A Digital Eye has posted the second part of their 2003 Holiday Shopping Guide, which is basically their recommended digital cameras for a particular price bracket. This time they recommend digital cameras in the “$400-$500 compact point & shoot style digital camera” category.

“Overall, if we were offered a choice of cameras for free, one being a 3 megapixel camera on the one hand, and one being a 4 or 5 megapixel camera on the other, we would take the higher resolution camera almost every time, especially if its between the same manufacturers two models. We think noise issues for family photo needs are a minimal issue, as most prints and/or Web resized images simply will not show the noise that theoretically can be seen when an image is looked at full size or enlarged in a program such as Photoshop by a highly critical eye. In addition, it is possible that some 4 megapixel cameras you may consider below will actually have less noise then really cheap alternative 3 megapixel cameras that are out there to also consider.”

Website: A Digital Eye - Holiday Shopping Guide Part 2

In this week’s Sunday Morning Photographer column Mike Johnston lusts after the latest DSLR from Nikon:

“The reason I like the idea of the D2H (I haven’t laid eyes on one yet) is that it seems to have all the qualities I like in all kinds of cameras - foremost among which are superb responsiveness and a big, bright, clear viewfinder. Shutter lag is supposedly a mere 38ms, which is fantastic even for a film camera, with a total mirror blackout of 80ms. This thing must be sharp as a razor. As Homer would say, wooo-hooo! “

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Camera Envy: the Nikon D2H

Sanyo have announced a new addition to their range of dye-sublimation printers. The DVP-P1 printer applies a coating over the ink layer to give prints outstanding resistance to light and moisture and a print life of 100 years. The DVP-P1 prints out a true borderless 6x4 inch photo in about 40 seconds. The DVP-P1’s easy-to-use controls are set in the front panel, along with a large 2.5” x 1.8” LCD - you don’t need a computer to use it.

Website: Sanyo- DVP-P1 Digital Photo Printer

German website Photoworld.de have posted their review of the Pentax Optio 33WR, a compact 3-megapixel camera with a 2.8x optical zoom and a weather resistant case.

Website: Photoworld.de- Pentax Optio 33WR Review

Steves Digicams have posted their review of the Panasonic DMC-FZ10 Lumix ultrazoom digital camera.

“The most prominent feature of the FZ10 is its 12x Leica Vario Elmarit zoom lens, with a focal length coverage of 35-420mm in 35mm equivalence. That’s a lot of lens by anyone’s standards especially when the vast majority of other digicams only have 3x zooms. Anyone who has used a digicam with a long focal length zoom knows that these lenses really add to the overall “fun factor” of using a camera.”

Steves Digicams - Panasonic DMC-FZ10 Lumix Review

Imaging Resource has posted a review of the Olympus CAMEDIA C-5060 Wide Zoom camera, an updated version of the popular Olympus CAMEDIA C-5050 model, with a wider-angle lens that is equivalent to a 27-110mm lens on a 35mm camera.

“Optical distortion on the C-5060 was a little higher than average at the wide-angle end, where I measured approximately 1.0 percent barrel distortion. (Average is 0.8 percent barrel distortion, which is still too high, IMHO.) The telephoto end fared much better though, as I couldn’t find even one pixel of pincushion or barrel distortion. Chromatic aberration was fairly low, showing only a few pixels of relatively faint coloration on either side of the res target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) The 5060’s lens also holds sharpness across the full frame better than most, with relatively little of the softening in the corners that I’ve come to expect from prosumer-grade digicam lenses. All in all, the 5060’s lens appears to be of higher than average quality.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Olympus C-5060 Wide Zoom Review

DCResource have posted a review of the Panasonic DMC-FZ10 Lumix ultrazoom digital camera.

“The FZ10 has great photo quality, it’s fun to use, and both its movie and burst modes are better than average. The large 2” LCD is a nice touch. Speaking of large, the FZ10 is a big camera—the biggest ultra zoom model out there. While some may disagree, I see the FZ10 as a “serious” camera, rather than a “take anywhere” camera.”

DCResource - Panasonic DMC-FZ10 Lumix Review

Thanks to Ed Weiner for emailing me this news which will affect all US-based photographers…

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Thanks to the efforts of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the cooperation and understanding of the Transportation Security Administration, working photographers and other members of the traveling public may now take on board an additional piece of carry-on baggage containing photographic equipment.  This means that you are allowed to carry on two bags - when at least one is photographic equipment - along with a personal item. This accommodation will make it easier to travel for working photographers with sensitive and valuable equipment.  Document Checkers are being informed at this time of the change in Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations.  The TSA has said to go ahead at this time and take advantage of the new policy.

