The first ever PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by roadbuilder49.

“The theme of my submission is winter. The images are all taken along the Idaho side of Hells Canyon with digital cameras while snowmobiling.

I am a Civil Engineer and have been into digital photography for about 3 years. My current cameras are a Canon S50 and a Nikon 4500.”

Website: Portfolios: roadbuilder49

Freelance outdoor photographer Jean-Fran?ois Ma?on has been traveling around the world with photography as a main driver since the age of 14, specializing in landscape, adventure and travel photography. Jean-Fran?ois has kindly allowed me to publish his excellent article “Digital Photography in the Wilderness”:

Is digital photography up to the challenges of extended outdoor adventures in harsh conditions? A year ago, I would probably have answered: no.That is, until this spring, when I could not resist the call of the new EOS 10D. And when I embarked this autumn on a climbing expedition to the Himalayas, I intended to photograph digital. The purpose of this article is to share my planning process and conclusions, focusing on the specific questions and issues that outdoor photographers face on longer trips.

Website: PhotographyBLOG Article: “Digital Photography in the Wilderness”

Tuesday 27th April was Freedom Day, commemorating the 10th anniversary of freedom in South Africa. Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, to both remember and celebrate.

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 Freedom Day album of 34 photographs

Photo.net’s latest technique-based article looks at TCs (teleconverters, multipliers) and their effect on image quality.

“TCs are very useful accessories but they work best when low power TCs are used with high quality prime lenses. If you’re looking to preserve the maximum amount of image quality from your prime lens, use a 1.4x TC and preferably one made by the lens manufacturer. 3rd party TCs can be quite good, especially when used with digital cameras with small sensors since in that case the image quality at the edge of the full 43mm image circle used in full frame 35mm format isn’t seen by the sensor.”

Website: Photo.net - TC or not TC, that is the question…

Steves Digicams have posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-W1 digital compact camera.

“The overall image quality in 2592x1944/Fine mode is excellent, for the most part the default settings produce well saturated and properly exposed pictures. The user can control the saturation, contrast and sharpness so you can “dial in” just the right look for your images. I found that the automatic white balance did its job well and only under some very mixed lighting did I need to manually set the color temperature. I was pleased with our outdoor test shots. The images were sharp, well saturated, and there was very little noise in open blue sky areas.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony DSC-W1 Review

Steves Digicams is the first website to review the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-P100 digital camera.

“The P100 makes an excellent choice for those wanting an ultra-compact, high- performance camera that produces high-quality 5-megapixel images. That’s plenty of resolution to print photo-quality 8x10-inch or larger prints. With it’s rugged all-metal body and built in lens protector, you don’t have to worry about little bumps and scratches or losing the lens cap. If these are features you’re looking for in a digital camera, than the Cyber-shot DSC- P100 is just the ticket.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony DSC-P100 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Contax SL300R T*, a 3.2 megapixel digital camera which features a Carl Zeiss T* Lens, slim swivel body design and unlimited continuous shooting at 3.5fps.

“Combining a 3 megapixel imager with a 3x zoom lens in an extremely compact, durable and stylish body, the Contax SL300R T* makes an attractive package. With an average image quality, excellent shooting performance, and versatile shooting modes, many style conscious people will find it a perfect answer to their digicam needs. With a street price of $499, the SL300R T* is priced a bit higher than its competitors, but maybe its unique size, style and performance justify that difference to many prospective buyers.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Contax SL300R T* Review

Steves Digicams have published a review of the Sony DPP-EX50 PictureStation printer. This is a dedicated, at-home photo printer that uses dye-sublimation technology, to create durable, lab-quality prints. The model incorporates both Memory Stick PRO and CompactFlash media slots, as well as two USB ports - one in the front for connection to a digital camera or camcorder and one in the back for connection to a PC.

“The print quality is like every other dye-sub printer that we’ve reviewed to date. This is not a bad thing as every dye-sub printer that we’ve reviewed has produced prints the equal of their wet-processed, film counterparts. This printing process is totally dry, no leaky ink cartridges to change, only a dry and clean ribbon cartridge and the special paper that it prints on. Dye-sub printers make four passes on the paper, three to lay down the primary colors (magenta, cyan and yellow) and the fourth pass puts a protective overcoat on the print that protects it from UV fading, fingerprints, scratches and moisture.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony DPP-EX50 PictureStation Review

Steves Digicams has just reviewed the Apacer Disc Steno CP-200 portable storage device, which can transfer image files or other data from flash memory cards to CD-R or CD-R/W discs without a computer.

“You’ve gotta love progress and the fact that the vastly improved CP-200 sells for the same $299 that the CP-100 sold for last year. It works very well and is simple to operate - what more can I say?  We want to use our digital cameras on vacation but we don’t want to have to bring a large and expensive laptop computer along. They make a very desirable target for thieves when sitting unattended in your hotel room or rental car. I’d rather risk a $299 CP-200 than my $3000 Sony VAIO—how about you?”

Website: Steves Digicams - Apacer Disc Steno CP-200 Review

Roger Cavanagh has published a short review of the A4 Epson Stylus Photo R800 printer. I have just received this printer from Epson and will be publishing my review in the next couple of weeks.

