O’Reilly Press Release

In a Sea of Digital Photo Software, an Affordable Pearl O’Reilly’s Newest Missing Manual Explains Everything You Need to Know About Photoshop Elements 5

Sebastopol, CA—If you love scrapbooking, arranging photos in galleries, or creating cool slideshows set to music, you’ll definitely want the just-announced Photoshop Elements 5. And for those serious about photography, the new version of Elements now includes Photoshop’s most sophisticated drawing tool, Curves. This major upgrade combining Photoshop’s power with Elements’ simplicity gives digital photography enthusiasts the tools the pros use to make their pictures shine. “The new version helps keep photos organized, makes top-notch prints and truly nifty creative projects,” says Barbara Brundage, bestselling O’Reilly author and Photoshop Elements’ expert. Adobe is really jumping on the scrapbooking bandwagon with this release. It’s the must-have software for the scrapbooking hobbyist.”

Hitachi Press Release

Hitachi Storage Breakthrough Signals Bright Future on Hard Drive’s 50th-Birthday; New Perpendicular Recording Data Density Demo Promises 2-Terabyte Hard Drive by Decade End; Hitachi Plans 1-Terabyte Drive for 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 13, 2006—Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) has much more to celebrate than the birth of the hard drive, which happened 50 years ago today in San Jose, California. The company is also celebrating an areal density(1) achievement of 345 gigabits per square inch (Gbits/sq. in.) using perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology. This areal density, demonstrated in laboratory testing, represents an increase of more than two-and-a-half times the areal density of today’s highest-capacity products. By 2009, Hitachi predicts that 345 Gbits/sq. in. would result in a two-terabyte (TB) 3.5-inch desktop drive, a 400-gigabyte (GB) 2.5-inch notebook drive or a 200-GB 1.8-inch drive(2). In the first half of 2007, Hitachi expects to bring hard drive areal density half way to the 345 Gbits/sq. in. mark with a 1-TB 3.5-inch product.

Wetpixel.com / DivePhotoGuide.com Press Release

The 2nd Annual Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com International Underwater Photo & Video Competition, in association with Our World Underwater—over $35,000 in prizes.

(PRWEB) September 12, 2006—Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com have teamed up again in association with Our World Underwater to celebrate the beauty and delicacy of the marine environment with their 2nd annual international underwater photography and video competition. The competition aims to become the “Superbowl” of international underwater photo competitions—with fantastic prizes, celebrity judges and the opportunity to have your images showcased to the world as some of the world’s best. A new website has launched to support the competition at http://www.underwatercompetition.com

SeeFile Press Release

SeeFile debuts Global version of innovative Web image review application - Rollouts at AppleExpo and Photokina, pricing €399 to €3995; European resellers sought

Paris, September 11 2006 - SeeFile Software is unveiling a new version of its software, SeeFile 2.6, at Apple Expo (stand P28) and Photokina (hall 10.1, stand C018 and hall 4.1, stand C017) this month. SeeFile 2.6 is the first version of the software to be offered in a language other than English (in this case French and German).  The software allows photographers, graphic designers and video editors to share private folders with their clients and collaborators, requiring only a PC or Mac web browser at the client end. Additional localizations can be done by modifying a small number of files associated with the product, and do not require any recompilation or software development. With this version of the product, SeeFile is aiming to bring the software’s capabilities the European market for the first time. Sales of the product, as well as highly positive reviews (Seybold Reports, Studio Photography and Design, Shutterbug, Big Picture), have so far been concentrated in North America.

LaCie Press Release

PORTLAND, OR (September 2006) – LaCie today announced increased capacities for its LaCie Hard Drives Design by FA Porsche. New drives reach a phenomenal 500GB in a small, sleek case created exclusively for LaCie by the renowned agency Porsche Design GmbH. Exhibiting world-class style and elite performance, LaCie Hard Drives Design by FA Porsche allow people to easily add massive storage to a desktop computer. New USB drives are shipping now, and FireWire drives ship in October. LaCie Senior Product Manager Olivier Mirloup said, “LaCie’s awarded FA Porsche-designed hard drives are quiet, easy to carry and stack, and now have some of the largest capacities available at a low price per gigabyte. These drives are the fastest, easiest way to add storage to your computer, making room for lots of additional video, audio and music files. And our 1-Click Backup Software simplifies data protection.”

