Nature photographer Bjørn Rørslett has just published a detailed review of the new 10.2 megapixel Nikon D200 digital SLR camera.

“The Nikon D200 establishes itself firmly as the much longed-for “digital” F100. Alternatively, it can be seen as a wolf in lamb’s clothing. You get an image quality within a hair’s width of the D2X, Nikon’s current digital flagship. In some aspects the D200 performs even better, for example, ISO noise is slightly lower over much of the range and the risk of blown highlights is subtly reduced when the camera is run on automatic metering modes. On the other hand, D2X excels in terms of sheer ruggedness, better auto white balance, faster shooting speeds, HSC (High-Speed Crop) feature, and handling, although consideration of the latter surely is up to the end user. You get a very decent viewfinder, excellent AF performance, GPS support just like the professional big brothers (D1H, D1X, D2Hs, D2X), and a metering system that you can rely on. Plus the opportunity to switch from having a small, neat camera for long hikes to a bigger unit with the bolt-on MB-D200 power grip.”

Website: Bjørn Rørslett - Nikon D200 Review

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TrustedReviews have published their review of the new Sony DSC-H1 digital camera. The DSC-H1 has a 12x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 36-432 millimeters), 5 megapixel CCD and 2.5 inch LCD screen.

“This may be Sony’s first SLR-style camera, but it is a very accomplished debut. It is quite large compared to its direct competitors, but it has a comfortable ergonomic design reminiscent of the Fuji S20 Pro or Nikon 8800. The body is strong polycarbonate plastic over a metal chassis, but the lens barrel is all metal. It has a large comfortable rubberized handgrip with a sculpted thumb rest on the back. The controls are sensibly laid out and easy to operate, and the big 2.5in 115KP LCD monitor is bright and clear, although rather vulnerable to scratches and finger marks.
However the most eye-catching feature, and the camera’s main selling point, is its huge 12x optical zoom lens, equivalent to a whopping 36-432mm on a 35mm camera. Like many recent super-zoom cameras, it also features optical image stabilization, essential when using a lens of this size.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Sony DSC-H1 Review

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The Samsung GX-1S digital SLR is unveiled today. DIWA member and Norwegian website Digit.no has the scoop on the new Samsung GX-1S digital SLR camera. The Samsung GX-1S is a 6 megapixel digital camera that uses the Pentax lens mount and the new Schneider D-XENON lenses. The GX-1S has a large 2.5 inch LCD screen, ISO range of 200-3200 and continuous shooting speed of 2.8 fps up to 8 frames in JPEG mode. If it looks at all familiar to you, that’s because the GX-1S is a rebadged version of the Pentax *ist DS2. Digit.no have kindly sent us the English version of the full specification for the Samsung GX-1S - just click the Read the Full Story link below to view the spec, full press release and larger pictures.

Think Tank Photo Press Release

Airport Security Designed to Alleviate Photographers’ 4 Greatest Fears

SANTA ROSA, CALIF – For photographers, having to check their gear before boarding an airliner or leaving it unattended at a shoot exposes them to one of their greatest fears:  the theft of their equipment and possibly their livelihood.  Think Tank Photo’s new Airport Security rolling carry-on bag (www.thinktankphoto.com) not only allows photographers to roll their bodies, lenses, and accessories onto an airliner and legally store them in an overhead bin, it features front- pocket and main compartment combination locks and a cable from a secret rear hatch that allow them to secure their bag to posts, trees, and other immovable objects.

The Plugin Site Press Release

January 16, 2006 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) is pleased to announce the release of the MacOS X versions of FocalBlade. FocalBlade is a Photoshop-compatible plugin for sharpening photos for screen display and printing and for producing great looking blur, soft focus and glow effects on 8bit and 16bit images. FocalBlade sharpens photos without amplifying noise or artifacts and produces impressive sharpening results even on low quality images. It can be used with a wide range of graphics applications, e.g. Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Illustrator, Painter, Fireworks, Canvas, Photoline and GraphicConverter.

Pantone Press Release

New Pantone(R) huey(TM) Improves Color and Solves Digital Image Problems on Monitors; Family of Monitor Color Correction Tools Delivers Accurate Digital Images, Intensifies Online Gaming, Enhances e-Commerce and Web Experiences

CARLSTADT, N.J.—Jan. 16, 2006—Pantone, Inc., the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced the availability of huey(TM), an easy-to-use monitor calibration tool designed for digital photo enthusiasts, gamers and any computer user wanting absolute color and clarity.

