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.

Win a Nikon D200 and 17-55mm lens, worth over £2,000, in the AOPOPEN contest. Awards will be presented for the judges ‘Best in Show’ choices and the ‘Public Choice’ winner. The AOPOPEN exhibition showing the finest images runs from 22 August to 28 September 2007 at the AOP Gallery, London.

Ricoh have released a firmware update, v1.39, for the Ricoh R6 camera.

1. Modified the following phenomena.
• After you change a mode, the step zoom setting may become OFF.
• The skew correction feature may not work properly.
• If you turn a camera power with set to the [LANDSCAPE] in the SCENE mode, the message, ‘Settings have been changed’ will appear.

Website: Ricoh R6 v1.39 Firmware Update

CNET have reviewed the new Canon S5 IS ultra-zoom compact camera, which features a 12x optical zoom lens equivalent to 36-432mm, optical image stabilizer and 8 megapixel sensor.

“Canon has had to keep each sensor size to 1/2.5-inch; unfortunately, the weaknesses of the lens/sensor combo either becomes more evident as resolutions climb, or we’re just tired of seeing the same old problems. For the S5 IS, that means asymmetrical vertical distortion on the left side accompanied by ever-present aberration in the form of cyan and magenta fringing—not just at high-contrast edges, where we expect it, but at medium-contrast boundaries as well.”

Website: CNET - Canon S5 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot S5 IS Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the new Olympus Stylus 730, which offers a 3 inch LCD screen, 7 megapixels and weatherproof body.

“The water-resistant Olympus Stylus 730 is designed to take a downpour, capture color over detail, and reward you right away with very nice playback on its 3.0 inch LCD. To capture fast moving kids at play, it can ratchet up its sensitivity to ISO 3,200, but at reduced image size. And if you get in trouble, you don’t have to remember which Scene mode is designed to deal with it. You can just pop into Guide mode to tell the Olympus Stylus 730 what you want, and let it show you how to approach the problem.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Olympus Stylus 730 Review

Image Trends PearlyWhites and ShineOff are digital teeth whitener and digital face powder software plugins for Adobe Photoshop. “Harsh direct flash lighting adds unwanted shine to the face and digital cameras tend to yellow teeth making them appear unnatural.  These new cosmetic plug-ins do such a flattering job of beautifying images, that their use becomes addictive.” said Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of Image Trends. Both new plug-ins will be priced at $49.95 U.S, currently available for Windows only.

Olympus look like they might finally be taking the wraps off their new professional DSLR camera, dubbed the P-1, which was first shown as a prototype at the Photokina and then the PMA trade show. Olympus Europe are currently running a teaser page with the current E-410 and E-510 shown alongside a mysterious camera shrouded in cloth, with “Coming Soon” promising an imminent launch. It’s anyone’s guess how soon that actually is, but at least the P-1 has finally made it onto Olympus’ product pages (found via Engadget).

“Yes it refers to the E1 replacement. Clues to the design direction were shown at PMA which was widely reported. Clues to certain feature directions are in the E410/510 - also trailed at PMA. We are not able to say more at the moment other than the official line of a 2007 launch. We also have several new lenses to be launched later this year to increase our position as the largest “designed for digital” range - the message is E System is growing and remains the only built from scratch system. As a side note please look out for Chris Bonington taking an E410 up an unclimbed Himalayan peak this summer - a reflection of his Everest trip in the 1970’s with the OM1 which was a real breakthrough camera then, and activity like this one highlights what we are looking forward to. Please also note that Olympus are sponsoring a the Lee Miller centenary exhibition at the V&A museum in London starting in mid September. Things all building to a big launch of a big product….” commented Mark Thackara of Olympus UK.

Kodak have introduced 6 new cameras today - the Kodak Z1275 and Kodak ZD710, and Kodak M883, Kodak M873, Kodak M853 and Kodak M753. The Z1275 offers 12 megapixels and 5x optical zoom and the ZD710 7 megapixels and 10x optical zoom, both available from August 2007 for $249. The stylish new M-series features four models. The M753 and M853 offer 7 and 8 megapixels respectively and 3x zooms. The M873 and M883 both have 8 megapixel sensors, with the M883 featuring a larger 3 inch LCD screen. The Kodak M753 will retail for £99.99 / $149 beginning in July 2007. The M853 ($179) and M873 ($199) will follow in August and the M883 ($229) in September.

The Epson DX4400 Series of A4 size all-in-one devices features Epson DURABrite Ultra Ink, 25ppm printing speeds, print resolution of 5760dpi, and a 600dpi scanner. Mark Robinson, Product Manager, Epson says, “The Epson Stylus DX4400 Series is the only model at its price to offer individual ink cartridges at £6.99, lab quality photo capability and a resolution of 5760dpi.  What’s more it produces crisp and smudge-proof prints on plain paper, thanks to Epson’s DURABrite™ Ultra Ink.” The Epson DX4400 will cost £59.99, available 20th June 2007.

AKVIS Noise Buster 4, a software plugin that reduce noise in digital images, has been released. New features in Noise Buster 4 include saving user settings as presets, plus compatibility with Windows Vista and Intel Macs. There’s a free 10 day trial, with the full version costing € 39.

Sony are offering 20 free prints when you purchase Sony Memory Stick or Compact Flash media. The products featured in the offer include Memory Stick Micro 1GB and 2GB, Memory Stick PRO Duo 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and Compact Flash 2GB and 4GB cards. This promotion is available across both Western and Eastern Europe and will be available from July until September 2007.

CameraTown have just published a review of Snap Art by Alien Skin Software.

“Alien Skin Software’s Snap Art is a photoshop compatible plug-in that converts photographs to look like natural media artwork by mimicking the way a conventional artist works with paint and brushes. The software includes a variety of real-world art filter styles including oil paint, impasto, pastel, pencil sketch, pointillism, watercolor, pen and ink, stylize, color pencil, and comics. The results are probably one of the more realistic ways of converting a photo to hand-painted (or drawn) art - short of using a pressure sensitive tablet with a natural media program like PAINTER and having enough artistic ability to create your own masterpiece. But is Snap Art right for you? Read the review to find out more.”

Website: CameraTown - Snap Art Review

DCResource have just reviewed the new Panasonic DMC-FZ8 camera.

“The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 is a full-featured ultra zoom camera that offers robust performance, tons of features, and a solid design, all for under $350. It’s kept from greatness only by its overaggressive noise reduction, which noticeably reduces image quality, especially in low light, or if the ISO is higher than 100. For the typical digital camera buyer, who will be printing 4 x 6’s and maybe an occasional 8 x 10, the noise reduction isn’t a huge issue, and for those people I can highly recommend the FZ8.”

Website: DCResource - Panasonic DMC-FZ8 Review