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk Introduces 4GB miniSDHC Flash Card for Mobile Phones; Industry’s Highest Capacity Card For Cellphones Will Enable High-Resolution Photography, Digital Video, Music, Games and Data Storage

LOS ANGELES—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 12, 2006—SanDisk(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced a 4-gigabyte (GB)(1) miniSD High Capacity (SDHC(TM)) flash card at the CTIA Wireless Show, where the company is exhibiting in Booth #1147. The 4GB SanDisk miniSDHC card will be able to provide the fast speed and large capacity required to support increasingly popular but storage-intensive applications such as digital imaging, music and video record/playback functions as well as mobile television and videogames. The 4GB capacity can store more than 2,000 high-resolution pictures, more than 1,000 digital songs or up to 8 hours of MPEG 4 video.(2)

PhotoSource International Press Release

Photographer directory is in its seventh year. Published from a hundred-year old barn in the hinterlands of Wisconsin.

Osceola, WI (PRWEB) September 8, 2006—PhotoSource International, the company that sends member photographers the daily photo needs of book and magazine publishers, has announced a “Fire Sale” sign up to its photographer directory, the PhotoSourceBOOK 2007. The directory is in its 7th year and is popular with editors and photobuyers. “We call it a Fire Sale this year because the sale to sign up at a discount price is open only during the span of seven days, September 12th to the 18th,” said Rohn Engh, publisher of the PhotoSourceBOOK. “Not only will stock photographers receive a substantial discount for membership in the directory, but also seven different free bonuses, which include a year’s membership in the PhotoSourceBANK and a free copy of “Photographer’s Market 2007.”

Athentech Technologies Press Release

CALGARY, Alberta, Canada – Athentech® Technologies Inc. (“Athentech”) announced today it has chosen photokina to introduce home, studio and lab versions of its award-winning, patented Perfectly Clear® image correction technology, currently licensed to photo kiosk makers, imaging software developers and other photo, signal processing and digital imaging enterprises around the world. The company also announced that Athentech President Brad Malcolm will be a featured speaker at the “Imaging With Mobile Devices” seminars set for Thursday, 28 September, at the Offenbachsal, Congress Center East, adjacent to photokina.  Malcolm will discuss “Advances in Digital Image Correction” during the morning seminar on “Picture-Taking with Mobile Imaging Devices.”

Casio have released a firmware update, v1.02, for the 10 megapixel Casio EX-Z1000 compact digicam.

Improvements Provided by This Update:

- Fixes a problem that occasionally causes a thin black line to appear along the bottom of an image recorded using the BEST SHOT “Old Photo,” “Business cards and documents,” or “White board, etc.” sample scenes.

Website: Casio EX-Z1000 v1.02 Firmware Update

Pentax USA Press Release

GOLDEN, CO. (September 12, 2006)…PENTAX Imaging Company has launched a TEST DRIVE A PENTAX program to introduce consumers to the manufacturer’s new K Series digital SLR camera line.  From now until December 31, 2006, any customer who visits a participating dealer and test drives a PENTAX K Series camera at a participating retailer becomes eligible for a chance to win the Grand Prize 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser.  A PENTAX TEST DRIVE consists of visiting a participating retailer and asking for a hands-on demonstration of any PENTAX K Series camera or viewing a product video available on-line at: www.pentaxslr.com/testdrive .No purchase is necessary for the consumer. Limited to U.S. residents only.

Casio Europe Press Release

Norderstedt, September 2006 - Autumn is approaching and welcomes us with glowing colors. A clear blue sky and the multi-colored leaves make us feel like taking long walks during the colorful season. EXILIM is also contributing to the colorful hustle and bustle: the color variations blue and red complement the EXILIM Zoom EX-Z700, which is already available in silver, grey and gold. Besides its exciting exterior, the technical qualities of the digitally compact camera are captivating. The 7.2 mega-pixels and the extra bright 2.7 inch screen are the foundation for brilliant photos. At the same time, a fast ready status and short shutter delay make sure the user does not miss one`s motif.

Buy-n-Shoot.com have reviewed the 7.5 megapixel, live preview Olympus E-330 DSLR camera.

” Live View is a great addition and one that will most likely be followed up by every DSLR manufacture with their future releases. It works pretty much in the same way as compact digitals, but has a light boost function for the LCD which pretty much allows the photographer to see in almost near dark conditions. However, as the situation becomes very dark the screen eventually loses its colour and switches automatically to a black & white mode, something like night vision.”

Website: Buy-n-Shoot.com - Olympus E-330 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Buy-n-Shoot.com have reviewed the Olympus mju 700 (also known as the Olympus Stylus 710 in the USA), a 7.1 megapixel camera with 3x zoom, 2.5 inch LCD and a weatherproof body.

“Another feature worth mentioning is the anti-shake setting, found on the dial with a picture of a hand, with two lines either side of it signalling movement. This feature disables the ISO settings and works with the shutter and aperture controls, raising the ISO (film speed) setting in situations where there might be a chance that movement could be evident in the shot from a shaky hand, or low light. I found this to be a handy little addition but also noticed the camera shooting at the higher settings more often – increasing the chance of a grainier photo. But overall, a grainier image is far better than a blurred image which would otherwise be deleted from the camera.”

Website: Buy-n-Shoot.com - Olympus mju 700 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Camera Labs have reviewed 3 potential lens upgrades for the new Canon EOS 400D DSLR, including the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.

“While the EF-S 18-55mm performs surprisingly well for its price though, you’ll really need to upgrade to something better to make the most of your 400D / XTi. Upgrading also gives you the opportunity to enjoy a longer focal range along with features which could include Image Stabilisation to combat camera-shake, improved focusing, or greater capabilities in low light.”

Website: Camera Labs - Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi lens upgrade group test

CameraTown have just reviewed ArcSoft Photo Montage VE, which allows you to create photo montages using your own digital photographs and video stills.

“If you plan to purchase this program for the new video capture capability and want everything to work as it should then I cannot recommend Photo Montage at this time. However, if you have no desire to create your own micro-image library from video clips or you don’t mind working around the video capture problem then I can say that it is well worth the $39.95 price.”

Website: CameraTown - ArcSoft Photo Montage VE Review

Digital Trends have published their review of the Fujifilm FinePix F30, which offers ISO 3200, 6 megapixels, 3x optical zoom lens and a 2.5 inch LCD.

“One of the real world improvements for this camera is a setting called Natural Light & Flash. With Natural Light the camera sets the ISO and takes a shot without a flash. In most instances this works well but sometimes it doesn’t because there’s just too much noise. With Natural Light & Flash, the camera takes two simultaneous shots—one with and one without a flash. Once you get home and see them a big screen, you can decide which one to print. Also new is the i-Flash that automatically adjusts to the scene rather than blasting the same amount of light for every subject. It worked nicely, especially with some indoor close-ups.”

Website: Digital Trends - Fujifilm FinePix F30 Review

Website: Read our Fujifilm Finepix F30 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

DCResource have reviewed the new 10 megapixel Nikon D80 DSLR camera.

“The Nikon D80 is a fairly inexpensive digital SLR that packs spectacular performance and excellent (though somewhat soft) image quality into a well-built, solid camera. . For under $1000 you get quite a lot of camera, and it will certainly make people think twice about spending hundreds more on a D200. The D80 was a joy to use, and I’m certainly going to miss it when it goes back to Nikon. In other words, the D80 easily earns my recommendation.”

Website: DCResource - Nikon D80 Review

Website: Read our Nikon D80 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Trusted Reviews have reviewed the Kodak Easyshare Z650, which has a 6.1-megapixel sensor and 10x zoom lens.

“Fortunately the Z650 does have one major strong point, and that is image quality. The Schneider Kreuznach lens is as usual superb, producing pin-sharp focus right across the frame, with virtually zero distortion at all focal lengths. The Kodak Colour Science processing engine does the rest, turning in gorgeous colour reproduction in every shot. The image files produced at the 6MP setting are around 0.8-1.5MB each (528 shots on a 1GB card) but even so there was very little JPEG artefacting. Image noise is also very well controlled. The Z650 has an ISO range of 80-400, but even at the highest setting there was very little noise.”

Website: Trusted Reviews - Kodak Easyshare Z650 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Luminous Landscape have just reviewed the new HP B9180, an 8 colour, A3+ inkjet printer that uses Vivera pigment inks for waterproof photos which resist fading for more than 200 years.

Website: Luminous Landscape - HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Review

Website: Read our HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

In the latest installment of this regular series, we cast the spotlight on members of the PhotographyBLOG Gallery and ask them about their photography. The 10th member to sit in the interview chair is fdinaro.

“Posting in the Gallery allows the photographer to share and compare work with others and receive input. I love input, whether good or bad it helps make a better photographer.”

Website: Gallery Member Spotlight - fdinaro