Profesional photographer Michael Reichmann, who runs the popular website Luminous Landscape, has just returned from a trip to the Canadian Rockies. Michael used the Contax 645 and 16 Megapixel Kodak DCS Pro Back combination exclusively throughout the trip, and he’s published 2 articles that reveal what a pro photographer thinks of his surroundings and his equipment.

Website: The Rockies - 7 National Parks in 7 Days

Website: Medium Format Digital In The Field

The Norwegian photography website digit.no has spotted a new digital camera from Minolta. The Minolta G400 is now featured on the Konica Minolta Japan website (which is thankfully available in an English version). The G400 is a 4 megapixel camera with an F2.8-4.9 3x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 34-101mm on a 35mm camera). The G400 is very thin, 23mm to be precise, and weighs just 145g. Konica Minolta have already posted 5 sample images for you to judge the image quality for yourself.

Website: Konica Minolta Japan - G400

Website: Konica Minolta Japan - G400 Sample Images

The German photography website digitalkamera.de has just reviewed the ColorVision Spyder. This is is an all-digital, seven-filter colorimeter that works with both CRT and LCD monitors. Working together with the wizard-based PhotoCAL software, the Spyder calibrates your monitor to a universal standard for color and automatically creates a correct monitor profile. The end result ? a monitor that displays accurate color and lets you trust what you see on your screen. The Spyder currently costs 169 Euros.

Find out if what digitalkamera.de thought in their review:

Website: digitalkamera.de - ColorVision Spyder Review

Website: ColorVision Europe

CNET has posted its review of the Fuji FinePix S5000, 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.

“If you’re looking for a megazoom digicam, Fujifilm’s 3-megapixel FinePix S5000 seems like an enticing proposition at first. It combines a 10X zoom lens with a compact body, decent overall performance, plenty of advanced features, and an affordable price. When you dig under the surface, however, you find some design drawbacks and disappointing image quality. In the end, the S5000 isn’t so attractive.”

Website: CNET - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

Olympus UK Press Release 13/10/03

The first Olympus E-1 digital SLR in Europe goes to David Bailey

The Olympus E-1 digital SLR system hits the UK market this month and first on the list of expectant customers was none other than David Bailey. The world-famous photographer was presented with an Olympus E-1 by Graeme Chapman, President of Imaging Systems, Olympus Europa.

David Bailey, who has been an Olympus user for more than 20 years, was delighted with the new camera; “I am thrilled to be the first to get my hands on the camera. As a professional photographer the technology meets my needs for the highest quality and flexibility; this new system demonstrates huge advances in photography”.

Graeme Chapman comments, “We are delighted to present David with an E-1 and very much look forward to seeing the results. Our relationship with David extends back many years; his enthusiasm towards the camera is a fantastic endorsement as we enter the Digital SLR arena”.

Olympus has stuck to its promise to deliver the first Four Thirds product by the Autumn of this year, following its launch only 12 months ago at Photokina in September 2002. However, this is just the start; many more products are already in development, to be expected in 2004.

Website: Olympus UK

Nikon UK Press Release 13/10/03

D100 and Coolpix 5400 reduced in price

Nikon have just announced some good news for consumers - the D100 digital SLR and the Coolpix 5400 prosumer digital compact have both been reduced in price.

Recommended retail price for the D100 is now ?1499.99 down from ?1699.99 and the Coolpix 5400 price has been lowered by ?50 to ?599.99.

Website: Nikon.co.uk

The Olympus IS-500 is an all-in-one SLR camera with a recommended price of ?219.99. It looks and acts like a traditional 35mm SLR, but the lens is built-in and cannot be detached, which for some people may be more convenient than carrying around a bag full of lenses. So can the IS-500 offer the best of both worlds - convenience and quality? Read my review to find out.

Website: Olympus IS-500 Review

Photoxels have reviewed one of the more popular consumer digicams, the 4-megapixel Canon PowerShot A80, which sells for around $399.

