Casio EXILIM EX-Z57 is to be released in a new black colour-scheme. Dubbed “Black Metal”, this new version of the Casio EXILIM EX-Z57 is no different to the silver EX-Z57 in terms of specification. The EXILIM Zoom EX-Z57 “Black Metal” will be available from April 2005.

Casio Europe Press Release

The new EXILIM EX-Z57 “Black Metal” with 2.7-inch TFT colour display

Norderstedt, March 2005 - The new EXILIM Zoom EX-Z57 “Black Metal” in its black aluminium body feels good in the hand. The 2.7-inch TFT colour display, which can be comfortably set to two brightness levels, is an immediate eye-catcher. 5.0 megapixels and 3x optical zoom make the small digital camera a power package for any photo situation.

Thanks to its SUPER LIFE battery, the EX-Z57 “Black Metal” is extremely powerful. The black-compact takes up to 400 pictures1 after only one charging of the SUPER LIFE battery. It also impresses with user-friendly elements like the Auto Macro function, an integrated 4-function flash with red eye-reduction and the Flash Assist function. Various pre-recorded scenes are available with CASIO’s typical BESTSHOT function for all different kinds of picture situations, such as portrait or retro. Additionally, the lifestyle photographer can expand already existing motif programs with his very own BESTSHOT scenes. Hobby directors discover their talent for films with the Movie function and can record movies with sound without time limit2. The internal 9.3 MB flash memory can be increased to any size with commercially available SD/MMC cards.

Epson Press Release

Epson to Guarantee Longevity of Fine Art Prints; UltraGiclee Print Certification Program To Give Printmakers, Confidence Selling Work

LONG BEACH, Calif.—(Business Wire)—March 4, 2005—Fine art printmakers and their customers will soon have a guarantee on the longevity of certain Epson fine art prints through Epson’s new UltraGiclee(TM) print certification program. This certification will enable printmakers to sell their work and enable customers to buy these prints with confidence that the prints will last.

UltraGiclee certified fine art prints, which can only be created on selected Epson professional printers using select professional media and EPSON UltraChrome(TM) ink, will be warranted to resist noticeable fading for 80 years from the original date of purchase when the print is printed, framed, handled and displayed according to warranty conditions. If a warranted print fades, Epson will provide the ink and paper needed to make a replacement print. Current certified printers include the EPSON Stylus Pro 4000, 7600 and 9600 printers, and certified media include UltraSmooth(TM) Fine Art Paper, Textured Fine Art Paper and PremierArt(TM) Water Resistant Canvas for Epson.

StudioLine Photo 2.7 is released today. StudioLine Photo 2.7 allows you to manage and edit digital image collections quickly and efficiently. StudioLine Photo has an RRP of $49.00 / $49.00.

H&M Systems Software, Inc. Press Release

StudioLine Photo 2.7 Adds Double Digit Increases to Image Archiving Speed, Making it One of the Fastest Image Management Tools Available; Users Can Freely Design Album Layouts

High-Speed Archiving and Unlimited Designs From Album Pages to Flyers Attract Photographers and Designers At All Levels

Upper Saddle River, NJ; March 7, 2005—H&M Systems Software, Inc. today introduced Release 2.7 of its flagship StudioLine Photo 2 digital imaging software. This latest release enables users to archive and browse the image database up to 25 percent faster. Photographers and designers of all skill levels can also freely design custom pages for photo albums and create other print pieces. StudioLine Photo 2 is an economical, yet versatile tool designed to meet the demands of professional and novice photographers, stock houses, graphic designers, and others needing an all-in-one solution for editing, storing, and managing digital images.

Today 7 names were randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers. If you are one of the winners, you will already have received an email from me ([email protected]). In order to protect the winners’ email addresses, I’m not going to publish them here.

