The 27th 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.

The 26th Photo of the Week contest is now closed.

I will choose what I think are the best photographs in my opinion. I will not choose a specific number of images - it could be 5 one week, 13 the next and so on. Please note that my decision is final and I will ignore any attempts to question it!

The overall winner of the contest will then be voted for by you. A Public Poll will be setup on the PhotographyBLOG Forums and you will have 7 days during which you can vote for your favourite photo from the ones that I have chosen. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo of the Week 24th-30th May 2004 contest

DCResource have just reviewed the 4 megapixel Kodak Easyshare LS743 digital camera.

“The Kodak EasyShare LS743 is a nice choice for those looking for a compact, high resolution point-and-shoot camera. Enthusiasts will be turned off by its lack of manual controls and limited image quality choices, but the average shooter probably won’t miss either.”

Website: DCResource - Kodak Easyshare LS743 Review

AK47.tv is an online art photography magazine, published once a month, which showcases images from both fine arts and documentary photographers. It looks very similar design-wise to 28mm.org, but it’s mainly flash-based and features less photographers (6 in total this month).

Website: AK47.tv - May 2004 Issue (#2)

About.com have taken a look at the subject of colour correction in Photoshop, including 3 plugins (AutoFX’s AutoEye 2.0, iCorrect Edit Lab 4.0 and Curvemeister 1.1.8) that aim to give better results than the default tools.

“Photoshop is a program most of us love and hate. Dependable, stable, but at times immensely frustrating. Its built-in tool for colour balancing is one of the more limited aspects. However in the Curves dialogue it does give you a powerful tool for accessing and altering the figures in the files. Unfortunately the interface is one that gives only limited help in doing so.”

Website: About.com - Colour Balance Aids for Photoshop

An online article by the UK-based Independent newspaper attempts to cut through the jargon that surrounds digital cameras and show how to buy the right camera for you.

“If you go wild, then it is easy to spend far too much on equipment that probably exceeds your needs. And digital camera technology is not quite at the same level as the old-fashioned “SLR” (single lens reflex) systems that we’re used to with film. Quality is still variable; swapable lenses such as wide-angle and “macro” (close-up) are still the province of the top-end systems costing ?1,000 or more. But it is perfectly easy to get a camera that will serve all your amateur needs - and possibly have a few tricks to surprise you - for about ?200.”

Website: Independent.co.uk - The digital camera revolution need not snap your nerve

The latest article over at Luminous Landscape is called “Symmetry”, an essay on patterns in the way we see…

“Below are three photographs taken in January, February and March of 2004 respectively. None of them were done with any conscious intent. In each case I simply saw a composition that caught my eye, and photographed it. It wasn’t until viewing a print of the third photograph that I realized the similarity with the others taken just weeks prior. Putting the three prints up on my desk, side by side, I shook my head at the curious symmetry. This simply isn’t a style of shooting that I had done before, and I have no idea where it came from.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Symmetry

Pretec MMC 4.0 USB Card Reader The First and Fastest in the World Taipei, Taiwan, June 1, 2004 ? Pretec Electronics Corp., the 2nd company in the world offering CompactFlash memory card (CF) card since 1995, is demonstrating the world?s first USB card reader supporting MMC 4.0 4-bit mode, which can possibly reach the access speed of up to 26MB/s, the highest speed flash memory card reader in the world today, at COMPUTEX TAIPEI Pretec Booth Hall 4, # 101A here at World Trade Center.

Supporting most popular flash memory cards in the market such as CF I, CF II (or 1? HDD), Smart Media, MMC, MMC 4.0 (4-bit mode), SD, MS, MS-Pro, etc., Pretec USB card reader is the most versatile card reader today. When MMC 4.0 8-bit mode is supported by Q4/2004, Pretec USB card reader can possibly reach a whopping speed of 52MB/s, close to the maximum speed of USB 2.0 specification. Pretec MMC 4.0 USB card reader is sampling now, with mass production scheduled by next month.

PC Magazine have published a review of four of the newest printers on the market; the Epson Stylus Photo R800 (pictured), Canon i80 Color Bubble Jet, Sony DPP-EX50 and the Epson PictureMate.

