Digital Camera Magazine have published their review of the 5 megapixel Ricoh Caplio GX digital camera.

“The camera’s internal light meter struggles in shadowy situations, but produces detailed, well-saturated images that are packed full of colour. Whilst auto-focus is incredibly accurate, the camera struggles to focus quickly in mixed lighting situations. It’s not the quickest to write images to the card either. Despite these criticisms, the Caplio outperforms many others in its class, by producing some truly stunning image results, and particularly with those taken in daylight.”

Website: Digital Camera Magazine - Ricoh Caplio GX Review

Website: Read my Review of the Ricoh Caplio GX

The 45th Photo of the Week contest is now closed.

I have choosen what I think are the best photographs in my opinion. Now it’s your turn to vote for the overall winner of the contest. A Public Poll has been setup on the PhotographyBLOG Forums and you have 7 days during which you can vote for your favourite photo from the ones that I have chosen. Voting will end on Monday 18th October. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 4th-10th October 2004 contest

PhotographyBLOG reader Jernej B has sent me an interesting link to a report on the Wilhelm Research website, which looks at the permanance of various 6x4 inch printers that are currently available in terms of print longevity. The pigment-based Epson PictureMate printer comes out on top with a massive 104 years when printed on PictureMate Photo Paper. The HP PhotoSmart 325 and 375 printers are next with 82 years. Bringing up the rear is the is the Sony DPP EX5 with a meagre 4 years.

Website: Wilhelm Research - Display Permanence Ratings for 4x6 Inch Printers

Website: Wilhelm Research - Test Methods

Pocket-Lint have today reviewed the new 3 megapixel Casio EXILIM Card EX-S100.

“At 3.2 megapixels the camera is ideal for party snaps and general pictures rather than high-end photography. A nice feature however is that the camera offers a Best shot mode that sets the camera for the optimum setup for the shot in question and with 23 pre-programmed scene modes to choose from you?re not going to get stuck for choices. Within three presses of the d-pad we had the camera’s exposure compensation, white balance, and other settings all configured accordingly to the shot we wanted to take.”

Website: Pocket-Lint - Casio EXILIM Card EX-S100 Review

A member of the Photohobby.net forums has posted an extensive preview of a pre-production version of the new Konica Minolta Dynax 7D DSLR:

“In conclusion, D7D give me a very positive feeling despite some bug in this pre-production unit. The handling is great, viewfinder is bright, AF is good, metering is accurate, LCD is big and very informative. I’m now looking forward to the newer pre-production at best the production unit itself for further testing. For now, be patient folks. All those who are waiting, including me, by November you all will be happy shooting with one of the best DSLR in the world.”

Thanks to Marko Praprotnik for letting me know!

Website: Konica Minolta Dynax 7D Preview

Breeze Systems have just released a new version of BreezeBrowser. Version 2.11 beta 2 supports Canon EOS 20D, PowerShot G6 and PowerShot S70 raw conversion. It also includes 20D focus point overlay display and the ability to display Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) files.

BreezeBrowser 2.11 beta 2 can be downloaded from:

http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/support.htm#20D

Different kinds of digital cameras are often classified into different categories, such as “prosumer” and “point and shoot”. If you’re new to the world of photography, understanding what these categories actually mean can be difficult. Photoxels have a comprehensive guide to the various industry cliches that you might encounter.

”“The Point-and-Shoot (P&S) market segment typically wants a digital camera that takes good pictures without having to fiddle with any settings. In fact, the simpler the operation, the better. Point-and-shoot digital cameras tend to be compact and ultra compact, and can therefore be easily carried anywhere.”

Website: Photoxels - Digital Camera Categories

Canon have released firmware version 1.0.3 for the EOS-1D Mark II DSLR.

This firmware update fixes/improves the following:

- Added new functions for communicating with the Speedlite 580EX.
A color temperature information transmission function has been added to stabilize the white balance.

- Reduced noise when shooting bulb exposures.
Reduced the noise when shooting bulb exposures (astronomical shots, etc.).

- Fixed sensor-cleaning operations.
Fixed the problem of the shutter not opening if sensor cleaning was performed immediately after taking bulb exposures.

Website: Canon EOS-1D Mark II Firmware Update Version 1.0.3

US website Rocky Mountain News has an insightful interview with national sales director of Pentax, David Woodward, about the role that Pentax hopes to play in the industry-wide move from film to digital. Unfortunately Pentax still seem to be using their awful ““The official digital camera of the Internet” corporate nonsense…

”“I have worked here 26 years,” said David Woodward, national sales director of Pentax Imaging Co. “It’s a very exciting time to be here. We are at a ground-floor opportunity to expand our digital camera business.”

Woodward said half of Pentax Imaging’s total revenues come from digital camera sales. Historically, Pentax has ranked as a top seller of 35 mm film cameras. Today, Pentax is among the top 10 sellers of digital cameras, but it lost some ground by not jumping on the digital bandwagon when it became clear that was where the future of photography was headed.”

