Steves Digicams have published their review of the HP Photosmart 945 digital camera, which features a 5.3-megapixel total resolution and 56x total zoom (8x optical zoom). The HP Photosmart 945 digital camera is available now and has an estimated U.S. retail price of $549.

“Perhaps one of the PS945’s most interesting features is the Digital Flash which uses HP’s new Adaptive Lighting Technology. This is a process whereby the light and dark areas of the image are balanced out to produce a picture that looks more like what the human eye sees. It works well in contrasty outdoor shots where there are areas of both brightly lit subjects and dark shadow areas. It also works with indoor flash pictures, especially those where the main subject is well-lit and the rest of the frame is dimly lit.”

Website: Steves Digicams - HP Photosmart 945 Review

DCResource have reviewed the affordable 5 megapixel Olympus CAMEDIA C-5000 Zoom, which relaces the older C-4000 Zoom model. The C-5000 has a full range of exposure modes, including Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, full Manual control and 6 preset Creative Scene modes. It has a built-in flash with 7 different modes and also accepts an external flash via its hot shoe.

“If there’s one thing I can say about the C-5000Z, it’s that it won’t be winning any beauty pageants. For some reason, it reminds me of a beluga whale (no, this is not a Rorschach test). The unusual design of the camera does have one benefit: it’s really easy to hold. The camera body is made of a mix of metal and plastic, and it feels sturdy enough. Controls are well-placed, so you can quickly change camera settings.”

Website: DCResource - Olympus CAMEDIA C-5000 Zoom Review

If you’re looking for a software package that will reduce the noise in your digital photos, but you’re confused by the multitude of options available (I know I am) then Michael Almond’s “Noise Reduction Tool Comparison” article is just what the doctor ordered. Michael has tested no less than 18 different products that claim to significantly reduce noise in digital camera images, including the recently announced Noise Ninja. Essential reading.
(found via digicamera.net)

Website: Michael Almond - Noise Reduction Tool Comparison

CNET have reviewed the Fuji FinePix A210 Zoom digital camera. The A210 has 3.2 million megapixels and a 3x optical zoom. It retails for $279.99.

“Reasonably good picture quality redeems the A210’s otherwise lackluster character. Our test photos were comparatively sharp, detailed, and smooth. Colors came out mostly accurate and vibrant, and exposure was generally fine. We noted some noise and compression artifacts, but you’ll probably be happy with snapshot-size prints of the A210’s images.”

Website: CNET - Fujifilm FinePix A210 Review

Yasse have published a great interview with Emese Gaal, who runs Photote, one of my favourite photoblogs which I usually visit every day. Yasse is “a publication dedicated to creative and cultural expression using the Web as the primary presentation and distribution medium. We strive to showcase the best in art, literature, poetry, and cultural aesthetics to entertain and inspire our readers.” Emese is a great photographer who just happens to use a Canon EOS 10D :-)

“I don’t think my photographs change the world. I’m just a girl with a hobby. I go out there to shoot what I think looks pretty, interesting, heart-warming, or sad. Sometimes I do it to challenge myself, other times I hope to transform something beautiful ? yet fleeting ? into something more permanent.”

Website: Yasse

Website: Yasse - Emese Gaal Interview

Michael Reichmann from from the popular digital photography website Luminous Landscape has published his review of the Olympus E-1 DSLR.

“The camera can be set so that a post-exposure image review is available. But, as with the Pentax *ist D that I reviewed last week, there is no post exposure histogram available. What is it with camera makers? Don’t they get it? The in-camera histogram is the most important exposure tool since the TTL meter was introduced in the 1960’s. Setting exposure properly for digital makes a huge difference in image quality, yet by leaving it out Olympus (and others) are denying photographers a critical tool.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Olympus E-1 Review

Imaging Resource have published a snippet of news which will be of interest to all Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 owners. Apparently Panasonic Japan have just announced the DMW-VUZ1 upgrade kit, which incorporates the firmware changes that were made in the updated DMC-FZ2 camera. So for ?6000 you can upgrade your DMC-FZ1 so that it has the same functionality as the later model. At the moment, though, this has only been announced for the Japanese market - fingers crossed that it will appear in the rest of the world…

Website: Imaging Resource - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 Upgrade Kit

DPReview have just posted their usual extensive review of the Minolta DiMAGE A1.

“There’s little doubt that the DiMAGE A1 is the most feature rich and flexible prosumer digital camera currently available. Indeed it has a range of flexibility beyond that of most digital SLR’s. It’s a camera designed as a photographers tool, and one which can fit a wide variety of roles with the ability to deliver output suited to almost any specific photographers requirements.”

Website: DPReview - Minolta DiMAGE A1 Review

The winner of the 2nd Round of the DP-Now Greek Gods photo competition, sponsored by Olympus UK, has just been announced. My entry made it into the final 12, but sadly wasn’t good enough to win the prize of ?500 worth of Olympus equipment. Damn! Congratulations to Chris Roberts and his winning entry “Swan in Scotland”.

Website: DP-Now - October Competition

Roger Cavanagh has written an informative article that attempts to explain the differences between assigning a profile and converting to a profile in Photoshop, something which I’ve never fully understood before…(found via digicamera.net

“It’s important to understand one key distinction between assign and convert: assigning a profile/colour space to an image does not change the underlying colour number data, but converting to a different colour space does. If you assign the wrong profile, there is no damage to the file. You can simply assign the correct profile. However, the colours you see on the screen will change because the colour numbers are mapped into a different colour space. Colour spaces are three-dimensional and can differ in size and shape.”

Website: Roger Cavanagh - Assign vs Convert

LetsGoDigital’s recent review of the Fuji FinePix S5000 is now available in English. This is a mid-range digital camera looks like a traditional SLR (but isn’t) and has a 10X optical zoom that is equivalent to equivalent to 37-370mm on a 35mm camera.

“The Fujifilm FinePix S5000 is a fine camera to work with. The compact SRL like model of the camera fits perfectly in one?s hand. The buttons are directly accessible; in fact the camera can be controlled by only 3 fingers. The thumb from the right hand can easily control the control centre at the back of the camera while the forefinger can react quickly to take a picture. The forefinger of the left hand doesn?t have to stay watching unemployed; it can operate the built-in flash or the focus function. The amount of buttons is kept limited while the functionality stayed the same. The zoom button might seem small, but in practice it turns out to function quick and to the point.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

I’ve now finished adding products to 4 of the 7 categories in the PhotographyBLOG User Reviews section. There are currently 370 products available in the Digital Compact Cameras, Digital SLR Cameras, 35mm Film SLR Cameras and Printers categories, so please stop by and write a short (or long!) review. If your particular product isn’t listed, please let me know and I’ll add it asap.

Alera Technologies Press Release 10/11/03

Exciting New Digital Photo Copy Cruiser(tm) from Alera Technologies

A Compact and Transportable 8-in-1 Digital Photo Card to CD Copier

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Nov. 10, 2003—Alera Technologies, developer and manufacturer of Advanced DVD and CD Recording Solutions proudly debuts its new Digital Photo Copy Cruiser that copies digital photos directly from camera memory cards to CD without a computer. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser is compact and transportable, so you can copy your digital photos to CD instantly wherever you are, for quick distribution and your memory cards can be easily cleared for reuse.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reports 10.1 million digital cameras will ship this year, which is $2.9 billion in value and Gartner Group projections show sales of digital cameras will most likely surpass 26.5 million units by 2007, with household penetration of 65 percent.

“This equates to a large number of users looking for an easy way to both store their pictures on low cost media and easily share their pictures. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser is another Prosumers’ Choice and exactly what customers are looking for” stated Perry Solomon, President and CEO. “With its distinctive appearance and streamlined design that maintains our ‘Professional Black’ look, we are confident the Digital Photo Copy Cruiser will successfully appeal to a very broad range of users.”

The new Digital Photo Copy Cruiser (Alera Technologies Part # 310101, Ingram Micro SKU # C57017) has a low Estimated Street Price (ESP) of only $229 so that Prosumer, Corporate, Government and Education users, all can enjoy the most convenient way to store and share digital photos.

SimpleTech Press Release 10/11/03

SimpleTech Announces ProX Series of Secure Digital Flash Memory Cards
ProX SD Cards Are Eight Times Faster Than Standard Secure Digital Flash Cards

SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—SimpleTech, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of custom and open- standard memory solutions based on Flash memory and DRAM technologies, today announced that its ProX(TM) 256MB and 512MB SD (Secure Digital) flash memory cards are available for immediate delivery.

