Epson UK Press Release 01/09/04

EPSON announces stylish new compact All-In-One device to address market demand

EPSON launches a new All-In-One device that will appeal to the style conscious, whilst also providing incredible value for money.

1st September 2004: The EPSON Stylus CX3600 comprises a high quality printer combined with scanner and standalone photocopying functionality. It will sit at the entry-level of the EPSON All-In-One printer range.  With its new design it will appeal to the style-conscious, as well as those users seeking value for money. 

The EPSON Stylus CX3600 provides users with some unique benefits such as EPSON DURABrite(tm) inks to ensure laser sharp blacks and vivid, life-like colours that are waterproof, smudge proof and fade resistant for up to 80 years. The inks come in individual cartridges, giving the user more control over the cost of printing.  The product offers print performance of up to 15 pages per minute and a resolution up to 5760 optimised dpi.  The Stylus CX3600 offers exceptional value for money and is ideally suited to home workers, students or small business users.  The CX3600 is stylishly designed and is available in a new compact format.

HP Press Release 01/09/04

Britain’s first National Photo Album unearths hidden photographic treasures

HP is pleased to announce the initial success of the National Photo Album, one of the most ambitious public archiving projects in recent history. Having urged the nation to dust off its old photograph albums and rummage through its attics, HP has been astonished to see people react so positively.

With over 5,000 images already submitted and more than 300,000 hits in the first two months, The National Photo Album has been embraced by the public.  The search has uncovered some hidden gems from the photo albums of members of the public, such as:

- The enchanting image of Big Ben taken during the strikes in the 1970s, when fuel was at a premium and the spot lights had to be switched off
- A chance meeting with George Best relaxing on holiday in Majorca in 1972
- Young twins working a wooden washing machine in 1939
- A boxing match between sailors, to entertain the troops on HMS Emperor of India in 1915

Shortcut Press Release 01/09/04

Shortcut releases new product, Shortcut PhotoPrint

ARNHEM, 01 September, 2004 - Within the next few weeks Shortcut(r) will release its fourth product as part of the Shortcut PhotoSeries, named Shortcut PhotoPrint. At the heart of the PhotoPrint system lays an advanced, sophisticated technology that automatically fine-tunes the printer settings and makes printing as easy as can be imagined.

Often there is a need for certain knowledge of printer drivers and its settings to obtain high quality prints. With Shortcut PhotoPrint it is no longer necessary to understand difficult printer settings or to spill expensive photopaper. PhotoPrint makes printing easy and lets any home user create beatufill high quality print by just clicking the mouse.

This is a gentle reminder that the August 2004 Competition will close for entries today! 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 August’s theme, which is “Sports”.

Please make sure that you read the Monthly Competition Rules before submitting your entry. Note that you are only allowed to enter 1 photograph. The competition is worldwide and open to everyone.

You can now start submitting entries to the August Competition here:
August 2004 Competition

Steves Digicams have published a First Look at the 4 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-L1 that was announced yesterday.

“Like most of Sony’s Cyber-shot cameras, the DSC-L1 model has speedy auto-focus and auto-exposure options to snap the best picture the first time. You can quickly select the best setting based on the shooting conditions by choosing from one of seven preset modes, including twilight, snow, beach and candle.

The DSC-L1 also features four newly developed technologies - including a linear focus drive and a compact high-resolution optical system - that combine to produce its ultra-small 3x optical lens. This lets you zoom in for crisp images of a flower or zoom out for a far-away shot of the game-winning goal, all the while staying in sharp focus.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-L1 Preview

Steves Digicams have published a First Look at the 7 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 that was announced yesterday.

“The built-in flash automatically pops up (OK it doesn’t actually “pop up,” it rotates from closed to open) when needed and has modes for Auto flash, Red- Eye Reduction, Slow Synchro and Flash Cancel. It uses a pre-flash for precise metering of the exposure. It also has auto daylight synchro fill flash for backlit or shadowed subjects as well as dynamic flash white balance for greater color accuracy. The working range for the flash is 1.6 to 11.5 feet (0.5 to 3.5m).”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 First Look

Canon UK Press Release 31/08/04

Canon’s PIXMA iP8500

Professional series A4 photo printing

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces its new 8-ink flagship professional photo printer: the 4800 x 2400 dpi PIXMA iP8500. Canon’s ChromaPLUS technology adds additional red and green inks for vibrant, highly saturated colours. Combined with a FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology print head, which generates permanent 2-picolitre ink droplets, this new PIXMA printer produces the ultimate professional photo prints. It also does so in record time - an A4 photo prints in just 34 seconds.

