Computer-Darkroom have taken a look at GretagMacbeth’s new Eye-One Display 2, a solution for calibrating and profiling all types of computer monitors.

“The original Eye-One Display, which I reviewed last year was pretty good but lacked some of the attributes that users now seem to demand (i.e. it needs to be fast, have DDC capabilities, and have the ability to measure ambient light) . Whilst the original Eye-One Display produced high quality display profiles it was slower than the competition and had been to a large extent bettered by. With the introduction of the Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter GretagMacbeth have been able to significantly speed up the calibration process without compromising quality and included an option to measure ambient light. The hardware actually includes a new enhanced sensor that provides very good repeatability for consistent calibration and profiling results along with high sensitivity in dark areas for better control of shadow detail and more neutral gray scale.”

Website: Computer-Darkroom - GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display 2 Review

Casio have released a new firmware version (v1.02) for the Casio EX-S500, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.2 inch LCD screen.

Improvements Provided by This Update
V1.01-V1.02
- Fixed a problem that sometimes made it impossible to achieve the desired results at shutter speeds slower than one second.

Website: Download the Casio EX-S500 Firmware Update

Check the Latest Prices for the Casio EX-S500

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The French website Zone Numerique have reviewed the new Nikon Coolpix 7900, a 7 megapixel digital camera featuring a 2.0-inch LCD screen, new graphical user interface and a 3x Zoom-Nikkor ED lens equivalent to 38-114mm lens in 35mm format.

Website: Zone Numerique - Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

Website: Read my Nikon Coolpix 7900 Review

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CNET have just reviewed the new Olympus mju DIGITAL 800 digicam.

“With 8 megapixels, aperture- and shutter-priority exposure controls, and a top-notch built-in help guide, the compact, 3X-zoom Stylus 800 sits solidly at the top of Olympus’s weather-resistant-camera lineup. It’s also one of the smallest and most affordable 8-megapixel cameras on the market. But if you are opting for a high-resolution model because you have poster-making aspirations, you’ll need to save some money and step up to a more advanced 8-megapixel model; the Olympus Stylus 800’s photos are generally good enough for 8x10 prints, but we wouldn’t suggest blowing them up.”

Website: CNET - Olympus mju DIGITAL 800 Review

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CNET have reviewed the new Sony DSC-W5 digital camera, which offers 5 megapixels, a 2.5 inch LCD screen, battery life of 380 shots and 32 megabytes of internal memory.

“A junior version of the 7-megapixel DSC-W7, the 5-megapixel Sony Cyber Shot DSC-W5 boasts the same no-nonsense, compact, metal-alloy body; gorgeous 2.5-inch LCD (which is coupled with a modest optical viewfinder for use in bright ambient light); 3X Carl Zeiss zoom lens; and basic array of automatic and manual controls. Decent image quality, a versatile burst mode, and convenient AA battery power make this Sony suitable for photo fans who want a pocketable camera with a useful set of mostly automatic features.”

Website: CNET - Sony DSC-W5 Review

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The Danish website Akam.dk have reviewed the Panasonic DMC-FX9, a 6 megapixel compact digital camera with optical image stabilizer, 3x Leica lens and 2.5-inch LCD screen with 207,000 pixels.

Website: Akam.dk - Panasonic DMC-FX9 Review

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The-Digital-Picture.com have reviewed the Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens, which is mainly used for architecture and wide landscape photography.

“The Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens is a very sharp lens with excellent contrast/saturation. the TS-E 90 is sharp wide open and very sharp at f/3.2. Corner sharpness is very good even wide open. Full shift decreases sharpness (and creates autoexposure issues). The TS-E 90 is very slightly sharper than the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens at the same focal length and aperture. The Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens is also slightly sharper than the Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift-Lens, especially wide open in the corners on a full frame body.”

Website: The-Digital-Picture.com - Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens Review

Intemos Press Release

INTEMOS MAKES LIGHT WORK OF CLEANING DSLR SENSORS

A step by step video guide to cleaning digital SLR sensors is launched online today by Intemos, the optical cleaning specialists. 

“We have produced this user-friendly video to show how easily sensor cleaning can be carried out,” said Intemos MD Andrew Stagg.

“I have spoken to many digital camera owners weary of cleaning their sensors because they are concerned about damaging them. With this video we wanted to show what a simple procedure it really is and that it can be completed with ease in a few seconds.”