“The GO evens out the surface of the print, so there are no irregular reflections and no “etched effect”. Everyone I’ve shown prints to has said the same thing: words to the effect “they look just like real photos”. The results on matte paper are also excellent. I bought a sample box of fine art papers - mainly Hahnem?le - and the prints are delightful, even without custom profiles. (The GO is turned off by default for matte papers, and I haven’t experimented as there seems little point.)”

The R800 printer costs around ?299 and is available now. Cartridges cost ?11.90 each and ?6.35 for the Gloss Optimizer cartridge (inc. VAT).

Website: Roger Cavanagh - Epson Stylus Photo R800 Review

Website: Read my review of the Epson Stylus Photo R800

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have reviewed the Fuji FinePix F420 Zoom, the smallest Fujifilm camera to incorporate Super CCD HR technology and 30 frames per second video.

Website: Index Digicam - Fuji FinePix F420 Zoom Review

The Slovenian website eFotoGrafija have posted a test of the new 8 megapixel professional DSLR from Canon, the EOS 1D Mark II. It’s well worth a look even if you can’t speak Slovenian and even if you can’t afford the hefty price-tag of Canon’s new DSLR. The ISO 3200 shots at the bottom of the page look amazing for such a high ISO speed.

Website: eFotoGrafija - Canon EOS 1D Mark II Test

Josh Waller has just reviewed the extremely cheap and cheerful 2-megapixel Visioneer MX-200 digital camera, which costs just £39.99 from Toys’R'Us.

“The camera produces nice pictures, with good colour (if slightly yellowy), and produces good pictures even when using the flash close up. The preset modes are especially useful and make the camera easy to use. The camera has a decent size optical viewfinder which should please people who are new to digital cameras as they may prefer the more traditional way of composing their pictures. If you need or want sound with videos, this camera, unfortunately will not be suitable.”

Website: Josh Waller - VIsioneer MX-200 Review

Despite only being just over 1 year old, and not specifically being a digital photography website, PhotographyBLOG has come 3rd in the inaugural 2004 Digital Photography Site Awards :-)

Somewhat predictably DPReview won with 111 votes, followed by DCResource with 56, whilst PhotographyBLOG tied with DP-Now on 40 votes.

So thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for PhotographyBLOG!

Website: 2004 Digital Photography Site Awards

The latest round of the unique Greek Gods photo contest over at DP-Now is about to end, so you just have a few more hours to submit your entry. The theme for the April 2004 stage is Dyonysus (god of wine). This month’s winner will receive £500 towards Olympus products and go through to the grand finale in the summer for a £2,000 luxury holiday in Greece. Please note that the contest is only open to residents of the UK and Eire.

Website: DP-Now - Greek Gods Photo Contest - April Stage

dotPhoto, Inc. Press Release 29/04/04

DOTPHOTO CELEBRATES MOTHERS DAY THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MAY—20% OFF ON PICTURE FRAMES WITH FREE PRINTS

Framed Family Photos are Perfect Gifts for Mom

Easy-to-Use DotPhotos Membership is Free - No Contracts Needed to Order Prints Online

West Trenton, NJ - April 29, 2004 - dotPhoto, Inc. www.dotPhoto.com, a global leader in state-of-the-art online digital image handling, announced today their Mothers Day special of 20% off on picture frames with free prints available from now until May 31, 2004.  dotPhoto is celebrating Mothers day throughout the month of May to introduce its new line of fabulous framed prints.  Members can choose from an assortment of classic and modern wood and metal frames to create once in-a-lifetime beautifully framed photo gifts that mothers will cherish for years to come.  And unlike other photo sites, dotPhotos membership is free, so everyone can easily go online and print digital photos without signing up for a long-term commitment or binding contracts.

This is a reminder that the April competition will end on Friday 30th April. There are currently over 40 entries so far. The theme for the April 2004 Competition is “Happiness”. You just have to submit one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets the theme. The winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges.

The following prizes will be awarded to the top 3 entries:

1st Place
Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

2nd Place
1 copy of Ulead PhotoImpact XL
Kindly donated by Ulead Systems.
http://www.ulead.co.uk

3rd Place
1 copy of Picasa
Kindly donated by Picasa Inc.
http://www.picasa.net

Please make sure that you read the Monthly Competition Rules before submitting your entry. The competition is worldwide and open to everyone.

DCResource have just reviewed the new 8-megapixel Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 digital camera.

“The A2 usually takes good photos, though not the best of the 8MP bunch, as they’re soft and a bit noisy. Minolta does have purple fringing under control, unlike most of the competition. In terms of performance, the A2 is excellent. It starts up, shoots, and plays back photos very quickly. In low light the camera focuses very well, despite not having an AF-assist lamp. And, since both the LCD and electronic viewfinder are usable in low light, you can actually see what you’re taking a picture of. Speaking of the EVF, it’s excellent—by far the best one I’ve used.”

Website: DCResource - Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 Review

DigIT have reviewed the ZUIKO DIGITAL 11-22mm F2.8-3.5 lens, a bright, high performance wide zoom lens for the Olympus E-System, which was first announced back in January.

Website: DigIT - Olympus 11-22mm E-System Lens Review

“Memory Card Readers and Memory Cards - Sequential Read Rates and Random Access Times” is a great resource if you’re interested in the speed of different readers and cards. Published by Hans-Jurgen Reggel, the site covers 10 card readers and 24 memory cards, and then tests all of the different combinations (found via digicamera.net).

Website: Memory Card Readers and Memory Cards