Microsoft Press Release 10/08/04

It’s a Snap! Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 Gets Pictures Perfect

New One-Click Auto Fixes, Advanced Editing Features and Intelligent Panoramic Stitching Create Professional-Quality Photos

REDMOND, Wash.—Aug. 10, 2004—On a high-resolution digital camera or a camera phone, great photos are just a click away with Microsoft Corp.‘s latest digital photography offering. Today, Microsoft announces the availability of its new line of digital imaging software, including Digital Image Suite 10, the comprehensive yet easy-to-use photo solution for organizing, editing, sharing and safekeeping digital photos. Digital Image Suite 10 combines the power of two digital imaging software applications—Microsoft Digital Image Library 10 for organization and Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 for editing—to offer an end-to-end solution with powerful panoramic stitching in two dimensions, intuitive color-correction tools, even more one-click fixes, and added options for organization and sharing.

IDC Press Release 10/08/04

Boom Times Continue in the Western European Digital Camera Market, But Tougher Battles Lie Ahead, Says IDC

LONDON, August 10, 2004 - During 2003, shipments of digital cameras into Western Europe increased by over 95% and reached almost 16 million units, which translated into $5.9 billion in end-user spend, according to a new IDC study. Consumer demand for digital imaging has once again brought healthy revenues to the key players in the industry.

“As predicted, in 2003 we witnessed another phenomenal year for the industry - prices dropped even further and vendors repositioned their products to capture the next wave of digital enthusiasm,” said Paul Withington, senior research analyst for IDC’s European Peripherals Group. “This has translated into a mass-market adoption particularly within the 3 megapixel [MP] segment, which became the area where vendors found their greatest success.”

Percentage growth into 2004 will not prove as dramatic as in previous years, as the market moves beyond its adoption stage. Across Western Europe, IDC predicts 45% overall growth in 2004 and towards the end of IDC’s five-year forecast period to 2008 we can expect the market to have matured and the vendor landscape to be carrying significant battle scars through jousts with the camera phone.

Press Release 10/08/04

Sony Ericsson, global manufacturer of leading communications devices and Proud Galleries, Europe’s most popular private photography gallery - have today announced a major new collaboration - with the mobile phone company joining forces with the top photographic gallery in a unique sponsorship agreement for 2004.

In the deal, Sony Ericsson will become the headline sponsors of the summer and autumn schedule of Proud Galleries photographic exhibitions. The logical partnership demonstrates Sony Ericsson’s commitment to the increasingly important market of imaging in mobile phone technology.

The deal will also benefit Sony Ericsson users, with free entry to any Proud Gallery exhibition for the rest of the year when you show your Sony Ericsson mobile phone. Those wanting to view the exhibitions from the comfort of their own PC, will be able to visit a microsite that is being created to house a selection of images from each show, which visitors can download as wallpaper, as well as information and images on as the latest product offerings from Sony Ericsson.

This is the final image in my London seaside trilogy - you can view the first shot here, and the second one here. I think this photo best captures the sandy beach, but it lacks the famous landmarks that the other two images have and therefore loses its sense of place.

Click on the image to view a larger version in a new window.

PC Magazine has reviewed the Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10, which contains Microsoft Digital Image Library 10 for organizing your digital photo collection and Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 for editing photos.

“To help in sorting and grouping your photos, you can assign keywords, star ratings (1 through 5), and new user-definable flags to individual images. Unfortunately, Digital Image Library gives you no way to organize the keywords themselves. Over time you can easily end up with scores of keywords assigned to thousands of images, but the only way the program lets you arrange your keywords is in one long alphabetical list. Compared with the keyword hierarchies offered by Adobe Photoshop Album 2 and Jasc’s Paint Shop Photo Album 5, this is too unwieldy.”

Website: PC Magazine - Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 Review

PC Magazine has reviewed the Canon CanoScan 3000ex flatbed scanner, which features a maximum optical resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi and an enhanced resolution of 9600 dpi.

“Photo scan quality was a bit better than good. Prescans for 4-by-6 and 5-by-7 photos took 11 to 39 seconds, depending on how much the scanner had to warm up. At resolutions of 300 to 400 ppi, the 3000ex took 18 to 20 seconds to scan to the bundled Arcsoft PhotoStudio and save the scans. That’s slower than some other scanners, but faster than our current Editors’ Choice, the Microtek ScanMaker 6100 Pro.”

Website: PC Magazine - CanoScan 3000ex Scanner Review

Casio USA Press Release 06/08/04

CASIO’S EXILIM DIGITAL CAMERAS WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS FROM PC MAGAZINE AND AMERICAN PHOTO

Stylish, Compact EX-P600 and EX-Z40 Digital Cameras Are Named “Editor’s Choice” Winners

DOVER, NJ, August 6, 2004 - Camera buffs in the market for stylish and compact digital that offers award-winning performance, features and value may want to take a recommendation from two leading industry publications and choose one of Casio’s affordable EXILIM digital cameras. PC Magazine and American Photo both awarded Casio’s top-of-the-line 6-megapixel EXILIM PRO EX-P600 “Editor?s Choice” honors in their July 2004 issues. American Photo also cited Casio’s 4-megapixel EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z40 as an “Editor?s Choice” in its look at the top Digital Point and Shoots.

