DigiCamReview have reviewed the 7.1 megapixel Canon PowerShot A550, which has a 2 inch LCD screen, and 4x zoom lens.

“The sensor, electronics and optics used by Canon can produce good images. However, best results are achieved by tweaking the exposure compensation and white balance in manual mode. Exposure compensation is also available in the scene modes, but not in auto mode (which tends to produce overexposed images). Colours are rich and in a very wide range of situations the camera will take sharp, detailed pictures.”

Website: DigiCamReview - Canon PowerShot A550 Review

You can now test-drive a Beta version of ACDSee Pro 2.0, which is scheduled for release in the Autumn. ACDSee Pro 2.0 Beta is compatible with Windows Vista and is available free for download at http://www.acdseepro.com . “Our software development starts and ends with the needs of today’s photographers,” said Mark Franklin, executive vice president of ACD Systems. “It’s very important to us to invite feedback at this crucial stage, especially as an increasing number of photographers demand a high level of control in RAW processing.” Beta testers and users of the previous version will receive a 30 percent discount.

Kodak’s new range of All-In-One inkjet printers will be sold in the UK through PC World, Currys and Currys.digital outlets from June 2007. The Kodak 5300 and 5500 All-in-One Printers will cost £139 (RRP) and £209 (RRP) respectively. “Our commitment to changing the rules in the inkjet industry in favour of the consumer is reflected in our decision to partner with DSG international, a quality consumer electronics giant dedicated to bringing its customers the very best in consumer-oriented innovation, first,” said Julian Baust, chairman & managing director, Kodak Limited.

Digital Railroad have announced two partnerships with ADBASE Inc and HindSight Ltd, which will provide access to a wealth of creative buyers, and services that manage licensing fees, contacts, and invoicing, for their professional photography community. ADBASE is the leading mailing list service for creative professionals, and HindSight, Ltd. provides professional photographers with affordable image organization and management solutions. “We are constantly searching for services that will further empower our members and significantly contribute to their business.  These partnerships are equipping our community with tools that will significantly increase productivity, so they can spend less time minding the store and concentrate on making great images,” said Evan Nisselson, Digital Railroad CEO and Founder.“

The new PNY 2GB Micro SD card is fully compliant with all mobile phones, digital still cameras and camcorders. The PNY Micro SD card is sold with an SD adapter which can also be used in standard SD slots. “2GB storage capacity offers vast possibilities”, says Laure Lapègue, PNY Category Manager for Flash Cards, “storing up to 34 hours of MP3s, 12 hours of video MPEG 4s and 2000 digital pictures from a standard 2 Megapixel camera phone,  on just one mini card!”. The PNY 2GB Micro SD card is available now for £17.50 in the UK.

The Fantasea FD-40X waterproof camera housing is dedicated exclusively to the new Nikon D40 and D40X digital SLR cameras. The FD-40X’s interchangeable port system accommodates a wide variety of SLR lenses, and is rated to a depth of 200 feet (60m). The new case also provides protection against damage from rain, snow, dust, sand and dirt. Price of the Fantasea FD-40X is US $1099.

The Fantasea FL-11 and FL-10 are new underwater housings for the Nikon Coolpix L10 and L11 digital cameras. The Fantasea FL-10 and FL-11 housings are depth rated to 200 feet/60 meters. The suggested retail price of the FL-10 and FL-11 is US $200.00.

Ricoh have released a new firmware update, v1.12, for the Ricoh GX100 digital camera.

Modified the following phenomena.
• If you register the Aperture priority mode (A mode) in the [My setting 2], a shutter speed will be fixed.
• With your setting the [SEQUENTIAL NO.] is ON, after a file number reached to “9999”, the “File Number Over” message will appear and you will not able to take a picture any more.

Website: Ricoh GX100 1.12 Firmware Update

Luminous Landscape have published the final part of a 3-part guide to assessing your technical and aesthetic level as a photographer.

“There are lots of wonderful tunes, yet there is something about ‘Amazing Grace’, especially on the bagpipes, which just grabs many people. I remember when it first started playing on the radio in the early 70’s and was surprised at my reaction to it, and even more so when I found that others had a similar reaction. We’re talking about photographs like that tune. That so many wonderful pieces of music don’t grab you that way suggests an element of magic for which there are unlikely to be any rules, tricks or tips to make equivalent photographs,they just are…”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Taking Your Photography To The Next Level

Reuters are reporting that Yahoo is shutting down Yahoo Photos and directing customers to Flickr, which Yahoo bought in 2005. Yahoo Photos only has around 5.8% of the US market, which is let by PhotoBucket with around 40%. Yahoo Photos has around 30 million users, who had uploaded 2 billion photos as of June 2006. “We are making great strides in our ongoing efforts to align Yahoo!‘s resources and focus on core strategic priorities. Part of this progress is today’s decision to close Yahoo! Photos to better serve our valued customers through Flickr.” commented Jeff Weiner, executive vice president of Yahoo’s Network Division.

