News
The Sanyo Xacti E6 is introduced. Announced by Sanyo Japan, the Xacti E6 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens that is equivalent to 38-114mm. The most striking aspect of the Sanyo E6 is on the back of the camera - a massive 3 inch touch-sensitive LCD screen with 230,000 pixels! Another interesting feature of the Sanyo Xacti E6 is its touch-sensitive shutter button, which focuses on the subject as soon as you touch the button (rather than having to half-press it). Shutter lag is therefore just 0.05 seconds. Other features include 16 Mb of internal memory, MPEG4 video clips and various digital effects. The Sanyo Xacti S6 is launched in Japan in September.
The Sanyo Xacti E6 is introduced. Announced by Sanyo Japan, the Xacti E6 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens that is equivalent to 38-114mm. The most striking aspect of the Sanyo E6 is on the back of the camera - a massive 3 inch…
The Sanyo Xacti S6 is introduced. Announced by Sanyo Japan, the Xacti S6 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. An interesting feature of the Sanyo Xacti S6 is its touch-sensitive shutter button, which focuses on the subject as soon as you touch the button (rather than having to half-press it). Shutter lag is therefore just 0.05 seconds. Other features include a rather slow start-up time of 2.4 seconds, 15 Mb of internal memory and the ability to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera in Macro mode. The Sanyo Xacti S6 will cost 37,000 yen (around $335 USD) when it is launched in Japan in October.
The Sanyo Xacti S6 is introduced. Announced by Sanyo Japan, the Xacti S6 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. An interesting feature of the Sanyo Xacti S6 is its touch-sensitive shutter button, which focuses on the subject as soon as you touch the button…
Is a conventional digital camera like the 4 megapixel Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LZ1 (pictured) “better” than other kinds of camera, like cameraphones, PDAs and camcorders. Find out in DPNow’s interesting take on the current market.
“There has been a lot of talk about conventional digital cameras coming under threat from improving hybrids, like camera phones, PDAs with cameras and camcorders with still photo capability. Indeed, I’m of the firm opinion that some time in the future, perhaps as close as 2-3 years, most new consumer digital cameras will be dual-function still and video cameras that will produce prints up to A4 size at a quality we’d be satisfied with, plus camcorder quality video.”
Is a conventional digital camera like the 4 megapixel Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LZ1 (pictured) “better” than other kinds of camera, like cameraphones, PDAs and camcorders. Find out in DPNow’s interesting take on the current market. “There has been a lot of talk about conventional digital cameras coming under threat from improving…
A new photo sharing service called Slide is set to debut on Monday. Currently stlil in Beta, Slide is brought to you by the co-founder of PayPal, Max Levchin. Slide aims to make the process of sharing your photos with people much easier than established services such as Flickr. Looks like one to watch.
“The key to taking it to the next step is getting to the point where you don’t have to know what RSS or other technical concepts are,” Gartenberg said. “You want to get to the point where you can just invite your grandpa to subscribe to your photos and all he has to do is click a few buttons.”
Website: CNET News - PayPal co-founder readies photo-sharing service
Website: Slide
A new photo sharing service called Slide is set to debut on Monday. Currently stlil in Beta, Slide is brought to you by the co-founder of PayPal, Max Levchin. Slide aims to make the process of sharing your photos with people much easier than established services such as Flickr. Looks…
TrustedReviews have reviewed the new Fujifilm FinePix F10 Zoom, which has an ISO range of 80 to 1600, Super CCD sensor with 6.1 megapixels and a 2.5 inch LCD screen.
“Despite my love of photography, there are few cameras that I would describe as a real pleasure to use, but the F10 is one of them. It feels solid and comfortable in the hand, the controls fall neatly under the fingers and thumb, and respond quickly and positively. The camera’s performance is also exemplary. It starts up in 1.3 seconds, which is respectably quick for a camera in this class. It has minimal shutter lag, and a consistent shot-to-shot time of just over a second in High-Speed Shooting mode. The AF system is particularly good. I was testing this camera alongside a similarly-specified model from another manufacturer, and in every situation the Fuji focused and shot faster.”
Website: TrustedReviews - Fujifilm FinePix F10 Zoom Review
TrustedReviews have reviewed the new Fujifilm FinePix F10 Zoom, which has an ISO range of 80 to 1600, Super CCD sensor with 6.1 megapixels and a 2.5 inch LCD screen. “Despite my love of photography, there are few cameras that I would describe as a real pleasure to use, but…
DPReview 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.
“It is a tribute to Panasonic’s designers that they managed to squeeze as much as they did into the FX9’s diminutive body, and there’s no denying it is the kind of camera that simply begs to be taken everywhere you go. The screen is fantastic (and a huge improvement on it’s predecessors), it’s fast, fun to use and capable of surprisingly good results. The Leica lens is certainly no slouch in the resolution stakes, exposure is - though by no means perfect - as good as any other camera in this class, and the auto white balance very good indeed.”