The iP8500 features advanced media handling and Canon’s transparent single ink system, as well as direct photo printing from most contemporary digital cameras and digital video cameras supporting the PictBridge standard.

“The PIXMA range of printers continues Canon’s commitment to superb quality, unfailing reliability and purity of design. The iP8500 perfectly embodies this philosophy,” said Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging in the UK and Ireland. “With industry-leading, professional photo print quality and speed, the iP8500 is the ultimate A4 photo printer.”

Canon UK Press Release 31/08/04

Canon’s PIXMA iP6000D

Ultimate photos, ultimate connectivity

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the new six colour, 4800 x 1200 dpi PIXMA iP6000D - the personal photo printer with complete connectivity. The sleek printer uses FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology with 2-picolitre Micro-Nozzles to deliver high contrast glossy photo prints that rival professional photo lab quality. With card slots for all popular brands of memory card, the iP6000D also connects and prints direct from any PictBridge compatible digital camera and digital video camera without the need for a PC. A generous 2.5” colour LCD screen displays image thumbnails from memory cards and provides an intuitive interface for effortless cropping, paper size selection, photo effects and image orientation.

“The iP6000D is the ultimate direct personal photo printer,” said Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging in the UK and Ireland. “It perfectly embodies the PIXMA philosophy of combining radical, cutting-edge design with unsurpassed quality, speed and reliability. It works seamlessly with contemporary digital camera and digital video devices.”

Canon UK Press Release 31/08/04

Canon’s latest industry first

The 1-picolitre PIXMA iP5000

Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the futuristic-looking PIXMA iP5000 - the PIXMA personal photo printer that awards Canon two industry firsts: an astonishing 1-picolitre droplet size and 9600 x 2400 dpi resolution. The clean lines and lustrous jet black shell of the iP5000 make a clear departure from traditional ‘beige box’ design, reflecting the growing importance of ‘look and feel’ in consumer products.

The 25 ppm iP5000 plugs directly into most contemporary digital cameras and digital video cameras via a PictBridge port for direct photo printing. Five-ink ContrastPLUS technology produces high contrast glossy photo prints with a quality that rivals that of photo labs and a full 4” x 6” borderless photo prints in just 36 seconds.

“Canon revolutionised the printer market in 1981 when it introduced the world’s first Bubble Jet printer, the BJ-80, with a droplet size in excess of 100-picolitres” said Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging in the UK and Ireland. “By combining the first 1-picolitre drop size with comparison-defying style at a time when digital photography is exploding, Canon has set another defining moment in printing technology.”

Canon UK Press Release 31/08/04

PIXMA goes wireless

Canon announces the iP4000R

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, today announces the addition of built-in-wireless connectivity to its PIXMA range with the launch of the PIXMA iP4000R. Based on the 5-ink, 25 ppm iP4000 personal photo and document printer, the iP4000R integrates WiFi (IEEE802.11g) print server technology for wireless networking, ready to run on either Windows or Mac platforms.

Launched last month, Canon’s PIXMA sub-brand now includes fourteen new printers and multifunctionals. Each device in the range incorporates futuristic styling, and FINE (Full-Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology, which delivers 2-picolitre droplet size and high-speed lab quality photo printing. “The introduction of the iP4000R coincides with a convergence of market factors, including the dramatic uptake of broadband and wireless in the home market, increased demand for photo printing in the home and office, lower prices, and the rapid growth of digital photography in the last 12 months” said Malcolm Hills, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging UK and Ireland. “Canon anticipates that the introduction of built-in wireless connectivity to the iP4000R will feed into the accelerating demand for photolab quality printers that integrate well in any environment.”

The Polish website Fotopolis have today posted their review of the recently announced Sigma SD10 digital SLR.

