The Fujifilm Finepix E550 is a 6 megapixel digital camera that retains the same design as the cheaper Finepix E510 and E500, but crucially improves on those models in a number of key areas. Most obviously the Fuji E550 has 6 megapixels rather than the 5 and 4 of the E510 and E500. Perhaps more importantly than the extra megapixel is the kind of sensor that the FinePix E550 uses, namely Fuji’s Super CCD HR, which allows the camera to offer an interpolated resolution of 12.3 megapixels, plus a RAW file format. The Fujifilm Finepix E550 is also larger than many digicams, which Fujifilm claims makes it more of a photographer’s camera. So does the Finepix E550 appeal to the photographer in me? Read my review to find out.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix E550 Review

The Casio Exilim Pro EX-P700 is a 7.2 megapixel compact digital camera with a fast 4x optical zoom lens made by Canon that offers a focal length of 33-132mm. The EX-P700 offers an extended battery life of around 260 shots and has a full range of manual and automatic shooting modes, including no less than 27 different Scene modes to help you achieve the correct exposure. On the rear of the camera is a 2-inch LCD screen, and inside is technology that ensures quick operation in terms of shutter lag, startup time, focusing and continuous shooting. Casio claims that the EX-P700 is a digital camera for semi-professional use, so does it live up to this billing? Find out by reading my review of the Casio Exilim Pro EX-P700.

Website: Casio Exilim Pro EX-P700 Review

Today is the day before PMA 2005 begins, and PhotographyBLOG is here in Orlando to bring you news and views on all the important developments. You’ve read the multitude of press releases, now let PhotographyBLOG take you behind the scenes and the PR barrage and show you what the new products are really like. There will be a steady stream of entries and photos during the next few days, right up until the show ends on Wednesday, so keep checking PhotographyBLOG regularly.

The Fujifilm Finepix E510 is Fuji’s 5 megapixel entry into the crowded entry-level digital camera market. The only difference between the Fujifilm Finepix E510 and its slightly cheaper brother, the E500, is the number of megapixels - 5 versus 4. The Finepix E510 has a 28-91mm zoom lens, which is a lot wider than most of its rivals. The E510 also offers full photographic control in the form of aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes. The Fujifilm Finepix E510 is also larger than many digicams, which Fujifilm claims makes it more of a photographer’s camera. So does the Finepix E510 appeal to the photographer in me? Read my review to find out.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix E510 Review

On the day that I fly out to PMA, Canon decides to announce its latest products (sigh). Thanks to everyone who has emailed me to let me know about the pre-release rumours, releases and the post-release gossip. The official press releases are sitting in my inbox, but after an 9 hour flight I need to go and get something to eat :)

The Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z55 fits into the ultra-compact family of digital cameras, being about the same size as a credit card at just 8cms by 6cms and weighing a mere 130g. Despite its diminutive dimensions, Casio have still managed to include both a 5 megapixel CCD sensor and a massive 2.5-inch LCD screen which dominates the rear of the camera. In addition, the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z55 has a 3x optical zoom, a battery life of around 400 shots and no less than 23 different Scene modes to help you achieve the correct exposure. So is the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z55 the ultimate, carry-with-you-everywhere digital camera? Read my extensive review to find out.

Website: Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z55 Review

The winners of the January 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for January was “Red” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 3 winners:

1st Place
“Red Reflections” by gaja
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Digital Photography Hacks by Derrick Story.
Kindly donated by O’Reilly.
http://www.oreilly.com

2nd Place
“New York City” by Bellavance
View this entry

Prize: Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

3rd Place
“red—” by Dax Carand
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Powerretouche Full Pro Pack
Kindly donated by Powerretouche.
http://powerretouche.com

Congratulations to the 3 winners and thanks to everyone who took part!

The February 2005 Competition is now open for entries. This is a monthly photography competition with a specific theme and prizes for the top 3 photos. The winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges. You just have to submit one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets February’s theme, which is “The Countryside”.

The Fujifilm Finepix E500 is Fuji’s entry into the crowded entry-level digital camera market. This is a 4 megapixel model that offers a couple of interesting features to help differentiate itself from the competition. The Finepix E500 has a 28-91mm zoom lens and also offers full photographic control in the form of aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes. The Fujifilm Finepix E500 allows you to take full creative control if you desire it, or you can use the various auto and scene modes instead and let it make the decisions. So does the Finepix E500 appeal to the photographer in me? Read my review to find out.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix E500 Review

Presenting the Olympus Mju Mini Digital: on paper, a compact digital camera with 4 megapixels, 2x optical zoom lens that’s equivalent to 35-70mm on a 35mm camera, 1.8 inch LCD monitor, all housed in a weather-proof metal body. So far, so run-of-the-mill. Lots of other digital cameras offer a similar if not better specification at the same pricepoint, so why should you consider the Olympus Mju Mini Digital? Take it out of the box and you soon see why - Olympus have designed one of the most stylish compact digicams on the market today. Your friends will definitely be impressed, but in the long-run will you? Carry on reading to discover the answer.

Website: Olympus Mju Mini Digital Review

The Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 was first announced in September 2004 and sits just under the DiMAGE A2 in the Konica Minolta pecking order. The DiMAGE A200 has a unique CCD-shift anti-shake mechanism that enables you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than ever before, plus a manual zooming ring that really makes a difference to the handling. Other noteworthy features include the vari-angle LCD monitor, which rotates 270° vertically and 180° horizontally, the 7x wide-angle optical zoom lens that is equivalent to 28-200mm on a 35mm SLR camera, and the 8 megapixel sensor which produces massive image sizes that are perfect for large prints. So do all of these features work together to make the Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 a technological tour-de-force, or is the camera less than the sum of its parts? Find out in my extensive review.

