The Giottos MT tripod series is a range of 6 tripods made from seamless aluminium tubing. All models feature a universal 3 way headless mounting system, and the Giottos MT 92 models have a centre column that allows for 180? vertical movement and 360? horizontal rotation. Prices range from £89.99 up to £159.99, with all models available now.

The new Sony Memory Stick PRO-HG is an extended version of the Memory Stick PRO format, offering up to 30MB/s Read/Write speeds. Memory Stick PRO-HG is fully backwards compatible with Memory Stick PRO devices and will be available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities. Sony are also launching a Memory Stick Duo ExpressCard adaptor (MSAC-EX1).

Pentax have released a firmware update, v1.20, for the Pentax K10D DSLR camera.

The following functions has been added in version 1.20:
  1. Correspond to PENTAX REMOTE Assistant 3

Website: Pentax K10D v1.20 Firmware Update

To help celebrate the 20th Anniversary of EOS, Canon Europe are offering up to €1995 / £1308 cashback on their range of EOS Photo and lens kits. There are a wide range of money-off vouchers covering camera bodies, lenses, and various kits. The Canon cashback offer is only available between 01.04.07 and 30.06.07, with all European countries included.

The Swiss company SINAR AG is now a 100 percent subsidiary of Jenoptik. After failing to sell its shares to Leica in 2006, the Jenoptik Group has now purchased the remaining 49% of shares in SINAR AG. SINAR will continue to market professional cameras and camera modules, and volume delivery of the new SINAR Hy6 medium format camera will start in June.

Self-titled the European ‘Oscar’ of the Photo and Imaging Industry, TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) has announced 36 new product awards for 2007. Notable winners include the Pentax K10D for Best Expert DSLR, Nikon Coolpix P5000 for Best Compact Digital Camera, Kodak PORTRA Colour for Best Film and Ricoh Caplio GX100 for Best Prestige Camera (although this model hasn’t actually been released yet).

Website: TIPA Awards 2007

HP has announced that it is changing the way it delivers inkjet cartridges to customers. Beginning this year, most new HP consumer printers worldwide will be introduced with multiple inkjet cartridge offerings. In addition, HP is introducing new color-coded packaging, including new “Specialty” cartridges (red packaging), which offer additional performance features compared to HP’s standard ink formulations, ideal for professional-quality photographs.

RIDATA is introducing a double-sided 8x DVD+R disc to its comprehensive DVD product line. Offering 9.4GB of storage capacity and 8x speed, the new RIDATA disc is compatible with legacy DVD drives and can be closed as a DVD-ROM by many newer drives. The RIDATA 8x DVD+R DS disc will cost $70.

The Lastolite Lumen8 Flash Lighting Kit has been made to fulfil the needs of the most demanding working photographers. The two head flash kit is supplied in a hard wearing wheel case, and contains Lastolite’s black/white PVC umbrella, Ezybox 60 and two air dampened light stands. The range is further enhanced with an extensive range of accessories and features the popular S type bayonet fitting.

FujiFilm have released a new firmware update, v1.06, for the S5 Pro DSLR.

The firmware update v1.06 incorporates the following issues.
1. Upgrade of Barcode-reading function
•[BCD (Barcode) MULTI READ] function is added in [IMAGE COMMENT] menu.
If this function is selected, the characters (in the EXIF tag) will not be overwritten but added continuously at each barcode reading. In this case, the user comment already typed in will be erased.

2. Upgrade of [FUNCTION LOCK] function
The following four functions are added in [SELECTED FUNCTION] menu for [FUNCTION LOCK].
•NOISE REDUCTION
•MAINTENANCE
•DATE/TIME
•FILE TAG OPTIONS

Website: FujiFilm S5 Pro v1.06 Firmware Update

PCMag have reviewed the Kodak 5300 printer, which promises to save customers up to 50% on everything they print.

“When Kodak announced its new EasyShare line of all-in-ones (AIOs), it garnered a lot of attention. Not only was Kodak venturing into new territory with AIOs aimed for the home and home office, it claimed its ink prices were low enough to cut printing costs by up to half compared with the competition. I tested the first EasyShare AIO—the Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-In-One printer ($200 street)—and the news is largely good. The 5300 may not be a home run, but it’s at least arguably a triple, and that’s not bad for a first time at bat.”

Website: PCMag - Kodak 5300 Printer Review

PCMag have reviewed the Panasonic DMC-TZ3 camera, which fits a 10x optical zoom, 7.2 megapixels and 3 inch LCD screen into a compact, stylish body.

“One thing our previous superzoom PC Mag Editors’ Choice camera lacked was a true wide-angle view. Thankfully, this 7.2 megapixel digicam sports a nice wide viewing angle in addition to its 10X optical zoom and big, bright 3-inch LCD screen (among a host of other user-friendly features). Did we mention the price is pretty reasonable, as well?  Learn why the DMC-TZ3’s pics are so special by reading the whole review.”

Website: PCMag - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review

Website: Read our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Canon Powershot IXUS 70 camera (called the Powershot SD1000 in the USA), which is Canon’s slimmest optical zoom camera.

“Canon’s noise control system is usually very good, and the IXUS 70 is no exception. There is no visible noise from 80-200 ISO, only a slight amount at 400, and even at 800 and 1600 the noise reduction system greatly reduces visible colour distortion, although there is considerable loss of detail especially at the highest setting.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Canon Digital IXUS 70 Review

Website: Read our Canon Digital IXUS 70 Review

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Olympus mju 770 SW digital camera, which can survive falls from up to 1.5m, is waterproof to 10m depths, as well as being freezeproof to -10 degrees Celsius.

“When placed in burst mode, the 770-SW was able to take 3 shots very quickly, with less than 1 second between each burst, but then could take no more within the 10 second test as the buffer had become full. The macro mode, which according to the product specifications focuses at 20cm wide-angle actually appears to focus at a much shorter distance when put to the test - more like 10cm.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Olympus mju 770 SW Review

The Sanyo Xacti S70 is an updated version of the S7 digital camera. Offering a 7 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom, 2.5 inch LCD and face recognition, the S70 also features a friendly help function for beginners. Price and availability of the Sanyo S70 to be announced.

Sony have released a software update for the Sony T100 camera to fix an issue with the slide show function.

Symptom and Cause
When the “slide show with music” function is used with your transferred music more than 170 seconds in length, the slide show may not play correctly, with the message “No images” appearing on the LCD screen. This issue is caused by a problem affecting the unit’s built-in software that results in insufficient memory capacity during playback.

NOTE: Even if the message “No images” is displayed, this does not affect images saved on the camera. Images saved on the camera can still be replayed and transferred as normal.

Website: Sony T100 v2 Firmware Update

ePhotoZine have reviewed the FujiFilm S5 Pro digital SLR camera.

“The auto-focus is perhaps the weakest element of the S5, as it isn’t super-quick, but only wildlife photographers are going to find it a problem. A related features is the Live view on the LCD - this is something few DSLRs offer. Unfortunately, while it works in colour, it only operates with the camera in manual focus mode. And then it only stays on for 30secs while you are busy fiddling with the focus.”

Website: ePhotoZine - FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

Website: Read our FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

Rob Galbraith have a preview of the new Canon EOS-1D Mark III DSLR camera.

“The camera’s features may be difficult to sum up, but the camera’s performance isn’t. It’s awesome. Pixel-for-pixel, the image quality is the best we’ve seen from a digital SLR, and except for one preproduction body glitch, it’s also the best SLR we’ve ever shot with too. The EOS-1D Mark III shows a level of design care and engineering thoroughness that is simply unprecedented. Its list of features is impressive. But actually using the camera reveals how impressive all these features work.”

Website: Rob Galbraith - Canon EOS-1D Mark III Preview

Megapixel.net have reviewed the Nikon Coolpix S200 digital camera, which offers 7.1 megapixels, 3x zoom lens (38-114mm), electronic Vibration Reduction to help combat camera shake, ISO 1000 and a 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“The Coolpix S200 is a high quality entry-level camera. It offers a metallic body and excellent finishing, a good monitor and produces good quality images with reasonably bright lighting conditions. Moreover, the e-VR is an added bonus, even it isn’t quite as effective as an optical image stabilization system.”

Website: Megapixel.net - Nikon Coolpix S200 Review

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

“With its high quality imaging, competent feature set, and under $200 price point, the Canon PowerShot A550 can more easily meet the needs of a very wide audience of photographers. For pros and advanced amateurs, it’s nice to have a pocket-sized alternative to a more bulky digital SLR. The price makes this camera an attractive entry for anyone who has been thinking about going digital.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon PowerShot A550 Review