Be advised that some Document Checkers may not be aware of the change in policy and this will require your speaking to the airline’s customer service personnel.  Also, the additional bag must conform to the carry-on regulations for size and weight.  There will still be occasions when there simply is no space available on board for additional carry-on and this will require checking a bag.

ASMP Information:
For almost sixty years, the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has been the premier trade association for promoting and protecting the interests of working publication photographers. Membership in ASMP continues to be recognized worldwide as a commitment to professionalism, quality, good ethics, and as a sign of proven experience. Founded in 1944 by a handful of the world’s leading photojournalists, ASMP has grown to over 5000 members in 40 chapters in the United States and in many foreign countries. ASMP is built on the cornerstones of education, information, and advocacy. ASMP members are drawn from every photographic specialty - advertising, annual reports, corporate/industrial, architecture, underwater, editorial, fashion, medical, sports, special effects, and more - but are held together by their common problems and concerns. ASMP calls upon the wealth of information available from within its experienced membership and from industry leaders to develop solutions that work. ASMP has the determination and clout to make its voice heard. ASMP is photographers helping photographers through community, culture, commerce, and publications.

Eugene Mopsik
Executive Director, ASMP
November 21, 2003

US department of Homeland Security

“Pentax UK Press Release 21/11/03”

Let Pentax Help You ‘Go Digital’ This Christmas

Introducing the Optio 33LF - the Compact Digital Camera with All-round Potential

To help capture those precious moments this Christmas, Pentax is delighted to announce the release of the Optio 33LF.  Combining functionality, versatility and ease-of-use, the Optio 33LF is ideally suited to those eager to discover how easy it is to take, share and enjoy digital photography. 

With 3.2 effective megapixels and advanced Pentax technologies, the Optio 33LF achieves high-level clarity and natural colours.  What’s more, a 3X optical zoom gives you the freedom to frame subjects with great flexibility. It also offers the exceptional advantage of a handy swivelling LCD monitor - an innovation enabling entirely new shooting possibilities through accurate composition from above or below eye level and even round corners!

Main features:
Innovative swiveling LCD monitor and optical viewfinder
The 1.6-inch LCD monitor moves through 180 degrees horizontally and 270 degrees vertically for enhanced compositional versatility. It not only makes self-portraits extremely easy, but also allows for versatile shooting from the waist or above your head to create images that would normally be out of reach or awkward to achieve.

Easy operation
The Optio 33LF offers various shooting modes such as Landscape, Portrait and Snow & Surf, to easily cope with different photographic situations.

With a handy virtual mode dial, shooting mode selection is so simple. Just select the easy-to-understand icon most closely related to your choice of subject, compose, and shoot!

3.2 effective megapixels
Not only is the Optio 33LF simple and stylish, it also offers the imaging power of 3.2 effective megapixels.  Such resolution allows for a satisfying level of clarity and detail to be achieved and gives great quality prints.

A powerful 3X optical zoom lens and Macro mode
The Optio33LF features a 3X optical zoom lens (equivalent to a 38-114mm lens in 35mm format).  The optical zooming capability can also be combined with 2.7X digital zoom for a total zooming capacity of 8.1X.

The Optio 33LF is part of the award winning Pentax Optio range and is available in stores from 1st December and retails for ?229.99.

LetsGoDigital have posted a First Impressions report of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1, which is due to be released in January 2004. LetsGoDigital got their hands on a pre-production version of the camera, resulting in this 6 page report with lots of product shots.

“The operation of the DSC-T1 is simple. The large screen contributes to the convenience. The settings and functions are shown well-organised and clear and staring at a small symbol belongs to the past. The expression “Golden Moment” refers to the moment one sees the captured image for the first time. On a digital camera it is usually the screen that shows the image. It may be obvious that experiencing the golden moment via a 2.5-inch high resolution screen has a lot more impact than via a small 1.5-inch screen!”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 First Impressions

Sony have made the manual for the 8 megapixel DSC-F828 digital camera available for download on their website. If you’re interested in what could be a ground-breaking camera and want to see exactly what it will be capable of, download the 160 page guide now.

Website: Sony DSC-F828 Manual

In other Sony DSC-F828 news, apparently the list price has dropped by $200 in the USA! Imaging Resource are reporting that the list price is now $999.95, with some retailers selling for as low as $919. No doubt that the Canon EOS 300D is to blame :-)

Website: Sony DSC-F828 Price Drop

The Slovenian digital photography website e-fotografija is the latest website to publish an extensive review of the Olympus E-1 DSLR.

