Two new Digital Survival Kits aim to make sensor cleaning in the studio or while traveling a whole lot easier. A reusable nylon zippered pouch contains 4 original Sensor Swabs, ½ ounce (15mL) container of either Eclipse or E2 Optic Cleaner fluid, a 10 sheet pack of PEC*PAD ultra pure lint free cleaning wipes, and an e-WIPE packet. The Digital Survival Kit costs $20.00.

DIWA member LetsGoDigital 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.

“he image quality of the Canon PowerShot A570 IS camera is great. The colours are saturated and appear natural. The saturation is a bit strong for my taste, but that is a personal preference. The Canon PowerShot A570 IS may not perform perfectly in extreme artificial lighting, but a simple white balance correction will resolve this problem immediately. The images are rich in detail, and even very high contrast situations are no problem.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Canon A570 IS Review

Imaging Resource 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.

“I’m a sucker for high ISO shooting, and just couldn’t resist one night as I wandered around North Beach taking a few shots at ISO 1,600 and 3,200 at the full 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of a 16:9 image size. Color was dead on. Detail left something to be desired, and you could detect noise when enlarged. But I was happy with the shots. They captured a scene I otherwise would not have been able to shoot.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Sony DSC-T100 Review

Website: Read our Sony Cyber-shot DSC T100 Review

DigitalCameraInfo have reviewed the FujiFilm S5 Pro digital SLR camera.

“The Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro is Fujifilm’s latest attempt at the perfect camera for wedding photographers. It has a new version of the company’s extended-range SR sensor, with new adjustments meant specifically to handle facial highlights and white clothing (wedding dresses). The S5’s strong dynamic range and pleasing color are its unique selling points. Really, they are the sum total of its unique propositions of any kind, given that the Fujifilm sensor and image process rig are dropped into an otherwise unchanged Nikon D200.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

Website: Read our FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Sony DSC-S700, which offers 7.2 megapixels, 2.4 inch LCDa, ISO 1000 and a 3x optical zoom lens.

“Image quality is pleasing for an entry-level 7-megapixel model. Outdoors, the majority of our images were sharp, well exposed, and showed good color saturation. When viewing an image at 100%, you can see some traces of image noise, even at ISO 100. However, these are average amounts and it is unlikely you will see this in your prints. Just remember, as the sensitivity is increased, so is the amount of noise in your photos.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony DSC-S700 Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Casio EX-Z1050, a 10.1 megapixel digital camera which features a new 2.6-inch wide, 14:9 aspect ratio LCD display.

“I found the overall picture quality to be outstanding. The EX-Z1050 uses very low file compression, so it can take full advantage of the extra resolution generated by that big sensor. File sizes average around 5MB, but go as high as 7.5MB for some more detailed subjects. While the gain in fine detail over a seven or eight megapixel camera isn’t hugely significant, it is there if you look.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Casio EX-Z1050 Review

General Electric digital cameras, first announced at PMA back in March, will be available for the first time on the Home SHopping Network (HSN). On May 1 HSN will introduce the GE G1 as “Today’s Special.”  “The significance of our partnership with HSN is underscored by the fact that May is National Photo month,” said Rene Buhay, vice president of sales North America for General Imaging. GE cameras are expected to be on store shelves later in May.

Phase One have released version 3.7.7 of Capture One PRO, which adds camera support for the Leica DIGILUX 3, Fuji S5, Nikon D40, Pentax K10D, Pentax K100D and Olympus E-400

Website: Capture One PRO 3.7.7 (Windows)

Website: Capture One PRO 3.7.7 (Mac)

Ulead VideoStudio 11 and Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus are the newest versions of Corel’s award-winning consumer video editing and DVD authoring software. VideoStudio now includes the industry’s first AVCHD editing solution, whilst the Plus version provides an end-to-end solution for capturing, editing, authoring and burning HD DVD videos. Ulead VideoStudio 11 costs $89.99 USD for the standard version and $129.99 USD for the Plus version.

Genuine Fractals 5 and Genuine Fractals Print Pro 5 Photoshop plug-ins are now shipping. Genuine Fractals 5 enables you to enlarge digital images over 1000% with no loss in image quality. “Perfect for any photographer who needs to make sharp large format and poster sized prints as well as graphic designers, this complete overhaul of Genuine Fractals makes it easier than ever to produce prints with no loss of sharpness or details from their digital image files.” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. Pricing for Genuine Fractals 5 is $159.95 for new users and $69.95 for users upgrading from a previous version bought before December 18, 2006.

