ACD Systems Press Release

ACD Systems Launches FotoSlate™ 4 Photo Print Studio

New Photo Wizards and Scrapbook-Style Templates Provide Unlimited Creative Possibilities for Preserving and Sharing Memories

VICTORIA, British Columbia – June 1, 2005 – ACD Systems International Inc. (TSX: ASA), makers of ACDSee™ photo management software and Canvas™ technical illustration software, announced today the launch of FotoSlate 4 Photo Print Studio, the newest version of its award-winning photo printing software for photo and scrapbooking enthusiasts. Using ACD’s industry-leading digital imaging experience, FotoSlate 4 Photo Print Studio provides users with a digital craft room to construct page layouts, sort photos, apply quick edits and special effects, and print high-quality photos.

Progressive Color Media and Prepress Training Solution Press Release

Online Color Management Training Now Available

Initial Courses: “Color Management Theory” and “ICC Profiling”

Ann Arbor, MI & Bloomington, IN – June 6, 2005 – Progressive Color Media LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flint Ink Corporation, providing a full range of workflow color management solutions integrating hardware, software and services; and Prepress Training Solution, the premier online training provider for the graphic arts marketplace; announce the immediate availability of two online color management training courses:  Color Management Theory and ICC Profiling, available at www.prepresstraining.com/prepresslist.html.

Sigma UK Press Release

Flash Bounce Reflector for EF 500 series flashguns.

· Soft and natural lighting with a surface light source.
· A three dimensional effect is created, making this an ideal accessory for portrait photography.
· Easy to attach and detach with Velcro Tape.

The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the new Flash Bounce Reflector designed for use with the EF 500 series flashguns.

DPNow have a great report from the European press launch of the Samsung Pro815. You may have heard of the Pro815 - it’s an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 15x optical zoom lens and a 3.5” LCD screen.

“One thing Samsung hasn’t implemented in the Pro815 is image stabilisation, though they have revealed that they are working on such technology for new models next year. However, the Pro815 has an automatic compensation feature to help with long telephoto shots that temporarily boosts ISO in order to raise the shutter speed and so reduce motion blur. Whether or not this works adequately, considering the inevitable degradation in image quality caused by an ISO boost, remains to be seen.”

Website: DPNow - Samsung Pro815 Report

Good news - Mike Johnston’s “Sunday Morning Photographer” has reverted to a weekly rather than monthly format.

“If you’ve studied philosophy or read Nietzsche, you probably had to learn the terms “Dionysian” and “Apollonian.” Those might be very useful terms, if more people could remember what the heck they meant. They describe a classic dichotomy. That’s from the Greek dikhotomos, a splitting in two. Or, as the old joke puts it, “There are two kinds of people in the world. People who always divide everything up into two kinds, and people who don’t.” Ba-dum.

Well, for some time now I’ve been trying to put together a book of amateur color photography culled from web exhibits, so I’ve looked at internet picture sites until I’m bleary-eyed. It occurred to me a while back that I really do see a “split” of sorts operating in the photographic Universe. A real live dichotomy.”

Website: The Sunday Morning Photographer: “Tough” and “Sweet”

Photo-i have reviewed SilverFast Ai, high-end scanning and imaging software from LaserSoft Imaging AG, in conjunction with the CanoScan 9950F desktop flatbed scanner.

“The Canon 9950F promised to be the ultimate in consumer flatbed scanners, a Canon spokesperson even told us that it was so good that they were discontinuing their film scanner. I was eager to put this scanner to the test and despite a few difficulties during the review the scanner didn’t deliver its full potential. This was mainly due to the limitations of ScanGear software. Now Lasersoft have released a full Ai version of SliverFast, this breathes new life into the Canon 9950F and finally we can see just how much detail can be extracted from film scans.”

Website: Photo-i - SilverFast Ai Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the new Nikon Coolpix 7900, a 7 megapixel digital camera featuring a 2.0-inch LCD screen, new graphical user interface and a 3x Zoom-Nikkor ED lens equivalent to 38-114mm lens in 35mm format.

