Nikondigital.org have published their review of the new 12 megapixel Nikon D2X digital SLR (found via digicamera.net).

“What I found was that I’d really purchased 2 cameras in 1. When used in its normal full-resolution mode the D2X is suitable for the most demanding architectural and landscape applications. Used either in the full resolution or high-speed crop mode it makes a great wildlife and sports camera. The ability to quickly shift to 8 frames per second and a tighter 6.8 mega-pixel crop with the twist of a dial is like having a 1-click Teleconverter always with you. Sure, I know it is really just pixel magic and I could crop the same way in Photoshop, but this way I get the faster frame rate and don’t have to waste time with a large image workflow when I don’t need it. I’d prefer the feature was a little easier to get to, as the “function” button in the lower front of the camera is a little hard to reach while you turn the command dial, but it’s still a piece of cake compared to adding a teleconverter.”

Website: Nikondigital.org - Nikon D2X Review

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Praktica Luxmedia 6103 is announced. The Praktica 6103 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom and 1.6” TFT color monitor. The Luxmedia 6103 has 9.7 MB of built-in memory and supports the SD Card format. The Praktica Luxmedia 6103 offers 19 different scene modes and 4 ISO settings from 50-400.

Praktica Luxmedia 5008 is announced. The Praktica 5008 is a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 8x optical zoom lens and 1.6” TFT color monitor. The Luxmedia 5008 has 16 MB of built-in memory and supports the SD Card format. The Praktica Luxmedia 5008 offers a continuous shooting mode of 3 shots/sec and 4 ISO settings from 50-400.

CNET have today published their review of the 4 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-L1.

“Casual photographers will like the compact design, above-average performance, and long battery life of Sony’s Cyber Shot DSC-L1, along with the extrawide view offered by its 32mm-to-96mm (35mm-camera equivalent) 3X Carl Zeiss zoom lens. However, mediocre image quality, a tiny 1.5-inch LCD viewfinder that’s difficult to use, and a lack of even basic manual-exposure controls (other than exposure compensation) put this pocketable camera securely in the nonenthusiast snapshooting camp.”

Website: CNET - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-L1 Review

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Olympus RAW file import plug-in for Photoshop is released. The The Olympus RAW file plug-in supports the new RAW data file format of the Olympus E-300 digital SLR. The Olympus RAW file plug-in is available completely free of charge.

Olympus Europe Press Release

Olympus digital camera owners can now benefit from improved image quality and more user-friendliness during RAW file development processing. The new Olympus RAW file import plug-in for Photoshop which is now available provides several adjustment options to enhance pictures and is dialogue-based for intuitive operation. It is available for downloading, free of charge.

When it’s the quality of an image that counts, digital photographers often rely on the RAW format for capturing shots faithfully and later use image processing software for fine-tuning the photos. Olympus has now released a new RAW file import plug-in for Photoshop. It enhances image quality as it is optimised for use with the Olympus camera RAW algorithm.

Following the lead of virtually every other camera manufacturer (except Canon), Konica Minolta has lowered its full-year to March 2005 earnings and revenue forecasts, according to a news report on Yahoo. Recent digital camera price falls in what has become a competitive market are partly to blame, along with a failure to introduce new products in its information equipment business. “Although we introduced high-end SLR digital camera products in the third quarter (to December), which raised the average price of digital cameras by 20 pct from a year earlier, the average price for the whole year (to March) is estimated to fall by 4 pct,’ said Kiyofumi Tanida, head of accounting.”

Website: Yahoo News

Bibble Labs have just released Bibble 4.2, professional image-manipulation software for RAW images. There are 2 versions available, Bibble Pro ($129) and Bibble Lite($69), which support Windows, OS X, and Linux. There’s also a trial version of Bibble available if you want to “try before you buy”.

Bibble 4.2 Ships with new features including:

  * New Camera Support for:
      o Nikon D2X, 8800, 8700, 8400
      o Canon Rebel XT 350D, G6, S70, S60, Pro1
      o Olympus E300 Evolt, 8080
      o Minolta Maxxum 7D
      o Pentax *ist DS

Sanyo Press Release

SANYO Develops and will Start Mass Production of the Industry’s Smallest “Pin Type Lithium ion Batteries”!

This new thin design will contribute to even smaller mobile devices

Tokyo, March 16, 2005—-SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO), the world’s leader of small-sized rechargeable batteries, announced the development and the start of mass production of “pin type Lithium ion batteries”, a thinly shaped rechargeable battery.

