Ricoh have released a firmware update, v1.39, for the Ricoh R6 camera.

1. Modified the following phenomena.
• After you change a mode, the step zoom setting may become OFF.
• The skew correction feature may not work properly.
• If you turn a camera power with set to the [LANDSCAPE] in the SCENE mode, the message, ‘Settings have been changed’ will appear.

Website: Ricoh R6 v1.39 Firmware Update

CNET 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.

“Canon has had to keep each sensor size to 1/2.5-inch; unfortunately, the weaknesses of the lens/sensor combo either becomes more evident as resolutions climb, or we’re just tired of seeing the same old problems. For the S5 IS, that means asymmetrical vertical distortion on the left side accompanied by ever-present aberration in the form of cyan and magenta fringing—not just at high-contrast edges, where we expect it, but at medium-contrast boundaries as well.”

Website: CNET - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the new Olympus Stylus 730, which offers a 3 inch LCD screen, 7 megapixels and weatherproof body.

“The water-resistant Olympus Stylus 730 is designed to take a downpour, capture color over detail, and reward you right away with very nice playback on its 3.0 inch LCD. To capture fast moving kids at play, it can ratchet up its sensitivity to ISO 3,200, but at reduced image size. And if you get in trouble, you don’t have to remember which Scene mode is designed to deal with it. You can just pop into Guide mode to tell the Olympus Stylus 730 what you want, and let it show you how to approach the problem.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Olympus Stylus 730 Review

Image Trends PearlyWhites and ShineOff are digital teeth whitener and digital face powder software plugins for Adobe Photoshop. “Harsh direct flash lighting adds unwanted shine to the face and digital cameras tend to yellow teeth making them appear unnatural.  These new cosmetic plug-ins do such a flattering job of beautifying images, that their use becomes addictive.” said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of Image Trends. Both new plug-ins will be priced at $49.95 U.S, currently available for Windows only.

Olympus look like they might finally be taking the wraps off their new professional DSLR camera, dubbed the P-1, which was first shown as a prototype at the Photokina and then the PMA trade show. Olympus Europe are currently running a teaser page with the current E-410 and E-510 shown alongside a mysterious camera shrouded in cloth, with “Coming Soon” promising an imminent launch. It’s anyone’s guess how soon that actually is, but at least the P-1 has finally made it onto Olympus’ product pages (found via Engadget).

“Yes it refers to the E1 replacement. Clues to the design direction were shown at PMA which was widely reported. Clues to certain feature directions are in the E410/510 - also trailed at PMA. We are not able to say more at the moment other than the official line of a 2007 launch. We also have several new lenses to be launched later this year to increase our position as the largest “designed for digital” range - the message is E System is growing and remains the only built from scratch system. As a side note please look out for Chris Bonington taking an E410 up an unclimbed Himalayan peak this summer - a reflection of his Everest trip in the 1970’s with the OM1 which was a real breakthrough camera then, and activity like this one highlights what we are looking forward to. Please also note that Olympus are sponsoring a the Lee Miller centenary exhibition at the V&A museum in London starting in mid September. Things all building to a big launch of a big product….” commented Mark Thackara of Olympus UK.

Kodak have introduced 6 new cameras today - the Kodak Z1275 and Kodak ZD710, and Kodak M883, Kodak M873, Kodak M853 and Kodak M753. The Z1275 offers 12 megapixels and 5x optical zoom and the ZD710 7 megapixels and 10x optical zoom, both available from August 2007 for $249. The stylish new M-series features four models. The M753 and M853 offer 7 and 8 megapixels respectively and 3x zooms. The M873 and M883 both have 8 megapixel sensors, with the M883 featuring a larger 3 inch LCD screen. The Kodak M753 will retail for £99.99 / $149 beginning in July 2007. The M853 ($179) and M873 ($199) will follow in August and the M883 ($229) in September.

The Epson DX4400 Series of A4 size all-in-one devices features Epson DURABrite Ultra Ink, 25ppm printing speeds, print resolution of 5760dpi, and a 600dpi scanner. Mark Robinson, Product Manager, Epson says, “The Epson Stylus DX4400 Series is the only model at its price to offer individual ink cartridges at £6.99, lab quality photo capability and a resolution of 5760dpi.  What’s more it produces crisp and smudge-proof prints on plain paper, thanks to Epson’s DURABrite™ Ultra Ink.” The Epson DX4400 will cost £59.99, available 20th June 2007.

AKVIS Noise Buster 4, a software plugin that reduce noise in digital images, has been released. New features in Noise Buster 4 include saving user settings as presets, plus compatibility with Windows Vista and Intel Macs. There’s a free 10 day trial, with the full version costing € 39.

Sony are offering 20 free prints when you purchase Sony Memory Stick or Compact Flash media. The products featured in the offer include Memory Stick Micro 1GB and 2GB, Memory Stick PRO Duo 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and Compact Flash 2GB and 4GB cards. This promotion is available across both Western and Eastern Europe and will be available from July until September 2007.

CameraTown have just published a review of Snap Art by Alien Skin Software.

“Alien Skin Software’s Snap Art is a photoshop compatible plug-in that converts photographs to look like natural media artwork by mimicking the way a conventional artist works with paint and brushes. The software includes a variety of real-world art filter styles including oil paint, impasto, pastel, pencil sketch, pointillism, watercolor, pen and ink, stylize, color pencil, and comics. The results are probably one of the more realistic ways of converting a photo to hand-painted (or drawn) art - short of using a pressure sensitive tablet with a natural media program like PAINTER and having enough artistic ability to create your own masterpiece. But is Snap Art right for you? Read the review to find out more.”

