Photo-i have started an interactive group test of three pigment based printer - the HP B9180 (pictured), Canon Pro 9500 and Epson 2400.

“Generally I hate doing group tests, I prefer to cover each printer in greater depth. However, over the last three years I have covered all three printers with their own interactive reviews. Believe it or not the Epson was reviewed in June 2005, which makes this printer the oldest in the group. Perhaps it may be unfair to include the Epson against the other two, but I have confidence that it will hold its own. This review is a supplement to the individual reviews, I will be giving scores as I go along. Please don’t compare my results next to those from the original reviews as these marks may no longer be valid, technology has moved on and I will mark them against today’s bench mark.”

Website: Photo-i - Pigment Printers Review

ThinkCamera have reviewed the 10 megapixel Samsung GX-10 DSLR camera.

“Noise levels are pretty good, with ISO 100 and 200 very clean. At ISO 400, some luminance noise creeps in, but it’s still acceptable. ISO 800 starts showing the worst of the noise, with noticeable luminance noise and some hints of extra noise in the blue channel - by ISO 1600 the blue noise has become more pronounced in dark areas and starts putting a slight blue cast on parts of the picture.”

Website: ThinkCamera - Samsung GX-10 Review

TrustedReviews have just reviewed the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 A3+ six-colour photo printer.

“When we printed our photo tests, the main task of this class of printer, we saw high-quality photos with smooth colour gradations, sharp outlines and good detail in areas of shadow. The large format photo prints were clear and finely detailed and overall photo output from this machine is excellent.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Review

The Sanyo Xacti E1 is the world’s first waterproof camcorder. The E1 can record video and 6 megapixel stills under water to a depth of five feet for up to one hour at a time. The Sanyo E1 will be available in the USA in blue, yellow and white in mid-June 2007 for $499.99.

Epson Imaging WorkShop is a new workflow application software package for use with pigment ink printers handling A3 and A2 sizes. Imaging WorkShop is a software package designed to greatly enhance the efficiency of the printing workflow of advanced amateur and professional photographers. It supports RAW formats from various DSLR cameras and employs internal 16-bit image processing as well as nondestructive image processing. Imaging WorkShop will be available for purchase as downloadable software at the NewSoft website.

Fluid Mask 3 Beta has several new features, including enhanced blending power for hair and other problem objects and more intuitive workflow capabilities. Users can download a free 30 Day Trial of Fluid Mask 3 Beta. During the beta phase, Fluid Mask 3 will be available for $199 US.

Pentax have released a new version of Remote Assistant for the K10D digital camera. The Pentax Remote Assistant allows you to use your computer to control functions on the K10D camera, while it is connected via USB cable. Firmware version 1.20 or later must be installed on the K10D in order to use Pentax Remote Assistant 3.

Website: Pentax Remote Assistant 3 (Windows)

Website: Pentax Remote Assistant 3 (Mac)

Kodak are planning to leave the low-end digital camera market, instead concentrating on CMOS sensors for camera phones. In an article on CNET’s Crave website, Kodak revealed that they will release a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor for use in Motorola camera phones and their own camera. “We’re going to be abandoning the low-end of the digital camera business. As everyone knows, we’re not making much money there. Now we have our own CMOS sensors, so you might see us going down in price because we can make money,” said Kodak President Antonio Perez.

Kodak’s CMOS camera will be 5-megapixel

Sigma have released a new firmware update, v1.03, for the Sigma SD14 DSLR camera. Improvements include:

  1. Corrects the intermittent camera freeze while CF CARD BUSY LIGHT is on during continuous shooting.
  2. Corrects the remaining battery power display on the top LCD panel.

Website: Sigma SD14 v1.03 Firmware Update

Current Yahoo! Photos customers will get six months free service when they move their photos to Phanfare, plus unlimited storage. Yahoo recently announced that they were ending their Yahoo! Photos service at the end of this summer. “The photo-printing sites that Yahoo! Photos has highlighted as alternatives to their service offer excellent printing services but they are not focused on the sharing needs of families.  For those customers whose primary goal is to share their treasured photos and videos in a secure and private environment with no ads or storage limits, a Phanfare online album is the better choice.” said Andrew Erlichson, Phanfare’s CEO.

