Fujifilm UK Press Release

‘24-hour camera’ scoops prestigious European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) award

Fujifilm announced today that it has been awarded a coveted EISA* Award for its critically acclaimed FinePix F10 Zoom camera.  This latest addition to the Fujifilm digital camera range has been named European Pocket Camera of the Year 2005-2006.

The FinePix F10 Zoom incorporates some of Fujifilm’s most progressive technology developments of recent months, which have won it wide acclaim amongst professional testers, the media and consumers.

Acoustica Press Release

(Acoustica Inc, Oakhurst, CA, August 1, 2005) - Acoustica Inc. has released Acoustica CD Label Maker Version 2.41. that now automatically imports your iTunes play list. Simply click the “iTunes” button and it will integrate automatically with iTunes and your playlists. Acoustica CD Label Maker automatically imports your track information from Acoustica MP3 CD Burner, WinAmp, Easy CD Creator or any other popular play list or previously burnt CD! Full of custom art for holidays and special occasions like Christmas, Valentines, birthdays, vacations, weddings and more! Print on over 400 paper or stock sticker labels and CD jewel case templates.  Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker also supports direct-to-CD printing on over 40 printers.

The HP Photosmart E317 is announced today. The HP E317 is a 5 megapixel digital camera aimed at first-time users. The E317 features a 3.8 cm LCD screen, 1x optical zoom and 16 MB of internal memory. The HP Photosmart E317 Digital Camera is available from September 1 at a street price of €129.

HP Press Release

HP Provides a Great Value Introduction to Simple, Fun, Digital Photography - New Digital Camera for first time digital photographers is easy-to-use and affordable

HP today unveiled the HP Photosmart E317 Digital Camera. Ideal for first time digital photographers, this great value camera offers a range of intuitive functions and easy-to-use features, making the transition into digital photography simple and enjoyable.

Featuring great quality 5 megapixel (MP) resolution, the HP Photosmart E317 Digital Camera delivers the type of crisp, vivid photos normally offered by a much more expensive camera. Taking photos with such impressive resolution gives users the freedom to produce high quality prints in a range of sizes from 10 x 15 cm up to A4. Additionally, the camera features five shooting modes,
including ‘action mode’, ‘portrait mode’ and ‘sunset mode’, for optimised image quality in a variety of conditions.

The HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One is announced today. The HP 2575 is an all in one printer, scanner and copier and it has a built-in Ethernet connection. A 6.4 cm colour LCD screen allows you to edit and print photos directly from a digital camera without having to connect the HP Photosmart 2575 to a computer. The HP 2575 offers a scanning resolution of up to 2400 x 4800-dpi resolution and 48-bit colour. The HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One is available from October 3 at a recommended street price of €199 / £149.99.

HP Press Release

HP Delivers Smart Photo Printing at Home - New HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One for professional-quality photo printing, scanning and copying

HP today announced the launch of the HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One Printer, Scanner and Copier. With fast output speeds and networking capabilities, users can print, copy and share high quality photos with friends and family at the touch of a button.

With built-in Ethernet connection this compact all-in-one is ideal for those who want a device that can be used by several people. A number of PCs or laptops can be easily added to the all-in-one’s network, enabling users to access the device from a number of rooms in the home.

The HP Photosmart 3210 and HP Photosmart 3310 are announced today. The HP 3210 and HP 3310 are all in one printers, scanners and copiers that use 6 individual inks. Photos can be printed by the 3310 and 3210 in just 14 seconds thanks to a newly designed wider printhead with 3,900 nozzles. Both the HP Photosmart 3210 and HP Photosmart 3310 can scan photos at up to 4800 x 4800 dpi resolution. The HP 3210 offers a 6.4 cm colour LCD screen, whilst the HP 3310 has an even bigger 9.1 cm screen. Both products offer built-in networking, whilst the 3310 also features full wireless connectivity. The HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-One is available from October 3 at a recommended street price of €299 / £229.99. The HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One is also available from October 3 at a recommended street price of €399 / £299.99.

HP Press Release

HP Launches the HP Photosmart 3210 and 3310 All-in-Ones with Ground Breaking Photo Printing Speeds - Professional photo lab quality with versatility

HP today announced the launch of the HP Photosmart 3210 and HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-Ones with remarkably increased photo printing speeds.  Featuring breakthrough ink printing technology and six individual HP 363 Ink Cartridges with HP Vivera Inks, these all-in-ones are the perfect solution for users who need to quickly print, or copy large quantities of high quality photos or documents.

Both the HP Photosmart 3210 and 3310 All-in-Ones boast a newly designed printing system, which delivers print speeds of up to 14 seconds per photo up to 32 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and up to 31 ppm in colour. These breakthrough speeds are generated by a newly designed wider printhead with 3,900 nozzles that deliver up to 140 million drops of ink per second, more than ever before.