Website: Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200 Review

WIN WIN WIN! We are pleased to announce a joint-effort with dpnow to draw attention to our respective newsletter competitions. This month Photographyblog is offering the following prizes to all newsletter subscribers.

- 2 prizes of 1000 A5 Colour Posctards
- 2 prizes of 1000 A6 Colour Postcards
- 3 prizes of “Adobe Photoshop CS One-on-One” by Deke McCelland

That’s 7 chances to win, with prizes totalling around £600 in value!!!

Visit the Newsletter page where you will find full details of the prizes available and how to enter.

This month dpnow has a very handy and versatile Vosonic VP6210 X’s Drive up for grabs - it’s a compact portable external hard disk drive, memory card reader, image viewer, video clip player and MP3 player and all new and existing subscribers this month can have a chance of winning one - all you need to do is follow some simple instructions.

Both PhootographyBLOG’s and dpnow’s prize draws are open to all visitors, without geographic restriction.

For all our entrants this month - good luck!

Yesterday at 12 midday CET, 7 names were randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers. If you are one of the winners, you will already have received an email from me ([email protected]). In order to protect the winners’ email addresses, I’m not going to publish them here.

- One person won a Kiesel TZ600 camera bag from Kiesel Bags  (worth $119.99).
- One person won a Kiesel MX500 camera bag (pictured) from Kiesel Bags (worth $109.99).
- Four people each won a book of their choice from the current ILEX list.
- One person each won a copy of Digital Photography & Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 from Total Training (worth $49.99).

If you haven’t won anything, then don’t worry, as a brand new contest for February has just started! There are over £600 of prizes on offer this month!

To have any chance of winning, you must subscribe to the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter.

The HP Photosmart R707 is the flagship model in HPs new range of digital cameras that was first announced at the end of August 2004. With a stylish brushed aluminum front and matt black rear, the R707 is sure to turn heads in your local camera shop. Inside is a 5 megapixel sensor and a number of cutting-edge technologies, the most notable being HP Adaptive Lighting, which automatically adjusts high contrast photos to reveal detail in the shadow areas. So does the R707 live up to its billing as HP’s best digital camera? Read my review to find out.

Website: HP Photosmart R707 Review

PhotographyBLOG and DigitalCameraInfo.com have joined together this month to host a monthly photography contest. Win a Nikon D70 Kit! Includes a Nikon D70 body and an 18-70 mm Nikkor Lens. There are only hours to go before the contest ends, so enter your photo now!

Website: PhotographyBLOG and DigitalCameraInfo.com Photo Contest

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon D70

The 48th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Keith Goldstein.

“My tools have always been simple - one camera and a couple of lenses. Lately I have begun to utilize the computer and video to bring out more of what I see within the image making process, and my feelings towards my place within the world.”

Website: Portfolios: Keith Goldstein

The 47th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Black Box Photo.

”“These photos are taken with all four, pretty much in random order, because making photographs that say something to - at least - the photographer is only incidentally related to the sophistication of the equipment that s/he uses, and it’s often usefully less obtrusive to be seen as a tourist or a snapshotter than it is to pose as A Photographer.

http://blackboxphoto.servepics.com/”

Website: Portfolios: Black Box Photo

After a short break, PhotographyBLOG Portfolios are back! This is your chance to have your very best photographs published and viewed by thousands of people. I am looking for creative portfolios that reflect your particular photographical style. 

The 44th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Patrick McMullen.

“I am from Florida, U.S.A. I am trying to find a community of photographers who share the same passion and level as I do. I am tired of joining camera clubs where they do not recognize your talents. I hope that here I will find people who know the “art” of photography rather than just the mechanical side to it, such as sharpness,etc. I take pictures of anything that I find interesting and appealing to look at.

More images are available at http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallByMember.asp?mem=65401

Website: Portfolios: Patrick McMullen

The 45th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Alan Yuen.

”“My name is Alan YUEN, from Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a place for mix culture and with a lot of special vision, I hope to summit my portfolios on what I see and what I touch in different area of Hong Kong , I never touch the image on computer, I just like B/W and use B/W to tell what I saw.

I am a IT journalists work on a computer magazine in Hong Kong , most of my job is review and testing latest Digital Camera.”

Link to my web site:
http://homepage.mac.com/yuen

Website: Portfolios: Alan Yuen

The 46th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Niel Hirjee.

“My name is Niel Hirjee, I’m from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India. I’m an amateur photographer and a web designer by profession. I have been a keen photographer since my teens and have started photographing seriously from early this year, 2004. I am currently doing a cityscape project on Kolkata and am experimenting with digiscoping.”

My work is online at:
http://www.indiax.com/photogallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=2

Website: Portfolios: Niel Hirjee

My flight and hotel tickets are booked, bags are nearly packed, camera is at the ready. Yes, its nearly time for PMA 2005, the biggest annual photography show in the world. The Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Annual Convention and Trade Show takes place in Orlando, Florida USA and runs from 20th-23rd February 2005. This is the world’s largest annual photo imaging trade show, with more than 30,000 attendees from nearly 100 countries last year. More than 83% of exhibitors responding to the PMA survey plan to launch a new product or service at PMA 2005, so expect a lot of announcements to be made in the weeks leading up to the show. PhotographyBLOG will be there to bring you all the latest product news live from the show floor, with pictures and info on all the hot new photography products for 2005. To help you cope with the massive number of announcements that will be made both before, during (and probably after) the show, visit this webpage which will be constantly updated as new products surface:

Website: PMA 2005 Show Report