Fujfilm have released a new firmware update, v1.02, for the Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom, a new 9 megapixel digital camera with a 28-300mm lens with twist-barrel zoom control (also known as the S9000).

Details of the update
The firmware (Ver.1.01 to Ver.1.02 ) update incorporates the following issues:

Updates the compatibility for 6GB Microdrives

Website: Download the Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom Firmware

Pentax have released a new firmware update, version 2.00, for the 6 megapixel Pentax *ist DS DSLR.

The following functionality has been added:

  1. AF mode has been added to the [Rec. Mode] in the Menu and the AF mode.
  2. Auto Sensitivity has been added in the sensitivity mode
  3. AE-L button on M has been added in the Custom menu.
  4. The effect of Digital soft filters can be selected from weak, middle or strong
  5. Dutch and Swedish languages has been added to the language
  6. The sample picture will be displayed in the LCD monitor when select picture modes
  7. For prevent the confusion, the item that was not able to be set by the menu, made a gray character.

Website: Download the Pentax *ist DS 2.00 Firmware

Delkin Devices Press Release

Delkin Devices Announces Universal Pop-Up Shade for Digital Point and Shoot Cameras - Four Models Fit Most Digital Cameras, Block Glare, and Protect Expensive Camera Screen

November 30, 2005 Poway, CA— Delkin Devices, Inc., maker of premium quality eFilm® memory cards and other innovative digital photography products, is now shipping the Universal version of their popular Pop-Up Shades.  All Pop-Up Shades allow you to see your camera’s LCD screen in the sun and protect it from damage.  The sturdy, lightweight covers are easily installed and protect a digital camera’s expensive LCD screen. Universal Pop-Up Shades are designed to work on most digital point and shoot cameras and feature a new two-part design that allows the shade portion to be removed, leaving the LCD guard in place.

The Universal Pop-Up Shade is available in four digital camera LCD sizes: 1.6”, 1.8”, 2.0”, and 2.5”. The 1.6” also fits digital cameras with a 1.5” LCD. These four sizes fit over 90% of digital point and shoot cameras available.

PCMagazine have published their review of the Kodak Easyshare V550, a 5 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom lens and 2.5inch LCD screen.

“Controls and menus, which are organized in a very much like those on the V530, are clear, easy to use, and numerous. In addition to the controls on the back of the camera, there are buttons etched into the metal on the top—a cool touch. These let you access scene modes, video modes, and the auto setting. The V530’s buttons are more clearly recognizable, which makes it easier to use, but the V550 clearly wins on style. We also love the dock Kodak includes with both models.”

Website: PCMagazine - Kodak Easyshare V550 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

Extensis Press Release

Extensis Portfolio 8 Centralizes Key Digital Assets for Easier Sharing Across Workgroups

Now available, Portfolio Digital Asset Management solution helps companies manage their brand more effectively.

Northampton, UK. — 1st December, 2005 — Extensis, a division of Celartem, Inc., today announced the availability of Portfolio 8, a major advance in its digital asset management (DAM) solution. The new version of Portfolio provides industrial-strength workflow features to organize and share digital files with visual catalogs and embedded metadata, making it easy to quickly find, route and distribute valuable branding collateral like images, brochures, layouts and logos within asset creation workgroups and externally with global partners. The Portfolio 8 product family includes a standalone version, Client/Server solution, as well as NetPublish and SQL Connect Modules.

Medea International Press Release

New patented inkjet cartridges provide users with up to 30% more printed pages

London, UK, December 1, 2005.  An innovative and patented inkjet cartridge technology from Medea International is set to revolutionise the supplies industry.  The new ‘Inkrite PhotoPLUS’ technology brings many benefits which include up to a 30% increase in printed pages when compared to other 3rd party consumables and additionally at around 40% lower cost when compared to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) products.

Available now, the ‘Inkrite PhotoPLUS’ cartridges are designed for use with the most popular printers found on today’s market and will replicate life-like images of outstanding high quality.

Whilst these inkjet cartridges are aimed at all users, they will be of particular interest to the growing population of digital photographers.  This type of application requires accurate replication of saturated colours and smoother tonal reproduction than traditional printing.  The ‘Inkrite PhotoPLUS’ system delivers high-quality photographic images by providing both colour and greyscale performance.  The specially formulated inks ensure long lasting colour and lightfastness.

Manfrotto Launches ‘Local Heroes’ Photography Program - Program to support and showcase international photographers who make a difference.

Bassano del Grappa, Italia (PRWEB) November 30, 2005—Manfrotto, the world’s leading manufacturer of support products for pro video and photography, is proud to announce the launch of the “Local Heroes” project, designed to acknowledge photographers who bring a different perspective to the world of photography.

Photographers selected as “Local Heroes” are not necessarily famous photographers, however, are those that give back to his or her community through membership in groups and associations or dedicate time to the world of photographic education, whether by teaching in schools or by contributing to journals and magazines.