HP Photosmart 8050 is announced. The HP Photosmart 8050 features a 1.8 inch colour display and can print a sequence of images or a single still image from a digital video clip. The HP 8050 costs €149 and will be available from September 15th.

HP Press Release

Creative Photo Printing With or Without a PC - The HP Photosmart 8050 Photo Printer delivers excellent quality photos even without using a PC

HP today announced the launch of the HP Photosmart 8050 Photo Printer, ideal for home photo printing enthusiasts. Affordable and easy to use, this versatile printer combines innovative HP technologies at breakthrough print speeds, creating outstanding quality colour and black and white photos or documents.

Fast and reliable print performances are part of the HP Photosmart 8050 Photo Printer’s appeal. It is capable of printing photos on a variety of paper sizes, including 10 x 15 cm, 13 x18 cm, or panorama 10 x 30 cm in as fast as 27 seconds.  It can also print documents at breakthrough speeds up to 30 pages per minute (ppm) in black and 24ppm in colour, ensuring fast high quality results.

The winners of the July 2005 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for July was “Portraits” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 3 winners:

1st Place
“Bathed in Light” by RichAdams
View this entry

ShutterPoint.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by ShutterPoint.
http://www.shutterpoint.com

2nd Place
“Thinking” by avan
View this entry

Prize: Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

3rd Place
“Trapper John” by Maculatus
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Powerretouche Full Pro Pack
Kindly donated by Powerretouche.
http://powerretouche.com

Congratulations to the 3 winners and thanks to everyone who took part!

The August 2005 Competition is now open for entries. This is a monthly photography competition with a specific theme and prizes for the top 3 photos. The winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges. You just have to submit one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets August’s theme, which is “Landscapes”.

Olympus UK Press Release

Further EISA success for Olympus

London, 14th August 2005 - Olympus is delighted to announce that they have been successful once again in the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) Awards. Consolidating the success of the C-8080 Wide Zoom last year, which was named “Digital Camera of the Year”, the C-7070 Wide Zoom has been crowned “European Compact Camera of the Year 2005/6” by the judging panel.

With a judging panel drawn from fifty leading audio, mobile electronics, video and photography press in twenty European countries, EISA are renowned for their independence and good judgement.

The following press release by the CEA claims that camera phones are unlikely to replace digital cameras as the device that you primarily use to take a photograph. What do you think? Do you reach for your camera phone first, or are they the work of the devil (well, relatively speaking!)?

Consumer Electronics Association Press Release

CEA Research Finds Digital Cameras Remain Primary Picture Taking Device

Survey Underscores Need for Industry Involvement in Consumer Archiving Awareness

Arlington, Virginia 8/12/2005 - Even as they increase in popularity, camera phones are not likely to replace digital cameras and camcorders as consumers’ primary picture taking device, according to a study recently released by the Consumer Electronics Association(r) (CEA), which found that some 91 percent of digital camera owners consider their digital camera to be their main photography device. CEA’s “Digital Imaging Study: Sharing and Storing Pictures and Video,” also revealed that consumers are unaware of the need to archive their digital photos and video - an issue of increasing importance as the penetration rate for digital cameras nears 50 percent with those camera owners snapping billions of pictures each year.

The Nikon D70s is an updated version of the extremely popular D70 digital SLR camera. The 6 megapixel D70s offers a number of improvements when compared to its predecessor. The autofocus system has been refined, there is a larger 2 inch LCD monitor, a remote cable port has been added, the built-in flash offers a wider angle of coverage and there is an all-new graphical user interface. Nikon are continuing to sell the older D70, so the new D70s currently sits above the cheaper and simpler D50 and the D70 in the Nikon DSLR pecking order in terms of features and price. This is the first Nikon digital SLR that I have reviewed (regular readers will know that I use a Canon DSLR), so what did I make of the new Nikon D70s? Read my review to find out.

Website: Nikon D70s Review

DCResource have just reviewed the new HP Photosmart R817, which offers 5 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens.

“With the exception of the night shots I showed above, I was very pleased with the image quality on the Photosmart R817. Images were generally well exposed, with accurate colors and reasonable noise levels. Images are very sharp—perhaps too much so—which leads to some “jaggies” along edges and some funny looking trees. If this bothers you, try turning the in-camera sharpening down a notch. Purple fringing was not a problem.”

Website: DCResource - HP Photosmart R817 Review

Website: Read my HP Photosmart R817 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the HP Photosmart R817

Write a Review of the HP Photosmart R817

DIWA member andDanish website DigitalMagasinet have just published their review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700 digital camera (also known as the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH).

