Imaging Resource is the latest in a long line of websites to review the Pentax Optio S, which seems to be getting a lot of media attention at the moment.

“I was very impressed with the Optio S. This might in some part be due to my rather negative expectations when I first approached the camera. I’ve become accustomed to seeing significant compromises in image quality and feature sets, in order to cram cameras into ever-smaller packages. To my great surprise though, the Optio S seems to have avoided almost all such compromise, delivering very good color and image quality, along with a really surprising level of features and special functions.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Pentax Optio S Review

DCResource have reviewed the Sony Mavica CD500, a digital camera that uses CDs for storage and an LCD display instead of an optical viewfinder.

“For those who want the convenience of floppy storage, but with more capacity, Sony offers their CD Mavica line. Instead of a measly 1.4MB floppy, the CD Mavicas can store 156MB of photos and videos on a single 8 cm disc.

There are two 2003 CD Mavicas: the smaller, 3.2 Megapixel MVC-CD350 ($499), and the top-of-the-line 5 Megapixel MVC-CD500 ($699) reviewed here. The CD500 has all of the features of Sony’s high-end cameras, including Hologram AF, MPEGMovie VX, full manual controls, and a Carl Zeiss lens.”

Website: Digital Camera Resource - Sony Mavica CD500

“Attention Seeker” (May 03 2003)

Some people will do just about anything to get themselves noticed :-) Not content with standing on a box, this street entertainer resorted to standing on a bollard to gain an extra advantage over the other nearby performers. Plus dressing up in a black and white jumpsuit and painting his hair and face gold. Some people…

“Pose for the Camera” (May 03 2003)

Today’s photograph features a Covent Garden street entertainer in the middle of his performance, happily looking in the general direction of my camera and smiling at the same time. Now that doesn’t happen all that often. This guy had one of the most elastic, expression-filled faces that I’ve ever seen. Must be all those long years of entertaining the London tourists.

Mike Johnston’s weekly column is intended this week “for people who want to learn how to take better pictures”. Count me in then…

“Are you perfectly happy with your photographs? Do you think you’re already as good as you can be? If you’re one of these lucky (or deluded!) few, then stop reading: this column isn’t for you.

If you’re more typical, you may be somebody who’s been interested in photography for a long time, knows a fair amount about it, and is reasonably well equipped, but still wonders about ways to improve.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer

Tom’s Hardware have published an in-depth review of the Canon i950 printer, comparing it against other 4-colour and 6-colour printers and providing photo samples so that you can judge the quality for yourself.

“The i950 is faster, cheaper and better than the average inkjet printer (mean of 70 models released since the end of 2000). It gave us a nice surprise with its moderate cost per page and the quality of its office printing, much better than that of the earlier S900. Graphics are bright, color blocks even and all the characters perfectly legible. Its photos are definitely superb. The dots are invisible and no raster can be seen, even when you enlarge the image by three. It’s not easy to tell these prints from lab photos.”

Website: Tom’s Hardware - Canon i950 Printer Review

“Return to Covent Garden” (May 03 2003)

I’ve decided to try and balance out all the news content on this site by posting more photographs, hopefully a new one each day. Please accept my apologies if this site turns out to be more of a traditional photography, ermm, blog than you initially anticipated :-)

CNET have reviewed the Pentax Optio S. The thing that I like about the CNET site is the Reader Reviews section that sits alongside the main review. Apparently 97% from 59 reviewers currently recommend the Optio S, and you can read all of their comments too.

“Pentax likes to boast that its stylish, 3.2-megapixel Pentax Optio S is small enough to fit into an Altoids tin—an especially notable feat for a camera that sports a retractable 3X zoom lens. Sure enough, the four-ounce, metal-body digicam drops right in, making its curiously strong feature set and generally good (if unremarkable) image quality all the more appealing.”

Website: CNET - Pentax Optio S Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P72, a $349, 3-megapixel digital compact camera.

”...if you’re looking for a compact and highly functional three-megapixel digicam, the Sony DSC-P72 deserves serious consideration. - This is a great “all around” camera, at the three-megapixel resolution level.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P72 Review

As promised in my earlier lengthy post, here are a few more images of London at night.

Tower Bridge	London Church	Office Reflection

I’ve lived in London for about a year and a half now. During that time I’ve strolled around the streets, taking photographs for my City and Guilds photography course and just for myself. But in all that time, and all those photographs, I’ve never once ventured out after dark, or even remotely near sunset for that matter. In fact, I can’t recall ever taking a photograph at night full stop, unless you count the sunrise pictures from Thailand (but that’s another story).