“From the steady stream of ever-better, ever-cheaper printers, we’ve rounded up reviews of four that will satisfy your demanding and impatient nature. All but the Epson Stylus Photo R800 let you print without a PC. Two are dedicated photo printers: The portable Epson PictureMate ink jet has a built-in carrying handle and produces up to 4- by 6-inch photos that look as good as anything from a drugstore lab for only about 29 cents a shot; the Sony DPP-EX50 is a compact dye-sublimation printer that turns out film-quality prints in three sizes, to a maximum of 4-by-6 inches, at about 50 to 67 cents a pop.”

Thanks to Sanj for the link.

Website: PC Magazine - Personal Photo Labs

The Norwegian website DigIT have published their review of the FujiFilm FinePix F610, a 6-megapixel digital camera that was first announced back in November 2003.

Website: DigIT - FujiFilm FinePix F610 Review

Website: Read my review of the Fujifilm FinePix F610

CNET have just reviewed the Canon Powershot S1 IS digital camera, which offers 10x image stablised zoom, 3 megapixels and high-quality 640 x 480 video at 30 frames/second with sound.

“With the 3.2-megapixel Canon PowerShot S1 IS, the company takes the appeal of a 10X zoom lens one step further with optical image stabilization. Excellent movie capture, manual exposure control, solid image quality, and a host of other pluses add to its attractiveness. Its design isn’t for those who favor simplicity or elegance, though, and advanced photographers may be turned off by its limited resolution and file-type options.”

Website: CNET - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review

Sigma Press Release 28/05/04

Sigma introduce digital SLR battery charger kit - 28 May 2004  

Sigma have announced a D00006 Battery Charger SD kit that consists of two rechargeable CR-V3 type Lithium-Ion batteries BP-11 and a charger BC-11. CR-V3 type Li-ion Rechargeable battery BP-11 is exclusive to the SD9 and SD10 digital SLR cameras.

It takes about 120-minutes to fully charge a battery with the dedicated Battery Charger BC-11. This Sigma Battery Charger SD will be sold as a kit that consists of a charger (BC-11), and two pieces of Lithium-Ion batteries (BP-11).

PicsToBits Press Release 28/05/04

Take Control of Your Actions with ActionDex, the Action Manager for Adobe(c) Photoshop(c)

Mason, Ohio—May 27, 2004—PicsToBits (http://www.picstobits.com) announces the release of ActionDex 1.0, a powerful new tool to organize and manage Photoshop actions.

ActionDex solves a frequent problem for Photoshop users- organizing and managing hundreds or thousands of actions so they are easy to find. By using a hierarchy of user-defined categories (much like folders in Windows Explorer), users can organize their actions into logical task-based groupings to reflect their personal work style.  Actions can even be placed in multiple categories and users can add notes to keep track of favorite settings, tips, etc.  Predefined fields allow tracking of the action author, download location, description, and user assigned rating.

LumaPix Press Release 28/05/04

Professional image manipulation and distribution application delivers revolutionary performance & flexibility

Supported platforms: Windows 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP
MSRP: $89.95 USD (Free trial available)

LumaPix::FotoFusion v3 PRO provides unrivalled creative power for the creation and distribution of high-resolution photocompositions, such as collages, class composites, scrapbooks, contact sheets, wedding albums, and other complex multi-image tasks.

FotoFusion’s Fluid user interface and high-performance processing engine produce an exhilarating experience for the artist, with direct, real-time manipulation of all aspects of the composition including opacity, rotation, blurs and gamma.

Nikon UK Press Release 28/05/04

Nikon, leader in film and digital cameras, today announced the introduction of the Coolpix 4100, a new consumer digital camera with slim dimensions, 4.0-megapixel performance and surprisingly simple operation.

Building on the success and capabilities of the Coolpix 3200 and featuring the same stylish grip, the Coolpix 4100 feels comfortable in the hand and makes operation easy through its enhanced Graphic User Interface (GUI), which displays easy-to-see menus on a bright 1.6-in. TFT LCD monitor. All controls are placed on the back of the camera for convenient access.

The Coolpix 4100 even has the advantage of 14.5MB of internal memory. This allows the user to shoot pictures when there’s no SD memory card inserted, or copy shots between the internal memory and SD cards as desired.