“One of the most popular cameras of 2003 has been the Canon PowerShot A70 (see our review). It’s received positive reviews from camera review sites (like this one) and users alike. Due to its popularity, finding an A70 proved difficult for many consumers, who would show up at Best Buy to find them out of stock. What made the A70 so desirable? In my opinion, it’s because Canon “gets it”. They created a lower cost camera which not only took good quality pictures, but also offered full manual controls, support for add-on lenses, and an AF-assist lamp—items rarely found on cameras in that class.”

Website: DCResource - Canon Powershot A80 Review

Mike Johnston’s weekly column considers a question asked by one of Mike’s readers; Do you feel that your photography (the “art” part, not the “gearhead” part) is better using your Sony 707 (digital camera) or using Contax and film?

“A great deal of the technology in modern cameras exists to enable amateur and occasional photographers to do automatically ? without knowledge or practice ? what dedicated photographers have been learning to do, and training themselves to do, and doing, for more than a century.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: The Gestalt of 35mm Tri-X vs. Digital

The Slovenian website e-FotoPortal have published the third part of their review of the Canon EOS 300D. e-FotoPortal is currently putting the 300D through its paces in a number of testing environments; this time they have tested the camera in a sudio environment.

Website: e-FotoPortal - Canon EOS 300D Studio Report

The October issue of Nature Photographers Online Magazine has been posted and features some new articles that will appeal to nature and non-nature photographers alike. “Shooting Vertical Panoramics” by UK photographer Guy Edwardes, “Photo Contest Tips” by Brian Small and “The Erosion of Photographer’s Rights ? A Very Worrying Trend” by Nick Rains are all excellent articles worthy of your time.

Website: Nature Photographers Online Magazine - October Issue

ATP Electronics Inc Press Release 06/10/03

SAN FRANCISCO , Calif./Oct 5, 2003—- ATP Electronics Inc, an independent leader in memory products, today announced its first to market 1GB MultiMediaCard.

The new 1GB card was first introduced at a press conference at the 2003 Computex Taipei in September.

An actual device utilizing ATP’s 1GB MultiMediaCard can be viewed at http://flash.atpinc.com/mmcdemo.jpg

ATP MultiMediaCards are targeted mainly at the fast growing demand for memory in digital cameras, digital video camcorders, audio players, new multi-function 2.5G/3G cell phones and other portable devices.

Kent Eisenberg, ATP Product Marketing Manager, said, ‘We are proud to announce the first available 1GB MultiMediaCard. We believe this high capacity card will provide open system application makers the ability to develop an increasingly exciting multimedia experience. The new markets demand high capacity storage in ever-shrinking portable digital devices. ATP’s 1GB MultiMediaCards have been designed to meet these demands.’

With an ATP 1GB MultiMediaCard, consumers can store up to 30 hours of digitally compressed music, more than 320 minutes of MPEG-4 compressed video or more than 1000 high-resolution digital images. Consumers will no longer feel forced to choose between picture/video quality and memory space.

Eisenberg continued, ‘Our new 1GB MultiMediaCards will give digital devices much more storage capacity combined with very low power consumption. In addition, MultiMediaCards offer a much more attractive price point than SD cards since there are no licensing fees.’

DPReview have published an interesting snippet of Olympus E-1 news in the form of a timeline for the release of new lenses for the E-1. According to Olympus Japan, there will be 5 new lenses in 2004 and 7 in 2005. DPReview has all the details…

Website: DPReview - Olympus E-1 Lens Timeline

DPReview contributor Les Freed has reviewed the Olympus Studio software package, which is an optional extra for the Olympus E-1 DSLR, costing $150.

“This review, prepared by Les Freed examines the Studio software in some detail. Studio provides facilities for image transfer, browsing, viewing, editting, printing, RAW conversion and tethered camera operation. Overall Les was impressed (especially with the RAW conversion speed) but would have liked to have seen Studio making up a standard part of the E-1 Kit.”

