ByteSector.com has reviewed the dye-sublimation Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer, which produces a photo-lab quality 6x4” print in less than 45 seconds. The Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer has a street price of $199.

“The pictures printed from the P-10 are clean, vivid, and free of noise and distortions. If you are worrying about seeing lines or distortion, rest assured you will not find any downsides in print quality.”

Website: ByteSector.com - Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer Review

The Fuji FinePix A205S Zoom (also known as the A205 Zoom) is a compact digital camera that is aimed squarely at the new digital photographer, and even the new photographer for that matter. Fuji claims that its “as easy to use as your TV remote” and will “tame even the most timid technophobe”. With a 2 megapixel CCD sensor and a 3x optical zoom, the Fuji FinePix A205S Zoom doesn’t offer much in the way of innovation, but then you can buy one for less than ?100. Ease of use is the name of the game with this camera, so have Fuji delivered on their promises? Find out in my review.

Website: Fuji FinePix A205S Review

The winners of the April 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for April was “Happiness” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery.

The panel of judges thought long and hard before deciding on the three winners:

1st Place
“Love” by ologram
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“I thought this photograph was interesting because it is in black and white. It captures the feeling of happiness without depending on vibrant colors to give it an upbeat feel.  The photo is close up on the mother and child which give a personal feel and immediately make me smile.”

“This really depicts the feeling of happiness as well as being a great image.”

Prize: Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space, kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

2nd Place
“First Snow” by amorin
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“Beautiful, rich colors and great exposure.  Wonderful expressions on their faces that show that they are happy and having the time of their lives.”

“This is a beautifully colored photograph. The strong red, yellow and blue in the center draw my attention quickly.  The feeling of happiness is clearly portrayed by both the colors and boys photographed.”

Prize: 1 copy of Ulead PhotoImpact XL, kindly donated by Ulead Systems.
http://www.ulead.co.uk

3rd Place
“My Happiest Time” by gallery1905
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“This photograph caught my attention immediately due to the stark contrast between black and white.  The overpowering white is just balanced by the black of the ground and figures creating a striking image.  It evokes the feeling of happiness subtly.”

Prize: 1 copy of Picasa, kindly donated by Picasa Inc.
http://www.picasa.net

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who took part!

The fifth PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Oscar CC.

“This is a collection of photos meant for a photography contest that took place at the Poble Espanyol (the Spanish Village) in Barcelona. Situated at the foot of Mount Montjuic, site of the 1992 Olympic Games, the Poble Espanyol is a watercolour painting which portrays the different peoples and cultures of Spain, represented in the form of streets and squares, monuments and buildings. Built in 1929 on the occasion of the Barcelona International Exhibition, the Poble Espanyol is the only initiative of its kind which has survived the test of time.

The theme of the competition was ‘Lights And Shadows’, so I thought black and white would suit the photos better. I hope you like them.”

Website: Portfolios: Oscar CC

Vincent Oliver over at Photo-i has now completed his interactive review of the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 17” wide desktop printer.

“This printer is going to appeal to many photographers - pro and amateur. For the professional it will give total control on every stage of the picture creation process, quality can be closely monitored. Amateurs who want something bigger than an A3, the 4000 will fit the bill. For the art photographer, this printer is an affordable means of producing limited edition prints and limited doesn’t mean the amount of time the print is going to last before fading. The success of this printer is already assured, there is already a large demand for this printer.”

Website: Photo-i - Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Interactive Review

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have posted their review of the new 6 megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR.

Website: Index Digicam - Nikon D70 Review

Imaging Resource have published a preview of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

“Last year’s PowerShot S45 and S50 impressed me as well-built cameras with excellent image quality and rich feature sets. This year’s S60 model constitutes a significant upgrade to the S50, with a wider-angle zoom lens and improved control layout. Image quality will be the real issue though, given the new lens technology that Canon is using in the S60. With so many variables involved (a whole new lens design with thinner elements, high-index optical glass, and a new aspheric lens-molding technology), the result could be a camera with better, worse, or similar image quality to the earlier units. What I saw in the prototype unit was encouraging, but I’m refraining from making any final evaluation until I can put a production model through the wringer.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon PowerShot S60 Preview

The Polish website FotoPolis has reviewed the Olympus C-760 Ultra Zoom digital camera, which has 3.2 megapixels and a 10x zoom lens.

Website: FotoPolis - Olympus C-760 Ultra Zoom Review

The Slovenian website e-FotoGrafija have just reviewed the 6 megapixel Canon EOS 300D DSLR.

Website: e-FotoGrafija - Canon EOS 300D Review

Picasa, Inc. Press Release 10/05/04

Blogger Users Can Add Pictures to Their Blogs With Picasa’s Hello Software

Pasadena, Calif. - May 10, 2004 - Picasa, Inc., the leading developer of software which enables photographers to effortlessly organize, manage and share digital photos, announced today a product integration with Blogger, the free, fast and easy-to-use service for publishing and sharing information online. Through Picasa’s Hello photosharing application, Blogger users can now post photos and captions directly to their personal weblogs, or blogs.

Hello enables users to instantly share images securely over a peer-to-peer network and chat about them. The new Hello “BloggerBot” enables Hello users to post photos and captions to their Blogger blogs. The BloggerBot resizes the photo, uploads and publishes it to the web in seconds.

Digital Outback Photo have started their diary review of the 14 megapixel Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c.

