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

Imaging Resource 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.

“I’ll say right up front that I liked the PowerShot S1 IS quite a bit. I’ve always been a fan of long-zoom digicams, and the S1 IS’s unusually effective image-stabilization makes it long, 10x zoom much more usable than it would be otherwise. I don’t have any way to quantify how good a job an image stabilizer does, but would estimate that the one on the S1 IS should let you shoot a good 3 f-stops slower than you’d be able to otherwise, and still get sharp pictures.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Kyocera Finecam SL300R.

“Design-wise, the SL300R is an appealing little camera. It’s sleek and small, and has that ineffable “cool factor” associated with a select few high-tech gadgets. Alas, its performance doesn’t really live up to its appearance, as it has rather sluggish shutter lag and cycle times, too-contrasty images (for my taste, at least), and very short battery life.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Kyocera Finecam SL300R Review

ByteSector have reviewed the new HP Photosmart R707, a stylish 5 megapixel digital camera.

“When it comes to design, it seems that HP has finally decided to make their cameras pleasant to look at. This camera has a flat yet ergonomic design that makes it clean cut and allows its users the opportunity to be gawked at once in a while. All the buttons, microphone, speaker, and outlets are nicely placed and allow even a large handed user (such as myself) to operate the camera with ease. The option buttons are placed nicely around the LCD with the remaining buttons neatly spaced out.”

Website: ByteSector - HP Photosmart R707 Review

nik multimedia Announcement 28/05/04

nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 is now available for immediate purchase and download! nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 photographic filters offer features and functionality that are designed to make digital photographic enhancements not only easier, but better.

nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 filters have all been updated to include more functionality and better features. New features in nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 are:

? 16-bit functionality.
? nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 Selective for applying any filter selectively to an image (compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements only).
? Advanced Panel controls for protecting highlight and shadow detail.
? True Light? technology.
? Larger and expanded preview options.
? A series of Reflector filters that control and add light similar to conventional photographic reflectors.
? Infrared conversions (Color, Black and White, and Thermal Camera).
? Cross Processing filters (both C41 ? E6 and E6 ? C41).
? Over 30 new filters, 75 filters in all.

Read more about these exciting new features, as well as descriptions for each of the 75 filters by downloading and viewing the nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 User Guide. Please click here to download the user guide.

Sandisk Press Release 24/05/04

SANDISK SHIPS SD CARD THAT COMBINES 256MB FLASH MEMORY AND WI-FI COMMUNICATIONS

New SanDisk Combination SD Card Works With Variety of Windows Pocket-PC-Based Handheld Devices

NEW YORK, NY, May 24, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) announced today the availability of the SanDisk 256 megabyte (MB) + Wi-Fi SD Combination card, the world’s first card to include both memory and WLAN (802.11b) communications in a single SD card. The new card is compatible with handheld devices that feature an SDIO-enabled slot and use Microsoft Pocket PC 2002, Pocket PC 2003 or Windows Mobile 2003 operating environments.

Availability of the SanDisk Combination SD card, with shipping planned in the next 30 days to worldwide markets, was announced at the Digital Experience media conference in New York. SanDisk’s 256MB+Wi-Fi SD card has already received a 2004 Mobility Award from MobileTraxx.

Cosina Press Release 27/05/04

Japanese lens manufacturing giant, Cosina, has launched it’s first lens specifically for digital SLR’s. The new arrival gives a true 19mm-35mm f3.5 - 4.5 zoom wide angle, which promises to give the same high performance as it’s non-digital model. Modifications to improve the overall feel and handling of the lens have been made, which include a ‘well balanced’ lens when mounted onto a camera body. 

The lens is constructed of 11 groups and 13 elements with an angle of view of 97 - 63 degrees. With a rotating zoom it has a minimum aperture of f/22 and a minimum focusing distance of 0.5meters. Weighing in at 300 grammes, the 19-35mm zoom is a compact 82mm in diameter and 67.2 mm in length. It has a filter size of 77mm.

Tuesday was a sunnier, warmer day with blue skies and wispy clouds, perfect for another lunchtime stroll with the Canon G3. This time the swivelling LCD of the G3 proved essential, as it meant that I could point the camera up towards the sky and still accurately compose the photo. I don’t think I could have taken the first photo in this series with my Canon 10D or any camera with a fixed LCD screen.

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Spring album of 12 photographs

The 13th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Rod Gray.

“My name is Rod Gray and I have been taking photographs for about 10 years, although I really got the bug about 3 years ago. I am nearing the end of a City and Guilds progression photography course which has been hard work but great fun.

My main interests are flowers, nature and my children. The images submitted are all flowers taken with my EOS 10 D. Some of them have been converted to greyscale which is something I started doing after the Black & White film section of the City Guilds course.”

Website: Portfolios: Rod Gray

Associated Press have published a short review of the 6 megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR.

“Our overnight backpacking trip was supposed to be bare bones ? just enough food for 48 hours, no extra socks, no bulky books. We considered ditching the tent to shed pounds.

But I couldn’t resist one weighty indulgence. I had become addicted to the Nikon D70, a 6.1-megapixel digital camera that costs about $1,300 with an 18-70 mm lens.”

Thanks to Sanj for the link.

Website: Associated Press (via Yahoo News) - Nikon Camera Makes Shots Sparkle

The German website Photoworld.de have reviewed the Olympus Mju 410 Digital camera. The Mju 410 is encased in a full metal body with a silver finish, offers 4 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom. The Mju 410 is the first Mju Digital model to feature TruePic Turbo, a new image processor which sharpens image clarity, contrast and colour for life-like results. Available now for ?299.99 (inc VAT).

