Nikon Coolpix 7900 and Nikon Coolpix 5900 are announced ahead of the PMA Show 2005. With 7.1 and 5.1 effective megapixels respectively, both the 7900 and 5900 feature 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 Coolpix 7900 and Coolpix 5900 offer continuous shooting at approx. 1.7 and 2fps and a new Face-priority AF function which automatically senses the presence of a human face and sets focus accordingly.

Nikon Press Release

Two highly sophisticated, high-quality compact digital cameras with a wealth of easy-to-use features and the ability to achieve exceptional results.

TOKYO – Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the COOLPIX 7900 and COOLPIX 5900. Two superior quality compact digital cameras with the power to take highly impressive images, they also feature appealing exterior designs and boast a range of convenient functions and features that are highly advanced, yet easy to use.

COOLPIX 7900 For easier composition and anytime viewing, the COOLPIX 7900 and COOLPIX 5900 feature a large 2.0-inch amorphous silicon TFT LCD monitor. Bright and clear, this makes it easy to view images at any time. It also makes it much easier to navigate the new Graphic User Interface (GUI), which has been specially designed to allow the user to select functions on the main menu by either name or icon. There’s also a Help button too, which can be pressed to display an explanation of each function on the main menu and the cameras can be configured to display the menu in a choice of 11 languages.

Nikon Coolpix 7600 is announced today. The Coolpix 7600 is a 7.1 megapixel digital camera, with a 3x optical lens equivalent to 38-114mm lens in 35mm format. The Nikon Coolpix 7600 features new technologies like D-Lighting, which keeps bright areas bright, whilst lightening the darker areas, and Face-priority AF, which senses if a face is present in the frame and sets focus accordingly. The Coolpix 7600 features Nikon’s new Electronic VR (Vibration Reduction) function and there is also a new Help button which provides an explanation for functions on the 7600 main menu.

Nikon Press Release

A 7.1 effective megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical Zoom-Nikkor ED lens and functions that correct images in-camera!

TOKYO – Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the COOLPIX 7600. An easy-to-operate digital compact that combines 7.1 effective megapixel clarity with functions that improve images in-camera, the COOLPIX 7600 enables users to feel more confident about taking pictures.

7.1 effective megapixel performance gives the user a head start in producing pleasing results, delivering a resolution significantly higher than most other entry-level digital cameras. Furthermore, the 3x optical Zoom-Nikkor ED lens equivalent to a 38-114mm lens in 35mm format enables Macro shooting as close as 4cm (1.6 inches), while its ED glass element leads to superior sharpness and optimal color correction.

Nikon Coolpix 5600 and Nikon Coolpix 4600 are announced today ahead of the PMA Show 2005. The Coolpix 5600 and Coolpix 4600 have 5.1 and 4.0 megapixels respectively, 1.8-inch LCD monitor and a 3x optical zoom lens equivalent to 34-102mm. The 5600 and 4600 feature new technoloiges like the D-Lighting function which ensures balanced exposure throughout the frame and Blur Warning, which alerts the user when a shot is compromised by camera shake.

Nikon Press Release

Two easy-to-use compact digital cameras that make shooting more fun and convenient, and even let the user improve recorded shots in-camera!

TOKYO — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of the COOLPIX 5600 and COOLPIX 4600 — two fun new digital compact cameras that offer impressive image quality and even allow shots to be improved automatically in-camera. The COOLPIX 5600/4600 are also surprisingly simple to use, making them ideal not only for beginners of all ages, but also for those who’ve never been interested in digital photography before.

Nikon Press Release

Face-priority Auto Focus Industry Leading Technology Featured in New COOLPIX 7900, 5900 and 7600, Compact Digital Cameras

TOKYO — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce an exciting new technology that makes it easier to take high-quality, sharply focused portraits. Called Face-priority AF (Autofocus), this technology is an industry first and will be initially available on the new COOLPIX 7900, the COOLPIX 5900 and the COOLPIX 7600 compact digital cameras.

