, comprised of the LEICA DIGILUX 3 DSLR camera, telephoto lens and a free set of Leica binoculars. The number of Leica Nature Sets is limited worldwide, with registration required to be eligible for a purchase option certificate.

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Casio EX-Z75, which features a 7.2 megapixel sensor, Anti-Shake DSP mode and other advanced functions.

“It also has extremely good image quality. Casio used to use Pentax or Canon lenses in its compacts, and the lens on the Z75 does look very similar to the lens on the Pentax Optio M30. The level of detail is very good, and overall sharpness is also good although it does drop off in the far corners of the frame at wide angle. There is also noticeable barrel distortion at wide angle, although to be fair it’s about average for a pocket compact.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Casio EX-Z75 Review

DIWA member Digit.no have just reviewed the new 10 megapixel Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX2.

“The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 may look like any other compact camera with a large LCD screen. However, inside its robust exteriour are numerous features and functions that separates the LX2 from the crowd. Not only does it offer a 4x LEICA zoom lens with a wide angle equivalent to 28 mm and 10 MP resolution from a 16:9 CCD image sensor, it also has an option for RAW format and several advanced manual settings for the creative photographer. Thanks to its new Venus Engine III image processor, image noise is better controlled in the LX2 than in its predecessor, the LX1, despite higher image resolution. Allthough optical viewfinder, hot shoe, fast USB interface, face recognition and a few other minor details are missing, the LX2 is one of the most refined and sophisticated cameras in its class.”

Website: Digit.no - Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX2 Review

Website: Read our Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 Review

DigiCamReview have just reviewed the Fujifilm FinePix F20, a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x zoom lens, ISO 2000 and 2.5-inch LCD screen.

“The F20, despite being a budget digital camera, has great image quality. Colours are very good and in a very wide range of situations the camera will take sharp, detailed pictures with good exposure. The camera is probably great for events where fast photography is essential. The challenges that this camera will face that most others will fail at will be low light situations where you don’t particularly want to use the flash.”

Website: DigiCamReview - Fujifilm FinePix F20 Review

Website: Read our Fujifilm Finepix F20 Review

FujiFilm have released a new firmware update, v1.08, for the S5 Pro DSLR.

The firmware (Ver.1.06 to Ver.1.08) update incorporates the following issues.
When MB-D200 Multi-Power Battery Pack (introduced by Nikon) is used with S5Pro, sometimes the camera may be stopped suddenly (e.g. freeze) due to the contact failure between FinePix S5 Pro and MB-D200.
Cf. Contact failure is not occurred regularly. Even with contact failure in a short period FinePix S5 Pro will be frozen in some case.
For removing the trouble, new FinePix S5 Pro firmware has been established.

Website: FujiFilm S5 Pro v1.08 Firmware Update

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Nikon D40x DSLR, which features a 10.2 megapixel sensor, producing 3,872 x 2,592-pixel images, 3D Colour Matrix Metering II system and 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“The Nikon D40x is a gem. Consumers should want one, intermediate photographers should want one, and pros would do well to carry one too. The Nikon D40x is one of the finest family cameras on the market made even better than its predecessor, which is a tall order.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Nikon D40x Review

Website: Read our Nikon D40x Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the new Kodak Z712, which is positioned as an alternative to a DSLR, offering a 12x zoom lens (36-432 mm) and 7.1 megapixels.

“The camera has a plastic body, but isn’t light. The build quality feels quite good and the camera is well balanced. It is small, but has a place for everything as the grip will easily fit a hand and a place to position your thumb. The screen for the viewfinder is bigger allowing easier picture taking, but the rear screen is the most favoured option. During bright sunlight, the viewfinder will come into its own as you still see the image to be shot.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Kodak Z712 Review