Developed in partnership with GretagMacbeth and brought to market by Pantone, huey is based on GretagMacbeth’s technology for professional-level products and delivered in an easy-to-use, affordable device—a true breakthrough in terms of form, function and usability. About the size of a small marker, huey delivers excellent results on LCD, laptop and CRT displays without requiring users to have any knowledge of color management. In addition, huey is the first monitor calibration device to continually adjust the monitor as room lighting changes.

Colour Confidence Press Release

Birmingham UK, 16th January, 2006 - Colour Confidence, the leading independent colour management specialists, have today announced their appointment as distributor of the complete range of PANTONE®/gretagmacbeth monitor calibration devices. This includes the all new huey™, Eye-One® Display LT and Eye-One Display 2. This family of products completely breaks though barriers of cost and complexity that have kept many potential users away and also provides a migration path for users as their needs grow. They are all available immediately from www.colourconfidence.com

“Colour Confidence is the single largest Colour Management operation in the United Kingdom. They are focussed on colour management and possess the most comprehensive source of knowledge in that area,” commented Helmut Eifert, vice president of European Operations at Pantone. “Partnering with Colour Confidence means the widest possible audience will have access to the complete range of Pantone products, including the new family of monitor calibration devices.”

Just Rams Press Release

Just Rams Adds a Splash of Colour to Your Life

London, 16 January 2006 – Just Rams Plc today announces five colourful new additions to its USB 2.0 Drive range, the Integral USB 2.0 SPLASH Drives. Available in blue, green, yellow, pink and lilac, and incorporating Windows™ compatible Security and ZIP compression software makes the Integral USB 2.0 SPLASH Drives a safe and stylish way of moving files between school or college, office and home.

- Integral launches Five New Colourful USB 2.0 SPLASH Drives
- Windows™ Compatible Security and ZIP Compression Software
- Available with a 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB or 2GB capacity

Light Crafts Press Release

LightZone for Macintosh most significant advance in digital photo editing in more than a decade.

Palo Alto, CA & San Francisco Macworld Expo 2006 (PRWEB) January 13, 2005—Light Crafts, Inc. today announced that it’s breakthrough photo editing software – LightZone for Macintosh – has received a “Macworld Best of Show Award,” representing the most exciting hardware and software products announced at Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. LightZone provides a complete photo editing tool that significantly reduces the time photographers spend after a shoot, producing high quality photographs. LightZone offers photographers an advanced RAW editing experience that is easy to use while delivering a highly integrated editing environment that produces professional results.

Photo.net have reviewed the Tamron AF55-200mm F/4-5.6 Di II MACRO LD lens. The Tamron 55-200mm lens is designed for digital SLR cameras with APS sized (24mm x 16mm) sensors.

“The Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro is clearly aimed at a narrow - but significant - market segment. That’s the people who have bought a DSLR with an included 18-55mm “kit lens” and now find that they’d like something longer than 55mm. Now some people won’t blink at paying hundreds of dollars (if not thousands…) for fast, “L” series glass, and some won’t mind carrying lenses which are significantly larger and heavier than the Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro. However there’s certainly a good number of new DSLR owners who will be looking for something small, light and fairly inexpensive, and the Tamron AF 55-200mm Di II LD Macro fits that bill.”

Website: Photo.net - Tamron 55-200mm Lens Review

Luminous Landscape have just reviewed the new PrintFIX PRO profiling system from ColorVision.

“If one wishes a reasonable match between one’s inkjet printer results and monitor, as well as maximal print quality, it is best to have a color managed system, in which ICC profiles act as a “translator” between the various ways that these devices interpret colors.  These profiles may be supplied with the devices, purchased, or one may generate them with appropriate equipment.  There are various approaches, but it is generally accepted that specialized hardware, designed for the purpose, does the best job.  In years past this was very expensive, but prices have fallen dramatically in recent years for monitor colorimeter based systems, and now this is also true for hardware based printer profiling.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - PrintFIX PRO Review

DigiCamReview have reviewed the Ricoh Caplio R3, a 5 megapixel compact camera with a 7x optical zoom lens equivalent to 28-200mm and vibration correction of the CCD.

“The camera is very easy to use, especially in AUTO mode, or one of the scene modes, even though the camera has a lot of options. The controls on the back of the camera are quite straight forward - the menus are very responsive and easy to read and navigate.  The menus are also easy to use, and the options are big enough and easy enough to see clearly. The modes are easy to access, quick and simple, mainly thanks to the right number of dials and buttons on the camera (the adjust button making it especially easy to get to regularly used options). Most functions can be worked out without having to refer to the manual.”

