CNET have published their review of the 5 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1 digital camera.

“At the unveiling of the eye-catching Sony Cyber Shot DSC-M1 in the fall of 2004, it promised hybrid still and video performance to accompany its futuristic, quirky design. We found that the M1 delivers on most counts, delivering decent 5-megapixel images, a solid snapshot feature set with some novel additions, and a video mode that’s impressive as long as you can afford the high-capacity Memory Stick Duo Pro media. Indeed, the Sony M1 has two major pluses that separate it from the hybrid pack: superior performance for a point-and-shoot camera and MPEG-4 movie quality that tops any we’ve seen from a competitor. On the minus side, Sony burdens the device with subpar software.”

Website: CNET - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1

Write a Review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1

Gateway Press Release

Mini MP3 Player Sports a Stylish New Look, Color Scheme

IRVINE, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—The Gateway(TM) MP3 Photo Jukebox, which combines digital music playback, convenient photo storage and a color display in one 3.4 ounce device, will now be offered with 50 percent more storage capacity, longer battery life and a striking new color scheme. It will be available directly from Gateway and at leading electronics retailers for just $249.99.

“Gateway’s digital music player was already a standout for its versatility,” said Dan Stevenson, vice president, product marketing.  “The new version of the Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox provides even more storage and enhanced features in the same light design.  Our new player combines one of the most straightforward user interfaces with seamless PC music synchronization and compatibility with a broad range of music services.  It is simply the perfect traveling companion for music lovers.”

The newest model, the GCM-6, provides 6GB(1) of storage for housing up to 1,500 MP3 songs(2), putting a vast library of music favorites always within reach.  Sleek enough to fit within a pocket or purse, the Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox is about the size of a deck of cards and weighs just 3.4 ounces.  Its stylish new look includes an attractive two-tone silver and black design.

SendPhotos Press Release

New Version 4.0 Delivers New Ways to Easily Share Digital Photos

BOULDER, Colo., May 3 /PRNewswire/—SendPhotos, Inc., formerly Novatix Corporation, today announced the release of a new version of its award-winning photo utility, SendPhotos(TM) Gold.  The new version 4.0 now delivers a comprehensive solution for sharing digital photos, allowing consumers to create exciting photo emails, publish personalized professional-looking online photo albums, order prints of their photos or easily print at home.

SendPhotos Gold is currently recognized for its inventive approach to emailing photos.  It automatically inserts pictures into the body of custom-designed emails and thus eliminates the need for large attachments, and makes delivery up to 25 times faster.  The newest version builds upon this innovative email functionality and recognizes the many other ways that consumers enjoy sharing photos.

PhotoBox Limited Press Release

PhotoBox Limited, today announced it has signed a deal with Littlewoods brand, LX Direct, that will offer new services to users of the Littlewoods site www.lxdirect.com.

With the PhotoBox digital photography service integrated into www.lxdirect.com, Littlewoods is building the services available to their community online and encouraging loyalty in a highly competitive market. This partnership will provide their customers with the chance to share memories with loved ones instantly. Their favourite photographs can be seen online by family and friends through private photo albums, they can even share them with the rest of the world if they choose to make the album public.

Printing is also easy with the PhotoBox service, customers simply select their favourite photographs online, order them and they’re delivered the next day. LX Direct online customers can choose from a huge variety of shapes and sizes, from traditional 6x4 to 20x8 panoramic posters. For special occasions and celebrations there’s a range of beautiful personalised gifts like mugs, calendars and canvas prints, to name but a few.

Photobird.com have posted their review of the 4 megapixel Canon PowerShot A85.

“The Canon PowerShot A85 takes excellent photos, as you can see in the unretouched photos on the left of the southeastern coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Most people should be very pleased with the quality of the photos. The Canon PowerShot A85 will work well for all but the most professional photos needed. This camera will definitely work well for casual photo takers, for vacations, family events, and other situations that don’t require professional results.”

Website: Photobird.com - Canon PowerShot A85 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon PowerShot A85

Write a Review of the Canon PowerShot A85

PENTAX Imaging Company and Six Flags, Inc. Press Release

GOLDEN, Colo., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ PENTAX Imaging Company and Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: PKS) announced today that the world’s largest regional theme park company has selected one of the world’s most popular photography manufacturers as a national sponsor and “The Official Digital Camera Of Six Flags Theme Parks” for its 28 U.S. parks, beginning with the 2005 theme-park season.

Under the agreement, PENTAX Imaging Company will expand its presence at the parks and have category exclusivity and promotional rights in-park.

