HP Press Release

The HP Photosmart E427 Digital Camera features 6-megapixel resolution and 5x digital zoom, enabling users to produce true-to-life 4 x 6-inch prints and enlargements up to poster size. Snap photos quickly and easily – frame and view on the large, 2-inch image display of the HP E427.

Kingston Technology Press Release

High-Capacity Cards Ideal for Photographers Who Need to Create Large Files for Reproduction

Fountain Valley, CA – June 5, 2006 – Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, announced it is expanding its line of CompactFlash Elite Pro cards with the addition of a new 8-GB card. The card is an ideal storage choice for studio, catalog and portrait photographers who need to produce large files for catalog reproduction and other commercial purposes. The addition of the 8-GB CompactFlash Elite Pro card completes one of the most comprehensive lines of Flash memory card solutions in the industry — including 512 MB, 1-GB, 2-GB and 4-GB CompactFlash cards. Kingston’s Elite Pro line meets the increased demands of today’s professional photographers by delivering reliability and dependability and providing a memory solution to suit their specific capacity needs.

Sigma Press Release

New 8mm F3.5 EX DG CIRCULAR FISHEYE lens optimized for digital cameras will be available this summer.

Product Summary

* A maximum aperture of F3.5 and minimum focusing distance 13.5cm (5.5“) with a maximum magnification of 1:4.6.
* An angle of view of 180 degrees creates a circular image with 35mm and full frame digital SLR cameras.
* Corresponding AF Mounts :SIGMA, NIKON, CANON, ?, PENTAX (availability of each mount will be announced at a later time)

Samsung Electronics Press Release

SEOUL, South Korea—June 4, 2006—Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, will introduce a 3.5” LCD with embedded touch screen, and the first-ever 7” LCD driven by a single chip, at the 2006 Society for Information Display International Symposium and Exhibition(SID) in San Francisco, California, USA. Also at SID, one of the world’s largest events dedicated to displays, Samsung is unveiling widescreen versions of 24”, 27” and 30” monitors for specialty-market, digital information displays, as well as a 21.3” black-and-white monitor with clearer X-ray viewing for medical applications.

HARMAN technology Limited Press Release

Cheshire, England, June 1st, 2006 - HARMAN technology Limited today announced an exclusive distribution agreement with WYNIT, Inc. of Syracuse, NY, for distribution of ILFORD black-and-white photo products. Since HARMAN technology purchased the ILFORD black-and-white business out of receivership in the United Kingdom in February 2005, maintaining first class distribution has been a priority. WYNIT, currently a leading national distributor of computer peripheral and digital imaging products in the photo retail channel, will broaden its expertise in the photo lab sector with ILFORD Photo branded products for North America.

Odyssey Press Release

The world’s only digital enlarger just became better, and taking full advantage of its added facilities is one of the world’s leading photographic colleges.

The Odyssey De Vere 504DS digital enlarger, which has the unique capability to photographically expose the image from a digital file onto traditional black-and-white or colour paper, has been upgraded with a new LCD image processor giving more than twice the resolving power of its original configuration. In addition, new, user-friendly software has been installed to make the enlarger even easier to handle. First to take advantage of the new 504DS is the London College of Fashion which has installed eight systems into its darkrooms where up to 400 students on the College’s specialist fashion photography courses have been taking full advantage of the facilities incorporated in the systems. The 17.2-megapixel processors enable extreme levels of fidelity when printing the results of the students’ work in the studio. “This system is really superb,” comments Nigel Tribbett, the College’s chief photographer who runs the courses.

CameraLabs have just reviewed the new Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens, also comparing it to rival lenses from Sigma and Tamron.

“We personally found VR allowed us to handhold shots taken at 200mm as slow as 1/15 of a second, although obviously it greatly depends on the conditions and your own steadiness. This however was a decent performance, as we’d normally require a much faster shutter speed to avoid camera shake at this focal length - and remember with the cropping effect of a smaller sensor, 200mm on the lens is effectively delivering a 300mm field of view.”

Website: CameraLabs - Nikon 18-200mm VR Lens Review

The-digital-picture.com have just reviewed the new Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.

“I’m not sure why Canon did not go all the way and make the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens an L-Series lens. An upgraded (metal) lens barrel seems to be the missing component - and the red ring. Also, the accessories included with L-Series lenses are missing - the Lens Pouch LP1219 and Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens-exclusive Lens Hood EW-83J are optional. Since Canon has an L-Series lens on the PowerShot Pro 1, making a non-“EF” L lens is apparently not outside of their definition. This lens certainly has the image quality to be an “L”.”

Website: The-digital-picture.com - Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Canon PowerShot A700, a 6 megapixel camera with ISO 800, 2.5 inch LCD and a 6x optical zoom lens.

“Canon is continually expanding its PowerShot A-series cameras, even as they reduce some of their other lines. The new A700, announced just before Spring PMA 2006, is the first step in yet another expansion of the A-series to a new level. This time the expansion is more than about pixels, but includes a longer lens than any A-series previously, reaching to 6x, or an equivalent of 35 to 210mm, making the PowerShot A700 excellent for all-purpose photography.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon PowerShot A700 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

DigitalCameraInfo have reviewed the Sony DSC-H5 ultra-zoom digital camera, offering a 12x optical zoom lens, 7.2 megapixels and a 3 inch LCD screen.