“Shooting performance was good for a camera in this class. Power up to first image captured measured 2.6 seconds. Shutter lag measured less than 1/10 of a second when pre-focused and 4/10 second including autofocus; add about 1/10 second to those times if you are using the LCD as a viewfinder because of the delay in presenting the live image. The shot to shot delay averaged about 1.7 seconds between frames without the use of the flash and between 2 and 6 seconds with the flash, depending on subject distance. When battery is not fully charged, the LCD goes blank while the flash recharges.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

Website: Read my Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon Coolpix 7900

Write a Review of the Nikon Coolpix 7900

Steves Digicams have posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5900 digital camera.

“Despite the 5900’s small size, the ergonomics are good. The well-shaped handgrip allows for a comfortable feel even in my large hands, and the controls are well organized for ease of use but located so that they won’t be accidentally activated. Nikon placed only a limited number of buttons on the 5900’s body. As a result, many functions that are accessed directly via dedicated buttons on other cameras are implemented in the 5900’s menu system. This compromise in the 5900’s design allowed the production of a very compact camera, but its operation seems cumbersome at times.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Nikon Coolpix 5900 Review

Website: Read my Nikon Coolpix 5900 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon Coolpix 5900

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Photoxels have reviewed the new Nikon Coolpix 7900, a 7 megapixel digital camera featuring a 2.0-inch LCD screen, new graphical user interface and a 3x Zoom-Nikkor ED lens equivalent to 38-114mm lens in 35mm format.

“The Nikon 7900’s Auto Mode is more like Programmed Auto, allowing you to set ISO and dial in exposure compensation. It also allows the more advanced amateur photographer to set manual White Balance (WB), move the AF area to one of 99 positions, select image sharpening, image saturation, and even bracket the WB. For those desiring P&S simplicity, the Nikon 7900 has lots of useful Scene Modes to automate the most common picture-taking situations.”

Website: Photoxels - Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

Website: Read my Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon Coolpix 7900

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The Hungarian website Index Digicam have posted their review of the new 8 megapixel Olympus E-300 / Evolt DSLR.

Website: Index Digicam - Olympus E-300 / Evolt Review

Website: Read my Olympus E-300 / Evolt Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus E-300 / Evolt

Write a Review of the Olympus E-300 / Evolt

ImagingResource have published their review of the 8 megapixel Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT DSLR.

“The Canon Digital Rebel XT builds on the huge success of the original Digital Rebel, a camera that literally turned the digital camera world on its ear when it was first introduced. A six-megapixel digital SLR that sold with a lens for less than $1,000, the Digital Rebel not only challenged Nikon, Olympus, and Fuji in the D-SLR business, but promised to cut drastically into the all-in-one “prosumer” market. Borrowing its name from their highly popular “Rebel” line of entry-level film SLRs, the Digital Rebel offered many of the same exposure features and improvements as the 10D, but slightly scaled back to keep costs under control and to provide some differentiation between the Rebel and its higher-priced sibling.”

Website: ImagingResource - Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT

Write a Review of the Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT

DIWA member and Danish website DigitalMagasinet.dk have reviewed the HP Photosmart R717, a 6.2 megapixel digicam with a 1.8 inch LCD screen and 3x optical zoom lens in a stylish stainless steel body.

Website: DigitalMagasinet.dk - HP Photosmart R717 Review

Website: Read my HP Photosmart R717 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the HP Photosmart R717

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DCResource have published their review of the new Sony DSC-H1 digital camera. The DSC-H1 has a 12x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 36-432 millimeters), 5 megapixel CCD and 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“Overall the photo quality on the DSC-H1 is very good, kept from excellence by above average purple fringing levels. While most ultra zooms suffer from this annoyance (see the flag pole in this picture for an example), the DSC-H1 has it worse than the competition. In most cases using a smaller aperture (higher F-number) reduces this, but I didn’t find this to be the case on the H1. Even at F8.0 the purple fringing was still very visible, and not much better than with the aperture wide open. Purple fringing won’t really affect your print quality unless you’re printing huge, and you probably won’t even notice it unless you’re viewing at 100% on your computer screen.”

DCResource - Sony DSC-H1 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Sony DSC-H1

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DIWA member and Turkish website Diginorm have published their review of the 5 megapixel, 10x zoom Kodak EasyShare Z740 digital camera.