Nikon has once again teamed up with the London Wetland Centre to offer a special wildlife photography weekend at the London Wetland Centre on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May. As part of the weekend’s activities, wildlife photographer Chris Packham will be hosting a talk each day and leading a number of special wildlife walks around the reserve. John McDonald, Nikon’s Solutions Manager, will give a lecture on photography technique on both days to enable you to develop your wildlife photography and learn some useful hits and tips. Throughout the weekend Nikon specialists will be on hand to answer questions and there will also be the opportunity to try out the latest photography and sport optics equipment.

The new Digi-Slave Flex-Ring 6400 is a powerful, versatile LED ring light ideal for macro photography. Equipped with 64 oversized, super-bright white LEDs, 32 in the ring and two flexible arms with 16 each, the Digi-Slave 6400 features a variable power dial to quickly and easily optimize the light output. A larger inner diameter makes the Flex-Ring 6400 perfect no matter the lens size of your digital camera. It can be used as a continuous light source, and can also be triggered from a standard PC or hot-shoe sync. This compact, lightweight Digi-Slave Flex-Ring 6400 ring light is perfect for any kind of close-up photography and takes 4AA batteries or an optional power adapter. Contact SR Inc. at http://www.srelectronics.com for more information.

Xerox are working on a new “Color Language” that will allow users to adjust colours in a document simply by describing it. Users can type “make the sky a deeper blue” or give a voice command “make the background carnation pink” and the software does the work. “You shouldn’t have to be a color expert to make the sky a deeper blue or add a bit of yellow to a sunset.” said Geoffrey Woolfe, principal scientist in the Xerox Innovation Group. Wolfe found that common words used to distinguish different shades and colors could be mapped to the technical language of color created by engineers.

The Online Photographer have reviewed the Leica M8 digital rangefinder camera, which has a 10 megapixel sensor, focal factor of 1.33x and an ISO range of 160-2500.

“To sum up from above, the M8 doesn’t quite make it for me as an M camera. It’s physically similar to the film versions but misses the gestalt, perhaps unavoidably. To me it ends up feeling more like a weird replica of an M than a real one. And it’s a decent but not great digital camera, bettered by average DSLRs in both operability and, to a lesser extent, image quality.”

Website: The Online Photographer - Leica M8 Review - Part 1
Website: The Online Photographer - Leica M8 Review - Part 2

Latest Prices / User Reviews

PCMag have reviewed Adobe Photoshop CS3, a major upgrade offering new innovations in editing power and productivity for designers and photographers.

“Just about anyone who’s serious about using a computer as an art tool has Photoshop, or wishes to have it. This 800-pound graphical gorilla has been tooling up for a refresh for quite some time now, and the early signs were quite good, as my review of the beta showed. With Photoshop CS3, Adobe has delivered on that early promise—and then some.”

Website: PCMag - Adobe Photoshop CS3 Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the FujiFilm S5 Pro digital SLR camera.

“So does it work? Does the S5 Pro actually produce better colour and tonal range than an equivalent SLR with a conventional CCD? The short answer is yes, but at a price. I found that in exact comparison shots with the Nikon D40x which I still have, and with my own Sony A100, the S5 produced roughly two stops of extra dynamic range, with enhanced shadow detail and highlights.”

Website: TrustedReviews - FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

Website: Read our FujiFilm S5 Pro Review

The Sony S800 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with a 6x zoom lens, 2.5 inch LCD screen and silver all-metal body. The S800 features a 1/1.8inch Super HAD CCD sensor, ISO 1250 mode and macro shooting up to 2cms. The supplied NiMH AA battery pack allows 390 shots between charges, and there’s 54MB of internal memory. The Sony S800 will be available throughout Europe from end of May 2007, pricing to be announced.

The Kingston Photo Loader Card is a 1Gb SD card that automatically transfer your photos from your PC to a Shutterfly account. Purchasers of the card also get 25 free 4” x 6” prints from Shutterfly. The Photo Loader Card costs $12.99 and is available only through Amazon.com.

Ricoh have released a firmware update, v1.36, for the Ricoh R6 camera.

Modified the following phenomenon.
If you playback a picture with the [Quick Review] button in the shooting mode, and then if you click [OK] button to playback it enlarged, the location window in the right corner of the LCD may dissappear.

Website: Ricoh R6 v1.36 Firmware Update

Nikon have published 20 different tips and tricks articles for their Nikon Capture NX digital image editing software. These downloadable tips and tricks documents are easy step by step guides which will allow you to get more from your software. All documents are provided in .pdf format for easy download and print.

Website: Nikon Capture NX Tips and Tricks