The recent rumours have turned out to be true, as Sony have today announced their new flagship digital camera, the Sony DSC-F828.

Website: Sony DSC-F828 Press Release

“Expert photographers know that image quality goes beyond pixel resolution, and with today’s new product announcement from Sony Electronics, they will soon find a digital camera that measures up to their discerning eye by exceeding the capabilities of current technology.

The latest model (DSC-F828) in Sony’s popular line of Cyber-shot? F-series enthusiast cameras represents the next level of digital still photography, which these enthusiasts will surely appreciate. With its lens-centric design, the new camera is encased in a black, magnesium alloy body, and is the first to incorporate Sony’s recently announced four-color filter CCD technology and Real Imaging Processor?.”

Here is Sony’s breakdown of what the F828 has to offer:

- Resolution: Sony’s 8.0-megapixel CCD image sensor provides the Cyber-shot DSC F828 camera with a maximum image size of 3360 x 2460, equating into 11 x 17-inch prints at 200 dpi or 8.5 x 11-inch prints at 300 dpi.

- Optics: The new camera features a Carl Zeiss? Vario-Sonnar? T* 7X zoom lens (28 - 280mm, 35mm equivalent) with manual zoom for greater framing control, to fully extract the performance of the 8.0-megapixel CCD sensor.

- Five-Area Multi-Point Auto Focus: The camera evaluates five separate areas of the frame and intelligently focuses on the subject, displaying the selected focus point, or the user can choose any of the five points for manual control.

- NightShot? Infrared System: Enables the camera to capture infrared images in total darkness at a distance of up to 15 feet.

- NightFraming System: To capture crisp images in low or no light, this feature illuminates the subject with the NightShot system for proper framing, focuses with Hologram AF? illuminator and lights the scene with the appropriate amount of flash.

- Image File Formats: In addition to JPEG and TIFF formats, the camera supports Sony’s RAW format, which allows the photographer to change the parameters of an image (e.g., white balance and color depth). Software will be included for converting RAW files.

- Video Recording: MPEG-VX Fine mode records video at 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 30 frames per second, up to the capacity of the storage device, for TV-quality video.

- Bundled Accessories: The camera comes with an InfoLithium? M battery, AC adapter/in-camera charger, A/V output cable, USB cable, lens hood, shoulder strap and lens cap.

In addition to all that, the F828 has a Type I/II compact flash slot (MicroDrive compatible), as well as Memory Stick Pro, which in itself is a radical departure for Sony, whose digital cameras have always used the proprietary memory stick format.

The Cyber-shot DSC-F828 camera will be available in mid-November with a suggested price of about ?900 / $1,200 / ?1299. The DSC-F717 model will continue to be available at about $800.

As usual there are already a large number of first looks, previews, hands-on tests and news articles. Here’s a summary of the best ones:

Website: A Digital Eye

Website: DP-Now

Website: DPReview

Website: Imaging Resource

Website: LetsGoDigital

Website: Steves Digicams

Steve’s Digicams have reviewed the 4.1 megapixel Kodak EasyShare DX6440, which has a 4X Schneider 33 - 132mm zoom lens and retails for around $400.

“With a four megapixel imager, a super-sharp Schneider Kreuznach Variogon 4X optical zoom lens, and lots of manual control, Kodak have positioned the EasyShare DX6440 at the high- end of their consumer digital camera product line. In addition to the advanced features desired by experienced amateur photographers, it includes automatic and scene modes which allow novices to achieve the same excellent results. “

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Kodak EasyShare DX6440 Review

PhotographyBLOG visitor Alex King has let me know about a new photography software program that he has written. Photos 4 is a web based application for managing (storing, cataloging and retrieving) digital photos, and is aimed at anyone who is comfortable installing and configuring PHP & MySQL and wants to manage their digital photos.

Website: Photos 4

Canon has launched a new service that offers online ordering of lab-quality photo prints for all CANON iMAGE GATEWAY (CiG) members in the UK. Since its launch on 27th January 2003, the CiG site has attracted and registered over 31,000 members. Statistics collected so far show that the U.K. boasts the largest number of members. At present, statistics show that Canon Digital IXUS V3 owners are the most likely customers to visit and use the site.

“Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is pleased to announce the UK launch of its new Print Fulfilment Service, which enables Canon (UK) digital camera customers to order prints online via the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY (CiG) portal. Canon has appointed A-One-M, a specialist photo-print laboratory and distribution house to print and distribute the photographs. The service will be extended to other European countries in the near future.