Last night I took the tube into Central London, into the City, probably my favourite part as it’s so quiet once all the workers have gone home. First, I decided to try and photograph the sun setting behind Tower Bridge, but quickly discovered that the sun sets around the corner of the Thames, and that there isn’t a good enough vantage point. As the light faded, I crossed and recrossed the bridge, vainly trying to find a good location. No success.

Instead I made the best decision of the evening by setting up in the grounds of the Tower of London, right by the Thames, and waiting for the bridge lights to come on and darkness to fall. Wow! What a spectacle. I’d seen other people’s photos of Tower Bridge at night, but never in the flesh before. My own image of this much-photographed landmark now adorns my computer’s desktop; I’ll post a couple of images later.

Which brings me onto the image in this particular post. Again, another London landmark that is well-photographed, but one that probably every photographer should have in their collection. Lloyds of London is one of those buildings that you either love or hate, but at night it gains an almost ethereal quality as it is lit up using white, purple and green lights. I only took a couple of photos, as it was late and proper black darkness had fallen (apparently not the best time to take night photos). This is the best one of the two.

Here are the technical details for anyone who’s still reading. Camera was the Canon EOS 10D. Lens was the Canon 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. The exposure time was 60 seconds at f/22. Tripod mounted. This is actually the Small JPEG extracted from the RAW file, which is about 500Kb in size. Opened in Photoshop 6, NO adjustment to levels or contrast, resized to 400x267 pixels, then USM applied at 150% / 0.5 radius / 0 threshold. Chose Save for Web and saved as JPEG - Quality 50 (medium). Final file size is 39Kb.

Apparently on May 15th-16th there will be a total lunar eclipse, visible from North America and parts of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom. Luminous Landscape have organised a competition…

“The reason I mention this all again is ? if you live somewhere in the path of the eclipse, and most readers do, you might want to try your hand at shooting it. All it takes is clear skies and a willingness to stay up late, or get up early, if you’re in Europe. To make this a bit more exciting for everyone I’ve created a unique competition so that we can all see some of the better lunar eclipse photographs that readers produce. There are prizes as well as a chance for fame and glory (sort of).”

Website: The Great Luminous Landscape Lunar Eclipse Photography Competition

It seems that the competitively-priced Canon EOS 10D is driving down the prices of it’s main competitors. ePhotoZine are reporting that the list price of the FujiFilm S2 Pro has been reduced to ?1700, with the actual retail price expected to be lower. The Sigma SD9 was being sold in Jacobs, Oxford Street, Central London for only ?1000 when I walked past on Saturday. And the Nikon D100 is currently retailing at ?1500. With the imminent introduction of the Pentax D*ist, rumoured to be around the ?1000 mark, will those prices drop even further? It seems that there’s never been a better time to at least consider buying a DSLR.

Website: ePhotoZine - Fuji S2 Price Drop

PC Magazine’s group test of 8 sub-$50 image management applications, including Adobe Photoshop Album and Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 4, is essential reading for anyone who’s trying to make sense of their digital photo collection (once again found via digicamera.net). I still haven’t decided on a particular software package to use, so this article is particularly well-timed. I’ll let you read the full article to find out which application came out on top…

Website: PC Magazine - Image Managers Review

Taken in a suburban garden in Nottingham, England, on an annoyingly windy Spring afternoon, with the Canon 10D and 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Tulips #1	Tulips #2	Tulips #3

Found via the excellent resource digicamera.net, the US magazine Popular Photography has posted reviews of the Canon EOS 1DS and the Sigma SD9 on its website in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Website: Popular Photography

I’ve added a couple of new websites to my Links page. First up is “TS B/W photo-visual portfolio”, which features moody black and white photography, shot on travels in various countries around the world.

Website: TS B/W photo-visual portfolio

Next is “digital-photography resources”, which contains news, books, community groups and links on different digital photography categories.

Website: digital-photography resources

I must admit that I’m more than a little confused by the seemingly vast numbers of mid-range digicams that Olympus has recently released, but nevertheless, Imaging Resource have just reviewed another one. The Olympus D-560 Zoom apparently “updates the previous D-550 with a more streamlined look and user interface” and offers “a nice array of options, with four preset Scene modes and the same white balance and exposure compensation adjustments.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Olympus D-560 Zoom Review

Hi-Touch Imaging have announced an upgraded version of the 630PS Photo Printer. The new 640PS model “features stand-alone, direct printing of lab-quality photos at an increased 403dpi (equivalent to inkjet 6400dpi)...in only 75 seconds”.

Website: 640PS Photo Printer - Press Release

Website: 640PS Photo Printer - Product Information

Petteri’s Pontifications is a website that is of particular interest to Canon 10D and DSLR owners in general. Recent updates include a look at the humble 50mm standard lens, a review of the Tokina AT-X Pro 17 mm f/3.5 lens, and of course an addition to the endless debate between film and digital.

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications - What’s New?