Iomega Press Release

Iomega Launches Elegant New MiniMax Desktop Hard Drive for the Mac Mini - Stackable External Drive With Dual USB and FireWire Hubs - Boosts Mac Mini Capabilities

SAN DIEGO, November 30, 2005 – Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in data storage celebrating 25 years of business, today launched the perfect companion to the Apple® Mac® Mini computer: the exciting new Iomega® MiniMax™ Desktop Hard Drive in 160GB and 250GB* capacities. The stackable Iomega MiniMax Drive mirrors the look of the Apple Mac Mini computer and comes with twin USB 2.0 and FireWire® data hubs, bringing increased data capacity, accessibility and flexibility to devoted users of the Mac Mini.

The new Iomega MiniMax Desktop Hard Drive is compact in design, but packs a lot in performance, value and features.  The MiniMax Drive is just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches tall and easily stacks with the Apple Mac Mini.  The MiniMax Drive is a practical upgrade to the internal 40GB or 80GB native capacity of the Mac mini, delivering up to 250GB* in storage capacity along with a 3-port Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) hub and 3-port FireWire® hub. A smart power switch allows the drive to power up and down in concert with the Mac Mini, and a specially designed active/passive cooling system keeps the desktop virtually noiseless. Dantz® Retrospect™ backup software is included for hassle-free backups and data recovery for Mac users, along with Iomega IAB Pro backup software for Windows users.

DIWA member and Czech website FotoAparat have reviewed the Olympus E-500, an 8 megapixel DSLR with a 2.5 inch LCD screen in a body with a classic penta-prism design.

Website: FotoAparat - Olympus E-500 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

DigitalCameraInfo have published a review of the Fujifilm FinePix S5600 Zoom, a 5 megapixel compact digital camera with Fujifilm’s new 5th Generation Super CCD HR sensor with Real Photo Technology. The Fujifilm S5600 has an ISO range of 64 to 1600 and boasts a 10x optical zoom lens.

“The SLR-like Fujifilm FinePix S5200 is a 5.1 megapixel (effective) 10x ultra zoom camera with the typical priorities of a long zoom Fuji: it lacks optical image stabilization, but attempts to compensate with extended ISO settings up to 1600 and a pretty wide maximum aperture to allow fast shutter speeds, minimizing the need for image stabilization. Its images are captured with a 1/2.5” CCD and will appear on a 1.8” LCD monitor, as will its 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 video clips in AVI (Motion JPEG) format. The S5200 is a light, compact camera that offers manual control options, high sensitivity settings and a long telephoto lens to a range of consumers at a list price of $399.95 – going as low as $320 online. “

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Fujifilm FinePix S5600 Zoom Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

DigitalCameraReview have reviewed the Kodak Easyshare P850 camera which features a 12x, 36 – 432 mm, image-stabilised, f2.8 – f/3.7, SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON lens.

“Overall I walk away impressed with the P850. Image quality is excellent, the 30 fps video mode could almost double as video camera, image stabilization helps in many less-than-ideal shooting situations, and the 2.5” LCD is a joy to use. What it lacks for in speed (vs. digital SLRs) it makes up for in controls and image and video quality. For the photographer looking to go beyond the basic, wanting manual creativity of the shot, and not seeking to dump $1000 plus into a digital SLR, the P850 is the ticket.”

Website: DigitalCameraReview - Kodak Easyshare P850 Review

Latest Prices / User Reviews

The Jobo Giga Vu pro Evolution will be available from the end of April 2006 in 40GB, 80GB and 120GB sizes at £379.99 , £499.99 and £599.99.

Jobo Press Release

Mobile photo-hard drive with exciting and unique photo features

Gummersbach. JOBO AG Germany introduce with GIGA Vu PRO evolution the next generation of mobile storage devices with exciting photo features for every consumer and prosumer. The resolution of digital cameras increases day by day. As technology advances, camera manufacturers offer higher and higher resolution at lower and lower prices. However, along with this advance in resolution and quality comes the need for more digital storage capacity. Fast, large memory cards work for today but soon even their storage capacity is too small.

To allow you to store your images comfortably, safely and economically, JOBO offers an alternative: the GIGA Vu PRO evolution.

Mike Johnston of Sunday Morning Photographer fame has finally seen the light and started his own blog. There isn’t too much content there at the moment, but anyone who enjoys Mike’s writing style (and I’m one of them) should check back regularly. Here’s a brief extract to whet your appetite.

“And as for cameras, K-M’s Anti-Shake in the body is such a wonderful feature that its absence pretty much rules out any camera that doesn’t have it. With every new Wunderkamera that comes around, from the Sony R-1 to the Nikon D200, I find myself thinking, “If only it had anti-shake….”

Website: The Online Photographer

Thanks to Terry Chay for letting me know about Mike’s new venture.

StorVision Press Release

Record directly from your TV or any audio/video source to a memory card, and view your movies on our Sony PSP gaming console and Epson P-2000.