Following the recent advancement of mobile devices, the demands for batteries which enable design flexibility and further compactness of mobile devices, while maintaining the excellent features of
Lithium ion batteries such as “high energy density”, “high safety” and “high voltage”, have increased year after year. To meet these market needs, SANYO has developed the industry’s smallest*1 “pin type Lithium ion batteries (UR655)” and will start mass production.

BreezeBrowser Pro v1.1 is released today. The new version of BreezeBrowser Pro now supports the Canon EOS REBEL XT / Canon EOS 350D. Other new features in BreezeBrowser Pro v1.1 include image ranking and image shortcuts. BreezeBrowser Pro currently costs US $59.95.

Breeze Systems Press Release

New! BreezeBrowser Pro v1.1 adds Canon EOS REBEL XT/350D Raw Conversion

18th March, 2005 : Breeze Systems announced the immediate availability of BreezeBrowser Pro v1.1. This release introduces raw conversion for the Canon EOS Digital REBEL XT/350D camera. BreezeBrowser Pro users can now also rank images and create and view image shortcuts. ‘Shortcuts’ allow showcase directories and web galleries to be created using links to images held in a variety of other directories.

Thousands of photographers already use BreezeBrowser Pro’s unique combined raw conversion, outstandingly fast image browsing and image comparison. A free 15 day trial version can be downloaded from www.breezesys.com

Dice America Press Release

DICE America - Rochester, NY– March 17, 2005.  Dice America announced that their Wi-Pics units have begun shipping. Wi-Pics is a patent-pending network appliance that allows any digital camera that has a Type II CompactFlash card slot, to transmit images via wireless networks, without modifying the camera’s firmware, impacting camera performance or affecting battery life. Wi-Pics transmit image files from the camera to editing stations, servers, or FTP sites via network access points. It can be configured with an optional 20GB hard drive for image storage/back up and a bar code scanner allowing associated data to be transmitted along with the images. In addition to a multi-mode 802.11a/b/g radio, Wi-Pics units have a 10/100 Mb/s Ethernet interface for studio use.

Pentax 645 Digital - further details on the 18 megapixel Pentax 645 Digital medium format camera have emerged from Pentax UK. This camera will launch in 2006, the name Pentax 645 Digital is still to be officially confirmed and 3 prototype versions of the Pentax 645 Digital are currently on show at the Photo Imaging Expo in Tokyo.

Pentax UK Press Release

News flash: Pentax 645 digital showcased at photo imaging expo 2005

Pentax is showcasing its latest concept digital camera at this year’s Photo Imaging Expo in Tokyo. The camera is expected to have 18 effective megapixels and incorporate a Kodak-developed extra large CCD image sensor.

The 645 Digital will offer full compatibility with existing smc PENTAX lenses. Three proto-types are being displayed, each with different design themes in order to maximise customer and client feedback, before a decision is made on the final design.

Pentax anticipates launching this camera in 2006.

Further specifications and photography will be made available at a later date.

Please note: the product name ‘Pentax 645 Digital’ is tentative and Pentax cannot confirm at this stage availability, final specifications, style or price.

HP UK Press Release

HP Calls on the British Public to Donate a Smile and Break a New World Record  

NCH, the children’s charity, to receive 25p for each smile donated

LONDON, UK, March 17, 2005 - In a bid to set a new Guinness World Record and to raise money for charity, HP today calls on the British public to donate a picture either of themselves or of a smiling family member, friend or colleague to help create “Britain’s Biggest Smile”.  For every smile donated at www.hp.com/uk/smile, HP will donate 25p to NCH, the children’s charity that helps vulnerable and excluded children to realise their potential. To break the Guinness World Record 35,000 smiles are needed from all over the UK. Every smile donated will be displayed in a London Gallery in August 2005, creating the world’s largest photographic exhibition and creating Britain’s Biggest Smile.

Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon UK is pleased to announce the arrival of the Nikon D2Hs. The 4.1 megapixel, professional digital SLR will be on sale from March 25th 2005. The camera will be priced at £2,499.99 / €3733.00.

Capable of shooting at 8 fps for a continuous burst of up to 50 images at 4.1 effective megapixels, the D2Hs inherits the best of its predecessors while also benefiting from new technologies and feedback from advances made in developing the recently announced D2X digital SLR for professionals. This impressive array of exclusive features delivers the speed, response, resolution and handling to establish the D2Hs as the professional’s choice in photojournalism and sports photography.