Website: DigitalMagasinet - Canon Digital IXUS 700 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon Digital IXUS 700

Write a Review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700

LetsGoDigital Press Release

LetsGoDigital goes Asia with Turkish edition : AMSTERDAM, August 4th 2005 : LetsGoDigital, known as the multilingual online magazine about digital imaging, is proud to announce a Turkish edition of its website. Within one year after launching the successful French edition LetsGoDigital again expands its publicity capacity by reaching out to millions of Turkish readers spread all over the world. The Turkish speaking readers and Turkish natives will now be able to get the latest digital imaging on at www.letsgodigital.com.tr. According to Dennis Hissink, LetsGoDigital’s editor: “We are opening the gateway to Asia by welcoming Turkey and will reach an important market of a large group of Turkish consumers.”

The Italian website Fotocamere Digitali have just reviewed the new Casio EX-Z750 Exilim Zoom, which has a 7.2 megapixel CCD sensor, large 2.5-inch LCD screen and offers a battery life of 325 shots.

Website: Fotocamere Digitali - Casio EX-Z750 Exilim Zoom Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Casio EX-Z750 Exilim Zoom

Write a Review of the Casio EX-Z750 Exilim Zoom

In the second of two lens reviews, Thom Hogan casts his critical eye over the new Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm lens which ships as a kit with the D50 DSLR. Can you really get a decent lens for £199.99 / €299.00 / $180?

“Sharpness is good but not great throughout the range, with f/8 being the point of maximum sharpness on my sample pretty much across the entire focal length range. Even at f/3.5 (or 5.6 at the tele end) in the corners this lens remains a fair performer—slightly better than you’d expect for the price. I’d be more comfortable about using this lens wide open if it weren’t for the visible vignetting, but if you’re a Capture user and shoot NEF, you can safely ignore that comment, as Capture’s Vignette control handles this lens well. Otherwise be forewarned that you’ll need to get to about f/8 to lose the vignetting effects.”

Website: Thom Hogan - Nikon 18-55mm Lens Review

Thom Hogan takes a look at the new Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm lens, designed specifically for digital SLR cameras like the D50, and doesn’t really like what he sees.

“Handling is not a strong point of this lens. Indeed, it’s a very weak point. The zoom ring is stiff, but good. The barrel extends about an inch-and-a-half at maximum, with the minimum point being at 55mm. The barrel doesn’t rotate during zoom or focus. The focus ring is terrible, being only a slight ring near the front of the lens. Worse still, even though this is an AF-S lens, you cannot manually override focus without flipping either the camera or the lens to the manual focus position. Coupled with only five autofocus sensors on a D50 or D70s, not being to override focus makes this not really much of a wildlife or sports friendly lens.”

Website: Thom Hogan - Nikon 55-200mm Lens Review

The PhotographyBLOG August 2005 Competition is now open for entries. This is a monthly photography competition with a specific theme and prizes. This month we have 5 great prizes to give away to the best entries:

- 1 x 24x24” or 24x18” Canvas Print of a Photo of Your Choice
Kindly donated by Photo Artistry - http://www.photoartistry.co.uk

- 1 x 36x24” Artist Canvas Print of a Photo of Your Choice
Kindly donated by Pixel Outpost - http://www.pixeloutpost.com

- Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com - http://www.photobird.com

- 1 copy of Powerretouche Full Pro Pack
Kindly donated by Powerretouche - http://powerretouche.com

- ShutterPoint.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by ShutterPoint - http://www.shutterpoint.com

The 5 winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges. You just have to upload one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets August’s theme, which is “Landscapes”.

Canon have published the latest issue of their monthly CPS (Canon Professional Services) Newsletter, which has some interesting articles about Arko Datta, winner of this year’s World Press Photo Contest, a comprehensive overview of getting the best end result by optimizing image quality, and a look at how Yves Ullens de Schooten paints with light using the camera like a brush.

Website: Canon CPS Issue#13

DPReview have reviewed the Canon Digital IXUS 50, a 5 megapixel digital camera with stainless steel finish that is Canon’s smallest ever 5.0 Megapixel optical zoom camera (also known as the SD400).

“Of course there are limits to what you can expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the images produced by the SD400, even with the fringing and occasional soft corner. At the end of the day, where it matters to the target market; exposure, color, focus, speed and noise, the SD400 exceeds expectations. If you can live without manual control over exposure (or any indication of shutter speeds or apertures) this is the perfect pocket camera and an ideal alternative for the days you don’t want to take a bigger camera out with you.”

Website: DPReview - Canon Digital IXUS 50 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon Digital IXUS 50

Write a Review of the Canon Digital IXUS 50

DIWA member and Slovenian website e-fotografija have just reviewed the new HP Photosmart R817, which offers 5 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens.

Website: e-fotografija - HP Photosmart R817 Review

Website: Read my HP Photosmart R817 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the HP Photosmart R817

Write a Review of the HP Photosmart R817