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 09/08/04

SANDISK’S ULTRA II COMPACTFLASH CARDS WIN PRESTIGIOUS DIGITAL IMAGING AWARD FOR SPEED AND PERFORMANCE

SanDisk’s Ultra II CompactFlash Cards Win TIPA Award - Europe’s Highest Award For Best Photo Products

Sunnyvale, CA, Aug. 9, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), an association made up of 30 top photography publications from across Europe, has awarded its Best Imaging Storage Media Award to the SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash line of high-speed storage cards. The SanDisk Ultra II cards were recognized by leading editors, many of whom are professional photographers, as setting “a new standard for industry performance.” TIPA editors judge on quality, performance and value - criteria that are very important to all photographers.

“We have worked very hard to take the leadership position in the digital camera storage card market,” said Nelson Chan, senior vice president and general manager of SanDisk’s retail business unit. “It is a real honor for our efforts to be recognized by such a distinguished panel of experts and one that makes all of us here at SanDisk very proud. The TIPA Award is further assurance that SanDisk’s Ultra II cards will meet the rigorous demands of digital photographers around the world.”

Another take on the London seaside idea - I actually prefer this shot to the one that I posted yesterday, as it shows more of the skyline.

Click on the image to view a larger version in a new window.

The 36th 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 16th August. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 2nd-8th August 2004 contest

The voting for the 35th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

There are 3 joint winners of the contest this week - they are:

”@Crummock” by Onion Club
“Fringe Lily” by tootsie
“u bein bridge amarapura mandalay myanmar” by asasasasas11

Congratulations to all 3 winners!

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

The 37th 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.

Pentax Press Release 08/08/04

Pentax Introduces Two Compact, Lightweight Macro Lenses: First Models Of High-Performance smc Pentax-D FA Series Optimize Digital SLR Image Quality

GOLDEN, Colorado (August 8, 2004) PENTAX Imaging Company will bring the best of both worlds to photographers with two smc PENTAX-D FA interchangeable lenses - the smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm F2.8 and the smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 50mm F2.8. The latest series is designed to optimize image quality in both digital SLR and film photography. Each lightweight macro lens features an image circle to accommodate 35mm format and offers close-up to life-size magnification.

Popular Photography have been busy posting a lot of new reviews and articles on their website, including a review of the Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro (pictured). So in no particular order…

- Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro Review
- Blur Busters!
- Snapshot Print-Off
- Kodak EasyShare DX7630 Review
- Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Review
- Digital Toolbox: Divorce, Digital Style
- Digital Toolbox: The Photoshop Makeover
- Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX OS APO AF
- Canon 28-105mm F/4-5.6 AF
- Flash Battery Packs Review

DigiTimes are running a story about yet another new memory card format, confusingly named the ucard (how do you pronounce that?). What sets it apart from all the other formats on the market is its maximum storage size - a massive 2 terabytes! Apparently the new format will go into mass production in early-2005. We’ll wait and see if it can make an impression in the digicam market, and just how expensive a 2 terabyte card will actually be…(found via Engadget)

“The cards will be able to transfer 120MB of data per second, 10 times faster than Secure Digital (SD) memory cards, sources said. Additional features for the new card include USB 2.0 compatibility, low power, fast I/O and a compatible interface with existing memory cards, the sources added.”

Website: DigiTimes - Taiwan to produce a new type of memory storage device

The Danish website Digital Magasinet have just reviewed the 4-megapixel, 10x zoom Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2.

Website: Digital Magasinet - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 Review

ByteSector have published their review of the HP PSC 2510 Photosmart all-in-one printer/scanner.

“The HP PSC 2510 Photosmart all-in-one delivers all you could really need in a printer. With printer, fax, scanner, and copier all built in and incredibly easy to use, this multi-function printer is a great choice for everyone. The printer is a breeze to integrate into any network especially with its 802.11b wireless capabilities. Even with all these features, HP has not lost sight of the ultimate goal: impeccable image quality. The 2510 prints almost every document in a near perfect fashion and you will likely not be disappointed, especially with high resolution pictures.”

Website: ByteSector - HP PSC 2510 Photosmart Review

It’s been sweltering hot here in London this weekend (although somewhat inevitably a storm is supposed to be on the way…). A few people and a dog were making the most of the summer sun by pretending that this thin strip of sand and pebbles by the Thames was a proper grown-up beach. In the background are some of London’s most famous landmarks, including St. Pauls. The contrast between the built-up skyline and the sandy beach is what I was trying to achieve in this shot.

Click on the image to view a larger version in a new window.

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the intriguing 93 Photo Street, a web application that lets you download a free map of any place in the USA, drag virtual thumb tacks onto the map where you took photos, and then link your images to a location so other people can see what’s there. Anyone care to develop something similar for the UK?!

“Even for those of us who have seen it all before, know where we’re going and never have to ask directions, a map is a handy thing. And with the extra dimension of a slide show, it may soon become impossible to get lost. You can think of 93 Photo Street as a way to illustrate your maps or as a way to arrange your images by location. But whether you’re a tourist, a real estate agent, a visual blogger or just someone who leaves their house every now and then, this is one tool you’ll use. And delight in using, too.”

Website: Imaging Resource - 93 Photo Street Review

Despite all of its recent well-documented troubles, the photography giant Kodak seems to be turning the corner, at least in the USA anyway. An article on the website BizReport shows that Kodak is the second largest digital camera company in terms of market share, just behind Sony, with Canon in third place.

“In the first six months of this year, Kodak shipped 1.47 million point-and-shoot digital cameras in the United States - 80 percent more than in the first half of 2003 - and its market share jumped from 15.3 percent to 18.3 percent, the market research firm IDC said Friday.

While Sony shipped 1.73 million cameras, up 48 percent from the first half of 2003, its slice of the U.S. market slipped from 21.9 percent to 21.5 percent, according to IDC, which is based in Framingham, Mass.”

Website: BizReport