The Epson V200 Photo is a cost effective, high-quality scanner in a compact and slim design. It features 4800dpi optical resolution, Auto Photo Orientation to straighten photos, and a built-in transparency unit with film holding storage. The Epson V200 can scan a range of document sizes, including A4, 35mm strip film x 6 frames and 35mm slide x 4 frames. The Epson V200 Photo will cost £69.99 / $99, available July 2007.

The FP-5000 from Fantasea Line is a new underwater housing for the Nikon P-5000 digital camera. With a depth rating of 60 meters/200 feet and a double O-ring seal on all controls, the FP-5000 is ideal for outdoor and underwater photographers. The suggested retail price of the FP-5000 is US $245.00.

Leica have released a firmware update, v2.0, for the Digilux 3 DSLR. Improvements include:

  * An additional function for multiple exposures.
  * A third OIS mode (MODE 3) enabling the user to employ the „panning” technique.
  * A mode that considerably improves the visibility of the monitor image when the camera is held below eye level.
  * The aperture value can now be set more easily in the case of lenses (of other makes) that do not have aperture setting rings.
  * White balance (WB), color temperature, ISO-speed, and the flash mode can now be set with the cursor buttons as well as with the main setting dial. Confirming the settings is no longer limited in time.
  * Auto Review now also includes a mode without a time limit.
  * It is now possible to scroll to the other images even when the one being displayed is enlarged (with the zoom function).
  * The firmware version can now be displayed using the setup menu.

Website: Leica Digilux 3 v2.0 Firmware Update

Getty Images ‘My Britain’ competition offers British 13 - 18 year olds the opportunity to express their views on their life, community and the region in which they live through photography. My Britain will run from 4th July until 15th September 2007. The winner of Getty Images’ My Britain competition will receive an exclusive day’s internship with a renowned Getty Images photographer - time for some extensive plastic surgery so that I can pass as an 18 year old!

Adobe Photoshop CS3 One-on-One by Deke McClelland is a new book which guides readers step by step through the program’s features and functionality. It includes 12 self-paced tutorials let you learn at your own speed, 850 full-color photos, diagrams, and screen shots, and more than two hours of video instruction. Adobe Photoshop CS3 One-on-One costs $49.99 USD, $64.99 CAD, £35.50 GBP.

DIWA member LetsGoDigital have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix P5000 camera, which offers 10 megapixels, 3.5x zoom lens (36-126mm), Vibration Reduction to combat camera shake, ISO 3200 capability and a 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“You can work pretty fast with the Nikon P5000 camera, although you will probably have to get used to the ‘speed’ of the auto focus and be satisfied with the fact that real action cannot be captured, which is too bad. Nikon could have scored more convincingly with a wide-angle lens, in order to outcompete the PowerShot G7. Especially since we see compact cameras with a 28mm lens more frequently, Nikon Coolpix P5000’s 36mm is a stark contrast. “

Website: LetsGoDigital - Nikon Coolpix P5000 Review

PCMag have reviewed the Olympus Stylus 770 SW digital camera, which can survive falls from up to 1.5m, is waterproof to 10m depths, as well as being freezeproof to -10 degrees Celsius.

“This specialty point-and-shoot is pricey for an ultracompact, but it lets you take pictures in places where few other cameras can go: underwater. The Olympus Stylus 770 SW is submersible to a depth of 33 feet and will withstand temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s pretty rugged, too: The camera can be dropped from a height of 5 feet, which I confirmed in my testing, and is designed to shrug off 220 pounds of direct force.”

Website: PCMag - Olympus Stylus 770 SW Review

CNET have reviewed the Fujifilm S700 digital camera, which features 7 megapixels, a 10x optical zoom, 2.5 inch LCD plus electronic viewfinder, ISO 1600 and Picture Stabilization mode.

“If you ignore most of the off-key bells and whistles and stick to basics like moderate ISO speed settings and semimanual exposure modes, the Fujifilm FinePix S700 offers quite a bit for your money. If Fuji had only traded some of those high ISO gimmicks for better shooting speed and a more streamlined interface, this might have been a darn good camera”

Website: CNET - Fujifilm S700 Review

DigitalCameraInfo have reviewed the Canon A570 IS compact digital camera, which offers a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom lens, Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction, plus an Optical Image Stabilizer to combat camera shake and full manual control.

“The PowerShot A570IS sells for just over $200 at a variety of vendors, which is an attractive price for an entry level camera. With image stabilization and face detection, it wins the features race not only at $200, but also at $300. Canon image quality is very competitive at a variety of price points, and did well enough here. The biggest drawback in the PowerShot A570IS’s value proposition is its durability. With poor seals and a lightly-built lens assembly, it doesn’t seem as tough as some of its competition.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Canon A570 IS Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Casio Z1200, a 12.1 megapixel compact camera featuring a a 1/1.7 inch CCD sensor with shift anti-shake mechanism and a 2.8 inch LCD screen.