- Two people each won 1000 A5 colour postcards (worth £175 each), printed with an image of their choice from ColourCards
- Two people each won 1000 A6 colour postcards (worth £95 each), printed with an image of their choice from ColourCards
- Three people each won a copy of “Adobe Photoshop CS One-on-One” by Deke McCelland (worth £26.95 each) from O’Reilly

If you haven’t won anything, then don’t worry, as a brand new contest for March has just started!

To have any chance of winning, you must subscribe to the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter.

Olympus Press Release

OLYMPUS ANNOUNCES REBATES FOR EVOLT E-300 DIGITAL SLR, LENSES, AND ACCESSORIES

Now Until March 31, 2005 Purchase EVOLT E-300 SLR and Two Lens for Under $1000 with Rebate

Melville, New York, March 4, 2005 – Olympus Imaging America Inc. announces a $100 rebate on its EVOLT E-300 Digital SLR system both with and without its consumer Zuiko Digital Specific™ lenses. Now, when consumers purchase one of the following items from an authorized OLYMPUS SLR dealer or log on to www.OlympusAmerica.com/rebate they can receive a mail-in rebate coupon for $100 cash back from Olympus:

·      The EVOLT E-300 body on its own
·      The EVOLT E-300 Kit (that includes the 14-45mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Specific lens) or
·      The EVOLT E-300 Two Lens Kit (includes both the 14-45mm f3.5/5.6 and 40-150mm f3.5/4.5 Zuiko Digital Specific Lenses)

The offer applies to all EVOLT bodies and EVOLT Kits purchased from February 7 until March 31, 2005 in the US and Canada (rebates must be postmarked by April 30, 2005).

The winners of the February 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for February was “The Countryside” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 3 winners:

1st Place
“Making Tracks” by dapa_group
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
“Civilization” by Zenonas
View this entry

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

3rd Place
“Lincolnshire Winter” by pstubbs50
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 March 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 March’s theme, which is “Water”.

The PMA Show 2005 was held last week in Orlando, Florida. PhotographyBLOG was there for an entire week to cover the show, attend various press events and go on the rides at the Universal Studios “Islands of Adventure” theme park (I can’t work all the time you know…). All in all the Show was a quiet, understated affair compared to previous years, with the general concensus being this was a year of consolidation in the industry, rather than innovation. There were still a lot of new products introduced, however, so here is my personal roundup of the hits, misses and maybes.

Canon UK Press Release

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is pleased to announce that digital camera owners can now print their photos for as little as 22p* per print with the SELPHY CP Compact Photo Printer range. In an announcement that coincides with the launch of its new flagship, the Compact Photo Printer SELPHY CP600, Canon is offering its KP-108IP Colour Ink/Paper Set – which includes 108 popular 4 x 6”+ size photo prints – for the highly competitive recommended retail price of just £23.99.

Fujifilm UK Press Release

Fujifilm has today announced a firmware update and software update for the FinePix S3 Pro digital SLR.

The firmware update can be downloaded at: http://home.fujifilm.com/products/digital/download/s3pro/fupd.html

This update incorporates the following:

1) Updates the Auto Rotate function
2) Enables lens interchange while camera power is left on (applies to some
AF-S Nikon and AF-VR Nikon lenses)
3) Updates the compatibility for high capacity storage media

FujiFilm UK Press Release

‘Clip and clean’ with Fujifilm’s multi-purpose cleaning kit

Don’t let smears and smudges soil your vision!

Fujifilm’s extensive range of digital accessories is soon to expand with the arrival of a multi-purpose cleaning kit product, the ‘Fujifilm Lens Cleaning Kit’. This handy gadget attaches easily to belts or bag handles - perfect for those who want to be smudge-free whilst out and about.

Ideal for removing smears or dirt from camera lenses, mobile phones, spectacles, binoculars, computer screens and laptops, the cleaning kit is easy to use and light to carry. The practical travel kit includes a high quality, soft cleaning cloth and anti-reflective lens cleaning fluid - perfect for those photographing muddy outdoor sports, or when working in difficult outdoor conditions. An essential item for the maintenance of precision optical equipment like digital cameras - or anything made of glass.