Website: DPReview - Olympus Studio Software Review

The UK digital photography website, DP-Now, have just announced the 2nd round of their new photography competition, staged in conjunction with Olympus UK. There is ?8,000 worth of prizes up for grabs; 12 monthly prizes of ?500 to spend on Olympus products, and a ?2,000 holiday for two in Greece for the overall winner. The competition is based loosely on the theme of each of the twelve Olympian gods, in turn, one for each month. Check out the DP-Now website below for the full details.

Website: DP-Now Competition

Digital Outback Photo have posted an extensive preview of the new RAW convertor software, Capture One DSLR Rebel Edition, which is specifically designed for the Canon EOS 300D/Rebel digital SLR. I personally use Capture One DSLR LE with my EOS 10D, in preference to the software that Canon provides - it’s a lot faster and easy to use and well worth the $99 price tag.

“If you want to get the best quality out of your EOS 300D you need to use the raw file format (read our Shutterbug article to understand why). Unfortunately the Canon File Viewer Utility is not a very useable raw converter. This is not real problem as Capture One DSLR Rebel Edition provides a first class solution at only $49.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Capture One DSLR Rebel Edition Preview

DCViews have enthusiastically reviewed the Canon Powershot S400 (called the Canon Digital IXUS 400 in Europe), a 4-megapixel camera that retails for around ?500 in the UK.

“The camera’s metering works faultlessly and difficult lighting situations are handled with ease, delivering clean and well exposed images every time. Clicking the sample images on this page will enlarge them to reveal how good the automatic exposure really is and show the terrific amount of image detail the camera records. It may be worth noting that none of the sample images used here have been manipulated or tampered with in any way - what you see here is what the camera delivers.”

Website: DCViews - Canon Powershot S400 Review

PhotographyBLOG visitor has let me know about a very useful resource that he runs which will be of interest to everyone in the USA (and according to my web stats, that’s 25% of you). Oleg maintains an overview of the prices of online printing services, with monthly updates so that the information is always current. 37 different services are listed so there’s plenty of choice when you next look for somewhere to do your prints.

Website: Price Guide to USA Online Print Services

Olympus Press Release 10/10/03

STAY IN FOCUS WITH THE NEW MJU-III 150 KIT FROM OLYMPUS

The Olympus Mju-III 150 35mm compact camera is the latest addition to the best-selling camera range in the world.? The 4x zoom lens, weatherproof Mju-III 150 comes with a free remote control and is ideal for both the seasoned photographer and novice. It also has an innovative, specially developed 11-point multi-wide passive auto focus sensor, allowing it to recognise the main subject - even if off-centre, to secure clear and vivid pictures every time.? Available at a RRP of ?149.99 (inc VAT), call 0800 072 0070 or visit www.olympus.co.uk for stockist information.

Though merely 225g in weight (without battery) and 117mm (W) x 61mm (H) x 43mm (D), the Mju-III 150 still contains a 37.5 ? 150mm 4x zoom lens. Its magnification power lets you get that little bit closer and is especially useful when out sightseeing in the city or rambling in the country. Featuring an ED (extra-low dispersion) lens element, usually only found in SLR interchangeable lenses and other high-end cameras, the Mju-III 150 produces sharp and high quality photos.

As you would expect, the Olympus Mju-III 150 maintains a distinctive style whilst incorporating advanced technology. The Mju-III 150 also has an automatic 3-Way AE light metering system, designed to ensure optimal exposure. The outcome boasts bright and colourful photos every time. In addition, it features a camera-shake indicator which minimises the risk of blurry hand-held shots.? 

The Mju-III 150 is the latest camera in the evolution of the third generation Mju series. In keeping with its popular Mju-III sister models (the Mju-III 120 and Mju-III 100).

If you’re wondering how Adobe Camera RAW is going to work in the recently announced Photoshop CS, then wonder no more, as Thomas Knoll, the guy who wrote this program, has added a lengthy explanation to the Adobe Forums.

Website: Adobe Forums - Thomas Knoll