CameraTown have just reviewed Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

“The layout in lightroom is one of the most intuitive that I have used. Unlike Photoshop that requires a degree in icon recognition, Lightroom is chock full of plain text and easy to use sliders, allowing you to easily learn as you go. The fact that all edits are non-destructive means you can experiment to your hearts content without worrying about image degradation.”

Website: CameraTown - Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Review

The winners of the August 2008 PhotographyBLOG Competition have been selected. The theme for August was “On Holiday” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
*The Great British holiday makers* by pudnpie

Prize: 1 x 24x24” or 24x18” Canvas Print of a Photo of Your Choice
Kindly donated by Photo Artistry.
http://www.photoartistry.co.uk

The six lucky winners of our fantastic August 2008 Newsletter contest have been randomly selected from the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscriber list.

Frances Heaton , Henryk Fibich, Melanie Hopgood, Stephan Konjer, Mick Durnall and Neil Morgan each win a Kata DC441 Shoulder Bag, worth £50 / $70 each.

The Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC is a new 15x zoom lens for Nikon DSLR cameras with built-in motors. Providing a focal length equivalent to 28-419mm, the Tamron 18-270mm lens is also equipped with a highly effective Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism. Note that this lens is designed for exclusive use on digital SLR cameras equipped with smaller sized (APS-C sized) image sensors. The new Tamron 18-270mm lens for Nikon digital SLRs with built-in motors will be available in Japan from September 20th 2008.

The new Tamron SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) is a ultra wide-angle zoom lens for Nikon digital SLRs with built-in motors. The lens covers an extended focal length range equivalent to 16-37mm that is particularly wide for an ultra wide-angle zoom lens, while improving the aperture to F/3.5-4.5 and keeping the filter diameter to 77mm. Note that this lens is designed for exclusive use on digital SLR cameras equipped with smaller sized (APS-C sized) image sensors. The new Tamron 18-270mm lens for Nikon digital SLRs with built-in motors will be available in Japan from September 27th 2008.

Tamron have announced the launch date for 3 new Di lenses in the full-frame imaging format. The Tamron SP AF70-200mm F/2.8 Di lens (pictured) for Pentax and Sony DSLR cameras will be available in Japan on September 20th 2008, and the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di lens for Nikon DSLRs with built-in motors will be available in Japan on September 27th 2008.

The Sinar Hy6 65 is a new 31 megapixel medium format camera system. The imaging area is almost twice the size of a full-frame 35mm camera, and it features the fastest flash sync speed for medium format cameras thanks to its leaf shutter system. The Sinar Hy6 65 offers access to a broad range of high-quality AFD lenses and is compatible with the manual focus and AF lenses of the Rollei 6000 camera system.

DIWA member LetsGoDigital have reviewed the Canon EOS 1000D, a new entry-level, 10 megapixel DSLR camera with Live View mode.

“The Canon EOS 1000D does undoubtedly succeed when it comes to its quality. It is clearly a product that has arisen from long years of EOS experience. The camera is simply well constructed and although not completely free of remarks, the Canon EOS 1000D truly is an extremely beautiful entry-level DSLR. The image quality is convincing, the operation logical and friendly, and its size that makes it pleasant to always carry the camera with you.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Canon EOS 1000D Review

Website: Read our Canon EOS 1000D Review

Samsung have announced plans to launch a brand new camera system that’s a cross between a DSLR and a compact camera. Samsung Hybrid cameras will feature an APS-C sized sensor, removable lenses that are smaller than current DSLR lenses, and a framing combination of electronic viewfinder and rear LCD screen. According to the report by Amateur Photographer, the first Samsung Hybrid model will be based on the same 14 megapixel sensor that’s used in the Samsung GX-20 DSLR, and will be launched in Spring 2010. Samsung’s announcement comes just weeks after Olympus and Panasonic unveiled plans for Micro Four Thirds, a very similar system to Samsung Hybrid. ‘Although we want to make the new system affordable, we are concentrating on achieving professional quality with this system. The most important point is that this is very successful in the market. A difference between Samsung’s system and Micro Four Thirds will be that Samsung will have a much bigger sensor.’ commented Samsung Techwin Executive Vice President Byung Woo Lee, who also clarified that Samsung’s Hybrid standard has no connection to Micro Four Thirds.

So what do you think? Is the announcement of the second brand new camera system in as many months a good thing? Who will win - Micro Four Thirds, Samsung Hybrid, or neither?

Website: Samsung reveals new Hybrid digital camera system to rival Micro Four Thirds

The Lowepro Flipside 400 AW is a new high performance camera backpack. The main compartment in the Flipside 400 AW will hold a professional DSLR with up to a 300mm lens. There is also room for four to six more lenses and accessories such as memory cards. Lowepro’s unique patented All Weather Cover provides weather resistance against rain, dust and snow. The new Lowepro Flipside 400 AW is available now in two colours – Black and Pine Green - priced at £119.