Website: DPReview - Panasonic DMC-FX9 Review
DPReview 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. “It is a tribute to Panasonic’s designers that they managed to squeeze as much as they did into the FX9’s diminutive body, and there’s…
HP Press Release
Smiles from across the UK have created the world’s largest photo exhibition, featuring over 33,000 smiles.
LONDON, August 26, 2005 – BRITISH smiles are today being celebrated as the UK claims another Guinness World Record with the opening of the largest photo exhibition ever.
33,401 smiling photos have been donated to the record attempt by people across the UK. These will feature in the exhibition at the Royal College of Art 26 – 29 August 2005.
But smiling most are the children reliant on the work of NCH, the children’s charity. For every smile photo donated to the record attempt, the NCH received 25p from Hewlett Packard. This money will be spent on projects to help disadvantaged children across the UK.
Smile donations varied heavily between regions, and although Manchester was named “Smiling capital of the UK” in a study earlier this year1, they were beaten by Hull who topped the table for most smiling pictures donated to the record attempt (2300).
HP Press Release Smiles from across the UK have created the world’s largest photo exhibition, featuring over 33,000 smiles. LONDON, August 26, 2005 – BRITISH smiles are today being celebrated as the UK claims another Guinness World Record with the opening of the largest photo exhibition ever. 33,401 smiling photos…
The Nikon D50 is currently the cheapest digital SLR camera that you can buy, costing £550 / $750 at the time of writing. The D50 is Nikon’s attempt to capture a large slice of the entry-level DSLR market, tempting both those people who have held off buying a DSLR because they are too expensive, and those who are upgrading from a compact digital camera. Nikon have simplified the controls somewhat and the D50 uses SD memory cards rather than Compact Flash cards to provide an easier upgrade path. The Nikon D50 also has a much lighter plastic body than the more expensive D70s that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Having said all that, Nikon haven’t tried to cripple the D50 by removing lots of features - indeed, it’s pretty hard to spot where the D50 has less functionality than the D70s. So should the Nikon D50 be on your shopping list, and is it a viable alternative to the pricier D70s?
Website: Nikon D50 Review
The Nikon D50 is currently the cheapest digital SLR camera that you can buy, costing £550 / $750 at the time of writing. The D50 is Nikon’s attempt to capture a large slice of the entry-level DSLR market, tempting both those people who have held off buying a DSLR because…
Engadget have a few pictures of an as-yet-unannounced digital camera, the Kodak EasyShare V570. Apparently the new V570 will have 5 megapixels, a 2.5 inch LCD screen and more strangely a dual lens system. It seems that the Kodak V570 will have two non-extending lenses, one “ultrawide” and one “5x zoom” - I’m not entirely sure how this system will work. Other features include the usual docking station and support for SD memory cards.
Website: Engadget - Kodak EasyShare V570
Engadget have a few pictures of an as-yet-unannounced digital camera, the Kodak EasyShare V570. Apparently the new V570 will have 5 megapixels, a 2.5 inch LCD screen and more strangely a dual lens system. It seems that the Kodak V570 will have two non-extending lenses, one “ultrawide” and one “5x…
Grazer allows you to sort pictures dependong on the place where they were taken using GPS information from a GPX-file. The software writes GPS-GeoData into the Exif information of your digital pictures and automatically synchronizes them with the GPS-Data. Even neater is the Exif Mapper application that the Grazer team have developed using Google Maps. It’s currently in Beta, but looks like a great way of visualising where particular photos were taken.
Thanks to Jens Schwoon for letting me know!
Website: Grazer Exif Mapper
Grazer allows you to sort pictures dependong on the place where they were taken using GPS information from a GPX-file. The software writes GPS-GeoData into the Exif information of your digital pictures and automatically synchronizes them with the GPS-Data. Even neater is the Exif Mapper application that the Grazer team…
The Croatian website fot-o-grafiti has published a review (in English) of the new Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 35-100mm lens, which has a constant aperture of f/2 throughout its range.
“Because of its range and speed, it is uniquely suited for creating shallow depth of field at the portrait range; head shots are its specialty, and it really lives up to the task. Bokeh is nothing short of fantastic; as good as anything I ever saw. The DoF characteristic is such that you can get the entire face sharp, and have rapid decomposition of background. When you shoot near to the minimum focusing distance, after 20cm or so everything melts away into uniform blur. Fashion photographers will love this one, especially for its clarity, delicate contrast and color, fantastic sharpness - and did I say bokeh? If it sounds as if we’re drooling, it’s because we are. This one is as good as it is heavy.”