Website: Photoworld.de - Olympus Mju 410 Digital Review

Website: Read my review of the Olympus Mju 410 Digital

The latest Luminous Landscape article looks at creating panoramic photographs using two software programs called PanoTools and PTAssembler.

“I dream about being able to afford 22 megapixel medium format backs.  I think that it would be great to be able to capture that much detail with one click of the shutter.  Heck, I?d love to be able to afford a Canon 1Ds.  However, for most amateur photographers that type of hardware is out of reach.  But, with a little bit of practice, you can get some of the same eye popping detail using much more modest equipment.  The answer is to take multiple exposures and stitch them together using software that costs as much as a somewhat nice dinner.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Getting Started with Digital Panoramas

There have been several press release recently from various manufacturers whose products have just won a TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) award. The full list of 26 awards for 2004 is now on the TIPA website. Notable winners include the Sony Cyber-shot DSC T-1 as the Best Digital Consumer Compact Camera, and the Nikon D70 as the Best Consumer Digital SLR Camera.

Website: TIPA Awards 2004

digitalreview.ca have posted a short but interesting article that looks at using the Nikon D2H DSLR, in conjunction with the WT-1 wireless LAN pack and a Regional-BGAN portable satellite modem, to wirelessly transmit images via satellite. You can’t get much more cutting edge than that!

Website: digitalreview.ca - Using the Nikon D2H SLR Wirelessly via Satellite Communications

Digital Secrets have published their review of the new 5 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5200 compact digital camera.

“Do I like it? You bet. It’s more camera in a less-camera package than any other 5-megger I’ve seen and it is very capable. Physical packaging is superb. Most of its image qualities are fine (detail, colorimetry). Most operations are fast, intuitive and easy to understand. Nikon has gone out of its way to improve and streamline menu functions with their recent cameras and it’s appreciated.”

Website: Digital Secrets - Nikon Coolpix 5200 Review

Digital Secrets have just reviewed the 8-megapixel Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom digital camera.

“Somewhere along the line—perhaps several places along the line—choices were made and compromises were accepted. Sadly, the image that the 8080 delivers is a full step lower in quality than the one delivered by the Sony 828. Not quite as much detail, laid back tonality, less vivid color tracking into shadows and apparently less overall dynamic range come out of this camera, even at its most optimum f-stops in a head to head comparison.”

Website: Digital Secrets - Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom Review

Website: Read my review of the Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom

Bytesector have reviewed the Olympus D-580 Zoom which has 4 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens.

“On the LCD screen on the back of the camera, the images looked sharp, well defined and well balanced. I can happily report that this picture quality holds up when the picture is viewed on your PC. Even if the image looks dark on the LCD screen, the camera?s software automatically adjusts the image. When the pictures are loaded into an editor, and viewed at full size, some users reported a little over sharpening. As most users will just be using this camera for taking pictures and printing them, this will not be an issue for most users.”

Website: Bytesector - Olympus D-580 Zoom Review

O’Reilly Media Press Release 26/05/04

“Digital Photography Hacks”: Transform Your Camera into a Magic Photo Machine

Sebastopol, CA—The excitement that most of us felt at owning our first camera was often tempered by the pressure to take “good” photographs. Unless money was no object or you were extraordinarily gifted, the cost and inconvenience of developing film precluded taking photos just for the heck of it. Digital cameras have changed that, offering new outlets for creativity: the ability to experiment without worrying about expense, the instant gratification of seeing your photos immediately, the technology to fine-tune your work with advanced professional techniques, and the means to share your photos instantly with anyone, anyplace in the world. With a digital camera in hand, you can easily capture the moment when baby pulls herself to standing for the first time (and subsequently discovers gravity), or memorialize that rare exhibition of fire dancing with puppets you witnessed while on vacation. And if the photo doesn’t work? Tweak it, or delete it and move on.

Mitsubishi Press Release 24/05/04

Mitsubishi Photo Imaging Introduces CP-9500DW Digital Color Thermal Printer With Ultra-Fast Print Speed And High Volume Capacity
 
IRVINE, Calif. - May 24, 2004—- Mitsubishi Digital Electronics’ Photo Imaging Products
has added the CP-9500DW Digital Color Thermal Printer to its extensive line of high quality photo printers. The CP-9500DW combines an ultra-fast print speed and large capacity print roll to provide an exceptional revenue generating source for professional event photographers.

Building on Mitsubishi?s established reputation for quality dye sublimation thermal transfer printing, the CP-9500DW features a unique roll-type mechanism for jam-free reliability and a color reproduction system developed specifically for digital printing technology. This new technology utilizes built-in Color Imaging Chips to accurately control color characteristics and deliver consistent print quality, regardless of ink sheet. A 346 dpi thermal head further enhances print quality at superior resolutions.

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. It’s packed to the rafters with some great articles - here are my highlights, in no particular order:

- Digital Shortcuts
“I’m letting you know the point of this article right up front. This is for you! It’s for all you folks out there who, like me, have had some doubts about digital and the new learning curve. It’s for those of you who either don’t have the time or the interest to learn every tool that Photoshop has to offer. It’s for those of you out there who don’t mind taking a little shortcut every now and then, and yet you want the confidence in knowing that you can take these Digital Shortcuts without sacrificing quality.”

- Fine Tuning Your Photography
“I’ll show you my seven-step mental check list that I use every time I take a picture to get you thinking of different ways to look at any given potential photograph and to be able to determine what it will take to capture your own vision. While seeing the potential for a great photograph is one thing, exercising good technical skills each time will be just as important. “Fine Tuning Your Photography” is like practicing the basics without any mistakes. It’s seeing great light and knowing what to do with it, or recognizing poor light and returning another day.”

I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of this month’s issue.

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #36