I’m off to Santa Cruz in Tenerife on Wednesday for a 10-day trip to soak up the sun and photograph the Carnival, which apparently is the second-biggest in the world after Rio de Janeiro (at least that’s what the guidebook claims). Consequently I won’t be answering emails or updating PhotographyBLOG until I arrive back on March 1st. The Photo of the Week competition will also return on that day.

Newsline International Press Release 17/02/04

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., USA; Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan; and Canon Inc., Tokyo, Japan; were the companies leading digital-camera sales in the fourth quarter—a period that saw explosive sales growth and widespread acceptance of filmless photography by average shutterbugs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Total U.S. shipments of digital still cameras soared to 7.5 million units in the period, an 85 percent gain from a year earlier, according to market researcher International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass., USA.

For the year, market researcher NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y., USA, estimated digital-camera sales grew 29 percent to $3.6 billion in the United States, excluding Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which doesn’t participate in the survey. Worldwide rankings for the year aren’t available.

Kodak, with strong sales of its EasyShare cameras, gained eight points of market share to become the No. 2 shipper of digital cameras in the United States in the quarter with 20 percent, trailing Japan’s Sony Corp. at 22 percent. Japan’s Canon gained four points of share and moved up to the No. 3 ranking, at 16 percent. Kodak and Canon moved past the previous No. 2, Olympus Corp., which slipped to No. 4 with a 10 percent share, said the article.

Kopin Corp. Press Release 17/02/04

Kopin’s Ultra High-Resolution Color VGA Display System Selected for Groundbreaking Konica Minolta Eight-Megapixel SLR-Type Camera

TAUNTON, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 17, 2004—Kopin CyberEVF(TM) VGA is World’s Highest-Resolution Electronic Viewfinder System in a Digital Still Camera  

Kopin Corp. (NASDAQ: KOPN) today announced that the new Konica Minolta eight-megapixel DiMAGE A2 digital still camera (DSC), the first in a new generation of professional-class photography equipment, incorporates a full-color Kopin CyberEVF(TM) Electronic Viewfinder system, which is the highest-resolution viewfinder ever used in a DSC. The DiMAGE A2 just commenced shipping in Asia and is expected to be available in the United States by the end of February, 2004.

The Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 is a single-lens reflex (SLR)-type DSC that for the first time enables photographers to preview the color, lighting and composition of what they are shooting precisely as it will appear in the finished photograph. To deliver this unprecedented performance, the DiMAGE A2 incorporates Kopin’s CyberEVF system along with Konica Minolta’s “Super Fine EVF” technology. In addition to providing extraordinary viewfinder resolution, these complementary systems allow the DiMAGE A2 to display remaining battery life and available memory - information that can be critical to capturing once-in-a-lifetime images.

“With its low-power, miniature footprint and exceptionally large high-resolution image, Kopin’s CyberEVF viewfinder system enables us to give our customers - both hobbyists and professionals - a power-efficient, feature-rich camera that will enable them to create consistently superior images,” said Keiichi Ishizuka, division manager, Digital Photo Development Division, Konica Minolta Camera, Inc. Japan. “With the CyberEVF-equipped DiMAGE A2, what you see is what you get - a tremendous advance for photographers who have mastered the art of seeing. The camera also enables exact focusing capabilities through the viewfinder, eliminating the parallax problems common in other high-resolution DSCs. We look forward to future collaborations with Kopin that advance the state of the photographic art.”

The winning image in the World Press Photo of the Year 2003 award has been announced.  color image of a masked Iraqi war prisoner holding his 4-year-old son at a U.S. detention camp by Associated Press Photographer Jean-Marc Bouju won the award. More than 63,000 photos were entered with 81% taken using a digital camera. Visit the MSNBC website to see the winning image.

Website: MSNBC

Website: World Press Photo

Epson UK Press Release 17/02/04

EPSON(r) increases quality and control standards with new colour measurement device

EPSON’s latest Stylus Photo 2100 model includes the new Eye-One( DISPLAY from GretagMacbeth, which allows the user to create individual display profiles for their monitor, enabling them to work with colour more accurately.

February 2004:  The EPSON Stylus Photo 2100 offers semi-pro and professional photographers new standards in photographic output.  Based on EPSON’s commitment to building upon its established A3+ industry benchmark and following customer feedback, this latest model provides imaging functionality to meet the needs of today’s photographers.  The Stylus Photo 2100 combines a revolutionary inkjet system, high-resolution printing and flexible media handling to deliver premium quality photo prints that rival traditional silver-halide results.

The latest improvement of the popular Stylus Photo 2100 includes the new Eye-One DISPLAY from GretagMacbeth. This colour management solution allows the user to easily calibrate and profile all types of CRT or LCD monitors, making it the ideal solution for professional and semi-pro photographers who need consistent, accurate colour.

Fujifilm UK Press Release 17/02/04

17 February 2004: Fujifilm has today unveiled a new addition to its digital camera range based on the company’s highly-acclaimed Super CCD SR technology: the FinePix F710 Zoom. 

The FinePix F710 Zoom enters Fujifilm’s range as a partner to the FinePix F700 Zoom, which has won more awards than any other camera in the company’s compact digital line-up. The new model ups the ante further with a 4x zoom lens, widescreen LCD display and a pop-up flash. The F700 model will continue to be available alongside the F710.

One of the first features visible on the FinePix F710 Zoom is a brand new Fujinon 4x optical zoom lens. Fujifilm’s optical know-how has succeeded in accommodating this extra lens power in a body of unchanged dimensions. With a zoom equivalent to 32.5mm to 130mm on a 35mm camera, the F710 Zoom goes a little wider and a little longer than the average compact digital camera.

In recognition of the growing popularity of the widescreen format used in a range of consumer electronics products, the FinePix F710 Zoom incorporates a new 2.1” widescreen LCD for image capture and playback of 16:9 format images - a picture size adjusted for optimised playback on the now-ubiquitous widescreen television. In addition, printing images is made easier thanks to the inclusion of PictBridge, the industry standard for printing images from a digital camera without using a PC.

Imacon Press Release 16/02/04

Imacon enter market with Ixpress 528C digital camera back - 16 Feb 2004
 
The new back, capable of shooting raw uninterpolated images of up to 528Mb using Imacon’s unique micro-step 4*Res capture process, completes the company’s successful Ixpress digital camera back family, which has made Imacon one of the world leaders in high-end digital camera back manufacturers in terms of both technology and sales.

Says Christian Poulsen, founder and managing director, Imacon: “We have been immensely encouraged by market interest in, and sales of, our range of digital backs over the past two years. Even we at Imacon underestimated the depth to which the market would embrace our technology. The launch of the new Ixpress 528C is the next step in our concept of ‘Unlimited Photography.”

“With the introduction of our Ixpress 528C and its unique 4*Res module (patent pending) - a major technological advance for the industry - we are now providing the photographer with even greater flexibility, and once again proving Imacon is at the cutting edge of digital back technology.

“There have been questions posed as to whether there is an industry need for a 528 MB digital back. However, we believe in developing technology that suits not only today’s requirements, but those of the future. What we have developed with the 528C is a virtually future-proof digital back.”

Now that PMA is over expect to see websites who actually attended the show to start publishing photos from the event (although Phil Askey from DPReview managed to do this throughout the show!). First up is A-Digital-Eye with a gallery showing the new Konica Minolta DSLR, Canon Powershot Pro1, Olympus C-8080 and several other new products.

Website: A-Digital-Eye’s PMA Photo Gallery

Now that PMA and the flood of new camera announcements have finished, it’s a good opportunity to get back to the main point of it all - taking photographs. Here are a series of winter seedhead shots, taken in the same garden as these photos and these ones.

View more Winter photos

I’ve just been idly browsing through my website visitor stats and noticed these three entries:

3711 http://www.luminous-landscape.com/about/pma2004.shtml

1720 http://www.steves-digicams.com/pma2004_index.html

1268 http://luminous-landscape.com/about/pma2004.shtml

It seems that both Luminous Landscape and Steves Digicams linked to my site and PMA Roundup page, and I didn’t even realise until 5 minutes ago! So thanks to Michael and Steve for sending that extra traffic my way :-)

The Plugin Site Press Release 16/02/04

February 16, 2004 - The Plugin Site (http://www.ThePluginSite.com) is proud to announce Version 3.0 of Harry’s Filters for Windows. Harry’s Filters 3.0 is a free Photoshop-compatible plug-in containing 69 useful image effects. Harry’s Filters can be used with dozens of different image editing applications, e.g. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint, PhotoImpact and many others.

What’s New in Version 3.0
Harry’s Filters 3 includes 14 new filter effects, 30 new presets, a new blending feature with 20 blending modes and a new brightness slider. The preview was enlarged by 200% and several of the old filters have been improved. An incompatibility, which kept the previous version from fully working in Paint Shop Pro 8, has also been fixed.

The most intriguing enhancement in the new version is the Play feature, which displays animations in the preview. After pressing the Play button the current effect will be animated with random slider values. To make better use of this feature there are two combo boxes for choosing a frame-per-second value and one of five possible speeds. While the animation is displayed in the preview you can still use all controls, e.g. change the zoom, change a slider value, choose another effect and so on.

HP UK Press Release 16/02/04

Make an impression with the new HP Photosmart R707

Sleek and modern ergonomic styling plus a host of advanced features set the HP Photosmart R707 digital camera apart from the crowd  

London, FEBRUARY 16TH 2004 - HP (NYSE: HPQ) today announces the HP Photosmart R707, the first of the brand new R-series range, which deliver a combination of sleek design and high-functioning technical innovations, offering outstanding digital photography to all users.

The HP Photosmart R707 digital camera, with an impressive 5.1 MP, is a compact model, introducing HP?s distinctive new styling. With its brushed stainless steel front, asymmetric body styling, signature curves and “wave-style” fingergrip, this model features a well designed modern look and a host of unique elements, contributing to a fully featured digital camera which makes digital photography even more easy and enjoyable.

The winner of the 13th PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week contest is Ologram with the entry “Loch Ard”. 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.

PhotographyBLOG visitor Martin Smith has emailed with a link that will appeal to the more technically minded amongst you. Microsoft have started a research project that will allow you to find out the exact characteristics of your camera and then correct any anomalies in post-processing. I was confused by about the third sentence, but I’m sure there are a few people out there who can explain it to me in simple layman’s terms :-)

Website: A Flexible New Technique for Camera Calibration

If like me you’re more than a little tired of reading about the latest and greatest digital camera, then a visit to the website A Picture’s Worth may be in order. In line with the idea that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, visitors to the site are invited to share the memories, emotions or creative stories triggered by a photograph of personal significance in the form of a photo-essay. A Picture’s Worth has been running since August 2003 and so far they have posted a new essay every day, so there’s a lot of of personal stories to dip into.

Website: A Picture’s Worth

Photo-i have now completed their interactive, multi-page review of the new Epson Perfection 4870 flatbed scanner, which should be in stores very soon.

“For medium and large format scans the 4870 produced outstanding quality, certainly good enough for any professional photographer to use on their work. The 4870 is a much cheaper option than buying a dedicated medium format film scanner. I loved Digital ICE and it works a treat on both transparencies and colour negative, this feature is going to save you a lot of retouching time. The EPSON Perfection 4870 at ?349 has to be one of the best bargains of the year.”

Website: Photo-i - Epson Perfection 4870 Scanner Review

DP-Now have published some more information about the interchangeable lens rangefinder digital camera that accepts Leica M-type lenses which was shown at the PMA show (a joint development by Epson and Cosina).

“What I can report is that the attention to detail in the design of the prototypes on display was very impressive. Although there is a LCD viewscreen on the back of the camera, from the front there is no hint that it’s a digital camera. On the top plate there is an intricately presented circular window that looks rather like a compass dial. It actually encloses a complicated looking arrangement of analogue exposure setting dials. Oh, and this is the first digital camera I have seen that appears to retain a film advance lever!”

Website: DP-Now - Epson/Cosina Interchangeable Lens Digital Rangefinder

Gateway Communications Press Release 16/02/04

New SnapChecker Target color reference is specially designed for performing color correction and control on digital imaging.

About 200 SnapChecker’s have been tested for various applications for over a year. Also limited test marketing has been done. “After very positive feedback from the field, we feel that the product is ready for the market” says Antti Taskinen of Gateway Communications.

The basic principle behind SnapChecker Target is the use of precise neutral grays with carefully selected colors that are close to “memory colors” for the human eye. SnapChecker colors have been selected to approximate skin color, reddish light brown and dark brown, as well as a green and blue that closely resemble natural grass and sky hues. By selecting colors more meaningful to human perception, the need for a complex and expensive target is eliminated, whilst at the same time allowing a very portable size.

DP-Now have published a great hands-on test of the 8 megapixel Canon PowerShot Pro 1 which was announced by Canon last Monday, just before the start of PMA.

“In the hand the camera feels good, with a nicely shaped, if small, grip. There is the same feel of solid construction that one experiences with the Power Shot G5. Indeed, if you are familiar with the G3 or G5, you will find yourself at home with the Pro 1 very quickly.”

Website: DPNow - Canon PowerShot Pro 1 Hands-on Test

In this week’s Sunday morning column Mike Johnston shares his thoughts with us on the PMA show:

“I have to admit I’m utterly dazzled by the torrent of news coming out of Las Vegas. Is digital exploding, or what?

If I remember correctly, it was 1998 when my doctor-brother showed up at a Chinese restaurant with a new plaything - a digital camera. I probably smiled with patronizing tolerance. The little thing had about two hundred pixels (2 centipixels?) and it took two minutes between the time you pushed the shutter button and image capture. A lot can happen in two minutes - John Kerry can eclipse Howard Dean, for instance.

I’m exaggerating again, of course…but not significantly. The fact is, in 1998 most photographers couldn’t use digital. The good cameras cost an amount that my little boy generically refers to as “a billion dollars,” and the consumer cameras were toys…”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Digital Sizzles in the Desert