If you’re interested in buying the new Canon EOS 20D DSLR, but want to know exactly what you are getting for your money before you place an order, then you will be happy to know that Canon Canada have made the EOS 20D manuals available for download.

Website: Canon Canada - Canon EOS 20D User Manuals

PhotoFocus bills itself as “the online magazine for serious photographers”. Despite having been online for 3 years and publishing 195 articles, I’ve never actually visited this site! (found via digicamera.net). There are no less than 12 new articles this month:

- David Middleton’s Photofocus Column
- Print To An Epson 2200 With Photoshop And Windows
- Big Folio Is An Inexpensive Way To Build A Web Site
- Choosing An Aperture
- Learning How To Be A Storyteller
- Guest Columnist Nate Nerdly Tells Us Why He Fixes Everything In Photoshop
- Noise Reduction
- Adobe’s Raw Plug In
- Tool Presets In Photoshop
- Flash On The Go
- Ten Tips For Photographing People
- Sigma’s New 300-800 Zoom

Website: PhotoFocus Magazine

Rob Galbraith has published a brief article about the new Nikon D2X digital SLR and the CMOS sensor that is uses - apparently Sony are responsible for producing the sensor. The original source article by the Japanese-language web site Nikkei Electronics Online also states that Nikon plans to manufacture 8000 D2X cameras per month.

Website: Rob Galbraith

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. Should Photography be Illegal? is the lead article:

“There is a delicate balance to be struck between diligence and harassment. Law enforcement would be horribly irresponsible if they didn’t take notice of photographers and videographers around potential terrorist targets. If an attack occurs and it was found that terrorists had scouted the location unmolested there would be an outcry at law enforcement’s lack of diligence. Given the current, real threat from terrorists an officer approaching you and asking a few questions or asking for ID is not harassment - provided they are professional and courteous in their approach.”

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #38

PCMagazine have posted a very favourable review of the 6 megapixel Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P600 digital camera.

“The Casio Exilim EX-P600’s solid image quality, versatile lens, great LCD, pleasing design, and impressive menus outweigh such negatives as mediocre recycle time and slightly dark exposures; this pocketable winner is the best 6-megapixel point-and-shoot camera to come through our labs so far.”

Website: PCMagazine - Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P600 Review

From the sublime (Salgado) to the ridiculous; the Japanese company Tomy have released a digital camera for dogs. Yes, that’s right, dogs. If you’ve ever wondered what your best canine friend gets up to when you aren’t looking, then this will be the perfect gift. Expect a budgie-sized camera featuring a mobile phone CCD sensor soon…

Thanks to Marcos Katz for sending me one of the most amusing links that I’ve received in a while!

Website: Tomy Japan - Wonderful Shot 3.5

Website: Engadget - The Wonderful Shot: TOMY?s digital camera for dogs

I bought the Guardian newspaper on Saturday and immediately noticed two things a) the price had gone up again (grumble, grumble), and b) there was a feature on the very famous photographer, Sebastiao Salgado. It turns out that Salgado has started a new project, simply called Genesis, in which he is seeking out places that are still as pristine as they were in primeval times, places that provide hope. The results of this project will be published in the Guardian’s Weekend magazine over the next eight years. There’s an interview with Salgado and 13 photos from the project on the Guardian Unlimited website.

“Yes, we may already have destroyed 50% of the planet, but Salgado wants to show us what we have left, and what we stand to lose if we don’t take care. “In the end, the only heritage we have is our planet, and I have decided to go to the most pristine places on the planet and photograph them in the most honest way I know, with my point of view, and of course it is in black and white, because it is the only thing I know how to do. I want to see if I can put a kind of virginity in these pictures, if you can say that, and to show 100% respect to nature and the animals.”

Website: Guardian Unlimited - Salgado

PCMagazine have helped you to choose a digital camera; one of your next decisions may be to decide what kind of computer monitor you should view your images on. Photo.net steps into the breach with another of those handy guides:

“Psychological studies indicate that humans respond to brightness more than anything else when looking at images. Contrast, the ratio of white to black tends to come in second. Though notably for photography this can arguably be just as important in that exposure of an image is best shown on a display capable of high contrast. The importance of contrast is generally determined by your background lighting. In a bright consumer electronic store there is a *lot* of background lighting so that the background lighting of the display is unimportant in comparison to the background light in the television/monitor. In your living room, contrast will generally be important (unless the sun is shining on the display). Thus, if you want to see the darkest levels in your photos, you want a high-contrast display.”

