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?

Following my recent brush with the law at Liverpool Street Station, Mike Johnston looks this week at the subject of where we are allowed to take photographs, and what we can do with them once we have taken them. “in Britain, where photographers are still considered harmless and are pretty much left alone (I know I’m going to hear it from you photographers in Britain, but I still think it’s better there than it is here)”. I guess I should write to Mike?!

“Where exactly are you allowed, and not allowed, to photograph?
I get this question all the time. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert on the subject, and I’m sure to make some errors in discussing it, whether of commission or omission. Also, all of what I have to say only applies to the U.S. of A., where I happen to live. The basic rule is that you’re allowed to photograph most anything if you’re on public property and you’re not going to do much of anything with the picture. There are exceptions to this.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer - Land of the Free

This will be of interest to all new or prospective Canon 10D owners looking for a wide-angle lens. Michael Reichmann has reviewed the new Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens, which at $800 may be the default wide-angle solution for the richer 10D owner. That counts me out, especially as I’m happy enough with my Canon 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens.

“Are these two lens samples representative? I can’t say for sure. I’ve been using my 16-35mm f/2.8L for many months and have been happy with the images it produces. Is it as sharp as primes in this focal length range? No, of course not. But it is very versatile, and I don’t hesitate to use it in demanding situations. The new 17-40mm f/4L is a welcome surprise though. At nearly half the price of the faster and slightly wider 16-35mm f/2.8L it provides excellent image quality, surpassing that of the more expensive lens in several areas.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Canon 17-40mm f/4L Lens Review

Canon have surprised everyone, except for DPReview, by announcing a new compact digital camera and 2 new dye-sub printers. The Canon PowerShot SD100/Digital IXUS II (US/Europe + Asia names) is a very compact 3 megapixel camera which uses SD storage cards.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the Canon press-release:

“To make this its smallest digital camera ever, Canon has miniaturised nearly every element of the camera. These include the ‘one dime lens’, first time use of the tiny SD memory card, smallest flash ever to appear in a Canon digital camera, reduced battery size and the unique DIGIC processor. Despite its tiny size, the Digital IXUS II’s 3.2 megapixels will ensure its popularity amongst users looking to achieve high quality prints up to A4 size.”

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot SD100/Digital IXUS II Review

As well as the SD100/Digital IXUS II, Canon have also announced two new dye-sub printers, the CP-200 and CP-300, which produce 6x4 inch prints at 300dpi.

DPReview have been burning the midnight oil to produce their usual detailed reviews of 3 different 3-megapixel cameras. As well as the Canon PowerShot SD100, they have also reviewed the Pentax Optio S and the Casio EXILIM EX-Z3. Which one of these cameras comes out on top? Find out here:

Website: DPReview - Review of 3-megapixel Cameras

...or some photography training? David Prakel has let me know about his new photography training and holiday business, the Centre of Britain PhotoWorkshops Partnership, which is based near the border of England and Scotland. They run a wide range of training courses that cover digital, traditional and general photography.

Website: Centre of Britain PhotoWorkshops Partnership