The Service is exclusive to CiG members who gain site membership, and 100MB of free storage space, by purchasing any of the latest Canon compact digital still cameras or digital SLRs.  Photos are held in intuitive member-defined albums, which can be shared online at the member?s discretion. The Print Fulfilment Service allows users to select either whole albums or individual photographs for printing, and define variables such as number of copies, print size, cropping/image centering and media type before submitting their order.  If the image resolution of a selected photograph is too low for the enlargement size requested, the CiG image gateway generates a warning before submitting the order.  Payment is by credit card and prints are delivered by post within two working days.”

Website: CANON iMAGE GATEWAY

A few days ago I posted this story about the Sony DSC F-828, complete with a photograph of the new camera. That seems to have been a bit of a hoax, however, as this new posting over at DPReview shows. Someone has posted an excerpt from the August edition of the French magazine “R?ponses photos”. It looks like the F-828 will have the world’s first 8 megapixel CCD in a compact digital camera, together with Sony’s new sensor featuring the extra emerald colour sensor, and an impressive 28-200mm f/2-2.8 lens.

Of course, it goes without saying that this could all be an elaborate hoax as well…

Website: DPReview- Sony Forums

Part 5 of my Online Print Services Review has just been posted. I’ve taken a look today at Bonusprint, assessing delivery time, packaging, price and print quality, then awarding an overall rating.

Online Print Services Review - Part 5 - Bonusprint

As a reminder, in this new 7 part Review, I’m taking a look at some online print services that operate in the United Kingdom and letting you know what I think about the service and print quality that I’ve received from each one. I’ll be posting further updates to this Review throughout this week, so stay tuned.

The websites Digital Photography Now and photo-i.co.uk have both taken an in-depth look at the new No.59 Black and White Ink Cartridge from HP, which was announced earlier in the week. This cartridge will be compatible with most of the new printers that HP are about to introduce, including the top-of-the-range HP Photosmart 7960.

This is what DP-Now editor Ian Burley has to say in his 4-page article about the No.59 cartridge:

“HP’s new No.59 ink cartridge really does make the job of producing consistently neutral black and white prints easy without having to resort to complicated printer profiling. Indeed, I’m so impressed by the results I have seen, I’d recommend professionals to look at this offering from HP if they are looking for saleable quality professional mono printing, even though HP is not targeting the pro market here. HP even confidently answers some challenges when it comes to print longevity.”

Website: DP-Now

Website: photo-i

Steve’s Digicams have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel, fixed lens Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P32, which currently retails for around $230.

“The Cyber-shot P32 is a compact 3.2-megapixel digicam that delivers good images. It’s the little brother of the DSC-P72 and DSC-P52. The DSC-P32 has no optical zoom. The DSC-P52 features a 2x optical zoom lens and the DSC-P72 has a 3x zoom and a Smart Zoom. The Smart Zoom is a new feature for these cameras and is usable at 2.0M resolution or less. I was surprised to find that this feature worked exceptionally well. The pictures created with Smart Zoom did not exhibit the usual “enlarged-jaggies” that we see from all the other digital zoom cameras out there.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P32 Review

Steve’s Digicams have reviewed the 2 megapixel Canon PowerShot A60, which currently sells for around $200.

“The bottom line, this is an excellent camera for those who just want to take good pictures without much fuss—but it’s also for those that want more than just a fully automatic point-n-shoot.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Canon PowerShot A60 Review

DPReview have reviewed another entry-level digital camera, this time Phil takes his usual in-depth look at the 3.2 megapixel Canon PowerShot A70.

“The A70 is such an easy to use camera you can drop it into the hand of a pure beginner and they will be off taking excellent images. Later they will want to begin to experiment, the A70 provides control of ISO sensitivity, exposure (aperture priority, shutter priority or manual) as well as manual focus. These are all things we don’t normally expect to see on an entry level digital camera.”

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot A70 Review

DPReview have reviewed one of Nikon’s newest entry level offerings, the 3 megapixel CoolPix 3100.

“The Coolpix 3100 is clearly aimed at the first time buyer who wants a carry everywhere camera but is on a limited budget. And for that the Coolpix 3100 certainly fits, its small compact design is both easy to carry and comfortable (something not easy to pull off). Control layout, menus and usage are very straightforward, the scene modes make it easy to ensure the camera is setup for particular situations and the framing assist feature is an interesting and unique addition.”

Website: DPReview - Nikon Coolpix 3100 Review

Yesterday saw the 2nd birthday of the popular digital photography site, Digital Photography Now. DP-Now’s editor, Ian Burley, marked the occasion by hinting at new features that will be added to the website by the end of this year.

