Low Budget Shooting is an indispensable guide to useful and most importantly inexpensive photographic tools. Author Cyrill Harnischmacher covers lighting, studio and essentials that aim to make your life easier. Low Budget Shooting is 72 pages long and costs $19.95 US.

Yoshi Kono is the winner of Ilford Photo’s Student of the Year competition. Kono won a medium format Mamiya 711 camera kit, £350 plus £250 of Ilford Photo products. “In the end, it was decided that the raw edge displayed by Yoshi Kono’s street photography work just took it that degree further, and merited the overall prize” commented Ilford Photo marketing director Howard Hopwood.

DPReview have reviewed the new Olympus E-410 DSLR camera.

“Default image quality is good, if not as crisp as the competition. However, if you play with the settings for a while, or more specifically turn Noise Filter off and set Sharpness to -2 (to compensate for the default high sharpening used to overcome the softening effect of the Noise Filter) you’ll see that the camera is capturing just as much detail (if not more) than other ten megapixel digital SLRs, and that the lens is more than up to the job too.”

Website: DPReview - Olympus E-410 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-410 Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Canon Powershot A560 compact digital camera, which has a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom lens, Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction.

“With its high quality imaging, competent feature set, and wide availability for less than $200, the Canon PowerShot A560 is a great all-around camera, able to meet the needs of a wide range of users. For pros and advanced amateurs, it’s nice to have a pocket-sized alternative to a more bulky digital SLR, yet the price makes this camera an attractive entry for anyone who has been thinking about going digital.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon Powershot A560 Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Canon Digital IXUS 75 digital camera (also known as the PowerShot SD750) which has a metallic finish, 3x zoom lens and 3 inch LCD screen.

“Taken in manual mode as the IXUS 75 has no specific scene mode for landscape, the landscape test shot has good detail and there is no colour fringing in areas of colour transition. The colour chart test shows that whie the flesh tones and green mixes are fairly accurate, the blues and mixes containing blues are considerably brighter and there is also a noticeable difference in the red colours. The portrait test shows a good true to life likeness and there appears to be no loss of detail in areas such as the hair and eyebrows. Skin tones are also accurate.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Canon Digital IXUS 75 Review

ePhotoZine have just reviewed the new Panasonic DMC-FZ8 ultra-zoom compact digital camera.

“The ISO100 test shows noise in the plain grey area, and in the shadows there’s additional purple noise, but the image is very sharp and detail is clear. At ISO200 it’s more noticeable as the noise is sharper with clear artefacts appearing. Things change at ISO400 though, as the noise is more widespread, but the processing kicks in to make it softer. The result is that the effect in plain areas isn’t a lot worse, but the image loses sharpness and detail as a result.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Canon A570 IS compact digital camera, which offers a 7.1 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom lens, Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction, plus an Optical Image Stabilizer to combat camera shake and full manual control.

“Exposure and colour rendition are first class as one might expect, and dynamic range is surprisingly good for a 1/2.5-in sensor. The overall level of detail is good, but the lens does produce noticeable spherical distortion at the wide end of the zoom range, and corner sharpness is surprisingly poor.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Canon A570 IS Review

We’ve published 25 photos taken with the new Ricoh GX100 compact digital camera. The Ricoh GX100 features a 10.01 megapixel CCD, fast 24-72mm wide zoom lens and a removable electronic view?nder. Take a look at our Ricoh GX100 photos, with the full review to follow soon.

UPDATE June 15th: I’ve added 10 new photos taken in sunny Spain, to help demonstrate the GX100’s performance in optimum lighting conditions.

Website: Ricoh GX100 Photos

Kodak have developed a new image sensor technology that promises a one to two photographic stop increase in sensitivity, improving performance in low light. Kodak have achieved this by adding panchromatic, or “clear” pixels to the red, green, and blue pixels on the sensor. These clear pixels are sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light, and therefore collect a significantly higher proportion of the light striking the sensor. “This represents a new generation of image sensor technology and addresses one of the great challenges facing our industry how to capture crisp, clear digital images in a poorly lit environment,” said Chris McNiffe, General Manager of Kodak’s Image Sensor Solutions group. The first Kodak sensor to use this technology is expected to be available for sampling in the first quarter of 2008.

The new 24 inch EIZO CG241W LCD monitor offers 12-bit hardware calibration and a 6 ms gray-to-gray response time. The wide gamut LCD panel reproduces 92% of NTSC and 96% of the Adobe RGB color space. The maximum brightness is 300 cd/m², contrast ratio is 850:1, and horizontal and vertical viewing angles are 178°. The EIZO CG241W will be available in mid to late July in the United States.