Nikon’s newest built-in technologies have set a trend that helps make better pictures with less effort a reality; they’re for making picture taking easier and more effective. While built-in automation has long assured good results, Nikon’s introduction of a new generation of industry leading built-in automatic technologies such as One-Touch Transfer button, In-Camera Red Eye Fix, Scene Assist and D-Lighting facilitate even better results and easier operation. With these newest built-in technologies, the fix is in the camera, and with the announcement of Nikon’s next leadership built-in technology, the next level of exciting picture taking will be achieved.

Nikon Press Release

Three new optional PictureProject Plug-ins expand Nikon PictureProject software capability for even greater shooting, editing and sharing options when using Nikon digital cameras

PictureProject COOLPIX Remote Control, nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Express Edition and PictureProject DVD Show.

TOKYO — Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the introduction of three optional Plug-ins for expanded functionality. Nikon’s exclusive PictureProject software is bundled with every Nikon digital camera and Nikon Capture software is purchased separately. PictureProject COOLPIX Remote Control Plug-in enables users to operate the COOLPIX 8400 and COOLPIX 8800 cameras remotely from a computer. The nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Express Edition, compatible with Nikon’s PictureProject and Capture software provides users a host of highly creative visual effects. PictureProject DVD Show allows automatic creation of advanced videos made from still images and movie clips that are combined with music and special effects, then saved on a recordable CD or DVD.

Corel Press Release

Corel to Demonstrate Award-winning Graphics Products

London, UK - 16 February 2005 - Corel, a leading technology company specialising in graphics and office productivity software, is pleased to announce that it will be exhibiting at Focus on Imaging 2005 - Europe’s biggest annual digital imaging show being held from 27th February to 2nd March 2005 at the N.E.C, Birmingham.

At the Corel stand (Q19), visitors can expect to see Corel’s three leading graphics products - Corel Paint Shop™ Pro® 9, which Corel now offers following its acquisition of Jasc in 2004; Corel Painter™ IX; and CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite 12 - as well as Corel’s other popular graphics products. Corel will be offering on-stand personal demo’s of each product, illustrating the power of the tools and the creativity they enable. Corel staff will be on hand to discuss the benefits of each product, features and pricing.

Imagenomic Press Release

NOISEWIRE, 02/15/05 - Imagenomic, LLC today announced two new software builds for its popular Noiseware Plug-in and Standalone products.  For Noiseware Professional Plug-in for Windows and Mac OS X, build 3101 increases Noiseware’s superior processing speed by an additional two times in 16-bit mode.  Noiseware Professional Standalone Edition also gains an additional 2x improvement in processing speed through build 2501.  Both Pro Editions support many shared and unique features (see Product Features List at www.imagenomic.com/see.asp), which make Noiseware the best noise removal tool in terms of picture quality, processing performance and ease of use.  These new Noiseware software builds are available for immediate download from Imagenomic’s website: (www.imagenomic.com and www.noiseware.com).

KlearVision Press Release

Photo-D Automatic Image Correction System Makes North American Debut at PMA

Asian and European Photojournalists, Minilab Chains & Consumers On-Board Since Photokina Demonstrations

Acclaimed Family of Products Simplifies Digital File Processing for Professionals, Labs, Consumers

ORLANDO, February 20, 2005 –KlearVision Digital Ltd., led by veteran executives of leading graphic arts companies and other high-tech institutions; is debuting its Photo-D family of automatic image correction products at PMA. Photo-D automatically optimizes and enhances digital image files, preparing them for printing or viewing.  Photo-D versions for consumers, professional photographers, photo labs and OEM partners are being demonstrated at KlearVision’s booth #2294 here at PMA, from February 20 through 23.

All four Photo-D products feature an even more user-friendly user interface (UI) updated from the versions shown at Photokina 2004, where demonstrations resulted in high levels of adoption among Asian and European professionals and consumers.  In addition, the home product – Photo-D Charmer – now comes in a Mac OS version as well as a Windows version. Although implemented specifically for the U.S. market, which puts a high premium on ease of use, the upgraded UI will benefit everyone who uses Photo-D.

MediaGear Inc. Press Release

Media Gear’s New Flash-HD to Go Wins American PHOTO Magazine’s 2004 Editors Choice Award

February 15, 2005 - Santa Ana, CA - MediaGear Inc., (www.mymediagear.com), a manufacturer and marketer of digital camera peripherals for transfer, storage, archiving, and processing of digital photos, announced today that its popular Flash-HD to Go has won the prestigious 2004 American PHOTO Editors Choice Award.  The portable Flash-HD to Go is a self-contained backup solution for Flash Memory Cards that reliably and quickly stores your digital images when away from a computer.

