ShootSmarter.com has updated for November with some great new articles:

- CONQUER FLASH WITH THE TWEEDIE TECHNIQUE
- USING HARD LIGHT FOR DIGITAL
- COMPUTER MONITORS: OUR RECOMMENDED LIST
- DIGITAL “MAT CUT” COMPOSITES

Website: ShootSmarter.com

PCMagazine have jst reviewed the new Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 942, which was first announced a couple of weeks ago.

“The Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 942 is for people who want both a photo printer and an all in one. On the photo printer side, you get the ability to print directly from memory cards (CompactFlash Type I and II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, SmartMedia, xD-Picture Card) and PictBridge cameras. It also has a 2.5-inch color LCD that lets you preview your pictures before printing. On the all-in-one side, you get a printer, copier, and scanner.”

Website: Steves PCMagazine - Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 942 Review

Steves Digicams have posted a first look at the new 6 megapixel Pentax *ist DS DSLR.

“PENTAX has downsized digital SLR photography again with the *ist DS digital SLR. Even smaller than last year’s *ist D SLR, the *ist DS is one of the smallest and lightest digital SLR cameras available. Measuring just 4.9 x 3.6 x 2.6 inches and weighing under 18 ounces, it has a durable stainless-steel chassis, multi-layered electronic circuit boards and delivers superior image quality in a very compact design. Despite its size, the *ist DS offers 6.1 million effective pixels of resolution and PENTAX original image processing technology. The camera is compatible with most existing PENTAX interchangeable lenses to meet a wide range of applications and visual creativity.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax *ist DS Preview

Check the Latest Prices for the Pentax *ist DS

Steves Digicams have just reviewed the Pentax Optio SV, a compact digicam with 5 Megapixels and 5x zoom lens.

“The ergonomics are good, controls are easy to operate and the Function button makes quickly changing settings a snap. The menu system is easy to navigate and thanks to its 1.8-inch LCD the text is larger and more legible. Its LCD worked great outdoors in bright sunlight and when shooting indoors it “gains up” well, although the image does get a little grainy. We were surprised to find a plastic tripod socket on a camera in this price range. This causes some concern about stripping the threads after continuous use with a tripod or monopod.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax Optio SV Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Pentax Optio SV

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Pentax OptioMX4, which is a cross between a digital camera and a camcorder.

“The styling is the first thing that will attract your, and everyone else’s attention. The camera’s most comfortable shooting position is at eye level a foot or more away with the grip rotated into a vertical position; many will see a resemblance to a Buck Rodgers raygun from 1950’s Sci-fi. But you won’t be zapping Martians in a black and white movie, you’ll be taking digital color movies of the sometimes strange beings that inhabit earth today.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax OptioMX4 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Pentax OptioMX4

Luminous Landscape have just reviewed the new Epson P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer.

“One of the problems with portable card storage devices till now has been battery life. Copy one or two cards, and the battery is dead. The P-2000 breaks that mold. I copied a 1GB card to the Epson, waited 20 minutes, and then copied it again. This simulates a typical worst-case field use situation where cards are being filled quickly, and it also gives the battery a reasonable time to “recover” between copies.

I was able to copy thirteen 1GB cards to the P2000 before the low battery warning light came on. At this point, though the device continued to function for quite a while, it warned that there might not be enough juice to complete a copy. Very intelligent.

This is superb performance, especially considering that I had the power settings such that the LCD was illuminated the whole time, and I also did a moderate amount of file browsing inbetween card copying sessions.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Epson P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer Review

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have reviewed the new 3 megapixel, 12x optical zoom Panasonic DMC-FZ3 digital camera.

Website: Index Digicam - Panasonic DMC-FZ3 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Panasonic DMC-FZ3

PC Magazine’s annual reader survey for digital cameras has recently been published, with Nikon just leading the way:

“PC Magazine’s Reader Satisfaction Survey for Digital Cameras is out the door, and it collates what thousands of you told us about your experiences with cameras from the dozen leading makers.

Now we lend that report even more power. We’ve consolidated reviews of the best cameras produced in the last year by the three manufacturers whose models you gave the top overall ratings: Nikon, at 8.6; Canon, second by a hair at 8.5; and Panasonic, at 8.4.”

Website: PCMagazine - Digital Cameras: The Best from the Best

Digital Outback Photo have published a comprehensive tutorial on upsizing digital images using Photoshop CS.

“Whenever the topic of interpolating digital files for the purpose of large print output is mentioned, you usually hear arguments break out over which method is the “best” one. The most popular methods of interpolation mentioned are usually some form of stepped bi-cubic interpolation in imaging programs such as Photoshop, or the use of programs specifically dedicated to accomplishing this task like the Genuine Fractals interpolation product or Q-Image?s printing program. While most of these traditional methods work fairly well, they all have their shortcomings. Over time I have tested virtually every method available…”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Uprezzing Digital Images

Bob Atkins has published a great overview of compact flash cards from a Canon DSLR point of view, including the 8 megapixel Canon EOS 20D (pictured).

“As you can see, it really doesn’t matter much what speed CF card you use with the Digital Rebel or EOS 10D. The camera really can’t write faster than about 1.4MB/s no matter what the CF card speed is. Faster cards do give slightly better performance, but the difference is small. On the other hand, the EOS 20D and EOS 1Ds mark II can write much faster and can take more advantage of high speed cards. With these cameras the use of faster CF cards makes much more difference.”