SimpleTech’s ProX SD cards are the next-generation of removable flash storage, reducing the time it takes to read and write data to memory with high-speed data transfer rates up to 10MB/sec. When used with a digital camera, the ProX Series SD cards reduce wait time between shots. SimpleTech’s ProX SD cards also feature a write protect switch on the side of the card to prevent accidental overwriting of data and images, as well as increased efficiency that aids in maximizing the battery life of devices while using the card (performance may vary according to devices.)

“ProX SD cards provide ultra-fast data connectivity for nearly every device using SD cards on the market,” said Ken Roberts, director of product marketing for SimpleTech. According to Gartner Group, Secure Digital was one of the fastest growing segments of the flash memory market in 2002.

“The slim, compact design of ProX SD cards make them the ideal solution for a variety of SD-compatible handheld devices, including digital cameras, video recorders, PDAs, MP3 music players and smart phones, as well as digital projectors, photo printers and voice recorders,” said Roberts. “These applications are now empowered with fast data write times and enhanced security.”

The first ever winner of the PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week winner is Blackadder with the entry “Running”. 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 2nd 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. Just make sure that you submit your photos to the current Photo of the Week Gallery.

Part 4 of landscape photographer Alain Briot’s Esthetics and Photography series of articles has just been published by Luminous Landscape.

“Light, time and over again, has been part of the most important aspects of our lives and has played a major role in our existence. Today still, our lives are ruled by light and darkness, as most of us rise at dawn and go to bed after dark. We work during the day and we rest during the night.

As landscape photographers we abide to the same schedule. We follow the sun in its migration while the earth rotates upon itself and circles around the sun according to, respectively, a one day and a one year path in the sky. Our days are organized around the 24 hours the earth takes to make a complete rotation around its axis. Our yearly calendar is based on the one year journey that the earth makes around the sun. The sun, and more importantly the light it sheds upon the earth, control our lives.”

Website: How to Find the Best Light

LetsGoDigital have reviewed the Fuji FinePix F700, which has a 6.2-megapixel Super CCD SR and is supposed to capture more detail in the shadow and highlight areas of an image than Fuji cameras have previously captured.

“The compact design of the FinePix F700 and the nice aluminium workmanship give the FinePix F700 a quality appearance. The camera offers convenience and user friendliness as well as many settings for the photographer. This new model is available on the Dutch market since a few months, so it is time to try out this FinePix F700 in the field. Read about our experiences with this camera in the following review.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Fuji FinePix F700 Review

Website: Read my review of the Fuji FinePix F700

LetsGoDigital have also published reviews in Dutch of the Fujifilm Finepix S5000 and Sony CyberShot P-8 digital cameras.

Website: LetsGoDigital - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

Website: LetsGoDigital - Sony CyberShot P-8 Review

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. Highlights this month include a review of the Fuji Finepix S2 Pro DSLR:

“But the bottom line to all this is the quality of the images from the S2. We’re happy to say you won’t be disappointed. Image quality was excellent. The Super CCD can produce either a 6.2 megapixel image or an interpolated 12 megapixel image! The color, tonal quality and sharpness of those images were excellent as well.”

and a good introductory article that explains the mysteries of colour infrared photography:

“Images produced with color infrared film have a unique look that can be used to create dramatic images. Once you understand how the film interprets colors and how you can control it with color filters you can make it work for you creatively. It’s not likely you’ll use this film all the time, but it could well become one that you come back when you’re looking for something a little different.”

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #31

Digital Outback Photo have just reviewed the camera bag that they use - the Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II backpack. Personally, I use a cheap Hama backpack bought for ?25 from 7DayShop.co.uk, which is surprisingly comfortable to use and holds 2 SLR bodies and a few lenses. If you want to spend a large amount of money on a camera bag, then LowePro would be a good choice.

“For a nature photographer I think the only option is a backpack. End of 2000 we faced the decision which backpack and we opted for the previous model of the Nature Trekker. Whether you like a backpack or not only experience can tell. The Nature Trekker easily withstands the test of time. We have even a definition for our equipment to carry. If it does not fit into the Nature Trekker it has to stay home or in the car.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II Review

Website: Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II

Digital Outback Photo have published a very short review of the Delkin eFilm PRO CardBus 32-bit PCMCIA adapter, which Delkin claims is the fastest PCMCIA Adapter on the market. Digital Outback Photo agrees, saying “Using normal PC card adapters the copy process takes a very long frustrating time. Finally the Delkin CardBus 32 Adapter is available and cuts the transfertime to about 1/4th. It is hard to describe how much of a relief it is to be ready in about 15minutes instead of a full hour!”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Delkin CardBus CF Adapter Review