Megapixel.net have reviewed the 10 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2 camera.

“Nevertheless, while offering an increase in image resolution over last year’s model, it avoids taking away features its predecessor had, and does not introduce an increase in noise. So, put simply, the N2 can be thought of as more bang for less buck, since its price is considerably lower than the N1 commanded at its introduction and it offers a higher resolution while retaining the same high image quality.”

Website: Megapixel.net - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

PopPhoto have just 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.

“Our single biggest criticism of the TZ1 was its mediocre noise performance. That was then, using the Venus II image processing engine. The TZ3 is now, with the lastest Venus III engine. Noise is handled much better in the TZ3. It doesn’t score the lowest numbers we’ve ever seen, but scores much better than its predecessor. It only creeps into “Unacceptable” territory at ISO 1250.”

Website: PopPhoto - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review

Website: Read our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review

The Ricoh GX100 digital camera features a 10.01 megapixel CCD, fast 24-72mm wide zoom lens and a removable electronic view?nder. The new GX100 is the successor to the popular Caplio GX8. The Ricoh GX100‘s hot shoe accepts an electronic view?nder, an external ?ash, or an external view?nder, and the optional hood and adaptor allow use of the 19 mm wide conversion lens or other 43 mm diameter accessories. There’s also a RAW and RAW + JPEG shooting mode. The Ricoh GX100 with electronic view?nder will be available at the end of April 2007 at £399.99 inc vat.

Kingston Technology have launched a 2Gb version of its special microSD card, with dual adapter bundle, which provides maximum compatibility of microSD Flash memory cards across multiple devices. “With microSD cards becoming an emerging standard in many multifunction handsets, Kingston decided to enhance the popular and very practical microSD dual adapter pack with the addition of a 2GB card,” said Jean Wong, Flash memory product manager, Kingston. Consisting of a 2GB microSD card, a microSD to miniSD card adapter and a microSD to full size SD card adapter, the new microSD Dual Adapter Pack is priced at $58.00 US and £27.30 (plus VAT) in the UK.

The new Think Tank Photo Airport Ultralight photo backpack is specifically designed to fit within hard cases. The new bag holds one to two pro-size SLRs, multiple lenses, and accessories. Keeping the total weight of your bag down to the minimum is critical on many airlines,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank Photo founder and lead designer. “This ultra-light backpack cuts down your base weight from 2 to 5 lbs before you even pack it with gear.” The Think Tank Photo Airport Ultralight costs $169.00 and is available now.

The new Think Tank Photo Change Up bag changes form as a belt pack, a shoulder bag, or even as a backpack when supported by the enclosed chest harness system. “After tucking away the waist belt, one shoulder strap can be used so that it appears to be a regular shoulder bag,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank Photo founder and lead designer.  “This is why we called it the “Change Up”: it can appear to be used for one purpose and then changed very easily for another.” The Think Tank Photo Change Up is available now and costs $130.

Following yesterday’s CS3 announcements from Adobe, Total Training has today unveiled five new DVD-ROM based training series covering Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, InDesign and Dreamweaver. “Training is vital to the success of this release so we’re excited that Total Training will be releasing their exceptional in-depth video training content across these products to help customers quickly get up to speed and make the best use of Adobe Creative Suite 3.” said Caleb Belohlavek, director of product management for Adobe’s Creative Solutions. The 5 Total Training Adobe CS3 products ship in April 2007 and vary in price from $149 to $199.

iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6.0 from PictoColor offers serious photographers a simplified, high speed approach to color adjustment for large volume workflows. The new ProcessQ is a completely redesigned image queue that allows photographers to easily view, sort, and manage their color corrections. iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6.0 is available for an introductory price of $99.95 as a software download.  iCorrect EditLab ProApp 6.0 will later sell for $149.95.

Imagenomic ActionBooks are a combination of best-practices, reference documentation and Photoshop actions for Imagenomic’s Pro Plug-in Suite of software. “Today’s ActionBook release gives photographers a solid working foundation for achieving a range of retouching and finishing effects with our Portraiture Plug-in—and to a certain extent, RealGrain—with one-click and without any complexity or learning-curve,” states David McDonell, CEO, Imagenomic. The ActionBook companion for Portraiture and other Pro Plug-in Suite resources are available for immediate and free download.

Downloader Pro 2.0 from Breeze Systems introduces GPS geo-tagging and thumbnail display to this powerful yet simple program for transferring digital photos from camera to PC. When you connect a GPS tracker device such as the Sony GPS-CS1 to your computer, Downloader Pro will automatically read the GPS data and store it in the images as they are downloaded. Downloader Pro 2.0 is available now for US $29.95, and is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a copy of Downloader Pro within the last year.

