Extensis yesterday announced the availability of a limited edition Photo Imaging Suite, priced at ?299.99 ex VAT. Consisting of Portfolio 6, Mask Pro 3, SmartScale, Intellihance Pro 4.1 and PhotoFrame 2.5, the bundle offers customers a saving of over ?450 from the recommended retail price of buying all the products separately.

Website: DPNow - Extensis Photo Imaging Suite

Leica have released a new 80 page guide to their range of M and -R lenses. There’s a downloadable PDF file that gives you a taste of what’s in the guide, with the full printed version costing $10 from local camera dealers.

“More than 80 pages will give you sufficient information on the actual Leica M and -R lenses. The Leica philosophy on the optical design, the manufacturing of the lenses and their construction as well as the universal use are other subjects in this book. Besides practical performance proofs of the different lenses you will find a photographical essay on the manufacturing of the lenses in the Leica shop by the fine-art Leica photographer Ralph Gibson. The extensive designed brochure is available at your Leica photo dealer for a nominal charge of $10.”

Website: Leica Lens Book - PDF

It seems that the Pentax *ist D has finally made it from the Pentax factory to the local high street, at least here in the United Kingdom anyway. CameraWorld and Park Cameras are both advertising body only and kit deals, and they even have the camera in stock!

Park Cameras - ?1199.99 body only or ?1329.99 with the 18-35mm lens
CameraWorld - ?1299.99 with the 18-35mm lens

Those prices make the Pentax *ist D slightly cheaper than the Canon EOS 10D, which retails for around ?1299.99 body only. It’s a much better price than the body-only RRP of ?1,400 that Pentax announced at the end of August.

DPReview seem to have started a new feature, as today they have posted 27 sample images from the Minolta DiMAGE A1, ahead of the full review which will be posted within the next 3 weeks. On Monday DPReview posted sample images from the Pentax *ist D.  Here’s what DPReview Editor Phil Askey has to say about the image quality from the DiMAGE A1:

“I have to say that I was surprised at how well the DiMAGE A1 performed, it’s clearly a step ahead of the DiMAGE 7Hi in terms of image quality and is most certainly in the running to be labelled the best five megapixel prosumer digital camera. Resolution, sharpness, tonal balance (with good dynamic range) and color response are all improved. Add to this the A1’s unique image stabilzation which allows you to shoot at much slower shutter speeds and the A1 is a very impressive ‘all in one’ package.”

Website: DPReview - Minolta DiMAGE A1 Sample Images

The German digital photography website Digitalkamera.de has just reviewed the Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom digital camera, which offers a 4 megapixel CCD and a massive 10x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 38 - 380mm on a traditional 35mm camera).

Website: Digitalkamera.de - Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom Review

Autumn is nearly upon us (well, here in the UK anyway) and Photo-i are celebrating the changing of the seasons by announcing a new photo competition.

“photo-i is launching an interactive photographic competition which is for you and will be judged by you. The theme is: Autumn ? the changing season. You can interpret it however you like. It could be colourful leaves dancing in the sun to commuters getting soaked on a railway station ? it?s up to you.”

You can read the Rules, find out who can enter and how the competion will be judged on the Photo-i website.

Website: Photo-i - Interactive Competition

Vincent Oliver, editor of the Photo-i website, has completed his review of the Canon Bubble Jet i865 printer, which was recently announced by Canon. He begins his conclusion by saying:

“I have always made a clear distinction between Photo Quality and Photo Capable printers, my general rule of thumb is that no printer offering less than six inks can be true Photo Quality. Well I am going to have to re-think my ratings, because the i865 four ink printer has crossed my quality threshold by producing prints which are as good and even better, than many six ink printers I have reviewed. By bringing the drop size down to 2pl and by using a high resolution (4800x1200) Canon have achieved a remarkable quality in this all round printer.”

Website: Photo-i

Michael Reichmann is a professional wildlife and landscape photographer who runs the popular website Luminous Landscape and who exclusively uses digital cameras. Today he has decided to give you all a glimpse of what’s inside his camera bag.

“A common question, asked by readers and workshop members is ? what’s in your bag? The cameras and lenses that I use are well detailed in articles and reviews on this site. Which ones I bring on any given shoot very much depends on whether I’m primarily after wildlife, or landscapes. Also, whether I’m traveling by air or by car, or if I’ll be doing a lot of hiking when I get there. But, in addition to my camera gear, what accessories, gadgets, gizmos and tools are needed for field work, and which ones are best?”

This could be the start of a long-running series, as photographers around the world decide to tell each other what is contained within their camera bags :-)

Website: Luminous Landscape - In the Bag

DCResource 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.