“With a very large pixel count noise was always going to be an issue, and the good news is that it’s kept under control up to ISO200, but at ISO400 it really isn’t very good and is worse than compacts with a lower resolution. At the ISO50 and 100 settings though, the extra detail is significant and really makes the image look incredibly detailed.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Casio Z1200 Review

The Sony Ericsson K850 is a new 5 megapixel camera phone with Auto focus, Xenon flash, BestPic, Photo fix and PictBridge. The Sony Ericsson K850 is also a Tri-Band HSDPA and Quad-Band GPRS/EDGE phone with a colour choice of either Velvet Blue or Luminous Green.  It will be available in selected markets from early Q4 2007.

Pentax have announced a limited edition K10D DSLR package to commemorate the camera winning the Camera Grand Prix 2007 Award in Japan. offers an exclusive new colour scheme, gold lettering, dark brown rubber coating and leather camera strap. Only 150 Pentax K10D Grand Prix Packages will be available in the UK.

Thom Hogan has laid down a challenge to the camera manufacturers by listing his must-have features for the ultimate digital compact. You might also want to read my previous posts, Is the Sigma DP1 the Ultimate Compact Camera? and Is the Ricoh GX100 the Ultimate Compact Camera?

“Personally, I’m sick and tired of all this mediocre me-too camera design. Not a single compact digital camera meets my requirements for such a product, and I think that most serious and professional photographers would agree with me on that. Rather than just sit and rant about the onslaught of me-too compact digital cameras, though, I decided to do something about it.”

Website: Thom’s Compact Camera Challenge

Nature and wildlife photographer John Hyde is the latest addition to the Look Who’s Using Kingston website. Hyde discusses how he captures the majestic beauty of Alaska’s national parks and the wildlife, and also offers insightful tips. “The environment I photograph takes me far from civilization, and using Kingston CompactFlash® Ultimate 4GB memory cards gives me the confidence to know that I will return home with the photographs I created in the wild.” said Hyde.

Low Budget Shooting is an indispensable guide to useful and most importantly inexpensive photographic tools. Author Cyrill Harnischmacher covers lighting, studio and essentials that aim to make your life easier. Low Budget Shooting is 72 pages long and costs $19.95 US.

Yoshi Kono is the winner of Ilford Photo’s Student of the Year competition. Kono won a medium format Mamiya 711 camera kit, £350 plus £250 of Ilford Photo products. “In the end, it was decided that the raw edge displayed by Yoshi Kono’s street photography work just took it that degree further, and merited the overall prize” commented Ilford Photo marketing director Howard Hopwood.

DPReview have reviewed the new Olympus E-410 DSLR camera.

“Default image quality is good, if not as crisp as the competition. However, if you play with the settings for a while, or more specifically turn Noise Filter off and set Sharpness to -2 (to compensate for the default high sharpening used to overcome the softening effect of the Noise Filter) you’ll see that the camera is capturing just as much detail (if not more) than other ten megapixel digital SLRs, and that the lens is more than up to the job too.”

Website: DPReview - Olympus E-410 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-410 Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Canon Powershot A560 compact digital camera, which has a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom lens, Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction.

“With its high quality imaging, competent feature set, and wide availability for less than $200, the Canon PowerShot A560 is a great all-around camera, able to meet the needs of a wide range of users. For pros and advanced amateurs, it’s nice to have a pocket-sized alternative to a more bulky digital SLR, yet the price makes this camera an attractive entry for anyone who has been thinking about going digital.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon Powershot A560 Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Canon Digital IXUS 75 digital camera (also known as the PowerShot SD750) which has a metallic finish, 3x zoom lens and 3 inch LCD screen.

“Taken in manual mode as the IXUS 75 has no specific scene mode for landscape, the landscape test shot has good detail and there is no colour fringing in areas of colour transition. The colour chart test shows that whie the flesh tones and green mixes are fairly accurate, the blues and mixes containing blues are considerably brighter and there is also a noticeable difference in the red colours. The portrait test shows a good true to life likeness and there appears to be no loss of detail in areas such as the hair and eyebrows. Skin tones are also accurate.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Canon Digital IXUS 75 Review

ePhotoZine have just reviewed the new Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ultra-zoom compact digital camera.

“The ISO100 test shows noise in the plain grey area, and in the shadows there’s additional purple noise, but the image is very sharp and detail is clear. At ISO200 it’s more noticeable as the noise is sharper with clear artefacts appearing. Things change at ISO400 though, as the noise is more widespread, but the processing kicks in to make it softer. The result is that the effect in plain areas isn’t a lot worse, but the image loses sharpness and detail as a result.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Review