Website: Diginorm - Kodak EasyShare Z740 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Kodak EasyShare Z740

Write a Review of the Kodak EasyShare Z740

Tom’s Hardware Guide have published a great roundup of compact photo printers, including the HP Photosmart 375 (pictured).

“Just as 8½ x 11 / A4 printers use two technologies, laser and inkjet, two printing technologies are in competition in the 4"x6” printer market. Here though, they are inkjet and thermal (or dye) sublimation. But where the laser and inkjet markets are relatively compartmentalized in terms of objectives - laser for speed, inkjet for quality - the same isn’t true for 4"x6” printers. Whether you choose thermal sublimation or inkjet, the goal is the same: getting the best possible quality and photos that will hold up as long as possible over time.”

Website: Tom’s Hardware Guide - 4"x6” Printers: Your Own Photo Lab

Website: Read my HP Photosmart 375 Review

Website: Read my Epson PictureMate Review

DigitalCameraReview have published their review of the 7 megapixel Canon PowerShot S70.

“The S70 represents an overall excellent camera that makes a few compromises.  It’s strength lie in the overall flexibility of the camera and its ability to compete even with bargain dSLR cameras while remaining fairly compact.  The S70’s main weakness is the low light and nighttime performance especially for medium distance group photos or portrait shots and may require use of external flash or lighting units (although you can compensate a bit with a tripod and optimizing the settings in manual mode).”

Website: DigitalCameraReview - Canon PowerShot S70 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon PowerShot S70

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DIWA member LetsGoDigital have reviewed the 7 megapixel Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom, which was announced at the CES show back in January.

“Olympus has brought an attractive camera on the market with this Olympus Camedia C7070 Wide Zoom that also has an appealing price tag on it. This makes the Olympus Camedia C7070 perfectly suitable as your first camera but also as a second camera besides a digital SLR for example. A fine image quality, a real wide-angle and a few very interesting functions let you forget the few minors that the camera has, and it makes you enjoy this Olympus camera to the fullest.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom

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FlashFixers Press Release

The Orange County Register Selects ImageRecall To Safeguard Its Digital News Photos From Accidental Deletion and Corruption

The publication’s award-winning photographers take ImageRecall digital photo recovery software on the job everyday on wireless laptops to recover lost photos in the field.

Exeter, NH-June 6, 2005 - FlashFixers announces that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Orange County Register has selected ImageRecall as the image recovery software of record for its newsgathering organization.  After the transition to digital cameras, the Register’s technical staff noticed a number of digital images taken in the field were lost because of accidental deletions, corrupted memory
cards and errors caused by fast-writing professional cameras. Several staff photographers were given ImageRecall on a trial basis, and the situation immediately improved.

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

1st Place
“Speed Racer” by etfon911
View this entry

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

2nd Place
“Lost in Subway” by pip
View this entry

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

3rd Place
“In the road” by Zenonas
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Digital Photography Expert Techniques by Ken Milburn
Kindly donated by O’Reilly.
http://www.oreilly.com

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

The June 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 June’s theme, which is “Macro”.

Samsung Pro815 is unveiled. The Samsung Pro815 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 15x Schneider-KREUZNACH optical zoom lens equivalent to 28-420mm on a 35mm camera and a massive 3.5” TFT LCD screen and an electronic viewfinder. The Pro815 comes with the world’s largest-capacity 1900mAh, 7.4V lithium-ion battery which enables shooting of up to 500 frames on a full charge. In addition the Samsung Pro815 has a 1.44 inch LCD on the top of the camera to enable waist-level shooting. High speed mode ensures steady shooting even in tele-zoom, as the Pro815 automatically increases the sensitivity up to a maximum of ISO 800. Three rings surrounding the lens control manual zoom, manual focusing and EV compensation, providing you with direct control of manual operations on the Pro815. Price and availability of the Samsung Pro815 to be announced.

Samsung Press Release

Samsung Camera releases the best-in-class 8 mega-pixel digital camera - Pro815

Samsung Camera has announced that the company will release the world’s longest (15X) optical zoom 8 megapixel high-end digital camera (model name: Pro815), targeting enthusiast photographers, later this year. The Pro815, offers unrivalled features and performance and is beyond comparison to other cameras in the same class. This marks the pinnacle of Samsung Camera’s product range for 2005.