Website: Rocky Mountain News - Pentax plays digital catch-up with passion

It doesn’t seem like too long ago that the first 5 megapixel digital camera was released. Now the first 5 megapixel camera-phone is on the way, possibly in the next month, courtesy of Samsung. I wonder when the first 8 megapixel model will arrive?!

“According to inside sources on Friday, Samsung Electronics recently finished the production of its 5-million pixel camera phone, which will hit the market before the end of the month. Until now, Samsung had yielded top spot in the market to Japanese companies, like Casio.”

Website: Digital Chosunilbo - 5-Million Pixel Camera Phone Coming Soon

Histograms are now widely available on many digital cameras, but what do they actually do? PCMagazine has most of the answers in a short article called “Harnessing Histograms” (found via Digicamera.net).

“Histograms are not widely understood, but taking a few moments to learn about them can improve your photography significantly. Histograms can show you clearly and immediately whether your images are overexposed, underexposed, or just right, and help you to make any necessary changes in order to compensate when reshooting the scene.”

Website: PCMagazine - Harnessing Histograms

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Press Release 12/10/04

Digital Camera Ownership Moving Deeper into Mainstream Market, According to New InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Study

(Weymouth, MA) October, 12 2004… Each year since 1997, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures has conducted surveys to track the adoption and usage of digital cameras. This year’s survey of U.S. Internet households shows the penetration of digital cameras increasing to 59% of Internet households, up from 45% in 2003. As a result of rising penetration, the demographics of digital camera owners are shifting towards people of more moderate means. Additionally, women are increasingly more likely to own digital cameras and to spur the purchasing decision for the household.

While the demographics of digital camera owners continue to shift towards representing the average Internet user, digital camera owners still show a greater tendency to acquire new technology than non-owners. Digital camera owners’ advanced approach to new technologies is reflected in their technology ownership and product usage covered throughout the study. For example, 26% of digital camera households have a wireless home network, compared to 16% of non-owners.

The voting for the 44th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

The joint-winners are “Common Redpole” by Edrika and “Summers Delight” by Chippy Rob.

Congratulations to the winners!

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

The 46th 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.

Please note that there has been an important change to the Photo of the Week rules:

“2. You can enter up to a maximum of 5 images.”

Click here to read the Photo of the Week rules.

The 36th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by James Jenkins.

“All the photographs were taken over the summer holidays in all kinds of different places ranging from Flower shows to my own Back Garden! Most of the photographs I take are of flowers and plants although I have many other subjects which I enjoy photographing e.g. Wildlife, Landscapes and Abstracts!”

Website: Portfolios: James Jenkins

The Spanish website quesabesde.com have posted their review of the 5 megapixel, 10x optical zoom Kodak EASYSHARE DX7590 digital camera.

Website: quesabesde.com - Kodak EASYSHARE DX7590 Review

Imaging Resource have just posted their review of the 6 megapixel Fuji FinePix E550.

“With their 6.3 megapixel, 4x-zoom FinePix E550, Fujifilm has created what’s to my mind one of their best digicams to date. Its color is very good, its resolution excellent, and noise levels at low ISOs are very low as well. (Kudos to Fuji for finally providing a low ISO setting on a SuperCCD camera.) The FinePix E550 is also fast, something to be admired in a digicam. Its lens comes out quickly, AF points are picked quickly, it switches between modes and menus with snap, and both shutter response and shot to shot speeds are quite fast. In addition to its other sterling qualities, the E550 is stingy with battery power, with a worst-case run time of just over three hours with the provided rechargeable NiMH batteries.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Fuji FinePix E550 Review

Bibble is one of the oldest RAW file convertors on the market, but it hasn’t updated for quite a while. Now it’s back with a brand new look and feel, and Digital Outback Photo have managed to get their hands on a preview Beta version.

“Really forget all about the old version of Bibble as Bibble 4.0 is all new! Especially users of Canon cameras should have a look as Canon is now as well supported as Nikon, Olympus and the new Kodak DSLRs. Even the new Canon 20D works with this version and the new 1Ds Mark II will be soon.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Bibble 4.0 Preview

The Norwegian website DigIT.no has today reviewed the new 7 megapixel Canon PowerShot G6.

Website: DigIT.no - Canon PowerShot G6 Review

Trusted Reviews have reviewed the 8 megapixel Canon PowerShot Pro1, which was announced by Canon just before the start of the PMA 2004 trade show back in February.

“As it stands the Pro1 is a well made compact digital camera offering plenty of features for both the novice and keen amateur. However, there are some slight niggles concerning ISO sensitivity, chromatic aberrations, and a degree of vignetting. I wasn?t overly keen on the sluggish electronic zoom ring either. That said, leave the Pro1 on ISO 50, and stop down the aperture a little, and it’s likely you’ll get some good results. As a Canon PowerShot G1 user I also liked the Pro1’s familiar operation and of course the flip screen. However, if you’re a keen photographer go for the Canon EOS 300D instead.”

Website: Trusted Reviews - Canon PowerShot Pro1 Review