Canon USA Press Release

CANON U.S.A. UNVEILS NEW CORPORATE SLOGAN FOR THE AMERICAS

New Canon imageANYWARE Slogan Showcases Canon’s Advanced Digital Imaging Solutions for Business and Consumers

NEW YORK—September 14, 2005—Canon U.S.A, Inc., today introduced a new corporate slogan that underscores the company’s commitment to being the leader in total networked, digital imaging solutions for business and consumers. The new Canon corporate slogan is expressed in a simple, yet powerful, tagline—Canon imageANYWARE.

Canon imageANYWARE, which was introduced here at Canon’s technology showcase Canon EXPO 2005 in New York, represents the company’s ability to create a borderless environment of people, devices, images, and information that lets people live and work the way they want, virtually anytime, anywhere.

Canon USA Press Release

New Color Management System for Windows Vista Highlights Alliance Between Microsoft and Canon

New Windows Color System to Provide Greater Color Accuracy and Fidelity for Windows-Based PCs.

REDMOND, Wash.—Sept. 13, 2005— Microsoft Corp. and Canon Inc. today announced another major milestone resulting from the companies’ strategic alliance: a new color management system for the upcoming Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system. The new Windows® Color System will enable greater fidelity and predictability of color throughout Microsoft’s new operating system. The system will provide better screen-to-print matching, better overall color appearance, and support for higher fidelity printing, giving users new tools to take advantage of the capabilities of today’s powerful color devices such as digital cameras and color printers.

Canon USA Press Release

Companies to Integrate Components of Adobe(r) LiveCycle(tm) for Paper-to-Digital, Security and Print Solutions based on Adobe PDF with imageRUNNER Product Line

London - Sept. 14, 2005 - Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) and Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) today announced they are working together to develop paper-to-digital scanning, security and print solutions based on Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The combination of Adobe LiveCycle and Adobe PDF technologies with Canon’s imageRUNNER multi-function product (MFP) line and imageWARE software products will make it easier for information workers to integrate paper processes into more secure digital workflows. Organisations will be able to bridge the gap between the familiarity and prevalence of paper and the digital world of electronic business processes.

Fuji Photo Film USA Press Release

New Study Reveals Consumer Desire to Print Camera Phone Pictures; Survey Details Consumer Attitudes and Camera-Phone Printing Behaviors

VALHALLA, N.Y.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 13, 2005—Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. today released findings from a camera phone behavior study completed by NPD Techworld, a division of the NPD Group, Inc., revealing that 44.6 percent of participants said they have taken pictures with their camera phone that they wished they had printed. The most commonly noted reasons for not printing these images included image quality, simplicity of process and overall perceived cost.

“Clearly, the camera phone market continues to enjoy a healthy boom,” said Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices for The NPD Group. “Our data show that last year camera phones had penetrated 7 percent of the U.S. market, and now that number is close to 22 percent - a dramatic year-over-year increase of nearly 200 percent. As more megapixel camera phones enter the market and image quality improves, the expectation is that significantly more consumers will want to print the photos taken with these improved products.”

The Sony Cyber-shot M2 digital hybrid camera is announced today. The The Sony M2 is a 5 megapixel diigtal camera which also offers MPEG-4 movies in a stylish upright design (similar to the Sanyo Xacti series of cameras). The Sony Cyber-shot M2 will be available from November 2005, price to be announced.

Sony UK Press Release

Quality still pictures, movie footage and fun playback options - in one stylish device

The Sony Cyber-shot M2 features 5.1 effective Megapixel resolution and a high quality movie mode (MPEG-4 recording) in a stylish, ergonomically designed camera. The Cyber-shot M2 combines the best of both worlds: great quality photography is guaranteed, thanks to the 5.1 effective Megapixel Super HAD CCD, a large and bright 2.5 inch Hybrid LCD screen and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar folded-path 3x Optical Zoom lens. In addition, the same device gives you casual movie-shooting capabilities, allowing you to capture up to 50 minutes of good quality footage on a Memory Stick PRO Duo™ with one charge of the supplied InfoLITHIUM battery.  Or why not choose the ‘5 Sec Rec’ mode for a fresh style of snappy movie making.

The Ricoh GR Digital is announced today. The Ricoh GR Digital is an 8 megapixel compact digicam based on the GR Series of 35mm compact film cameras. The GR Digital has a a F2.4 fixed focal length lens equivalent to 28mm and a new GR Engine image-processing system. The Caplio GR Digital will be available from October for £399.99.