The Fujifilm Lens Cleaning Kit is available now from photographic retailers at an SRP of £7.99 including VAT.

HP UK Press Release

Display Your Art with the First 9-ink Professional Photo Printer, the HP Photosmart 8750 including HP Vivera Inks

Advanced photo printing up to A3+ and built-in network capability for professional photographers

BIRMINGHAM, UK, February 28, 2005 - HP today announced the launch of its new HP Photosmart 8750 Professional Photo Printer, a high performance device developed for professional photographers. With nine HP Vivera Inks, photographers can produce studio quality prints in colour and in black and white, on paper up to A3+ size with a printable area of 330 x 483mm. This printer provides all the convenience of developing photos at home and also offers photographers a brilliant combination of image quality, built-in networking, fade resistance and speed.

The 9-ink HP Photosmart 8750 Professional Photo Printer uses specially formulated inks in three inkjet print cartridges at the heart of its system: the new large body HP 102 Grey Photo Inkjet Print Cartridge, HP 101 Blue Inkjet Print Cartridge and the existing HP 344 Tri-Colour Inkjet Print Cartridge1. Using these cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, light magenta, blue, light grey, medium grey and photo black inks together, produces studio quality printing in colour and in black and white.

HP UK Press Release

New brand reinforces image quality, fade resistance and cost benefits

BIRMINGHAM, UK, February 28, 2005 - HP today announced the launch of its new ink branding, HP Vivera Inks, in the UK following the successful launch in the US last year.  Vivera, a coined name combining the elements of “viva” and “era”, means one of life, true-to-life colour and longevity.  The new brand is aimed at further driving recognition of the superior image quality and fade resistance of prints created using HP inks in conjunction with HP printers and media. 

The HP Vivera Inks brand will be incorporated onto the packaging of select HP inkjet print cartridges and HP ink cartridges. There are also several HP products - such as HP Premium Plus Photo Paper and select HP printers - that are optimised for use with HP Vivera Inks. These products will carry a new HP wordmark on their packaging to reflect their suitability for use with HP Vivera Inks. Over the coming months, consumers will also see the new brand at points-of-sale, in retail channels, advertisements, public relations and marketing collateral as well as on the hp.com website.

Extensis Press Release

World-renowned photographer uses Portfolio to archive and manage more than 45,000 images.

Tuesday 1st March 2005 – Extensis Inc. today announced that world-renowned photographer, Mary Ellen Mark, uses Portfolio as her digital asset management solution for managing her photo library of more than 45,000 images. Mary Ellen Mark is best known from her portrayals of Mother Teresa, Indian circuses, and brothels in Bombay to her award winning essay on runaway children in Seattle. Mark utilizes Extensis’ complete Portfolio solution including Portfolio Server with SQL Connect for Microsoft SQL Server, which manages her entire studio’s cross-platform needs for managing, accessing and organizing photographs.

Sybex have announced a photography contest which has a main prize of $1,000 and publication of your winning photo in a Sybex book.

Sybex Press Release

WIN $1,000 FROM SYBEX!

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the SYBEX DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST. Send us your best digital photos (max. 3) between now and 4/1/05 for a chance to win up to $1,000 and publication of your image in a Sybex book. The judge will be Tim Grey, author of Color Confidence and Photo Finish. Tim will also comment from time to time on selected photos throughout the contest period, so check back regularly for feedback on your entries. Visit us at www.sybex.com for details!

Sanyo Press Release

Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Phone MM-5600 by SANYO Captures High Honor by Digital Imaging Marketing Association

CHATSWORTH, CA. – The Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Phone MM-5600 by SANYO was selected out of the hundreds of digital products on display at the Photo Marketing Association 2005 Convention and Trade show in Orlando, Fla, to receive the prestigious DIMA (Digital Imaging Marketing Association) Innovative Digital Product Award. The award is presented by DIMA based on a comprehensive evaluation by a blue-ribbon panel of digital imaging editors and writers.