The Cubelite Light Table from Lastolite makes product photography even more versatile for Cubelite users. The Cubelite Light Table is the perfect solution for creating shadowless and instant ‘cut out’ images and is available in two sizes - 70cm x 70cm x 90cm for £159.99 and 100cm x 100cm x 90cm for £229.99.

Colour Confidence has just added PictoColor’s iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6 and iCorrect Portrait to its colour correction software range. “We feel the iCorrect range offers an excellent combination of ease of use and sophistication of features. With EditLab or Portrait, photographers can work quickly and efficiently without compromising the quality of their output - something which will appeal to users at all levels”. comments Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director of Colour Confidence. iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6 is priced at £85/€129 ex. VAT, and iCorrect Portrait at £65/€99 ex. VAT, both available now.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a strong emphasis on style. With an internal, 5x zoom lens, 3 inch LCD screen and High Definition connectivity, all housed in a slim body less than 1/2 inch thick, the Sony T100 is positioned as the camera to be seen with this summer. But is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 a great all-round package, or simply a matter of style over substance? Read our latest review to find out.

Website: Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Review

Samsung have released a new firmware update, version 1.20, for the GX-10 digital SLR camera. Eight new functions have been added, including a built-in flash function for use in wireless mode and two new ways to change the ISO speed.

Nikon has released several new software updates on its European Support Centre website. An update is available for the wireless connection utility for the WT-2, adding support for Windows Vista and improves support on Intel Macs. Version 1.3.1 of Camera Control Pro is now available for Macintosh Computers only, improving the transferring of images into PictureProject which have been captured using this software. An update for the WT-3 setup utility is also available adding support for Windows Vista and improves support on Intel Macs.

To download the software updates please log in to the European Support Centre: http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com

The latest version of the SilverFast scanning software can now calibrate a scanner in just 2 clicks. This is the only completely automatic IT8 calibration available. The IT8-Calibration function is available in all 6.5.0r6 (or later) SilverFast Studio versions. SilverFast Ai, HDR and DCPro can be optionally upgraded.

photoDUDS is a commercially-licensed series of DVDs containing products designed to “dress up” your portrait photos from photographer Beth Forester. These graphic elements include backgrounds, brushes, templates, overlays, and embellishments. PhotoDUDS DVDs cost from $125.

Megapixel.net have just reviewed the 15x zoom Sony H9 digital camera.

“The Carl Zeiss lens, albeit a prestigious name, appears to be not well-suited to the H9’s CCD. The widest angle of the zoom yields images that easily go out of focus on the edges of the frame, and which show purple fringing — a chromatic aberration that is not uncommon with digital cameras — on the edges of contrasting areas. Past the widest angle, the image sharpness improves in the corners, but purple fringing remains a possibility when there are contrasting image elements.”

Megapixel.net - Sony H9 Review

PCMag have reviewed the new Sony T100 camera, which has a 5x optical zoom lens and 3-inch LCD screen, with red, black and silver colours available.

“Sony’s various point-and-shoot cameras generally have three things in common: They have exquisite product design, take pictures of excellent quality, and are overpriced. The 8.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 is no exception. That it possesses the first two qualities I mentioned nearly made it an Editors’ Choice winner, but the steep price ($399.99 direct) knocks it out of contention.”

Website: PCMag - Sony DSC-T100 Review

Website: Read our Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Review

The XS-Drive Centre 6900 is a new portable storage device, offering a 3.5 inch LCD screen with support for up to 16.7 million colours and 60GB to 160GB of hard drive capacity. The price for the basic XS-Drive Centre 6900 (60GB model) is €349 incl. VAT ($380 net ), and for the 6900R version with recording function €389 incl.VAT ($430 net).