Digital Infrared Photography is a new book shows you how to record the invisible part of the light spectrum. This compact guide to infrared photography shows the beauty of infrared imagery while it teaches how to shoot these images with your digital camera. Digital Infrared Photography provides the basic theoretical background, information on cameras, filters and equipment, and lots of guidance on how to do infrared photography from image capture to post-processing. Digital Infrared Photography costs $24.95.

A new range of Marumi lens hoods for Canon lenses is now available. Marumi lens hoods are an alternative to Canon’s own brand products, with a quality black plastic construction and bayonet fittings that can be reversed over the lens for storage when not in use. 11 different lenses are currently supported, and prices range from: £9.99 to £24.99 RRP Inc. VAT.

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, a 9 megapixel update of Panasonic’s best-selling camera ever, the TZ3.

“Panasonic’s recent cameras have shown significant improvement in image quality, and the TZ5 continues this trend, although image noise is still something of a problem at higher ISO settings. There is a noise-like pattern visible in darker areas even at 100 ISO, although this may be an artefact of the image processing. Oddly shots at 200 ISO actually appear slightly cleaner, but the noise reduction kicks in at 400 ISO and fine detail begins to deteriorate. At 800 ISO the image looks like it’s been blurred and re-sharpened a few times, and at the maximum 1600 ISO colour reproduction is very poor and the image quality is very poor.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Review

Website: Read our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the 11 megapixel Fujifilm FinePix S100FS, described by Fujifilm as “its most advanced DSLR-styled camera to date”.

“FujiFilm has delivered a well rounded Prosumer model. With powerful features like the manually operated 14.3x FUJINON zoom lens, 11-megapixel image sensor, Dual IS, 2.5-inch Tiltable LCD, over 3fps burst capture at full resolution (during our tests), CCD-RAW capture mode, and loads of exposure options, the S100FS is a versatile digital camera. However, with an MSRP of US$799, it’s expensive.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Fujifilm FinePix S100FS Review

Website: Read our Fujifilm FinePix S100FS Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd, the world’s smallest 12x optical zoom digital camera.

“The S1000fd’s shooting performance results were a bit disappointing. From power-on to the capture of your first image takes about 3.2 seconds. Shutter delay, the elapsed time between pressing the shutter and capturing an image, was about 1/10 of a second when pre-focused, and between 5-8/10 of a second including autofocus time. The Shot to shot delay averaged about 4.6 seconds without flash, and 5 seconds with flash. One annoyance I found was, the LCD/EVF blacks out in between shots with and without the flash while the image is being processed, which is a critical time for framing the next shot.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Fujifilm FinePix S1000fd Review

The Sony Cyber-shot T500 is a new 10 megapixel digital camera that can also shoot HD movies. Video is recorded at 1280x720 pixels at 30fps in the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 format, with a continuous shooting time of up to 10 minutes per clip. The Sony T500 also features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 5x optical zoom and optical image stabiliser and a large 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD. Available in a choice of piano black, silver and red finishes, the Sony Cyber-shot T500 will be available from October 2008.

Nikon and Microsoft have signed a patent cross-licensing agreement to further the development of each company’s current and future product lines. Nikon’s digital cameras and other consumer products from both companies are included in the agreement. “At Nikon, we want to continue to lead the industry in pioneering photography solutions and give our customers access to innovative technology,” said Naoki Tomino, Director, Member of the Board, General Manager of Intellectual Property Headquarters at Nikon. “This agreement is a natural extension of our longstanding relationship with Microsoft and we look forward to collaborating and bringing exciting new products to the market.”

Blow Up 2 is a new version of Alien Skin Software’s photo resizing plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. New features in Blow Up 2 include a new user interface that simplifies cropping and resizing, presets, smart cropping, adaptive sharpening, and built-in batch processing. Blow Up 2 sells for $249 USD with an upgrade price of $99 USD for registered users of Blow Up 1.

Lessons in DSLR Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop is a new book by photographer Jerry Courvoisier. It delivers a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera workflow that allows readers to spend less time at their computer and more time behind the camera capturing great images. Joe McNally, photographer and author of The Moment It Clicks, said, “Jerry Courvoisier is, plain and simple, one of the best teachers of digital workflow and image management working today. He demystifies the digital world for both the beginner and the advanced user. For anyone shooting digital pictures, this book simply has to be on your shelf.” Lessons in DSLR Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop is now available for $44.99.

Samsung has added four new models to its range of digital photo frames. Available September 1st, the SPF-85H and the WiFi-enabled SPF-85V have an 8-inch screen and are offered with an estimated street price of $129.99 and $199.99, respectively. For those wanting a larger screen, two 10-inch digital photo frames will be available. The SPF-105P will be offered for an estimated street price of $199.99 on October 1st and the WiFi-enabled SPF-105V for an estimated street price of $289.99 on November 1st.