MediaGear will be exhibiting Flash-HD to Go in Booth #3986, at PMA on February 20th to 23rd in Orlando.

DIWA Press Release

02/14/2005 - DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) discloses the secret behind its success story, the world’s most comprehensive and reliable testing procedure for digital imaging products. Not one, but a minimum of four randomly selected test samples are tested, each by individual technical experts, to find the real truth about a product’s performance. Get the inside story and be amazed.

Too many “tests and reviews” on the Internet are worthless, often misleading more than guiding the reader. Lack of expertise is a major concern, but also lack of time seems to be a frequent factor. Many so-called “reviews” are merely a transcript of the manufacturer’s own brochure, supplemented by some fancy words to please the industry and the advertising department.

DIWA Awards is an international organisation of digital imaging websites, all focussing on digital cameras and imaging tools. All member websites have highly skilled technical experts with a passion for photography, making reliable, unbiased tests and reviews. These are published on their local website, in their own native language and in their own editorial style. The core of the DIWA philosophy is to merge all these valuable test results into one final conclusion, to build a neutral, balanced picture of any given product.

DIWA Press Release

02/14/2005 - DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) Awards is an international organisation of digital imaging websites, continuously publishing new product tests and reviews. Now, you can easily tune in to these reviews at the moment they appear on the DIWA Awards portal website. It’s an easy and free service to any digital imaging enthusiast.

The DIWA Awards website is a portal to some of the world’s most reliable and trustworthy tests and reviews on digital cameras. Now, a new feature is added to the DIWA Awards website, the RSS feeder. This handy feature is available via a free downloadable program, called the RSS Reader. It collects news in the background at user configurable intervals and warns with a little popup in the system tray as soon as a new story is published. You then click on the message to read the new DIWA review. It’s easy, it’s free and very useful.

The Spanish website Quesabesde have just reviewed the 4 megapixel Canon Digital Ixus 430.

Website: Quesabesde - Canon Digital Ixus 430 Review

Olympus 1 GB xD-Picture Card is announced ahead of the PMA Show 2005 which starts on Sunday. Olympus America have also introduced the MAUSB-300 mobile USB Reader/Writer. Insert an xD-Picture Card into the MAUSB-300 and you upgrade the card into a portable storage device.

Olympus America Press Release

Olympus Announces One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card And New Mobile USB Reader/Writer Exclusively For xD Media

USB Reader/Writer is an Inexpensive Way to Upgrade xD Card to a Portable Storage Device Capable of Sharing Images, Music, Video and Documents

Melville, New York, February 15, 2005 – Olympus today announced the release of a One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card™ and a new Portable USB Reader/Writer for xD media. As one of the world’s smallest storage media for digital cameras and digital voice recorders, the xD-Picture Card is now capable of holding an entire gigabyte of data, whether it’s digital images, video, music files, written documents, or presentations. When any xD card is placed inside the new stylish, compact MAUSB-300 Reader/Writer, data can go anywhere and be directly transferred quickly to and from a personal computer for added convenience.

DIWA member and Polish website Fotopolis have posted their review of the new 8 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8800.

Website: Fotopolis - Nikon Coolpix 8800 Review

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TDK photo quality printable DVDs are launched, compatible with all leading brands of disc-printable inkjet printers. TDK photo quality printable DVDs have a unique coating and an extra large printing area. TDK’s Photo Quality Printable DVDs are available now in both +/-R formats.

TDK Press Release

Picture this – TDK introduces ultra-sharp, glossy finish, photo printable DVDs for that personal touch

Yet another DVD first from TDK: today it launches the first glossy, ultra-high resolution photo printable DVDs. Using TDK’s Photo Quality Printable DVDs, users can now customise their DVD collection with true-to-life, professional-looking photography and images.

TDK’s Photo Quality Printable DVDs are ideal for gifts, business presentations, or a novel archiving system for movies, music, images and data. For example, last year’s holiday video can be easily identified with a true-to-life, glossy picture of the family on the beach or a designer can produce DVD demos of his work with a piece of customised artwork on the surface of the DVD.