Ricoh UK Press Release

Ricoh announces the GR Digital Professional Grade High Resolution Compact Digital Camera

Northampton 2005. September 13 - Ricoh announced today the launch of the GR Digital, a newly developed professional-grade high-resolution compact digital camera. In addition to a CCD with 8,130,000 effective pixels, the new digital camera boasts superb resolution through a newly developed high-performance lens, image-processing algorithms, and other innovations, as well as low noise and low chromatic aberration.

The new GR Digital inherits the superb image quality that made the award winning GR Series (first launched in 1996) of 35mm compact film cameras so popular, as well as the depictive performance to satisfy professional photographers, distilled into a compact 25-mm thin body.

With a high-quality feel and superb expandability, this is the perfect tool for both professional photographers and advanced amateurs.

Colour Confidence Press Release

Projector sales set to rise to 4.5 million per year by 2007 - Fastest selling monitor calibrator adds even more value

Birmingham, UK, August 31st 2005, Colour Confidence, the leading independent colour management specialists, have today announced the impending availability of a free software update for the Spyder2PRO Studio which will introduce the capability of projector calibration. Spyder2PRO Studio with projector calibration capabilities will be available imminently and a free of charge software update can be obtained from www.colourconfidence.com

The upgrade introduces unparalleled colour accuracy to multimedia projectors, meaning users no longer have to adjust their projectors colour with subjective judgements made using the naked eye. As well as correcting the contrast and brightness, the Spyder2 colorimeter and software scientifically measure the Red, Green and Blue chromaticity values of the display screen. Those readings are then stored as custom ICC profiles, and loaded to the video card as calibration corrections.

Website: Read my Spyder2PRO Studio Review

Sony Press Release

2GB Memory Stick: More Memory for Less

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/—At the end of September, Sony Electronics will offer Memory Stick media in 2GB capacities for about $200 or less. The Memory Stick Pro and the Memory Stick Pro Duo are used to capture and store digital video, images and music files.

Both varieties of the 2GB capacity Memory Stick Pro are available for pre-sale at sonystyle.com, at will be available at Sony Style stores and authorized retailers nationwide.

Scoopt Press Release

Scoopt (http://www.scoopt.com), the world’s first ‘citizen journalism’ picture agency, achieved a treble success in early September.

•    Bristol-based Stephen Bell captured the immediate aftermath of a dramatic car chase, and Scoopt immediately sold his pictures to the ‘Bristol Evening Post’.
•    Scoopt member James Pearson used his cameraphone to photograph and film a commuter train fire at Abbey Wood Station, London. ITV’s ‘London Today’ news programme licensed and broadcast the video
•    Another Scoopt member obtained exclusive pictures of Jodie Kidd’s wedding. Scoopt sold one picture to the Sun, where it was published on Monday 12th.

Westinghouse Digital Press Release

Westinghouse Digital Expands into New LCD Display Market with Digital Photo Frames; Stylish LCD Frame Accepts Six Flash Card Standards Including XD

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 13, 2005—Westinghouse Digital Electronics, a leading North American LCD TV and monitor provider, today announced its entry into the digital photography marketplace with the introduction of its Digital Photo Frame (model #DPF-0561), allowing multiple photographs to be displayed in a single frame.

The 5.6-inch LCD display is easily customizable to match any home or office decor by attaching the included interchangeable mahogany, black or brushed aluminum frames. Ideal for displaying wedding photos, birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, photos of loved ones, and other special events, the frame allows consumers to create a slideshow or view individual digital snapshots by simply plugging in a digital camera memory card or downloading images from the computer’s hard drive via a USB port.

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have published a range of sample shots taken with a production version of the Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom, a new 9 megapixel digital camera with a 28-300mm lens with twist-barrel zoom control.

Website: Index Digicam - Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom Sample Images

PCMagazine have reviewed the new 5 megapixel Samsung Digimax U-CA5 camera.

“We can’t quibble with the 5.1MP Samsung Digimax U-CA 5’s $250 price tag, but when it comes to features and performance, the camera disappoints. The resolution is in the 4MP range, the menus are clunky, and we noticed a good deal of shutter lag during testing. The market is crowded with consumer cameras vying for your money, and most of them are better than this one.”

Website: PCMagazine - Samsung Digimax U-CA5 Review