Website: CameraTown - Snap Art Review

DCResource have just reviewed the new Panasonic DMC-FZ8 camera.

“The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 is a full-featured ultra zoom camera that offers robust performance, tons of features, and a solid design, all for under $350. It’s kept from greatness only by its overaggressive noise reduction, which noticeably reduces image quality, especially in low light, or if the ISO is higher than 100. For the typical digital camera buyer, who will be printing 4 x 6’s and maybe an occasional 8 x 10, the noise reduction isn’t a huge issue, and for those people I can highly recommend the FZ8.”

Website: DCResource - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Review

DigitalCameraInfo have reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7, a new addition to Sony’s range of ultra-zoom compact digital cameras offering 8 megapixels, 15x optical stabilized zoom lenses, ISO 3200, face-detection and HDTV output.

“The 8.1-megapixel Cyber-shot H7 has a lot of great features: a 15x optical zoom lens with image stabilization, an impressive 2.2 fps burst mode that snaps up to 100 shots, high definition output for musical slide shows and videos, and even trendy face recognition technology that works quickly and effectively. The H7 is also a strong performer, displaying excellent color accuracy, low noise levels, and a lot of detail in captured images.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H7 Review

OptiML WLC from Tessera Technologies is a new wafer-level camera technology which reduces the size and cost of camera modules. OptiML WLC delivers up to 50% size reductions over conventional camera modules in camera phones today. Using OptiML WLC technology, thousands of lenses are manufactured simultaneously on a wafer, and then bonded at the wafer level to create the optical element of the camera.

It seems that Wi-Fi memory cards are on the way, as wireless technology company Eye-Fi secures $5.5 million in Series A funding. “Digital cameras have made it very easy to take pictures, but it’s a chore to get photos off the camera to a place where you can print or share them,” commented Robert Coneybeer, managing director for Shasta Ventures “This is a very real problem affecting both consumers who own digital cameras, and companies in the digital photography industry looking to boost profits. We see a huge market opportunity for Eye-Fi because anyone with a Wi-Fi network and a digital camera is a potential customer.”

The 15 Inch eMotion Digital Picture Frame provides a 1024 x 768 pixel, 4:3 aspect ratio LCD screen for viewing photos, video and playing music. Supported formats include MPEG 1 / 2 / 4, AVI, MP3, WMA, JPEG and BMP. “The 15-inch eMotion Digital Picture Frame has the classic and stylish look of a traditional picture frame with real wood molding, but when you power it ON, that’s when the similarities end and your digital files come to full eMotion life!” shares Asia Lee, MediaStreet’s Directory of Sales & Marketing. MediaStreet’s 15 inch eMotion Digital Picture Frame will be available on June 25th and have a suggested retail price of $298.00 US.

The Casio EX-V7 is a slim 7 megapixel digital camera with a 7x zoom lens equivalent to 38-266mm. Casio proudly boast that the EX-V7 is “the world’s slimmest digital camera with a 7x optical zoom lens”, a claim that Ricoh’s R6 camera may contest. The first model in the new Hi-Zoom category (so expect further releases soon), the Casio EX-V7 also features a 2.5 inch LCD, dual image stabilizer, MPEG-4 H.264 movies and no less than 33 different scene modes. Find out if the EX-V7 lived up to expectations in our latest camera review.

Website: Casio EX-V7 Review

ePhotoZine 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.

“One of the headline features of the P5000 is that it sports an ISO range up to 3200, but this come with a couple of provisos. The first is that the resolution drops to 5Mp instead of 10Mp. Now, you could wail and curse at this, but considering 10Mp is largely overkill for many purposes, a 5Mp image is okay. Not great, but okay, to get that ISO3200. However, the other point is that some major processing kicks in for ISO3200, completely changing the image and losing most of the detail.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Nikon Coolpix P5000 Review

CNET have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix S500, a 7.1 megapixel camera with a 3x zoom lens (35-105mm), Vibration Reduction to combat camera shake, ISO 2000 capability, 2.5 inch monitor and One-touch portrait button.

“Nikon really shows off its style with its Coolpix S500, a sleek, compact camera that feels every bit as good as it looks. This little shooter has some of the nicest design points we’ve seen in a small shooter, plus a few handy features normally seen on higher-end cameras. Unfortunately, looks and tricks aren’t everything, and the S500 simply doesn’t live up to its potential.”

Website: CNET - Nikon Coolpix S500 Review

Bibble 4.9.8 adds support for the Canon 1D Mark III, Fujifilm S5 Pro, Nikon D40x, Olympus E-510, E-410, and SP500 UZ and Panasonic FZ8 cameras, plus tethered shooting support for newer Canon cameras and the Fuji S5. Bibble is available in both “Pro” ($129.95) and “Lite” ($69.95) versions for Windows, Macintosh (PPC/Intel as a Universal Binary) and Linux.

The UK-based Independent newspaper and Canon are inviting people to photograph their ‘secret playground’ and enter it into a competition. Three winners will each receive a Canon EOS 400D and their winning image will be published. The promotion begins on 3rd June 2007 in The Independent on Sunday Review.