Nikon UK Press Release 28/05/04

The world’s first f/2 aperture SLR lens to feature Vibration Reduction

A revolutionary SLR photographic lens, the AF-S VR Nikkor 200mm f/2G IF-ED is the first* f/2 aperture lens to feature Vibration Reduction (VR) technology. Heralding an exciting breakthrough in photographic performance, the VR technology extends shooting opportunities beyond the limits of the currently available photographic lenses.

f/2 maximum aperture combined with Vibration Reduction
The unique combination of an f/2 maximum aperture combined with Vibration Reduction technology offers exciting photographic opportunities in low light conditions, previously impossible to achieve without resorting to grainy high-speed film or noise-prone digital ISO sensitivity settings.

The shallow depth of field created by the wide f/2 aperture offers a unique result, combined with a pleasing background blur and bright viewfinder image the AF-S VR Nikkor 200mm f/2G IF-ED suites photographers seeking to freeze movement with fast shutter speeds in low lighting conditions.

Nikon UK Press Release 28/05/04

Nikon is pleased to introduce the AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II; the first teleconverter to offer a 1.7x lens focal length magnification, but with exposure compensation kept to just 1.5 stops. Designed exclusively for use with AF-S and AF-I Nikkor lenses, the AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II is the newest member of the Nikon range, consisting of 1.4x, 1.7x, and 2.0x focal length magnification factors.

With dimensions of just 66 x 31.5mm (2.6 x 1.2 in.) and a weight of only 250g (approx.) the AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II is compact and lightweight to use. Attached to a camera body, for example, with the latest AF-S VR Nikkor 200mm f/2G IF-ED lens, the combination of lens and teleconverter offers the photographer an impressive focal length of 340mm with a maximum aperture of just f/3.3. On all of Nikon’s digital SLRs an approximate 135-picture angle equivalent to 510mm is possible, whilst maintaining the same maximum aperture of f/3.3.

Sony has announced the DSC-P120, a Special Edition black body version of the DSC-P100 digital camera, with a black leather case and 2 InfoLITHIUM batteries supplied. Available mid-June 2004 for £379.00.

Features:
- Same as DSCP100 plus: Special Edition black body, 2 x InfoLITHIUM batteries and black leather case supplied
- Compact aluminium body
- 5 effective megapixel Sony Super HAD CCD
- 3x optical zoom
- Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar lens
- Real Imaging processor
- MPEG Movie VX Fine with sound
- 9 scene modes
- Manual exposure mode
- Conversion lens compatible
- STAMINA InfoLITHIUM battery supplied: up to 350 shots per charge
- Compatible with all Memory Stick formats
- USB direct print with PictBridge
- 32MB memory Stick supplied
- Optional Cyber-shot station available at extra cost (PC, TV connection and charging)
- Optional Accessories available at extra cost: Battery NPFR1; Accessory Kit ACCCFR; Cyber-shot station CSSPHA; Carry Cases LCMPHA, LCSPHC, LCSCSD and Marine Pack MPKPHB

New C1 RAW Workflow software with Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus and Pentax camera support

May 27, 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark: Phase One, the world leader in professional digital imaging camera backs and software, announces a new version of their C1 RAW Workflow software.

C1 3.5 includes support for new DSLR cameras and Phase One digital backs on both Windows and Macintosh platforms, as well as exciting new workflow features. New customers can get a FREE trial today. Existing users can update now to start benefiting from C1 Version3.5.

The objective of the C1 RAW Workflow software is to provide professional photographers with:
* Maximum image quality
* The fastest workflow
* The best support

Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus and Pentax shooters can now join the C1 family
New camera support has been added to C1. Canon: 1D MKII /1D /1Ds /10D /300D /D60 /D30 Nikon: D2H / D1H /D1X /D100 /D70, Fuji S2 Pro, Olympus: E1** / E10** / E20** as well as Pentax *istD users can join the C1 RAW Workflow family. The new camera support is available for both Mac and PC platforms.
** Will be available in the June release of C1 software that is free of charge to all V3.5 uses.

Are 8 megapixels just not enough for you? Then you may be interested in the 500 megapixel Dark Energy Camera, available now at your local friendly camera store. Or maybe not :-)

“Fermilab is part of a collaboration proposing an ambitious new experiment to measure the properties of dark energy. If approved, the Dark Energy Survey would measure the history of the expansion rate of the universe more precisely than ever before, using the largest camera ever built with Charge Coupled Devices (CCD). The 500 megapixel Dark Energy Camera would be placed on an existing 4-meter telescope located in north-central Chile at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.”

Thanks to Sanj for the link.

Website: FermiLab - Time Exposure