Thanks to Zoltán for letting me know!
Website: fot-o-grafiti - Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 35-100mm Lens Review
The Croatian website fot-o-grafiti has published a review (in English) of the new Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 35-100mm lens, which has a constant aperture of f/2 throughout its range. “Because of its range and speed, it is uniquely suited for creating shallow depth of field at the portrait range; head…
The Plugin Site Press Release
August 26, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) is pleased to announce the release of the MacOS X version of ColorWasher. ColorWasher is a plugin for correcting the colors, contrast, exposure and saturation of 8bit and 16bit photos. It works with various Adobe applications, e.g. Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Image Ready and Illustrator. ColorWasher takes photo correction to a new level of accuracy and speed. With its help even beginners are capable of doing photo corrections within seconds that only experts were able to produce in the past.
Overview
ColorWasher features a wide range of automatic, semi-automatic and manual tools for correcting, enhancing and restoring photos. It is very easy to use as it offers interactive explanations and hints for each feature, incorporates an Easy Mode and detailed step-by-step instructions in the manual. ColorWasher lets you do professional photo corrections within seconds and also offers a Cloak mode for processing dozens of images very quickly.
The Plugin Site Press Release August 26, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) is pleased to announce the release of the MacOS X version of ColorWasher. ColorWasher is a plugin for correcting the colors, contrast, exposure and saturation of 8bit and 16bit photos. It works with various Adobe applications, e.g…
ePhotoZine have published a short review of the XS Drive 2 XL VP2260, a simple to use portable storage device which supports all types of memory card.
“We primarily used the drive with a 1 gigabyte XD card. It has very good compatibility though, with support for the main nine types of memory card (See specs above). Inserting and removing cards is very straightforward with the slots clearly labelled. Being picky, we think it would be worth having rubber seals over the card slots when not in use, to prevent dust and dirt finding their way into the device.
ePhotoZine have published a short review of the XS Drive 2 XL VP2260, a simple to use portable storage device which supports all types of memory card. “We primarily used the drive with a 1 gigabyte XD card. It has very good compatibility though, with support for the main nine…
Pocket-Lint has reviewed the Nikon Coolpix S2, an updated version of the S1 digital camera (which is only just starting to appear in stores). The main changes to the 5 megapixel Nikon S2 are the addition of a weather-proof body and a sliding lens mechanism.
“The 3x zoom lens has a 35-105mm focal range with a modest F/3.0 maximum aperture, and it is this that hails the start of my few grumbles. The lens suffers from marked barrel distortion and the restrictive maximum aperture makes camera shake an issue in lower lighting conditions or at full zoom, where the effective maximum aperture of F/5.4 becomes an issue for steady shots.”
Website: Pocket-Lint - Nikon Coolpix S2 Review
Pocket-Lint has reviewed the Nikon Coolpix S2, an updated version of the S1 digital camera (which is only just starting to appear in stores). The main changes to the 5 megapixel Nikon S2 are the addition of a weather-proof body and a sliding lens mechanism. “The 3x zoom lens has…
DIWA member Steves Digicams have published their review of the Casio EX-S500, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.2 inch LCD screen.
“Casio has joined the exclusive 1-megapixel per ounce club with its Exilim EX-S500, supplying 5-megapixels of resolution in a package weighing only 4 1/2 ounces, including battery, SD memory card and wrist strap. Just as remarkable, Casio squeezed a 2.2-inch LCD monitor and a 3x optical zoom lens into the EX-S500’s credit card-sized, stylish and durable metal body. The EX-S500’s Automatic and Best Shot scene modes will help beginners capture pleasing snapshots, but the camera lacks the manual, aperture-priority and shutter-priority exposure modes demanded by experienced photographers.”
Website: Steves Digicams - Casio EX-S500 Review
DIWA member Steves Digicams have published their review of the Casio EX-S500, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.2 inch LCD screen. “Casio has joined the exclusive 1-megapixel per ounce club with its Exilim EX-S500, supplying 5-megapixels of resolution in a package weighing only…
With the announcement of the new full-frame, 12.8 megapixel Canon EOS 5D digital SLR a few days ago, Bob Atkins considers whether you should buy the new kid on the block or the cheaper EOS 20D.
“So the bottom line here is that if you’re an ultratelephoto fan and tend to shoot all your zoom lenses at maximum extension as well as hauling around the longest telephoto lens that you can afford and carry, then you may well be better off buying an EOS 20D than an EOS 5D. If you’re a midrange shooter with a fair selection of lenses, you’ll get higher technical quality images from an EOS 5D than an EOS 20D, though the extra $2000 you have to spend would buy you some pretty nice lenses. If you’re a dedicated wideangle shooter who can never get a wide enough lens, then the 5D will make you happier than the 20D.”