Website: Photo.net - What Display Should I Buy?

Steves Digicams are first off the blocks with their review of the 6 megapixel Fuji FinePix E550.

“The E550 is equipped with a FUJINON 4x optical zoom lens with a range of 32.5mm to 130mm in 35mm equivalence. The lens’ 4x range is more versatile than its 3x competitors, providing more field of view at wide angle and greater magnification at telephoto. The lens produced sharp results throughout its range, even at the corners. There was noticeable barrel distortion at full wide angle, but no pincushioning at full telephoto; some chromatic aberration (purple fringing) was present throughout the zoom range in high contrast areas, typical for a camera in this class.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Fuji FinePix E550 Review

The Spanish website quesabesde.com have just reviewed the new HP Photosmart R707, a stylish 5 megapixel digital camera.

Website: quesabesde.com - HP Photosmart R707 Review

Luminous Landscape and photographer Glenn E. Mitchell have teamed up to bring you a easy-to-follow guide to adding a diffuse glow to your images.

“Giving your images a diffuse glow with Photoshop is a combination of blurs, layer blend modes, and blending techniques. Rather than blurring the entire image, we instead add a halo to a desired range of tones. We can add richness and shape the tones in an image in this way without sacrificing a lot of image details.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Giving Your Photos A Glow

DPReview have just reviewed what is sure to be a popular digital camera, the 5 megapixel Canon PowerShot A95:

“Canon has taken a popular camera and added just enough to make it even better. It’s questionable whether you really need the extra million pixels for ‘snapshots’, but the results in this test show that the A95 has the optics and processor needed to squeeze the maximum possible information out of a scene. I was impressed by the build quality, and pleasantly surprised at just how good the results the A95 produces are. It’s a lot smaller than the G5, but a lot easier to handle and a lot more stable in your hands than many of the ‘sexier’ ultra compact 5MP models on the market. It also has a feature set that rivals many cameras considerable more expensive.”

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot A95 Review

Chooing a digital camera can be a confusing experience rather than an enjoyable one, especially with the large numbers of different and often very similar models that are released every year. PCMagazine has published a handy guide to selecting the right camera for you.

“Shopping for a digital camera is stressful. Most stores carry a fraction of the 200-plus cameras on the market, and except at specialty stores, salespeople aren’t much help. You can ask friends for recommendations, but even if they love their camera, it might be discontinued, given short product cycles. Don’t throw up your hands and give up. A little information, some strategizing, and our reviews can make the process less traumatic.”

Website: PCMagazine - Choose Your Camera

PCMagazine have obviously been busy writing this kind of article, as they also have a essential buying guide for photo printers:

“Photo printers fall neatly into three categories. The first is ink jet photo printers, which we’ll refer to as photo printers or photo ink jets. These offer at least one photo feature but can also function as all-purpose printers. They print from business applications reasonably well, though often at a very slow pace. This is the category to consider if you want a single, all- purpose printer. You should also consider it if you want a second printer just for photos.”

Website: PCMagazine - The Essential Buying Guide: Photo Printers

HP UK Press Release 20/09/04

New 8-ink HP Photosmart 8450 Photo Printer Provides Complete ‘Digital Darkroom’ Solution

Advanced colour and b/w photo printing with built-in network capability

LONDON, UK, 20 September 2004. HP today announced the launch of its new, top of the range photo printer, the HP Photosmart 8450. A high performance device developed for serious amateur and professional photographers, this advanced printer provides a complete digital darkroom solution with a range of advanced features and all the convenience of personal digital processing.

In addition, a new printhead architecture with double the previous nozzle density significantly improves photo print speed in high quality modes. The HP Photosmart 8450 therefore offers an unrivalled combination of no-compromise quality, fade resistance and speed.