Website: Bob Atkins - Compact Flash Cards

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon EOS 20D

Pentax have released a new version of firmware, 1.01,  for the Optio750Z. The autofocus response of the Optio 750Z has been improved for subjects in lower-contrast lighting.

Website: Pentax Optio750Z Firmware

Check the Latest Prices for the Pentax Optio750Z

Ampex Corporation Press Release 29/11/04

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Nov. 29, 2004 - Ampex Corporation (OTCBB:AEXCA) today announced that it has reached a settlement with Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) whereby Ampex will withdraw the patent litigation it initiated in July 2004 in the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware relating to digital still cameras manufactured and sold by Sony.

Under the terms of the settlement, Sony will be licensed under several Ampex patents to manufacture and sell various products, including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras. In return for a payment of $40.0 million, Sony will be permitted to use Ampex patents in any of its products for the period through April 2006. After that time, the licenses provide for running royalties based on sales of products including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras to the extent that they utilize Ampex patents. The licenses provide that their terms are confidential.

How2Share Technologies Press Release 29/11/04

Victoria Based How2Share Technologies Selected as Finalist on Red Herring’s Most Innovative Company List

Creators of PiXPO image sharing software chosen from field of 1,200 companies

Victoria, British Columbia November 2 8, 2004 How2Share Technologies Inc., creators of PiXPO image sharing software, have been chosen by the Red Herring editorial team as finalist for Red Herring?s list of the 100 Most Innovative Companies - a list established to honor the top companies in North America that have made significant breakthroughs in technology over the past year.  The Victoria based digital imaging company was selected as finalist for the prestigious list from a competitive field of over 1,200 entries by the new Red Herring magazine based in the Silicon Valley, California.

A brand new photography competition is starting today here on PhotographyBLOG, with prizes for everyone who enters! myPIXmania, the Number One European online photo processing service, have teamed up with PhotographyBLOG to bring you the myPIXmania Competition.

All entries in the myPIXmania Competition will automatically receive 15 free photo prints in 11x15cm format, courtesy of myPIXmania.com!

The winner of the the myPIXmania Competition will receive 50 free photo prints in 11x15cm format, courtesy of myPIXmania.com!

You can only enter one image into the myPIXmania competition, so choose carefully!

Enter the myPIXmania Competition.

Please note that the myPIXmania Competition is only open to residents of the following European countries:
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Some of you have recently requested a photography caption contest - well, I’ve finally found some free time to start the PhotographyBLOG Caption Contest, which has no prizes and is therefore just for fun!

Enter the Caption Contest.

I need some images to use as the caption contest photograph, so if you think you have something suitable please email it to [email protected]. Make sure that it is less than 600 pixels wide/high and less than 200Kb in size.

The voting for the 51st Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

The winner this week is “CASSOWARY” by tootsie.

Congratulations to the winner!

You can view all of the entries that were submitted in this gallery.

The 53rd Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography contest with no set theme and you can enter any photograph that you like.

Click here to read the Photo of the Week rules.

The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10 is an ultra-zoom digital camera that promises a lot in exchange for a relatively small amount of cash. Based around a 3.2 megapixel CCD sensor and an 8x zoom lens that is equivalent to 36-290mm on a 35mm camera, the Z10 has an amazing list of advanced features that make you look twice at its budget price-tag. A very fast start-up time of around 1/2 second, semi-automatic and manual exposure modes, futuristic body design, rapid autofocus and a macro mode that that lets you focus as close as 1cm from your subject all sound too good to be true, given that you can currently buy the Z10 for around £150. So can the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10 claim the title of the ultimate entry-level, ultra-zoom camera? Or have Konica Minolta bitten off more than they can chew? Carry on reading to discover the answer.

Website: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10

Olympus UK Press Release 29/11/04

Better Photos, Now Showing On The Big Screen

The Olympus mju DIGITAL 500

London, 29 November 2004 - ‘One look and you’ll be hooked’ on the new 5.0 million pixel Olympus mju DIGITAL 500. Its design is undeniably stylish and incorporates a smooth retracting lens barrier. Plus it comes in a slick sliver metal-bodied, weather-proof* casing.

The 5.0 million pixel mju DIGITAL 500 will hit the shelves from the beginning of 2005, priced at £279.99 inc VAT (?429.99 Inc VAT in Eire).

Perhaps most striking feature of the Olympus mju DIGITAL 500 is its extra-large Hyper Crystal LCD monitor. At 6.4cm / 2.5 inches it provides fantastically clear, generously sized images of your photos. And because the liquid crystal molecules are laid out in a radial pattern, it allows viewing from angles as wide as 160 degrees and under virtually any lighting conditions.

DPNow have published their review of the 5 megapixel Samsung Digimax V50.

“Colour quality is not bad at all, being neutral and not over-saturated. Blue skies can sometimes appear a little yellow-biased, but skin tones are faithful, as are natural tones like greens and browns. We found that purple fringing to be well-suppressed and only visible in very extreme contrast situations. Some halos, probably due to over-enthusiastic default sharpening, can sometimes be seen, but as there is manual control over in-camera sharpening the problem can be avoided. Overall, as long as you keep an eye on the exposure brightness, the V50 is capable of producing very good prints.”

Website: DPNow - Samsung Digimax V50 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Samsung Digimax V50