StorVision has announced the availability of the StorVision miniVCR TV Recorder, a compact low cost solution to record videos suitable to be played on handheld viewing devices such as the Sony PSP, Nintendo GameBoy Micro, or the iPod Viewer. The miniVCR enables you to record directly from your television onto a memory card, which you can then simply place in your Sony PSP gaming console and watch the recorded programme of your choice. This means that you can record onto Memory Stick™ Pro Duo Gaming edition and Compactflash/Microdrive memory cards (other type of flash cards via an optional adapter).

Fujifilm UK Press Release

Fujifilm Professional has unveiled Shoot & Scan, a new promotion that gives photographers discounts on processing and scanning at professional laboratories across the UK.

Shoot & Scan is designed to help photographers who want the unsurpassed image quality that film provides, combined with the versatility of digital files. A discount of 25% is available when any Fujifilm Professional 35mm or 120 roll film is processed and scanned on the standard service offered by each individual participating laboratory. The offer includes standard processing of C41, E6 or Black & White 35mm or 120 roll film with jpeg files scanned onto CD at approximately 6.4MB.

Fujifilm UK Press Release

Fujifilm today announces the launch of an RSS newsfeed service on its UK web site, to simplify and improve communications with the media and Fujifilm customers.  Users will now be able to have information about Fujifilm’s latest products and services delivered directly to their desktops, without having to search through the web site or rely on news alerts via email.  The RSS newsfeed is available at http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/presscentre

Fujifilm is the first photography company to offer RSS (or Really Simple Syndication).  The service works by feeding all the news from users’ chosen sites into a web-based desktop interface such as MyYahoo, or a software-based news reader such as FeedDemon or Newsfire.  This enables subscribers to keep up-to-date with all the latest news quickly and in real-time, 24 hours a day.

Adobe UK Press Release

Adobe Announces Call for Entries to 2006 Adobe Design Achievement Awards - Premier Global Student Competition Expands to 24 Countries

London, — Nov. 30, 2005 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced its call for entries to the sixth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards. The premier student design competition recognises the world’s most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers and computer artists from the top design, film, and broadcast institutions. This year’s competition will extend the program’s scope to 24 participating countries.

“The Adobe Design Achievement Awards celebrates student creativity and reinforces Adobe’s continued commitment to design education,” said Melissa Dyrdahl, senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Adobe. “It is truly inspiring to see how this event dissolves boundaries between cultures and unleashes great talents through the convergence of technology and creative arts.”

Leica Press Release

Leica Camera AG, Solms has now introduced a new adapter for connecting high-performance LEICA TELEVID scopes with digital cameras and camera phones, enabling both observation and digital photography at high magnification through a scope. The LEICA DIGITAL ADAPTER 2 is optimally prepared for use with the new LEICA D-LUX 2. This compact digital camera features an integrated image stabilizer for added protection against blurred images in all photographic situations, and is therefore particularly suitable when working with the long focal lengths customary in digiscoping. Clearly readable even in daylight, the bright display of the LEICA D-LUX 2 is ideal for frame selection and image composition when digiscoping. Combined with the LEICA TELEVID scope models and eyepieces, the camera provides ambitious bird- and nature watchers with a complete high-performance Leica Digiscoping outfit for nature photography.

Seagate Leads 1-Inch Hard Disc Drive Market With Cybercapture Technology

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) , the world’s leading supplier of Consumer Electronics hard disc drives, today announced the first practical implementation of Cybercapture(TM) technology. Sony Corporation has employed this technology in its new Compactvault(TM) removable hard disc media drive that uses Seagate’s CompactFlash Photo Hard Drive, following a joint implementation effort between the two companies.

Hard disc drives with Cybercapture(TM) technology maximize hard disc performance, enabling faster shooting and high definition video capture. By moving control of the file system from the consumer electronics device onto the hard disc drive itself, Cybercapture technology will allow an even higher recording rate of still pictures in multi-shot mode as well as higher quality recording of moving pictures, on a drive running in AV mode.

FotoNation Press Release

FOTONATION IS FINALIST FOR EUROPEAN IST GRAND PRIZE AWARD - CHOSEN FOR RED-EYE TECHNOLOGY

Galway, Ireland, November 29, 2005—FotoNation® Ireland Ltd., a subsidiary of FotoNation Inc. (www.fotonation.com), one of the world’s leading imaging and connectivity solutions, announced today that it has been selected as finalist for the prestigious 2006 European IST (Information Society Technology) Grand Prize for its innovative Red-Eye Technology.

Drawn from a pool of 213 nominees from 29 countries, FotoNation is one of only twenty finalists for the IST award.  Now in its eleventh year, the European IST Prize (www.ist-prize.org ) is awarded for groundbreaking products that represent the best of European innovation in IT technology.  The award provides public recognition and is a highly visible display of entrepreneurial teams that excel in generating unique ideas and R&D and converting them into marketable products.  The high standard of applicants and the competitive selection procedure makes this prize the most distinguished for new technology products.