“This partnership blends the fun of a classic American theme park with a popular photography brand,” said Ned Bunnell, director of marketing, for PENTAX Imaging Company. “Six Flags is an American institution that offers a perfect background for visitors to capture and share memorable PENTAX digital photography.”

Sony 5GB Micro Vault Pro is announced. The Sony 5GB Micro Vault Pro is a USB storage device witha built-in 1-inch hard drive offering 5Gb of space. Auto Sync file synchronisation software is supplied for easy downloads, and the Micro Vault Pro has a a unique swivel connector. The Sony 5GB Micro Vault Pro has an estimated retail price of €219 incl. VAT.

Sony Europe Press Release

Paris, 4 May 2005 - Sony Europe’s Recording Media & Energy (RME) division has today announced the 5GB MICRO VAULT PRO. As the highest capacity model in the range of personal USB storage devices, the new enhanced product helps protect and store precious data making it portable and easily accessible when travelling.

The new Sony MICRO VAULT PRO has a in-built 1-inch hard disk drive offering a hefty 5GB storage capacity, equivalent to approximately 9000 two mega-pixel photos or more than two hours of DVD quality video1. The ultra-portable MICRO VAULT PRO, the size of a business card, incorporates a unique swivel connector that plugs straight into a computer’s USB port, enabling users to drag and drop files that are to be stored on the device quickly and easily.

KODAK EASYSHARE Z760 is introduced. There’s no official word from Kodak yet, but they seem to have added the Kodak Easyshare Z760 digital camera to their website today. The Kodak Z760 has a 6.1 megapixel sensor and a 3x optical lens that is equvalent to 39-117 mm on a 35mm camera, plus a 4x digital zoom. The Kodak Z760 features the exclusive KODAK Color Science Image Processing Chip. The Z760 offers a range of manual and custom controls and has a 2.2” high-resolution LCD display. Other features on the Kodak Easyshare Z760 include 16 scene and 5 color modes and one-touch sharing with the Z760’s Share button. The Kodak Z760 has a suggested retail price of $329.95 and will be available in May.

Kodak Press Release

KODAK EASYSHARE C360 Zoom Digital Camera and Printer Dock Series 3

The EASYSHARE C360 camera with Printer Dock Series 3 combination (US$379 MSRP) offers a full-featured, affordable digital camera system with a touch of style. The elegant, pocket-sized camera design allows people to take the camera everywhere, then capture, print and share both everyday and once-in-a-lifetime moments. The large, two-inch LCD display enables instant picture review and sharing right on the camera. Convenient, intuitive back-of-camera controls provide access to most functions with just a slight thumb movement.

Kodak Press Release

KODAK EASYSHARE C330 Zoom Digital Camera and Printer Dock Series 3

The EASYSHARE C330 camera and Printer Dock system (US$279 MSRP) is an all-around system for a variety of picture taking and sharing experiences. Ideal for people on the go, the C330 rear-panel controls provide easy access to the camera’s features, including on-camera cropping and red-eye reduction. The camera also boasts 4.0-megapixel resolution and a KODAK RETINAR 3X optical zoom lens for beautiful prints.

The KODAK EASYSHARE C330 and Printer Dock Series 3 combination will be available beginning in July. The camera is also available separately for US$179 MSRP and £129.99 (RRP).

Kodak Press Release

KODAK EASYSHARE C310 Digital Camera and Printer Dock Series 3

The EASYSHARE C310 camera with Printer Dock Series 3 (US$239 MSRP) delivers a simple, fixed-focus camera (4 MP resolution) for people interested in exploring digital photography, while at the same time providing high quality pictures at the touch of a button.

The KODAK EASYSHARE C310 digital camera combination will be available beginning in August. The camera will be available separately for US$139 MSRP and £99.99 (RRP).

Kodak Press Release

New from Kodak — Easily Shoot and Print Pictures with All-in-One Digital Photography Packages from Kodak; A Complete System in a Single Box

New KODAK EASYSHARE C-Series Digital Cameras, EASYSHARE Printer Docks, and EASYSHARE Software Combinations Make it Simple to “Get the Picture”

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 4—Eastman Kodak Company is making it simple and quick to shoot , print and share real KODAK pictures, thanks to innovative new packages that combine award-winning EASYSHARE digital cameras, printer docks, and software . With an entire snap-to-print solution in just one box, Kodak is making it effortless to buy a complete personal photography system, and to begin sharing pictures within minutes of returning home from the store — with or without a computer.

Included in these packages are new KODAK EASYSHARE C-Series point-and-shoot digital cameras — C360, C330, and C310 models announced today, as well as previously announced C340 and C300 models — plus the KODAK EASYSHARE Printer Dock Series 3 and KODAK EASYSHARE Software. Simply by placing the camera on the printer dock and pressing one button, people can make a real KODAK picture in as little as 90 seconds. Packages range from US$239 to US$379.