The Fujifilm FinePix S5500 Zoom is the successor to the 3 megapixel Fujifilm FinePix S5000 Zoom that I reviewed back in June 2004. The Fujifilm S5500 looks very much like a traditional SLR camera in terms of styling and has a massive 10x optical zoom which is equivalent to 37-370mm on a 35mm camera. The Fujifilm S5500 has a number of improvements when compared to its predecessor, including a 4 megapixel sensor, histogram playback, custom white balance control, 100% frame coverage and higher quality video mode. Have Fujifilm added enough improvements to the S5500 Zoom so that it can still remain competitive today? Find out in my review.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix S5500 Review

Designer Print is a UK-based photofinishing service that allows you to turn your favourite images into a work of art by having them printed onto canvas, block mounted, or made into a poster print. Using the latest digital printing technology Designer Print offers a large format printing service, creating canvas prints that will look stunning in your home or office. Or so they claim! I ordered a Stretched Canvas product from the Designer Print website. Find out what I thought of Designer Print’s service and the final product in this brief review.

Website: Designer Print Review

Intro 2020 Ltd Press Release

Intro 2020 Ltd is the official UK importer and distributor of the Lensbaby.

“The beauty of these lenses is in their calculated imperfection,” said Lensbabies founder and professional photographer Craig Strong.  Strong invented the Lensbaby in an effort to create a digital equivalent to his Holga camera.

The Original Lensbaby combines several vintage camera technologies into a novel, patent-pending combination.  The shooter focuses a Lensbaby using the same general principle used with a bellows camera – by moving the focusing collar in and out with the fingertips.  The photographer moves the ‘sweet spot’ of focus around the picture plane by bending the glass optic out of a parallel position to the image capture plane, like a tilt-shift lens.  Finally, reminiscent of Waterhouse stops, the photographer swaps apertures by removing one aperture ring and replacing it with another.

Website: Read my Lensbaby Review

Nikon UK Press Release

D70 Cashback promotion extended until the end of April 2005

Due to the immense success of the £100 cashback offer on the D70, Nikon have extended the promotion until 30th April 2005.

The Promotion
Nikon are offering customers the opportunity to claim £100 back on the price they paid in-store for the D70 digital SLR with 18-70mm DX lens.

Cashback offers are as follows:

- Get £100 cashback on the purchase of a D70 plus 18-70mm DX lens
- Get £50 cashback on the purchase of a D70 plus 28-80mm G lens
- Get £50 cashback when you purchase a D70 body

Customer claims must be received at Nikon UK by 31st May 2005

Imaging Resource have posted their first impressions of the 7.2 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 digital camera.

“In the case of the Sony P200, we found that it had plenty of resolution to make sharp-looking 13x19 prints, even with a little cropping. At the largest sizes, the loss of subtle detail caused by its anti-noise processing was visible in Marti’s hair and features, but we suspect that most consumers would find the resulting prints acceptable nonetheless. Subjects with strongly contrasting detail (things like tree branches against the sky) showed no loss of resolution, producing very sharp images even at 13x19. Looking at the high-ISO shots, images from the P200 captured at ISO 400 looked a little rough when printed at 8x10, but we felt that they were acceptable when examined at normal viewing distances. (10-12 inches or so) The ISO 400 image noise was essentially invisible in prints 5x7 and smaller. Color-wise, the P200’s images looked absolutely beautiful when printed on the i9900, lush and vibrant, yet very natural-looking.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 Review

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DIWA member and Slovenian website e-fotografija have just posted their review of the 7 megapixel Casio EXILIM Pro EX-P700.

Website: e-fotografija - Casio EXILIM Pro EX-P700 Review

Website: Read my Review of the Casio Exilim Pro EX-P700

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CameraTown have reviewed the Canon PIXMA MP760 Multifunction Photo Centre, a new multifunctional printer which includes a Film Adapter Unit for 35mm film scanning, plus a a 2.5 inch colour LCD screen.

“If it’s not apparent, the Canon PIMXA MP760 has quickly become a favorite of mine. I would love to see an 13"x19” version since I often make large prints, but I realize that many of you don’t have this need. If you are considering upgrading your current printer, you should give the PIXMA MP760 strong consideration. Yes, at $299 (MSRP), it costs more than today’s bargain printers, but the speed and quality at which it prints, the convenience that it offers, the individual ink cartridges, and the features that you’ll find yourself using more often than you think are worth the extra money.”

Website: CameraTown - Canon PIXMA MP760 Review