Website: DigiCamReview - Ricoh Caplio R3 Review

Website: Read my Ricoh Caplio R3 Review

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Nikon announced earlier this week that they are ending production of virtually all of their film-based cameras and lenses, with the exception of the new F6, the manual FM10 and a few manual lenses. More than 95% of Nikon’s UK business now comes from digital, with digital SLRs like the D50 and D70 helping to increase the Japanese giant’s recent profit levels. Do you think Nikon’s decision is just an inevitable sign of the times, with announcements from other companies on the way soon? Are you saddened by this announcement, or is it just more water under the bridge? Shout out now…

Here are the stand-out news stories from the last 7 days:

New Cameras
Nikon Ends Film Camera Sales
Hasselblad H2D-39 39 Megapixel Camera
Ricoh Caplio R30

New Accessories
ColorVision Spyder2Express
Epson Stylus CX5800F Multifunction Printer
Wacom Intuos3 Widescreen 12x19 Pen Tablet

New Software
Adobe Lightroom
ACDSee Pro Photo Manager Now Shipping
Apple iLife ‘06

Other Headlines
See Your LCD Screen in Bright Sunlight
Planet82 SMPD Image Sensor to Spell the End of Flash?
CompactFlash Transfer Rate Reaches 133MB/sec

The winners of the December 2005 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for December was “Age” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
“A Day In The Life” by garybowers
View this entry

ShutterPoint.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by ShutterPoint.
http://www.shutterpoint.com

In the first installment of our new The Peoples’ Voice column, reader Gary Pogoda explains just how tricky it is to buy a new camera for his wife. If you want to contribute an article and make your voice heard (minimum of 500 words), please email it to [email protected]. Now, over to Gary…

Website: The Peoples’ Voice - “Take My Wife’s Digital Camera ... Please !!!”

The Canon Powershot A620 is the 7 megapixel replacement for the very popular 5 megapixel A95 model. As well as the increased resolution, the Canon A620 has a number of important improvements, principally the Digic II processor, which is also used by the company’s high-end DSLR cameras. The twisting, flippable LCD screen is now a 2 inch model, whilst a number of new creative effects are available that you won’t find on other digital cameras. The Powershot A620 has a 4x optical zoom equivalent to 35-140mm, and aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual modes are all on offer. With a current price of just over £200/$300, is the Canon Powershot A620 worth a look? Click the link below to find out.

Website: Canon Powershot A620 Review

BOE HYDIS Press Release

BOE HYDIS unveils new LCD with spectacular outdoor readability

- Outstanding visibility indoors and out with innovative light reflection control
- Optimal for mobile devices with lower power consumption and wide viewing angle

January 11, 2006 (Icheon, South Korea) … BOE HYDIS has successfully developed a new mobile TFT-LCD with superior outdoor readability under bright sunlit conditions.

The new product is applied with ‘AFFS-Outdoor’ technology that significantly enhances contrast ratio and reduces outside reflections on panels compared to BOE HYDIS’ existing AFFS (Advanced Fringe Field Switching) technology.

The product features improved transmission of 5.9 percent, external LCD reflection of 0.2 percent or lower and higher internal panel reflection that contribute to its enhanced readability.

Centico Press Release

Centico Photo Album Keeps Photos Safe with Time Warp Backup

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (January 12th, 2006) - Centico Ltd. announced today the release of Centico Photo Album 1.0, a digital photo management application for Windows 2000/XP with advanced support for backing up photos.

Centico Photo Album uses an advanced backup mechanism for digital photos called Time Warp Backup. Time Warp Backup backs-up editing changes (such as cropping and sharpening) independently from the photos themselves. In case of data loss, the photos will be restored along with all of the editing changes that had been made to them, even if these changes were made AFTER the photos were backed up. This makes it much easier to backup photos than with regular backup software, because the user only has to backup the photos once in their lifetime, instead of being forced to backup again and again whenever the photos are edited.

Samsung Press Release

Samsung and Microsoft Jointly Bestowed Visionary Award for Hybrid Hard Disk

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 12, 2006—Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology together with Microsoft Corporation have been awarded the Visionary Consumer Electronics Award of the 2006 StorageVisions Conference for their pioneering work on Hybrid Hard Disks.

The Fifth Annual Storage Visions Conference (a partner program to the 2006 International CES) awards were presented before hundreds of show attendees at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The trophy was awarded for advancing the state of the art in storage technology for the consumer electronics, media and entertainment industries.