Kodak Press Release

ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 4—Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) announced that it has received the approval of the European Union to complete its proposed acquisition of Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO, TSX: CRE).

Kodak announced on January 31 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Creo, a premier supplier of prepress systems used by commercial printers worldwide. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Creo is the world’s No. 1 provider of workflow software used by printers to manage efficiently the movement of text, graphics and images from the computer screen to the printing press.The shareholders of Creo approved the transaction on March 29.

The EU’s action follows approvals received from regulatory authorities in Canada and Israel. Kodak continues to work with the authorities of the United States and South Africa to secure regulatory approval, and the company remains confident that it will complete the acquisition later this summer.

Luminous Landscape editor Michael Reichmann reviews the Graphiclite PDV-3D print viewing station, a professional device for accurately evaluating your prints.

“The graphic arts and printing industry have recognized the need for uniform, consistent and technically accurate print viewing stations for years. But commercial and fine art photographers are discovering their benefits, and new less expensive models suitable for home and small studio use are now available. What these devices offer are D50 (5000K – the industry standard) light sources in an enclosure suitable for viewing prints and judging their colour balance. They use fluorescent tubes with a very accurate colour temperature, and the better units (that ones that you should consider) also have dimmers, so that the light level of the device can be matched to that of the monitor, making soft-proofing much more accurate.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Print Viewing Stations: Evaluating Your Prints Properly With a PDV-3D

The German website Photoworld.de have just published their review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700 digital camera (also known as the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH).

Website: Photoworld.de - Canon Digital IXUS 700 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon Digital IXUS 700

Write a Review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700

DIWA member Steves Digicams have just reviewed the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 digital camera, which has 4 megapixels and a 12x image stabilized Leica lens.

“The overall image quality when using 4-megapixel Fine mode was good. Its Auto white balance setting worked well in a variety of conditions, with fine-tunable presets available for typical lighting conditions (sunny, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent, etc.) and a custom manual setting. Outdoors the exposure system produced well-saturated and properly exposed images, although the FZ4 had a tendency to underexpose our beach samples. Both outdoor and indoors images showed colors that were very true to the original scene. At ISO 64 noise is absent, at ISO 100 and 200 it is detectable in shadow areas, and at ISO 400 noise is noticeable in shadows and detectable in highlight areas.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4

Write a Review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4

PCMagazine have posted their review of the Epson RD-1 digital rangefinder camera.

“We were disappointed with the daylight still-life test image, which was underexposed and had an orange cast. The image did have strong saturation and good contrast, but experimenting at different f-stops produced some negative results. For example, when we opened the camera up to f/1.7, the image displayed some dreadful halos around parts of the still life. We also tested the camera at different ISO equivalencies and found images to be quite noisy at ISO 1600. Additionally, we wish the camera had lower ISO settings of 100 or 50..”

Website: PCMagazine - Epson RD-1 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Epson RD-1

Write a Review of the Epson RD-1

DIWA member Steves Digicams have just reviewed the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 digital camera, which has 5 megapixels and a 12x image stabilized Leica lens.

“Panasonic’s mid-range “Super Zoom” model for 2005, the Lumix DMC-FZ5 features a 5.0-megapixel imager combined with a powerful Leica 12x optical zoom lens. This point-n-shoot camera offers an exposure mode for users of all experience levels. Its Simple mode automates all exposure controls, allowing beginners to obtain good results without any fuss; its useful set of Scene modes also help beginners cope with unusual subjects and conditions. Program mode exposes the novice user to the FZ5’s ample controls, including white balance, ISO, metering, and focus mode. Enthusiasts will enjoy both Aperture and Shutter speed priority modes, as well as a full Manual mode which allows you to have complete control over the exposure settings.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5

Write a Review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5

PCMagazine have just published their review of the 6 megapixel Pentax *ist DS DSLR.

“Overall, the camera handles well and is fun to use. Boot time is a peppy 1.7 seconds, and although normal recycle time averaged a ho-hum 4.4 seconds, the camera’s burst mode is capable of capturing eight frames in under 3 seconds. The *ist DS scored an average of 1,400 lines on our resolution test, which is about average for a 6MP consumer camera but subpar for a 6MP D-SLR.”

Website: PCMagazine - Pentax *ist DS Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Pentax *ist DS

Write a Review of the Pentax *ist DS

Hungarian website Index Digicam have posted their review of the 7.2 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 digital camera.

Website: Index Digicam - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200

Write a Review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200