Website: Bob Atkins - EOS 5D or EOS 20D or…
With the announcement of the new full-frame, 12.8 megapixel Canon EOS 5D digital SLR a few days ago, Bob Atkins considers whether you should buy the new kid on the block or the cheaper EOS 20D. “So the bottom line here is that if you’re an ultratelephoto fan and tend…
Casio Europe Press Release
Norderstedt, September 2005 - The EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z750 is an absolute winner when it comes to digital cameras. It has not only collected an extraordinary number of awards and test wins but is also extremely popular with professionals. CASIO has now launched a special edition of the EX-Z750: the EXILIM EX-Z750 anthracite. This is EXILIM’s answer to the great echo for the camera from the ZOOM series, enhancing the photo branch with an attractive addition of the coveted model. The EX-Z750 anthracite is a little technical miracle in a brilliant outfit offering 7.2 Megapixels, 3x optical zoom and a large 2.5-inch TFT colour display with integrated optical viewfinder.
The attractively shaped, compact* casing of the camera in anthracite conceals impressive power thanks to the EXILIM Engine. It also offers unbelievable speed, being ready for use in just around 0.9 seconds** and with a shutter-release delay of only 0.007 seconds***. This just makes it so simple to take successful, spontaneous snapshots. The camera fills complete photo albums in next-to-no-time: it takes up to 325 pictures after the Super Life Battery has been charged just once****.
Casio Europe Press Release Norderstedt, September 2005 - The EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z750 is an absolute winner when it comes to digital cameras. It has not only collected an extraordinary number of awards and test wins but is also extremely popular with professionals. CASIO has now launched a special edition of…
ATI Technologies Press Release
Entrants will compete for more than $15,000 in prizes
MARKHAM, Ontario—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Aug. 25, 2005—ATI Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYT) (TSX:ATY) is inviting photographers 13 years of age or older from across North America to showcase their talent and compete for the ultimate digital imaging system and other great prizes in ATI’s new Snap! Share! Win! photo contest.
Photographers of every skill level can enter the Snap! Share! Win! contest. Fifteen semifinalists will be chosen by a panel of five celebrity judges, including photography and digital imaging pros like U.S. rock music photographer Catherine Carter, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Elle fashion shooter Robert Maxwell, and the director of photography for the hit TV shows Survivor and The Apprentice, Jim Harrington.
ATI Technologies Press Release Entrants will compete for more than $15,000 in prizes MARKHAM, Ontario—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Aug. 25, 2005—ATI Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYT) (TSX:ATY) is inviting photographers 13 years of age or older from across North America to showcase their talent and compete for the ultimate digital imaging system and other great…
SanDisk Press Release
SUNNYVALE, CA, AUGUST 24, 2005 – SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the world’s largest supplier of flash storage card products, today announced it has been named to FORTUNE Magazine’s annual list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies, ranking 8 out of the 100 companies listed. The list can be found in the September 5, 2005 issue of FORTUNE Magazine.
SanDisk posted record revenues for 2004, with total revenue at $1.8 billion, up 65% from $1.1 billion in 2003. Net income was $267 million, up 58% from net income of $169 million in 2003 and fully diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2004 were $1.44, compared to $1.02 in 2003.
SanDisk Press Release SUNNYVALE, CA, AUGUST 24, 2005 – SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the world’s largest supplier of flash storage card products, today announced it has been named to FORTUNE Magazine’s annual list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies, ranking 8 out of the 100 companies listed. The list can be found…
X-Rite Press Release
Grandville, MI — August 25, 2005 — X-Rite (NASDAQ: XRIT) today announced Computers Unlimited will distribute its award winning digital imaging color solutions exclusively to its customers in the UK. The company will carry X-Rite’s MonacoEZcolor color management software, MonacoOPTIXXR (DTP94) colorimeter and Pulse™ (DTP20) spectrophotometer, for high-speed, accurate proofs, creating harmony between display, scanner, printer and digital camera. These products are available immediately at www.unlimited.com or by calling +44 (0)20 82 00 82 82.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Computers Unlimited, one of the largest and most recognized distributors of computer products for creative professionals in the UK,” said Jim Weaver, Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at X-Rite. “This is an ideal partnership for X-Rite as we continue to drive growth of our digital imaging products in this emerging market. Additionally, Computers Unlimited distributes many products from our OEM partners like Epson, making this a perfect fit for our company.”
X-Rite Press Release Grandville, MI — August 25, 2005 — X-Rite (NASDAQ: XRIT) today announced Computers Unlimited will distribute its award winning digital imaging color solutions exclusively to its customers in the UK. The company will carry X-Rite’s MonacoEZcolor color management software, MonacoOPTIXXR (DTP94) colorimeter and Pulse™ (DTP20) spectrophotometer, for…