PNY have collaborated with PCWorld in the UK to release the PNY Attache USB 2.0 flash drive featuring a rotating cap. Jonathan Filleau, Category Manager for PNY says “After listening to our customers we have moderated the PNY Attache to feature a more sophisticated design and higher capacity. Consumers informed us that flash drive caps were frequently lost, so our new design incorporates a cap into the body of the Attache.” Available in 1, 2 , 4 and 8Gb capacities, the new PNY Attache drives cost from £11.99 to £69.99.

Photographer Stephen Johnson has just opened a new state of the art lab to help teach budding photography students. Throughout the year Stephen Johnson holds a variety of workshops for all levels of photographers, including classes on RAW files and fine-art printing.

A Fujifilm FinePix S602 has survived the ultimate endurance test - a 100ft fall from the top of a castle. Roy Sands of Herne Bay, Kent, UK, accidentally sent the S602 over the edge of the top of Blarney Castle in Ireland, but amazingly the only damage was a snapped lens cover spring. Maybe the luck of the Irish helped Roy’s camera survive…

The Sony MRW62E S1/171 multi card reader includes Drive Letter recognition software to make it easy to identify different card formats when transferring data. “The compact form factor of the 17-in-1 multi-card reader recognises that we no longer work from a single desk and peripherals need to be portable.” commented Andrew Barrow, Senior Product Manager for PC Accessories. The Sony MRW62E-S1/171 will be available from June 2007.

DIWA member e-Fotografija have reviewed the new Canon EOS-1D Mark III DSLR camera.

“Any way you look at it, the Canon EOS 1D MkIII is a photojournalist’s dream camera. Loads of features, intuitive settings, antidust system, liveview, and excellent image quality at high sensitivity are what make it so amazing. And it is this last thing that makes the Mk III so special.”

Website: e-Fotografija - Canon EOS-1D Mark III Review

CameraLabs have reviewed the Olympus E-510 DSLR camera, which features a built-in image stabiliser in the camera body. The E510 also has a new image processing engine that offers excellent noise performance and 3fps with a seven image RAW buffer in burst mode.

“The Olympus E-510 is arguably the most feature-packed DSLR in its class, ticking almost every box on the wish-lists of new DSLR buyers. You get 10 Megapixels in a relatively light and compact form factor, the option of one or two decent kit lenses, and the triple whammy of built-in anti-shake, anti-dust and Live View capabilities, not to mention easy access to a wide variety of settings.”

Website: CameraLabs - Olympus E-510 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-510 Review

PopPhoto have reviewed the new Sigma SD14 DSLR camera and taken an in-depth look at the Foveon X3 sensor.

“But in RAW, also at ISO 100, the SD14 performs more like a good 10MP DSLR, capturing about 10 percent higher resolution and Excellent color, earning it an Excellent image quality rating. Still, NEF RAW files from the $920 (street) 10.2MP Nikon D80 show higher detail. So this is not what you’d expect from a camera billed as having 14.1 megapixels.”

Website: PopPhoto - Sigma SD14 Review

Website: PopPhoto - Foveon X3 Sensor

Megapixel.net have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix S500, a 7.1 megapixel camera with a 3x zoom lens (35-105mm), Vibration Reduction to combat camera shake, ISO 2000 capability, 2.5 inch monitor and One-touch portrait button.

“Set to 7M*, the Coolpix S500 yields very good images, especially when photos are captured outdoors and with good light, the images showing good sharpness and excellent colour rendition. And, for a modestly higher price than the S200, the S500 offers a true image stabilization system, and an excellent monitor, both of which represent valuable assets when taking photos. “

Website: Megapixel.net - Nikon Coolpix S500 Review

The Pentax Optio W30 digital camera is waterproof, dustproof and sandproof, making it an ideal companion for the family beach holiday, where no doubt it will be dropped in the sea and the sand. To put the Pentax W30 to the test, I spent an afternoon on-board a RNLI lifeboat, speeding along the south coast of England at 25 knots and getting thoroughly soaked. Find out if the W30 managed to survive and take good photographs in our latest in-depth review.

Website: Pentax Optio W30 Review

Olympus is sponsoring an exhibition of photographs by young refugees of war and famine in Uganda. Through the Eyes of Children – Life as a Refugee in Uganda will run for three weeks in London’s South Bank at the gallery@oxo from 14th June to 1st July 2007.