“For those looking for a basic camera for good outdoor photos, the Fuji FinePix A210 is worth a look. If you want to delve into more manual features or desire higher performance, then I’d probably go with something else (the PowerShot A70 remains the best in this class, in my opinion).”

Website: DCResource - Fujifilm FinePix A210 Review

DPReview have posted 25 sample images taken with the long-delayed Pentax *ist D digital SLR camera. Here’s what DPReview Editor Phil Askey has to say about the image quality from the *ist D:

“So far the *ist D is looking quite good, there are two sides to the *ist D’s image quality story. Firstly tonal balance and color response are both good, a natural color response and lifted shadow detail with highlight clipping at about the same point as most other digital SLR’s. Noise is also quite low, about the same as the Nikon D100 (which is what we’d expect as they both share the same sensor). The other side is that Pentax has clearly chosen a low sharpening approach, at 100% view most images have a soft look but do sharpen well and can be delivered sharper out of the camera by pushing up in-camera sharpening. Additionally available lenses do mean you’re more likely to be shooting ‘wide open’ and thus have less sharp images as a consequence. Overall the *ist D is looking ‘so far so good’.”

Website: DPReview - Pentax *ist D Samples

Steve’s Digicams have published one of the first reviews of Canon’s fastest and highest resolution photo printer, the 4800 x 2400 dpi1 Bubble Jet i960. This recently announced six-ink printer produces a 400dpi full A4 photo in approximately 60 seconds, with a 4"x 6” print taking just 21 seconds.

“The i960’s print quality is simply awesome and equals anything that I’ve ever gotten from pro color labs in my film days. I’ve been totally satisfied with my Canon i9100, my living room wall is covered with mounted 13 x 19-inch prints from this printer. Comparing i9100 prints and i960 prints with the naked eye reveals little difference. If you go in for a closer look you can see how much smoother 4800dpi prints are than 2400dpi prints, the smaller 2-picoliter ink droplets make all the difference.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Canon Bubble Jet i965 Review

DCViews have reviewed the EX-Z3 from Casio, a tiny digicam (87 x 57 x 23 millimeters) that has an RRP of $399.

“We fell in love with this camera from the moment we set eyes on it. After using it for a couple of days we had to admit that it didn’t disappoint at all. Of course image quality is not in the same league as a Canon G3, which attracts a completely different audience altogether, but for a camera aimed at serious amateur photographers and snap shooters this one must rank high on the list of likely candidates.”

Website: DCViews - Casio Exilim EX-Z3 Review

Mike Johnston is back this week with his Sunday Morning Photographer. “Taste, Part I: Schubert and Schoenberg” looks at the question of taste in photography. Are you a “I like all kinds of photography” person? Or do you strong preferences for things like grainy black and white or candid street photography - do you know what you really like? Mike argues that you should know:

“But more than anything, it just means choosing. Pick one over another. Get into the habit of discriminating. Be able to pick your favorite picture off any wall, from any group, out of any book. Know what you like. And know what you hate ? because nobody who really likes a medium really likes all of it.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Rogues

Digital Outback Photo have just added 2 new sections to their Canon EOS 300D Experience Report. “EOS 300D and B&W” and “Using the built-in Flash” are brief but useful additions.

“All regular readers know that we are not very experienced in using flash. But we like the little built-in flash of the 300D as it can help in many situations where we do not want to carry our full equipment.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Canon EOS 300D Experience Report

LetsGoDigital have published their First Impressions of the diminuitive Samsung U-CA3, which measures 102 x 52.8 x 31mm and weighs a mere 145g. The U-CA3 has a 3.2 megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom and is priced from under ?280, available from the end of September 2003.

“A typical Korean gadget function is the so-called 3D AVATAR (character) Loading Screen. At the back of the LCD monitor appears a happy and colourful character like we have seen before on a cell phone. Beside that the built-in led features some 7 colours which makes it very suitable to put under the x-mas tree! The serious user of the camera can deactivate all these extra’s but these camera’s can be combined very well with a somewhat more active content.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Samsung U-CA3 First Impressions

Imaging Resource have posted a quick review of the very futuristic-looking 3.2 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE Z1. This new digicam has a 10x optical zoom lens, equivalent to a 38-380mm 35mm camera zoom, which in combination with the digital zoom offers a 40X zoom range.

