The last few weeks have seen a number of exciting new DSLR cameras announced, with the majority aimed at the prosumer photographer with around £1,000 / $1,500 burning a hole in their back pocket. Saturday Shout returns with a bang this week, as we ask you which “affordable” new DSLR camera would you buy, and why? Yes, that’s right, we’re asking you to pick just one of the following big-hitters:

Canon EOS 40D - 10.1 megapixel sensor, 6.5 fps continuous shooting,3 inch LCD screen, upgraded dust and weather resistant construction, ISO 3200 mode and DIGIC III processor.
Nikon D300 - 12.3 megapixel sensor, 6fps continuous shooting, 51 point autofocus system, 3 inch VGA LCD screen with Live View, self-cleaning sensor unit, expandable ISO settings from 200-3200, and new EXPEED image processing system.
Panasonic DMC-L10 - 10.1 megapixel sensor, unique 2.5 inch free angle LCD screen complete with full time live view, Face Detection, Intelligent ISO Control, nine film modes which replicate analog film styles, and Supersonic Wave Filter system.
Sony A700 - 12.24 megapixel CMOS sensor, BIONZ image processor, 11 point autofocus system, ISO 6400,5fps (for 17 shots in RAW mode), 1/8000th shutter speed, 3 inch LCD screen (with 921,000 pixels).
Olympus E-3 - Not too much is known about this DSLR, due in November - even its name has only recently been revealed!

Remember, you’re only allowed to pick one of the above, but you can give as many reasons as you like for your choice. Try and ignore the slightly different price points that each camera is positioned at, and decide which model you would most like to have in your camera bag.

A recent survey (see the next story below) concluded that most of us take photos in order to share them, with email by far the most popular method. Social networking websites are also becoming more important, think sites like MySpace, Flickr and FaceBook, whilst printing is still growing, but not as quickly. The survey also idenitified some interesting age distinctions, with under-25’s eager to share, over 45’s more concerned with the storage and preservation of their memories, and 25-44 year olds a mixture of the two. I want to find out how PhotographyBLOG readers predominantly share their photos. Are you an avid Flickr or online Gallery user? Do you prefer a physical print? Or do you find yourself viewing most photos on a computer monitor? And have you found any cool new services or ways of sharing your photos? Shout out now...

We’ve all done something really stupid as photographers, haven’t we? Whether it’s leaving the lens cap on, shooting at a high ISO speed in bright sunlight, or leaving those freshly recharged batteries at home, every photographer has a story of mishap and woe. You might have missed the shot that would definitely have made the front cover, upset the relatives at a wedding, or included several of your fingers in the picture. So this is your opportunity to hold your hands up in the air and share your most embarassing photographic mistake with the whole world wide web. Go on, get it all off your chest and make yourself feel better by shouting out now...

Face Detection is undoubtedly the must-have digital camera feature for 2007, with every new model offering some kind of system. Could GPS (Global Positioning System) based geo-tagging be the next killer application? Sony are already offering a GPS kit that’s compatible with most recent cameras, and Jobo are about to release a GPS unit that fits in the hotshoe of a DSLR. Companies at the recent PMA show in Las Vegas were demonstrating inexpensive GPS chips that could be fitted inside a digital camera, leading many experts to believe that this will be the killer feature for 2008/9. So we may all be able to plot our photographic routes on Google Earth or a similar service sooner than you think, and there will be no more wondering about where a particular photograph was taken. Will GPS-based geo-tagging be big, is it an exciting feature for you and something that you’d use a lot, or is it just another flashy way for camera companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors? Shout out now...

Two weeks ago Saturday Shout wondered if the Sigma DP1 could be the ultimate compact camera for keen photographers. Just 10 days later, there’s a new contender in the shape of the Ricoh GX100. Ricoh are like Sigma - a relatively small company in a massive pond filled with much bigger fish - so they have to do things a little differently to make an impression. The new Ricoh GX100 certainly fits that bill. It offers a wide-angle, 24-72mm zoom lens, with an optional wide conversion lens that will provide 19mm if required. And unlike most recent digital cameras from the larger manufacturers with entry-level DSLRs, the GX100 provides both RAW and RAW + JPEG shooting modes. This new camera comes in two different versions, the more expensive offering a removable electronic view?nder, which provides an extra way of framing your images. Throw in a 10 megapixel sensor and a hot shoe which accepts an electronic view?nder, an external ?ash, or the external view?nder, and the Ricoh GX100 starts to look very interesting. There is one fundamental difference between this camera and the Sigma DP1, however, and that’s the size of the sensor, with the DP1 having a much larger APS-C sized sensor which will almost certainly provide better overall image quality. The GX100 does offer a more versatile focal range than the DP1, though, so photographers looking for a DSLR backup suddenly have two very interesting cameras to consider. Can the Ricoh GX100 be a contender? Shout out now...

After weeks of covering the PMA show and writing about the latest and greatest cameras and kit, I thought it would be good to get back to what we’re all really interested in - taking photos. This week’s Saturday Shout is your chance to shamelessly promote your own photography by leaving a link to your website or online gallery in the Comments section. Just so long as you also write a paragraph or two about your particular photographic interests. Think of it as a caring, sharing group hug where we all get to look at some nice photos, whilst learning a little bit about each other (but not too much!). Ahhhhh. Bless.

Saturday Shout is back! People have been telling me how much they miss this weekly column, so I’ve blown off the virtual cobwebs and kicked things off with this question: Is the new Sigma DP1 the ultimate compact camera? Consider these facts. The size of the image sensor used in the Sigma DP1 camera is 10 times larger than in a normal compact digital camera. Yes, that’s 10 times larger! the DP1 features the same 14 megapixel FOVEON X3, APS-C size image sensor (2652 × 1768 × 3 layers) that Sigma’s new DSLR camera uses, and can shoot in either JPEG or RAW. The DP1 has a fixed 28mm f/4 wide-angle lens. As well as a large 2.5 inch LCD screen, there’s even an optional viewfinder that fits into the camera’s flash hotshoe (did I mention that the DP1 has a dedicated hotshoe?). There’s even a dedicated dial for, get this, easy manual focusing! Sure, the price might be a bit steep (upwards of £500) and Sigma aren’t exactly renowned for making good compact digicams (errm, this is their first actually). But hey, you never know, the Sigma DP1 could turn out to be the compact digital camera that every serious shutterbug has been waiting for. What do you think - has the Sigma DP1 caught your eye, or is it fatally flawed? Shout out now…

In this week’s Saturday Shout we’re coming over all introspective and asking you, our loyal readers, what we can do to improve PhotographyBLOG. Is there something that you’d really like to see, or something that you’d like us to do differently? Good or bad, long or short, this is your opportunity to help make PhotographyBLOG a better place. And you never know, we might actually implement some of the best ideas. So make your voice heard and shout out now…

On Thursday news emerged about a new image file format from Microsoft, specifically for photos, called the Windows Media Photo format. Said to offer better quality at half the size when compared to the JPEG format, WMPs will be part of Windows Vista and may also be released as an add-on for WIndows XP. But does the world really need another image format - isn’t JPEG good enough already? After all, JPEG 2000 has struggled to gain widespread support, despite its technical superiority to bog-standard JPEG. And will anyone except for Microsoft actually bother to support the WMP format? Shout out now…

A few years ago the word “blog” didn’t exist. Nowadays blogs and blogging are everyday terms that most people in the street are aware of (even if they don’t fully understand them). Photoblogs are a big part of this ever-growing trend, with sites like Chromasia and daily dose of imagery being just two excellent examples. I’ve recently started my own, EverydayEye, in an attempt to make myself get out there and take photos on a more regular basis. Do you have your own photo blog (feel free to list the URL)? If so, what is your principal reason for having it? Is it the main way that you share your photos with the world? Has it had any impact on the way that you take photographs? Shout out now…

This week saw some new information released by Sony about their Alpha DSLR camera and by Panasonic about their DMC-L1 DSLR. Both cameras will be released this year, with Sony aiming to become “the headline performer” and Panasonic just aiming to break into the DSLR market. 20 new lenses for the Alpha camera are promised by Sony in the first year, with full backwards compatibility for the Konica Minolta lens mount system, whilst are offering something completely different in the LC1 with a more range-finder like design. But how successful will either company be when Canon and Nikon effectively have this area of photography sewn up between them? Can Sony succeed where Konica Minolta failed, and can Panasonic build on the success of their popular compact digicams? Shout out now…