“There is much in the pipeline, including a revised forum, database-driven buyers guides, a new and better page design with much better navigation, and much more.

From a part time experiment in online publishing in August 2001, by the end of 2003 we are aiming to be a serious player in the online digital photography publishing stakes. By then we hope to have completed all the site developments we have been working on so hard during the last 9 months - most of them unseen, to date.”

DCResource have reviewed the 4 megapixel Samsung Digimax V4, which has the unique ability to use 9 different types of battery sources.

“The Digimax V4 is a compact plastic camera that looks much like Sony’s Compact P-series cameras (e.g. DSC-P8). So much so, that I had to check to see if it had a Memory Stick slot (it doesn’t). The build quality is decent, but it’s not as sturdy as the all-metal cameras that are so popular these days.”

Website: DCResource - Samsung Digimax V4 Review

Clint Thayer is a photographer who is lucky enough to own both the Canon EOS 10D and Nikon D100. He has published a comparitive review of both cameras (found via digicamera.net).

“Which one is better? Which one takes the best picture? I receive countless emails asking me this question. I own both cameras, so these questions are certainly not unreasonable to be sure. I?m going to attempt to clarify this for you, and give you some reasons for your considerations. There are many photographers who own or have used both cameras. These are my experiences.”

Website: Comparing the Nikon D100 with the Canon 10D

Computer Darkroom has reviewed iCorrect EditLab 4 from Pictographics, which is available as a plug-in for Photoshop or as a stand-alone program. iCorrect Products give you a new method of color correction based on direct interaction with the image. By simply clicking on certain reference colors within your picture, iCorrect products perform a global color correction.

“When I first reviewed iCorrect EditLab 2.0 I was impressed by the ease of use and quality of results but not so with the overall appearance of the application interface. Nevertheless, I did think the 4-step approach to colour correction was useful and worthy of further development. Version 3 improved things further and now that we have reached version 4 most of my dislikes have been eliminated.”

Website: Computer Darkroom - iCorrect EditLab 4 Review

Fuji have released a new version of software for the Fuji FinePix S2 Pro DSLR. It includes camera shooting software compatible with the Macintosh OS X operating system, a new EXIF Extractor and updated versions of the RAW File converter LE, RAW File Converter EX Version 2.0 and Camera Shooting Software Version 2.0.

At the same time, Fujifilm USA have also announced a price reduction for the FinePix S2 Pro, which is now available at a suggested price of $2295.

Website: BytePhoto - FinePix S2 Pro Software Update

Website: FinePix S2 Pro Software Download

Part 4 of my Online Print Services Review has just been posted. I’ve taken a look today at Fotango, assessing delivery time, packaging, price and print quality, then awarding an overall rating.

Online Print Services Review - Part 4 - Fotango

As a reminder, in this new 7 part Review, I’m taking a look at some online print services that operate in the United Kingdom and letting you know what I think about the service and print quality that I’ve received from each one. I’ll be posting further updates to this Review throughout this week, so stay tuned.

ePhotoZine have reviewed the 5 megapixel Sony Cybershot DSC-P92 compact digital camera, which has an RRP of $599, but can be found for as low as $399.

“Cameras like this DSC-P92 are now quite common and affordable, yet offer a good level of image quality that would have been unthinkable several years ago. Sony have pushed their technology further with each generation of products released and the DSC-P92 features not only several Noise Reduction features such as Clear Colour NR and Clear Luminance NR, but also a high quality video mode and of course the high resolution five megapixel CCD.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Sony DSC-P92 Review

Rob Galbraith has taken an in-depth look at the Nikon D2H; this is the most thorough preview so far on the Web.

“As the first digital SLR to incorporate key camera technology not derived from a film camera, the D2H signals that digital SLR photography has evolved beyond being a derivative of its analog cousins. Case in point: If you want Nikon’s best-appointed AF system, it’s in the D2H. If you want Nikon’s most full-featured wireless TTL flash system, the D2H is the camera that has it.

This represents a sea change in SLR development that has us looking at the D2H as a top-flight pro camera that just happens to be digital. To quote Austin Powers: “It’s a very groovy time.”

Website: Rob Galbraith - Nikon D2H Preview

Part 3 of my Online Print Services Review has just been posted. I’ve taken a look at Peak Imaging, assessing delivery time, packaging, price and print quality, then awarding an overall rating.

Online Print Services Review - Part 3 - Peak Imaging

As a reminder, in this new 7 part Review, I’m taking a look at some online print services that operate in the United Kingdom and letting you know what I think about the service and print quality that I’ve received from each one. I’ll be posting further updates to this Review throughout this week, so stay tuned.