Photo agency VII’s new European lecture series will be sponsored by Canon. 10 photographers on VII’s roster will take part in two days of presentations and discussions. “The opinions of professional photographers have always played a big part in the evolution of EOS, the world’s leading SLR system – the European VII Seminar now gives photographers new opportunities to talk about their craft.” said Barry van Vuuren, Team Leader, Professional Imaging Department, Canon Europa N.V. For more information about the European VII Seminar programme and to reserve tickets, visit www.viiphoto.com/event.html

Pixinfo.com have published the very interesting results of an 11 month fade test of various printer and paper combinations, with the Vivera ink technology coming out on top.

“We have taped one of the copies from all prints to the south window of our office on the 9th floor (inside and facing to the sun, of course). This happened on April 24, 2006. The prints were in the window for 11 months when I thought that their time was up and removed them a day before I realized that it was a month too early. Since the images were already showing the results, I decided not to reinstall the prints to the window. We had the images printed on 7 paper types with 6 printers.”

Website: Pixinfo.com - Fade resistance test

LetsGoDigital have just published sample test images taken with the new Nikon D40x DSLR, which features a 10.2 megapixel sensor, producing 3,872 x 2,592-pixel images, 3D Colour Matrix Metering II system and 2.5 inch LCD screen, all in the most compact Nikon DSLR ever.

“The compact size of the Nikon D40x digital SLR camera is ideal to take it with you all the time. The weight of the Nikon 55-200 mm AF-S DX VR zoom lens is approximately 335 g which brings the combination to a total weight of approximately 850 g (Nikon D40x + AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED + battery). Compared to the Nikon D100, weighing 700 g (body only) and one of the first consumer Nikon DSLR cameras in 2002, the difference in weight of the body is already approximately 200 g. The Nikon D40x image samples are taken by a full production model camera and should be judged accordingly.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Nikon D40x Test Images

Samsung have announced an 8.4 megapixel CMOS image sensor with a 1.4? pixel size. The new sensor uses just one-tenth the power of an equivalent CCD image sensor. An extended photo diode technology was implemented to achieve higher light sensitivity and saturation levels.

The biggest software release in Adobe’s 25 year history unites the best of Adobe’s and Macromedia’s products. There are six all-new configurations of Adobe Creative Suite 3, including Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Design Standard editions,  Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Web Standard editions, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection. “Creative Suite 3 is the biggest launch in Adobe’s 25 year history and a milestone for the creative industry,” said Bruce Chizen, chief executive officer at Adobe. “This release reflects the powerful integration between Adobe and Macromedia and how our products bridge the gap between designers and developers. With new workflows that streamline collaboration and impact the development of rich content, designers and developers now have the creative license to engage audiences across virtually every medium.”

Adobe have launched not one but two versions of Photoshop CS3 today. Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended will be available as stand-alone applications or part of the Creative Suite 3 family of products. Photoshop CS3 Extended includes everything in Photoshop CS3 plus additional specialised features such as support for 3-D and video workflows, animation and in-depth image analysis. The latest version of Camera Raw provides support for over 150 raw formats, JPEG and TIFF files, compatibility with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and new tools such as Fill Light and Dust Busting. The estimated street price for Adobe Photoshop CS3 is £485 / US$649 and £755 / US$999 for Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard editions are two new software collections aimed at web designers and developers. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium includes new versions of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, Adobe Fireworks CS3, Adobe Contribute CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS3, and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional. “Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web editions cut across designer and developer workflows to deliver a must-have release for anyone serious about bringing their creative vision to the web,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. Estimated street pricing is £1,195 / US$1599 for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and £705 / US$999 for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard. There are numerous upgrade paths available for customers who own prior versions of Adobe or Macromedia products.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard are two new software collections aimed at print, web, interactive and mobile designers. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium includes new versions of Adobe InDesign CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, and Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, plus Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional. Adobe Creative Suite Design editions will be available as Universal applications for both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. “Our new Design editions are anchored by powerhouse upgrades to InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. “And by bringing Flash and Dreamweaver into the mix, we’re ensuring that interactive design is now front and center in today’s creative workflows.” Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium edition is £1,409 / US$1799 and £895 / US$1199 for Creative Suite 3 Design Standard edition.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is a new software collection aimed at the video editing professional. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium includes new versions of Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe Encore CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, and Adobe Soundbooth CS3. “With Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium the video editing market just got a whole lot more interesting,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. Estimated street price for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is £1,409 / US$1,699.

Adobe Device Central CS3 allows users to design engaging interfaces, mobile assets, applications and video content for mobile phones and hand-held consumer electronic devices. “Adobe Device Central is a remarkable tool that makes it extremely easy to bring innovative design to the mobile space,” said Scott Nourse, vice president of production, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. “Device Central is promising to revolutionise the way in which content is being developed and tested for mobile devices and we are excited to have its help in delivering our content to mobile customers worldwide.” Adobe Device Central CS3 is included in all Creative Suite 3 editions as well as individual products.