“Recently Kodak announced to add a camera like the SLR/n that can take Canon lenses. We are one of the first getting our hands on a SLR/c production sample. Because the SLR/c uses the same chip and imaging electronics as the SLR/n (read our review)we actually know the image detail the SLR/c should be able to deliver. But now we will be able to use the same lens on a Canon 1Ds and the SLR/c.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c Review

It was only announced yesterday, but DCResource have already published a preview of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

“The RAW + JPEG option isn’t what it sounds like. The camera doesn’t save a separate JPEG image along with the RAW file like Canon’s SLR cameras. Rather, it embeds a JPEG thumbnail that allows for the zoom and scroll (AKA playback zoom) feature and image playback on the camera or the PC. Why would you want to use a larger thumbnail? The answer is, to check the detail in the image. If you use the zoom and scroll feature a lot, a higher resolution thumbnail will let you see more detail when zoomed in.”

Website: DCResource - Canon PowerShot S60 Preview

The German website digitalkamera.de have today reviewed the 8 megapixel Canon PowerShot Pro1, which was announced by Canon just before the start of the PMA 2004 trade show.

Website: digitalkamera.de - Canon PowerShot Pro1 Review

The Norwegian website DigIT have just reviewed the 6 megapixel Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P600 digital camera.

Website: DigIT - Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P600 Review

CNEt have published their review of the new 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8700 digital camera.

“An 8X ED-Nikkor zoom lens distinguishes Nikon’s Coolpix 8700 from the rest of the 8-megapixel competition but not much else. It shoots great pictures with loads of detail, and it offers enthusiasts a solid feature set, but those same photographers will probably grumble about its lackluster performance and some aspects of its design.”

Website: CNET - Nikon Coolpix 8700 Review

The Spanish website quesabesde.com have posted their review of the new 6 megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR.

Website: quesabesde.com - Nikon D70 Review

Delkin Devices Inc. Press Release 10/05/04

DELKIN?S USB BRIDGE CONNECTS A DIGITAL CAMERA DIRECTLY TO A STORAGE DEVICE WITHOUT A COMPUTER

Poway CA, May 10, 2004 Delkin Devices Inc., maker of premium quality eFilm memory cards and other innovative products, announces a revolutionary new device that connects two USB devices together without a computer. The USB Bridge fits easily in the palm of one’s hand, and enables users to copy files by attaching a digital camera directly to a variety of peripherals such as an iPod (and other MP3 players), USB Flash “Thumb Drives”, external hard drives, CD-R burners and memory card readers. It links your camera to a wide variety of USB mass storage devices without having to remove the memory card. The Bridge works with all the top camera brands including Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus and Sony. Delkin designed the Bridge for the traveling photographer who prefers the convenience of leaving their laptop at home but still needs a solution for storing and transferring files on the fly. The versatile USB Bridge is more than a helpful tool for photographers.  It can also work independent of a digital camera and enables anyone to copy files by directly linking:

- USB Flash “Thumb Drives” to USB Flash “Thumb Drives”.
- A USB storage device to an iPod and other USB MP3 players.
- Memory Card Reader to Memory Card Reader.
- USB Flash “Thumb Drive” or Memory Card Reader to a CD-R burner or External Hard Drive.

I’ve just returned home unscathed from a weekend of mountain biking in the Afan Forest, South Wales. So normal service has been resumed here on PhotographyBLOG, until next weekend when I will be at my friend’s stag night extravaganza :-)

On a cycling-related note, at the start of June I’m undertaking a 3-day, 300km cycle challenge from London to Amsterdam to raise money for Mind, the UK mental health charity. In addition to all of the training that I’ve been doing, I also have to raise ?1000 in sponsorship.

So if you would like to show your support with a pledge, I would be very grateful :-)
You can a make a donation via this website:

Website: My Personal Donation Page

I’ve included some information below about some of the work Mind does and what my sponsorship money can help to fund.

Mind is the leading mental health charity working with the one in four people who experience mental health problems, which are common and can happen to anyone. Such problems can have a devastating effect on all aspects of life.

The MindinfoLine is a lifeline to many thousands of people in crisis. It offers immediate, free and confidential support to people who might have nowhere else to turn. The scale of the problem is daunting and Mind is committed to increasing services, to helping everyone who needs Mind’s help.

Sponsorship from just one London - Amsterdam cyclist could pay the running costs of the MindinfoLine for two working days, during which time Mind can help 200 people in distress.

Website: MIND

Thanks very much for your support!

DPreview have just published their review of the 5 megapixel Leica Digilux 2.

“When you first handle the Digilux 2 you can’t help but be impressed by its build quality and logical control layout. I’m quite comfortable stating that the Digilux 2 has the easiest to use manual controls of any current digital camera. This allows for quick switching into aperture priority, shutter priority or manual focus. It’s clear that Leica has also worked hard to ensure the small details are as we would expect, from the weighty yet smooth motion of the lens barrel rings to the neat compartment doors.”

Website: DPReview - Leica Digilux 2 Review

The winner of the 23rd PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week contest is Gary55 with the entry “Afternoon Raccoon”. There are no prizes as such for this contest, but the winning photo is displayed on the PhotographyBLOG homepage for a week, and the winner can display the Photo of the Week logo on their website if they wish.

The 24th Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography challenge where you decide who the winner is by voting for your favourite photos. It’s an open 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.