The New York Times has reported that the photographer Gordon Parks has died at the age of 93.

“Perhaps his best-known photograph, which he titled “American Gothic,” was taken during his brief time with the agency; it shows a black cleaning woman named Ella Watson standing stiffly in front of an American flag, a mop in one hand and a broom in the other. Mr. Parks wanted the picture to speak to the existence of racial bigotry and inequality in the nation’s capital. He was in an angry mood when he asked the woman to pose, having earlier been refused service at a clothing store, a movie theater and a restaurant.”

Website: New York Times - Gordon Parks, a Master of the Camera, Dies at 93

Update: Due to an overwhelming response, with 18,000 replies so far, the OpenRAW Survey will now close on March 15th, 2006.

OpenRAW Press Release

RAW Survey launched: An International Study of the Experiences, Requirements, Preferences, and Concerns of Photographers regarding RAW Imaging Technology

On January 31, 2006, the OpenRAW initiative launched an international survey on its Web site ( http://openraw.org/survey/ ) to collect information about the experiences, requirements, preferences, and concerns of digital photographers and other interested parties regarding RAW imaging technology, a concept that many writers are comparing to a “digital negative”.

Tokina have quietly unveiled their 2006 roadmap for lenses, including the very interesting Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom. Here’s a list of all the new Tokina lenses for 2006:

- 10-17mm f3.5-4.5
- 16-50mm f2.8
- 17-135mm f3.5-5.6
- 50-135mm f.28

These are all in the AT-X Pro DX and AT-X DX for digital SLRs with APS-C sized sensors. Sounds like one of the more intriguing lens lineups!

Website: Tokina Lens Roadmap

Popular Photography have just reviewed the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

“Images from the D200 rival those from the D2x in resolution, color accuracy, and overall image quality. The D200 averages 2,075 lines of resolution (see test results). That’s the same as the D2x—and 300 lines higher than the Canon EOS 20D or new 30D (see our review of the 30D on page 62). It also delivers excellent color accuracy, on par with the D2x and nearly as good as the EOS 20D. But the real surprise is that the D200 captures images with slightly higher resolution and color accuracy than Canon’s full-frame 12.8MP EOS 5D ($3,000, body only).”

Website: Popular Photography - Nikon D200 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

PCMagazine have just reviewed the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

“Control has always been an essential part of photography. Once you understand which dials to turn and what buttons to press, you can determine whether you freeze the action of your subjects or create a blur of movement. As with most digital SLRs, the Nikon D200 comes loaded with controls, both automatic and manual. It also performs beautifully and takes truly amazing pictures. But the camera’s innovative ability to control lighting, particularly in studio situations, is what really impressed me enough to select it as our new Editors’ Choice.”

Website: PCMagazine - Nikon D200 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

DIWA member Steves Digicams have reviewed the new entry-level Pentax *ist DL digital SLR camera. The Pentax *ist DL is a 6.1 megapixel DSLR which features a 2.5 LCD screen and light 16 ounce body.

“As with its *ist D-series predecessors, the first thing that strikes you about the *ist DL is its diminutive (for an SLR) size. It weighs-in at just under 2 pounds including batteries, SD memory card, strap and DA 18-55mm lens, among the lightest dSLR’s currently available. The value of its light weight became clear to me during the recent PMA show; I walked the aisles all day with *ist DL without any soreness in my neck, arm or hand. Its small size does not diminish its ergonomic qualities, however; the *ist DL is comfortable to hold and its controls are both logically organized and easy to operate.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax *ist DL Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Here are the sample photos from my upcoming review of the 5 megapixel Canon Digital IXUS 55, a few days before the full review is online. The Canon IXUS 55 is a very compact, stylish digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens, DIGIC II image processor and a 2.5 inch LCD screen.

Website: Canon Digital IXUS 55 Photos

There are some fantastic prizes on offer in our February 2006 Giveaway, courtesy of DxO Labs!

- One person will win DxO Optics Pro Elite (value: $US 299 / € 249 / £ 199)
For professional and high-end Digital-SLRs.

- One person will win DxO Optics Pro Standard (value: $US 149 / € 124 / £ 99)
For expert amateur Digital-SLRs

- One person will win DxO Optics Pro Starter (value: $US 79 / € 64 / £ 49)
For advanced digital cameras (sometimes also called EVF, superzoom or zLRs)

All prizes kindly donated by DxO Labs
http://www.dxo.com

On Monday 13th March 2006, 3 names will be randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers.

All you have to do to enter is subscribe to the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter before March 13th.

Samsung Press Release

Hanover, Germany - 9 March 2006 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is enhancing its Camcorder product range by bringing a new multifunction digital camera series to CeBIT. The VP-MS1x, the first product in this category, is a business card sized digital camera that provides users with portability and huge storage capacity. “Our customers wanted a lightweight, compact, easy to use digital stills and video camera that could be carried anywhere, yet that had a large storage capacity,” said says Moon Soo Bang, Vice President of the Digital AV Division of Samsung. “Our team designed a slim, elegant product that not only takes the highest quality still pictures currently available on a Camcorder, but also built into it innovative functions such as flash memory, which allows users to still take great pictures even if the memory card runs out of capacity.”

Samsung Press Release

Hanover, Germany - 9 March 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. brings its new digital photo frame for easy digital picture viewing to CeBIT 2006. The device shows pictures taken with phones or digital cameras on its built in LCD screen, removing the need for printing or storing of hard copy photos in bulky photo albums. Most notable is an embedded feature that allows easy transmission and sharing of digital photos with friends and family. “The digital photo frame with networking capability is a state-of-the-art digital device that helps users cherish their precious photo-memories without loss of clarity or fading. It also allows users to share pictures with friends and family in other locations,” said Yoon Ho Ha, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Division of Samsung. “Samsung plans to introduce more new concept digital devices throughout 2006.”

Fujifilm UK Press Release

Fujifilm Professional has announced that the final shipment of Fujichrome Velvia 50 has now been received. This means that once the stock held in the company’s warehouse has been sold there will be no more of the film available. Fujifilm has been forced into ceasing production of Velvia 50 due to vital raw materials used in the production of the emulsion becoming unavailable.

Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon has teamed up with the London Wetland Centre to offer an exciting weekend of activities for budding photographers. On Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May the centre in Barnes will be hosting a Wildlife Photography Weekend. Visitors to the centre will be given the opportunity to see and try the latest Nikon equipment and receive advice from Nikon experts. Wildlife photographer Chris Packham will be at the centre for the whole weekend, leading a programme of wildlife walks and lectures. There will also be the chance to attend sessions led by a Nikon trainer on composition of photographs. For those wanting to learn about digiscoping, the art of taking photographs with a telescope and digital camera, there will be a number of small workshops which will provide an introduction.

NikonNet Press Release

NikonNet and ‘Legends Behind the Lens’ Honor Tony Sweet This March

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 8 /PRNewswire/—Talk to Tony Sweet about photography and before long, the conversation will turn to the subject of jazz.  A jazz drummer for 20 years, Tony’s music experience informs everything he does as a photographer. This March, NikonNet will pay tribute to Tony Sweet and his work in its inspiring monthly showcase, “Legends Behind the Lens.” Tony’s experience in photography is extensive and ranges from shooting for stock, calendars, greeting cards, posters and catalogue sales to authoring fine-art photography books such as Fine Art Nature Photography and Fine Art Flower Photography.  Tony is well recognized as an educator and conducts numerous outdoor and nature photography workshops. He’s also a contributor to Shutterbug magazine.

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk Announces 4-Gigabyte Capacity—Highest Available—For Its Memory Stick Pro Duo Standard Flash Card Line - Larger capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo card will save more images and video clips on new cameras with high-resolution digital still and video features

HANNOVER, GERMANY, MARCH 9, 2006 – SanDisk® Corporation today introduced a new 4-gigabyte (GB)* capacity, the highest available in the market right now, for its standard Memory Stick PRO Duo™ cards.  The announcement was made at the CeBIT Show in Hannover, Germany, where SanDisk is demonstrating its products in Hall 1, Stand C31 of the exhibition center. The move to a larger capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo card is in response to the release of new high-megapixel cameras as well as hybrid models that combine digital still images and video.  For example, one new camera that takes both high-resolution still images and high-quality MPEG4 video clips, at 30 frames per second, can provide a user with up to three hours of video capacity with a 4GB SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo card.