Website: e-fotografija - Olympus E-1 Review

Website: Slovenian Translator

The curiously named Stick Software have just announced PhotoReviewer 1.1, a software program for the Mac that allows you to quickly and easily review your digital photos.

“In our experience, there is no tool really well-suited to taking a large collection of images, reviewing them, and culling the bad ones and keeping the good ones. The photo review and processing apps supplied by Apple, such as iPhoto and Preview, are too slow and hog too much memory. Other apps tend to be overpriced, poorly designed, or cluttered.

We decided, in the course of reviewing a few thousand photos for a website we were designing, that a better tool needed to be written. And so here it is.”

Website: PhotoReviewer 1.1

Perttu Luukkanen has published his review of the Epson Perfection 3170 scanner, which according to Epson is “the scanner for experienced users and photo enthusiasts”. Find out if Perttu agrees.

“There are few scanners that promise what the Epson 3170 does. An outsanding 3200 dpi resolution, 48 bit color, prints, slides, negatives, both 35 mm and medium format and for all this, it’s dirt cheap. Street price for the 3170 hovers around $200 in the US, although it’s more likely be around ?270 (~$300) here in Finland. It comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 which is worth something itself, especially if you don’t have a post-processing software.

Before I bought the scanner I tried to look for a decent review on the Net and I could find none. That may well be the reason you’re reading this. I felt I had to put something available, since I know there are a lot of people out there wondering whether this scanner is really good enough for scanning film, especially at this price.”

Website: Epson Perfection 3170 Scanner Review

CNET have published their review of the 4 megapixel Pentax Optio S4 digital camera, an ultracompact model which is small enough to fit inside an empty Altoids tin.

“Essentially a clone of its predecessor, the Pentax Optio S, the 4-megapixel Optio S4 ultracompact sports a retractable 35mm-to-105mm (the 35mm-film equivalent), 3X optical zoom lens and offers interesting, beyond-the-basics options that won’t scare away beginners. While it won’t win any awards for shooting speed or image quality, the S4 gives snapshooters plenty of features in a chic, portable package.”

Website: CNET - Pentax Optio S4 Review

The Fuji Finepix M603 is a digital camera that attempts to be lots of things at once. It can capture both still images and moving images, so you can use it to take photographs and record VGA movies. It has a 3rd Generation Super CCD sensor which is made up of 3.3 million pixels, but actually delivers 6.03 million recorded pixels. It has a massive 2.5 inch LCD screen, but is compact enough to fit in your pocket. It is very simple to use, with a PictureCradle supplied for easy downloading of images to a computer, yet it claims to produce perfectly exposed, richly detailed, noise-free photographs in any situation.

So does the M603 deliver on all of these promises? Find out in my review.

Website: Fuji Finepix M603 Review

Kyocera have just announced a 3 megapixel version of their FineCam S5R digital camera. The FineCam S3R is basically the same as the S5R, but has 3 as opposed to 5 megapixels. Click the link below for the full press release and specifications (found via DigIT.no)

Website: Kyocera Japan Press Release

Website: LetsGoDigital - Kyocera Finecam S3R Report

Extensis Press Release 20/11/03

Extensis Announces Compatibility Updates for Adobe Creative Suite & Mac OS X 10.3.
Free updates to be available at www.extensis.com

Northampton, UK. ? Thursday 20th November, 2003 ? Extensis Inc. is today announcing its plans to offer a host of compatibility updates for Apple?s new operating system, Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), the Adobe Creative Suite (CS) and QuarkXPress 6. All updates will be available free of charge from the Extensis website at http://www.extensis.com/support to registered users.

?Extensis has always kept up to date with the latest operating system and software upgrades, so we are pleased to be able to offer these compatibility updates to our existing customer base free of charge,? comments Bob Campbell, European Business Director at Extensis. 

Free updates for the Extensis suite of Photoshop plug-ins including SmartScale, Mask Pro, PhotoFrame, and Intellihance Pro are available with immediate effect for both Panther and Adobe Photoshop CS.

The Slovenian website e-FotoPortal have posted a review of the Nikon D100, which may be getting on a little now in digital camera terms but is still Nikon’s entry-level DSLR (for the time being anyway).

Website: e-FotoPortal - Nikon D100 Review

Website: Slovenian Translator

The Slovenian website e-fotografija have published a very interesting comparative review of 4 different 70-200mm telephoto lenses, with Sigma, Canon, Tokina and Nikon all represented. As usual with e-fotografija’s reviews, there are a large number of sample images from all 4 lenses.

Website: e-fotografija - 70 - 200mm f/2.8 Lens Review

Website: Slovenian Translator