The 8-ink HP Photosmart 8450 enables studio-quality printing in both colour and black and white, with specially-formulated greyscale inks at the heart of the system. The use of dye-based light grey, medium grey and photo-optimised black inks - developed to reduce metamerism and thereby provide neutral tones regardless of lighting conditions - results in black & white photos comparable with the best studio-developed prints. In addition, they combine with the five colour inks (cyan, magenta, yellow , light cyan and light magenta ) to build luminance, dramatically reduce hue shifts and produce far more accurate colours. Such is the quality of output that professional photographers can use the HP Photosmart 8450 to print photos for press books or galleries. These results are produced through a combination of the HP No. 344 tri-colour inkjet print cartridge, the HP No. 348 photo inkjet print cartridge and the HP No. 100 grey photo inkjet print cartridge, which come with the HP Photosmart 8450.

The Danish website Digital Magasinet have posted a review of the new 4 megapixel Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.

Website: Digital Magasinet - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3

DCResource have posted their review of the 4 megapixel Canon PowerShot A85.

“As it was with the A75 and A95, the PowerShot A85 is a first-rate entry-level camera. It’s great for both beginners who want fully automatic operate to more experienced photographers (or those who want to become one) who like manual controls. The A85 offers very good photo quality, full manual controls, plenty of scene modes, an AF-assist lamp, and expandability. The A85’s photo quality is quite good, with only a bit of noise and purple fringing. The camera has the full suite of manual controls, including white balance and focus. For those who aren’t ready for those yet, the camera offers 11 scene modes.”

Website: DCResource - Canon PowerShot A85 Review

Sharp Press Release 20/09/04

Sharp Develops 2-Megapixel CCD Camera Module for Full-Fledged Digital Camera Functionality in Mobile Phones

New 2X Optical Inner Zoom Lens Design Provides Dramatically Improved Functionality for Camera-Equipped Mobile Phones

Sharp Corporation has developed a new 2-megapixel CCD camera module featuring a 2X optical inner zoom lens. Intended for use in high-end camera-equipped mobile phones, the new LZ0P3738 will be available in quantity beginning in October 2004.

Cameras designed to be embedded in mobile phones have been moving toward ever higher pixel counts beyond the megapixel range in response to user demands for greater functionality and higher image quality on a par with ordinary digital cameras. At the same time, there are demands for more compact and thinner camera modules to provide this greater functionality and higher image quality without altering the form factor of mobile phone handsets.

Photoshop Elements User have published a great preview of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 by Scott Kelby.

“This is a much-improved version of an already amazing product, and if your a serious, or even semi-serious user of Elements, you’ll definitely want to upgrade because it just offers so much in so many areas. The downside of all this is that Mac users get a little bit shafted on this release because some of the cool new features in Elements 3 (like the Organizer) didn’t make their way to the Mac version.”

Website: Photoshop Elements User - A First Look at Photoshop Elements 3

BIOS magazine have just reviewed the new Epson Stylus CX3600 All-In-One Printer.

“The Stylus CX3600 sits at the bottom of Epson’s all-in-one printer range and is suited to home workers, students or small business users. It’s not the most stylish or capable device, but its relatively compact form factor and good print quality on general paper should suit general users who don’t want the expense of purchasing and running a high-end photo-imaging solution. The Stylus CX3600 is no powerhouse, but it does allow you to scan, copy and print in colour.”

http://www.biosmagazine.co.uk/rev.php?id=180

The UK camera shop Grays of Westminster have published a review of the new Nikon F6 film SLR by Simon Stafford.

“Whatever the case many Nikon devotees consider the F5 as representing the pinnacle of film camera design so how does the new camera compare? Well, based on my first impressions, I would suggest it raises the bar even higher, and by a significant amount. To date I have had the privilege of trying out a pre-production camera for a few weeks, which has given me a strong flavour of what the F6 is capable of achieving but even at this late stage in its development Nikon have been tweaking its specification, so the list of features below is not comprehensive. I will, of course, be reviewing a full production model as soon as possible.”

Thanks to Giallauk for sending me the link :-)

Website: Simon Stafford - Nikon F6 Review