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk Launches SanDisk Ultra II Mobile Line of Premium Flash Memory Cards - Cards are positioned for feature phones with card slots that can store music, videos and high-resolution digital still images

HANNOVER, GERMANY, MARCH 9, 2006 – SanDisk® Corporation today introduced the SanDisk Ultra® II Mobile line of flash memory cards for multimedia-enabled mobile phones.  The SanDisk Ultra II Mobile memory cards have faster read and write speeds than standard flash memory cards, as well as longer warranty periods.  Faster read/write speeds improve performance of the card for file transfer and play on personal computers.  Also, they may reduce the energy consumption on the batteries of certain phones and are expected to accommodate performance requirements of future mobile phone models.  The announcement was made at the CeBIT Show in Hannover, Germany, where SanDisk is debuting its products at the Mobile Communications Pavilion, in Hall 26, Stand D79, and at the main SanDisk exhibit in Hall 1, Stand C31.

Focus on Imaging Press Release

Wtih yet another record attendance and more exhibitors than ever before, Focus on Imaging has once again underlined its status as Europe’s most important annual photographic and imaging industry event. The final audited attendance figure for the 2006 show, the 17th, was 28,778, compared with 28,381 in 2005. “This is a superb result at a time when the industry is going through a very difficult time,” said show organiser Mary Walker. “It demonstrates just how important Focus is for everyone in the industry as it gives them a unique, all embracing showcase for their products and services.”

Memory Corp Press Release

Memory Corp’s new professional grade memory cards amongst fastest in the industry - Data transfer rates of up to 22.5 MB/sec

Memory Corp – the European designer and manufacturer of digital storage and memory solutions – will introduce its new range of professional grade memory cards at CeBIT 2006 (Hanover, 9th – 15th March). The Pro X CompactFlash and Secure Digital cards are targeted at customers who require the optimum speed, performance and reliability in portable digital storage devices, such as professional digital photographers. Professional photographers need high-capacity, fast and reliable memory cards to capture and secure high-resolution images in every kind of environment. Whilst the PRO X CompactFlash card has a write speed of 20MB per second (133x), Memory Corp’s new Secure Digital and multimedia cards have write speeds of 22.5MB per second (150x). Such speeds are being closely watched by Memory Corp’s competition whose products generally only attain minimum write speeds of 20MB per second.

iView Multimedia and Memory Corp Press Release

Memory Corp encourages digital photographers to manage their creativity with iView Media - iView Media bundled with new PRO X memory card range

LONDON, Mar. 9, 2006 – Digital asset management (DAM) pioneer iView Multimedia and Memory Corp, the European designer and manufacturer of digital storage and memory products, have partnered to promote the importance of cataloguing, archiving and digital asset management through an exclusive product bundle. Memory Corp’s new PRO X range of memory cards, launched at CeBIT 2006 (Hanover 9 th – 15 th March), will include a fully licensed version of iView Media from the award winning DAM software developer iView Multimedia. The purchase of a PRO X memory card will also include an exclusive discount on upgrading to iView Multimedia’s professional DAM tool, iView MediaPro.

Logitech Press Release

New Logitech io2 Digital Pen Features Improved Handwriting Recognition, Advanced Shortcuts Using ioTags; Pen Turns Handwritten Notes Into Microsoft Word Documents in Seconds

HANNOVER, Germany—March 8, 2006—Today at CeBIT, Logitech (SWX:LOGN) (NASDAQ:LOGI) unveiled the new version of the Logitech io2 Digital Pen. The new digital pen—which converts handwriting into digital text in seconds—has improved handwriting recognition and offers a new written shortcut that efficiently transforms notes into a Microsoft(R) Word(R) document. The new io2 pen also is available at a lower retail price. The Logitech io2 Digital Pen’s improved handwriting recognition software learns the user’s personal lexicon and individual handwriting style for a more accurate conversion of notes into digital text.

Ilford Photo Press Release

Introducing a new, major event on the photography student calendar, ILFORD Photo confirms its support for extending the beauty and artistry of black-and-white photography. Reviving ILFORD Photo’s long-standing support of students of photography, the company has launched what will be an annual Student of the Year competition. More than simply judging Student work (a print judgement), this event offers students the opportunity to not only set up the basis of their equipment with a leading camera system, but also to benefit from working alongside leading professional photographers.