An Innovative Digital Product of PMA 2005 was defined by the judges as a product utilizing new technologies and/or applications in such a way as to make it either unique or the first of its kind. The MM-5600 by SANYO was introduced in the United States as SANYO’s first 1.3-megapixel camera phone with flash, digital zoom and macro setting for capturing close-ups, and a video camcorder for catching special moments. The device comes packaged with a 16MB removable miniSD memory card and adapter, and USB cable for printing photos directly from the phone to any PictBridge-enabled printer.

Hama Mobile DataSafe III is announced before CeBIT 2005. The Mobile DataSafe III allows you to copy the contents of your memory cards onto blank CDs or DVDs. The Mobile DataSafe III will be available in March - price to be announced.

Hama Press Release

Just recently available on card – now already on DVD

Hama will present a king among the portable burners at this year’s CeBIT: the Mobile DataSafe III. Equipped with a DVD burner, the big brother of DataSafe II is even more flexible. It burns the data of the most common memory card types on DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW and CD-R/-RW, even without a computer thanks to the powerful battery.

It is also a mobile DVD, MP3 and media player for JPEG, MPEG 1 and 2 formats and is a USB 2.0 multi-card reader as well. Once connected to your computer via USB, DataSafe III is immediately recognized as an external DVD burner and card reader.

inCamera 4 is announced by PictoColor. inCamera 4 is a plugin for Adobe Photoshop that creates ICC profiles for digital cameras and scanners. PictoColor inCamera is available for $149.95.

PictoColor Press Release

PictoColor Releases inCamera® 4.0 Digital Camera and Scanner ICC Profiling Software

New version of acclaimed Photoshop Plug-in features support for the new GretagMacbeth ColorChecker SG chart for digital camera profiling and HutchColor HCT target for scanner profiling

March 1, 2005-Burnsville, MN-PictoColor Corporation, a leading developer and distributor of color management products, has released inCamera® 4.0, a new version of the acclaimed digital camera and scanner ICC profiling plug-in for Adobe Photoshop.  Based on an enhanced version of the widely acclaimed inCamera color management technology licensed from Pictographics International Corporation, inCamera 4.0 features support for the new GretagMacbeth ColorChecker SG and the HutchColor HCT target for scanners.  This proven digital camera and scanner profiling software features an easy to use interface and a User Guide that explains how to successfully create and use ICC input profiles in Photoshop. inCamera is available for $149.95 at PictoMarketplace, PictoColor’s new online store featuring color management products for digital photographers.  PictoMarketplace is located at www.pictomarketplace.com.

Konica Minolta Press Release

Mahwah, NJ (March 1, 2005) – Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A., Inc. announces that the Maxxum 7D and DiMAGE A200 digital cameras won 2005 DIMA Digital Camera Shoot-Out awards as announced during the PMA 2005 Convention and Trade Show in Orlando, Florida. The Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D won the Prosumer/Professional Digital SLR category and the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 (pictured) won the Prosumer/Professional $600 to $999 category.

Ten digital cameras were named winners in their category out of 35 digital camera entries from 13 manufacturers. The 9th annual Digital Camera Shoot-Out took place on Saturday, February 19, 2005 at the DIMA Annual Conference in Orlando, FL, which proceeded the annual PMA 2005 Convention.

Read my Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200

Write a Review of the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200

Genuine Fractals 4 is announced. Genuine Fractals 4.0 is a plugin for Adobe Photoshop which allows you to create high-quality, print-ready enlargements of various sizes and resolutions from a digital image. Genuine Fractals 4.0 suggested retail price is $159.

LizardTech, Inc. Press Release

Seattle, WA — February 25, 2005— LizardTech, Inc., a leader in software solutions that make it significantly easier to manage, distribute and access digital content such as aerial photography, satellite imagery and scanned color documents, today announced the launch of Genuine Fractals 4.0.

Canon had the biggest stand and the biggest new range of products at PMA 2005 last week in Orlando, Florida. As promised here are some product shots from Canon’s stand.

Click on each picture to see a larger version.