AgfaPhoto Digital Film is to be launched at the PMA Show 2005. AgfaPhoto’s new rnage of memory cards, dubbed “Digital Film”, includes Secure Digital, Compact Flash, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick and SmartMedia memory card formats, ranging from 64 MB to 1 GB in capacity depending on the particular format.

AgfaPhoto Press Release

AgfaPhoto launches storage media for digital cameras

Orlando, February 14, 2005 – At PMA 2005, AgfaPhoto is demonstrating a key element in its strategy for leveraging the boom in digital photography, and introduced a diverse family of flash memory cards for digital cameras called “Digital Film”.

“Our new Digital Film offerings are the latest step in our evolution as a leader in the worldwide digital photography marketplace,” said Bing Liem, President and CEO, AgfaPhoto North America. “They build on our solid reputation and long expertise as a provider of advanced digital lab equipment by extending our product strategy to now include digital image capture solutions.”

DCResource have posted their review of the new entry-level Olympus C-370 Zoom (this camera is known as the Olympus D-535 Zoom in the USA).

“I had high hopes for the Olympus D-535 Zoom. I was hoping that Olympus wouldn’t skimp on features to keep the price down. The results are mixed. Olympus did manage to put a 3X optical zoom lens and high resolution (but small) LCD display on the camera. At the same time, they took out useful features like white balance and an optical viewfinder, making the camera more frustrating to use than fun. The D-535 is a point-and-shoot camera—perhaps too much so. The menus are stripped down with nearly no options. The biggest omission is white balance controls; indoor photos will not turn out well since the auto white balance doesn’t do a great job. Outdoors, the photo quality is decent but not spectacular. Photos are a little soft, with some muddy details. Redeye was also a bit of a problem.”

Website: DCResource - Olympus C-370 Zoom Review

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Sony Nexelion battery announced - a new hybrid lithium-ion battery offering 30% more lifespan than conventional lithium-ion batteries. Recharge time has alos been improved, with 90% of the Nexelion battery’s capacity being recharged in approximately 30 minutes. The Sony Nexelion batteries will first be used in Sony Handycam camcorders.

Sony Press Release

SONY’s NEW NEXELION HYBRID LITHIUM ION BATTERIES TO HAVE THIRTY-PERCENT MORE CAPACITY THAN CONVENTIONAL OFFERING

Industry’s First Tin-Based Anode Battery to be Initially Used with Handycam Camcorders

With the growing demand for smaller digital devices with increased functionality, the trade-off-until now-has been battery life. Sony Corporation today announced the industry’s first hybrid lithium ion rechargeable battery. Dubbed NexelionTM the new battery utilizes a tin-based amorphous anode; translating into a 30% increase in the capacity per volume ratio compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, and will be commercialized initially as a battery pack for Handycam® camcorder products.

Instead of using graphite-based materials for the anode as found in conventional batteries, Sony incorporated a tin-based amorphous anode material where the lithium ion storage capacity per volume ratio has been increased by 50%, which increases the overall battery capacity by 30%.

Konica Minolta Europe and Konica Minolta have released a firmware update for the Dynax 7D and Maxxum 7D digital SLR camera.

V110 includes the following changes:

1. Added the remote storage function which can be used in combination with the DiMAGE Transfer software.
2. Speeded up its access to a memory card. This improvement shortens the writing speed to the memory card and USB data transfer speed. *Effect varies depending on the memory card.
3. Added enlarged display function in both the histogram display and the index display in playback mode.
4. Added luminance limit display function in the histogram display in instant playback.
5. Modified the “No memory card” warning indication.
6. Modified the following problems: - External flash fires with its full power in rare cases. - Camera freezes after self-timer recording in rare cases.

CNET have just reviewed the 5 megapixel FujiFilm FinePix E510 Zoom.

“The Fujifilm FinePix E510 digital camera packs 5 megapixels and a handful of advanced features into a sturdy and efficiently designed silver body. With its many tweakable priority modes and a pop-up flash, the E510 aims for the snapshooter who wants a camera to grow with. However, below-par performance and several image quality flaws severely limit the E510’s overall effectiveness.”

Website: CNET - FujiFilm FinePix E510 Zoom Review

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