Website: Reuters

CNET Asia have the first online review of the new Sony G1, a 6 megapixel camera with a 3.5 inch LCD screen with 921,000 pixels, 2Gb of built-in memory, 3x zoom lens, optical image stabilisation and peer-to-peer wireless connectivity.

“For a test of its image quality, we took the G1 out. The auto white balance did a good job; even in a tungsten-lit environment, it did fairly well, although, it’s a bit of a stinker that the G1 does not have manual white balance settings. We detected minimal purple fringing and a funny tendency for the story to enhance the green part of the color spectrum.”

Website: CNET Asia - Sony G1 Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Ricoh R6, which improves on the older R5 model by offering a larger 2.7 inch LCD screen, new face recognition mode, a slimmer body at just 20.6mm thick and 54Mb internal memory.

“Unusually this compact features an ISO64 mode, but equally unusually you can see noise in the grey card areas even at this setting. It’s more noticeable at ISO200 and becomes pronounced at ISO400. This is the critical setting as other compacts handle noise at ISO400 much better.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Ricoh R6 Review

Website: Read our Ricoh Caplio R6 Review

The new Olympus SP-550 UZ is a bridge-style digital camera with an 18x zoom lens equivalent to 28-504mm on a 35mm camera - yes, you read that correctly, an 18x zoom, currently the biggest on the market. An optical image stabilisation system and ISO range of 50-5000 promise to counteract the inevitable camera-shake that occurs when hand-holding the SP550 at telephoto settings. A full range of creative exposure modes are offered, plus the Olympus SP-550 has 7.1 megapixels, macro mode of 1cm and a 2.5 inch LCD. Olympus have definitely given the SP550 UZ some amazing specifications on paper, but have they translated into an effective digital camera? Read our latest review to find out.

Website: Olympus SP-550 UZ Review

The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is a high-capacity removable solid state drive (SSD) that allows for automatic regular backup of laptop data. The new Lexar ExpressCard SSD is also ideal for use with Windows Vista ReadyBoost, a feature that improves your system performance without having to add DRAM to your computer. “With auto-backup software, the Lexar ExpressCard SSD will be especially appealing for traveling business people, small- and home-office owners” commented Farshid Tabrizi, General Manager, USB Products. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is shipping in 4GB ($129.99), 8GB ($199.99), and 16GB (TBC) capacities.

The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” 1.0TB is the first and only single drive-based, compact 1TB external hard drive. With a wide selection of connectivity options for FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA ports, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro comes complete with utility and backup software. The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Quad Interface” 1.0TB drive is available now for for $599 SRP.

Light Crafts have just released Lightzone 2.4. Designed by photographers for photographers, LightZone 2 offers a rich set of powerful, yet easy to use digital editing tools. New features in LightZone 2.4 include:

  * Revamped Tone Mapper re-light virtually any image with a single slider
  * New - Vibrance—create more vivid color, with a new vibrance control
  * The Black & White Tool turns images into great Black-and-Whites with a single strength control
  * New - RAW Adjustments Tool—improve image quality by fine-tuning RAW adjustments
  * The Noise Reduction Tool with new UI for faster easier use

Website: Lightzone 2.4

Sigma have released a new firmware update, v1.02, for the Sigma SD14 DSLR camera. Improvements include:

  1. Corrects the phenomenon that did not save the AdobeRGB from sRGB when the camera body was turned off.
  2. Improved the exposure of the built in flash.

Website: Sigma SD14 v1.02 Firmware Update

ThinkCamera have reviewed the Ricoh R6, which improves on the older R5 model by offering a larger 2.7 inch LCD screen, new face recognition mode, a slimmer body at just 20.6mm thick and 54Mb internal memory.

“In line with the rest of the specification though, the R6 delivers pretty good images. The lens provides a fairly sharp picture, though it does have some softening towards the very edges, particularly at wide angle. The quality isn’t bad considering the long zoom range though. Sadly it also suffers from chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) in areas of high contrast towards the edges of the picture - this can be very pronounced and makes the picture appear blurry.”

Website: ThinkCamera - Ricoh R6 Review

Website: Read our Ricoh Caplio R6 Review

SLRGear have have reviewed the new Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens, which offers up to 4 stops of image stabilisation with 2 modes and a compact, lightweight body.

“It usually goes without saying that a zoom lens won’t come close to matching the performance of a good prime (non-zoom) lens at any given focal length. But is that always the case? When we tested the non-IS version of this lens, we were mightily impressed with its image quality across the board. The new IS (Image Stabilized) version of it is at least as good, prompting senior tech Jim Tanner to look into just how it did stack up against excellent primes at various focal lengths.”

Website: SLRGear - Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS Lens Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

CNET 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.

“The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100 demonstrates exactly what a good snapshot camera should be. Its slim form looks good and fits easily in the pocket, it includes some very useful features, and it shoots great photos at a fast clip. Its price may seem a bit steep, but you’ll get a lot of camera in a very small package.”

Website: CNET - Sony DSC-T100 Review

Website: Read our Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Review