Wi-Fi has started to appear as a built-in feature in a few digital cameras, most notably with the Kodak EasyShare One, but earlier this week a company called Eye-Fi revealed plans to make Wi-Fi available to a whole lot more digicams by embedding wireless into an SD card. In an earlier Saturday Shout you gave your opinion on whether Wi-FI was a good thing, the general concensus being that it needed more support to succeed (more camera, software, networks support etc). So do you think a Wi-Fi SD card would open up the market and create more interest in this feature? Is this the best way of adding Wi-Fi capabiliy to digital cameras? Would you buy a Wi-Fi enabled SD card for your camera? Shout out now…

Earlier this week Casio announced the 10.1 megapixel EX-Z1000 compact digital camera. The day before that, Kodak unveiled the 6 megapixel V610. These two new cameras typify the differing approaches of camera manufacturers. Whilst Casio grabbed all the headlines with the largest megapixel count ever for a compact digital camera (although Vivitar actually beat them earlier this year), Kodak made the news by using its dual-lens technology to squeeze a 38-380mm focal length into a camera just 19mm thick. So which approach do you think is the right one - expansion or innovation? Is the megapixel war still relevant? What is the “best” number of megapixels for a compact digicam? Should the manufacturers concentrate on real photographic features instead? Shout out now…

Earlier this week Sony unveiled the new brand name for their up-coming DSLR camera range, which will be launched in the Summer of 2006. Dubbed “Alpha”, the name continues the tradition inherited from Konica Minolta, whose DSLRs were called the same thing in Japan for over 20 years before the company’s decision to pull out of the camera market. The new Sony Alpha DSLRS will be based on the existing Alpha / Maxxum / Dynax lens mount, which is good news for current Konica Minolta DSLR owners. But how much of an impact do you think Sony will have on the wider DSLR market, where Canon and Nikon retain the lion’s share? Can Sony make a bigger impression than Konica Minolta ever did, and challenge the major players, or will they be competing with the likes of Pentax and Samsung instead? Who do you think Sony’s first DSLR will be aimed at - will it be en entry-level model, prosumer or professional? Shout out now…

In an increasingly digital world, we often spend most of our day looking at them: monitors. Whilst a budget monitor is fine for office applications, digital photography demands a much higher specification. CRT monitors have always been the preferred choice of most graphic artists and photographers, but slimmer and lighter LCD panels now dominate the market, so much so that it can be impossible to find a high-quality CRT display. So which technology do you prefer and why? What are the most important characteristics of a monitor to consider? Which particular monitor would you recommend for photography?  Shout out now..

I’ve just finished reading “The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers” by Peter Krogh (available for $22.02 in the US, £16.46 in the UK, full review coming next week) and it’s highlighted a LOT of shortcomings in the way that I archive my photographs (or rather in the way that I don’t archive them). Before I try and work out my own system, I want to find out how you all store, organise and manage your photo collections? What techniques and software do you use? How do you backup your images? What naming system do you use? Shout out now..

Earlier this week 3 digital camera review websites (DCResource, DPReview and Imaging Resource) decided to share with the world their definitions of the terms Preview, Hands-on Preview and Review. In this week’s Saturday Shout I’m interested to find out if their definitions of those terms match what you expect them to be, and if you actually care about what the definitions are? Do you get confused by what different publications call things, or are you just interested in the raw information, regardless of what it is called? Shout out now…

This week’s Saturday Shout looks back at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show in Orlando, Florida. A huge number of new photography products were announced, including more than 90 digital cameras, but did anything get you hot under the collar and give you sweaty hands, or are you already looking forward to Photokina in the autumn? Shout out now…

With the PMA show and the inevitable deluge of shiny new products just a couple of weeks away, it seems fitting to, well, step back and reflect for a moment on exactly why we’re all so interested. So in this week’s Saturday Shout, I want you all to pause, gaze down at your navel and contemplate how, why, when and where you first became interested in the great world of Photography. My own personal story is one of jealousy and rage (I’ll save that for a rainy day…) - what made you pick up a camera for the very first time? Shout out now...

It just occurred to me this week that I hadn’t printed any of my own photographs for quite a while, a few weeks in fact, and that my Epson 2100 printer is quietly gathering dust in the corner of my office. Recently, more official reports also conclude that printing is on the decline, despite the availability of printing technology that is more life-like and durable than ever before. Back in the pre-digital days, prints either made in the darkroom or at your local lab were the best way to view your work. Now it seems that the LCD monitor has taken over as the viewing device of choice. So, when was the last time that you made a print? Is printing your first choice method of evaluating and sharing your photographs? What kind of printer do you own (if any) and how could it be improved? Shout out now…