“I was quite impressed though, with the way the Z1 combined a novice-friendly design with a surprising array of advanced features to satisfy more expert users. Both the price point and battery life are also impressive. Minolta also has a great track record for high-quality lenses on their digicams, so I’m expecting good things of the Z1’s optics. Final judgment will have to await my in-depth testing of a production model, but based on this First Look, the Z1 is definitely going to be a long-zoom digicam to watch.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Minolta DiMAGE Z1 Quick Review

Sony Japan have just released the first ever sample images from the new DSC-F828 8-megapixel digital camera, due to ship sometime in November. There are 2 ISO 100 images for you to take a look at and evaluate, with full-sized originals available. Unfortunately for Sony, both shots look very noisy for ISO 100, especially when compared with a digital SLR like the Canon EOS 300D. It seems as though they may have crammed too many megapixels into too small a sensor…

Thanks to Ryan Carter for the tip-off :-)

Website: Sony Japan - DSC-F828 Sample Images Index Page

Website: Sony Japan - DSC-F828 Sample Image #1

Website: Sony Japan - DSC-F828 Sample Image #2

Fujifilm Press Release 18/09/03

Fujifilm has announced a new range of digital card readers and storage products. These powerful devices, part of Fujifilm’s ever-expanding range of digital accessories and media, can be slotted straight into your PC or Mac for speedy file access and transfer.

Fujifilm xD-Picture Card(tm) USB Pen Drive & MP3 player - DPD-MP3
Music and images on the move

If you like gadgets, you’ll love Fujifilm’s new silver xD-Picture Card(tm) reader. At a price of less than ?50 you can use the reader as a smart digital wallet to store all types of files, whilst the in-built MP3 player allows you to listen to your favourite music tracks on the move.

Just plug the USB drive into your computer and transfer your files in one simple manoeuvre. Exclusive to the xD-Picture Card(tm), this wearable device comes complete with headphones, AAA battery and Roxio software (Windows 98, Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP), which allows you to convert music tracks to and from MP3, copy, play and burn digital music to CD/DVD.

Available late October / early November 2003. Price: ?49.99

PhotographyBLOG reader Sean McCormick is one of the first people in the world to own a shiny new Canon EOS 300D, and to mark the occasion he has allowed me to publish his initial impressions…

“My 300D just arrived and I let the battery charge halfway before starting to play with it. Here are my first impressions in no particular order:

1. It feels “good” to hold. The grip is just the right size and I love that they thought out a place to put your thumb on the back. The camera itself feels very rugged, despite the carping I’ve read about the plastic body.

2. The controls are all very easy for me to access. I think I could get used to manipulating them without having to look at them, as I do with my DiMAGE 7. I was able to figure out 90% of them without having to refer to the manual, including the menu system.

3. The LCD display on this thing is top notch, and fairly visible in bright light.

4. The metering at default settings in this camera is *very good*. I played around with some high contrast situations and the camera’s chosen setting were practically identical to what I came up with taking an incident reading on my Sekonic L-508 exposure meter. The camera does tend to overexpose slightly and I’ll dial it down to compensate when using the built-in meter.

5. Picture quality at 800 ISO and 1600 ISO is bloody amazing, at least for those of us who have spent the last two years using a Minolta DiMAGE 7. The idea of a digital camera that turns out high quality images above 200 ISO just boggles my mind.

6. The autofocus on this thing is *fast*. Keep in mind that I’m used to a Minolta Maxxum 7000 and a Minolta DiMAGE 7. Those of you with Nikon F4s may hate it.

7. The diopter is useless for near sighted people. Guess I’m going to have to get contacts.

8. The basic kit includes the camera body, 18-55 mm lens, battery and charger, cheapie camera strap, manuals, video/USB cables, and software. The camera doesn’t come with a case, which is disappointing. The strap has already been thrown into my “cheap crap that I’ll never look at again” drawer.

That’s it so far. I’ll have some sample images up next week. So far I’m pretty blown away by the quality of camera and lens I’ve gotten for the money I paid.”

Wouldn’t it be great if you could take photographs without using a camera or pressing the shutter release button? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could look cool and trendy at the same time?!

That idea could soon become a reality, as Hewlett Packard have created a prototype pair of sunglasses that have a camera built into them. The camera apparently takes a constant stream of photos of what the sunglass wearer is viewing, so there is no decisive moment as such. The camera uses a metadata system to record information about the composition and subject matter of each image, which helps to sort out the good images from the bad ones.

Somewhat predictably, some people are already up in arms about the potential misuse of this technology:

“It’s a cool piece of technology but frankly the idea of people wandering around wearing sunglasses photographing me all the time is really disturbing,” said technology analyst Bill Thompson.

“HP need to look at the implications on privacy and stuff like that before they flood the market with these.”

What do you think? Are HP onto a winner with the whole camera sunglasses idea? Or is it destined for the black hole of forgotten technology?

Website: BBC News - “Camera specs take candid snaps”