Website: Fotopolis - Sigma SD10 Review

The Slovenian website e-fotografija have posted a review of the Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm lens (equivalent to 100-400mm on a 35mm camera). There is a varied selection of sample photos that really show what this E-System lens is capable of in conjunction with the Olympus E-1 DSLR.

Website: e-fotografija - Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm Lens Review

DPReview have published an extensive preview of the 7 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 that was announced yesterday.

“The top of the camera is straightforward enough, shutter release button, mode dial, night framing / night shot button and power button. Sony has gone for larger shiny buttons for the top of the camera and although they look a little awkward they’re actually well placed. Overhanging the rear of the camera and ‘under your thumb’ is the multi-function jog dial (it has a click ‘pressed’ function too) which can be used to change value settings such as shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation. This dial can also be used to browse images in play mode. My only gripe would be that Sony still stick with having a separate play mode on the mode dial, a shift to shooting priority play would be far better.”

Website: DPReview - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V3 Preview

Konica Minolta Europe have added some more information to their Konica Minolta Dynax 7 Digital DSLR teaser website. The third topic looks at the aspects of the Dynax/Maxxum series of film SLR cameras that the new digital model will inherit:

“Another important aspect of operability is how quickly and easily camera settings can be grasped by the user. To best serve this need, we introduced an effective layout of dials and levers that would allow operation with the fingertips alone while the camera was held, and we also developed the Navigation Display, which displays all camera information at once on a large LCD.”

Website: Konica Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 7 Digital Website

DigitalCameraInfo.com have reviewed the Fuji FinePix S7000, which is the successor to the popular FinePix S602 model. The S7000 uses Fuji’s 4th Generation Super CCD HR with 6.3 Million Effective Pixels output and 12.3 million recorded pixels.

“The Fuji FinePix S7000’s price falls right in the middle of SLR and point-and-shoot, much like its style and design. For US$559 you are making quite an investment, but there are a lot of features and control that comes along with this camera and more importantly room to grow. If coming from a point-and-shoot perspective it?s hard to complain about the price when there is so much offered by one camera. It’s not as advanced as a digital SLR, but then again you’re not paying SLR prices either. I would venture to say that you are getting a fair deal for this camera’s suggested price.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo.com - Fuji FinePix S7000 Review

Website: Read my review of the Fuji FinePix S7000

The 39th 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 6th September. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 23rd-29th August 2004 contest

The 40th Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography contest with no set theme and you can enter as many photos as you like.

Click here to read the Photo of the Week Rules.

The voting for the 38th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

The winner is “Our Green Tree Frogs” by tootsie.

Congratulations to the winner!

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

Sony Press Release 30/08/04

VERSATILITY, QUALITY AND DESIGN COLLIDE IN SONY’S NEWEST ENTHUSIAST CAMERA, THE CYBER-SHOT DSC-V3

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2004 - With its 7.2 megapixels and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar lens with 4x optical zoom, Sony’s new Cyber-shot DSC-V3 digital still camera puts outstanding image quality, sophisticated controls and a compact ergonomic design in the hands of photo enthusiasts. It will be available in late October for about $700.

Providing all the versatility of a much larger camera, the V3 is a compact, classic rangefinder-style camera featuring a large easy-to-handle grip. The new design incorporates a 2.5-inch LCD viewfinder, providing more room than ever before to see and share images the moment they are captured.

“The Cyber-shot DSC-V3 model is for a special class of photographer that wants creative control over the picture-taking process in an ultra-portable package,” said Greg Young, general manager for digital still camera marketing in Sony Electronics’ Personal Mobile and Imaging Division.

Sony Press Release 30/08/04

SONY RELEASES ITS SLIMMEST FULL FEATURED CAMERA

New Cyber-shot T3 Model Features Elegant Design and Improved LCD

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2004 - Thin, fast and good-looking describe Sony’s new 5.1 megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T3 digital camera, announced today.

The pocket-size T3 camera is Sony’s thinnest digital camera to date, measuring in at less than three-quarters of an inch. And due to Sony’s Real Imaging Processor circuit, this new model is lightning fast. It shoots bursts of up to four full-resolution images at three frames per second.

The T3 camera incorporates a built-in, electrically operated lens cover that opens instantly when the camera is activated. With a single push of the power button, it springs to life in under a second. The new camera will be available in October for about $500.