“The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 has a great feature set that includes 7.1 megapixels, a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 12x optical zoom lens, an optical image stabilization system, and full manual functionality. This digital camera has the lure of a sexy compact, with its enormous 3-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD monitor and its seven simple scene modes. It also draws design elements from DSLRs such as the protruding viewfinder, chunky measurements, and expanded ISO range. Perhaps one of its best features is an optical image stabilization system, which works wonders in keeping the shakes to a minimum in movie mode and helps keep still images from blurring. This image stabilization system is not a want, but a necessity.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Sony DSC-H5 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

This week’s Gary’s Parries topics are:

1. No Need To Go Below ISO 200
2. Whether To Weatherproof Or Waterproof
3. Nikon D70 Front Focusing Problem: S-O-L-V-E-D

Introducing this week’s Gary’s Parries column. Everything you always wanted to know about digital cameras, but were afraid to ask. No question too difficult, or too easy. As a Senior Principal Software Engineer, and a former Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems, as well as a recording studio owner/operator, and now, a digital camera enthusiast, GARY has more digital camera knowledge in his entire brain than most people have in their little finger. In the unlikely event that GARY would not know the answer to your question, he will answer it anyway, true to the spirit of the word “Parries”, a fencing term which, in this context, implies “cleverly evasive answers”. So let your imagination run wild. Email all your nagging digital camera questions to: [email protected], and then, En Garde!

You may also attach to your email an ORIGINAL PHOTO of your choosing. A preview of the photo will be displayed with your question, and a full-sized version will be just a click away. No personal information will be published with your question unless you specifically include it in the text or attached photo of your email, which may be further edited for grammar, content, or other reasons.

Don’t want to browse our entire list of over 100 reviews? Then take a look at our guide to the Best Digital Cameras, which represents what we currently think are the best cameras in each price category. Note that this guide will constantly be updated to reflect the ever-changing digital camera marketplace, so make sure to check back often.

In this week’s Saturday Shout we’re coming over all introspective and asking you, our loyal readers, what we can do to improve PhotographyBLOG. Is there something that you’d really like to see, or something that you’d like us to do differently? Good or bad, long or short, this is your opportunity to help make PhotographyBLOG a better place. And you never know, we might actually implement some of the best ideas. So make your voice heard and shout out now…

HP Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2006 - Driving growth across its $25 billion imaging and printing business, HP today announced a fleet of products for fall, the expansion of its Halo Collaboration Studio business and two company milestones. HP rolled out more than 100 imaging and printing products for the home and home office, including six HP Photosmart printers and all-in-ones based on the company’s scalable printing technology to deliver the industry’s fastest printing speeds(1) at affordable prices - as low as $129(2); HP’s first printer with a touch-activated image display for an easy-to-use, kiosk-like printing experience in the home; the industry’s first compact photo printer capable of storing up to 4,000 photos; and four ultra-compact digital cameras.

Canon UK Press Release

LONDON, 31 May, 2006 – Canon Europe’s position as a leading provider of imaging technology solutions has been reconfirmed by IDC, ahead of the release of the industry analyst’s forthcoming Western European digital camera market forecast report , in which Canon is positioned as the 2005 market leader for the fourth consecutive year. The forthcoming IDC sector report will show that, despite increased market competition, Canon has retained the No.1 position in 2005 and claims 16.5% of the overall Western European digital camera market, which saw total shipments of 27 million units (up from 25 million in 2004). IDC has calculated combined sales for Canon in 2005 of more than 4 million units for SLR (D-SLR) and compact digital cameras, allowing the company to double its lead over closest competitor Sony from 2.8% to 5.6%.

InfoTrends Press Release

(Weymouth, MA) May, 31 2006… InfoTrends, the leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry, announced today the appointment of Alan Bullock as Associate Director of the Internet Imaging Trends Service. Mr. Bullock will focus on the online photo services market and the mobile imaging and camera phone markets, as well as other technologies combining images and the Internet. He will also be responsible for producing market forecasts, conducting primary research studies, and identifying industry trends.

Nikon UK Press Release

Thursday June 1, 2006 - Nikon’s latest digital SLR, the D2xs, combines 12.4 effective megapixels, superb precision and high speed for a powerful professional performance. Nikon UK is pleased to announce the introduction of the D2xs professional digital SLR camera, following the success of the award-winning Nikon D2x. While the Nikon D2xs shares many features with its predecessor, the new model boasts an array of refinements that enhance performance and improve the user experience. Such features include, refined viewfinder performance; a new LCD with a 170-degree wide viewing angle; significantly increased battery life; and a wide range of firmware enhancements.

Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon UK is pleased to announce its new Camera Control Pro remote control software which allows users to control many digital SLR functions remotely from a PC. The new software succeeds Nikon’s Capture 4 Camera Control, released in 2003, and includes advanced features such as “Viewer”, providing substantial operational improvement. Nikon Camera Control Pro is compatible with Nikon’s latest software, including Capture NX (to be released in summer 2006), allowing for smoother image processing from shooting to transfer and storage. Release date is July 2006, price is £29.99 / €44.00.

Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon UK is pleased to announce a new Image Authentication Software application which is designed exclusively for use with the Nikon D2Xs digital SLR. The software enables users to determine whether an image has been altered since capture. Image data can be used for verifying image authenticity by law enforcement and other government agencies, the media, insurance companies and has a variety of other business applications. Verification results are displayed as a list on a PC screen with selected images displayed as thumbnails within the same screen. Release date is July 2006, price £399.99 / €589.

iView Multimedia Press Release

iView Multimedia has released iView MediaPro 3.1 for both Windows and Macintosh. MediaPro is now a Universal application and runs natively on Intel-based Macs. Version 3.1 also features the new Notepad Tool, designed to enable communication between creative professionals and their clients.