The Pentax *ist DS is an entry-level 6 megapixel digital SLR that is also one of the smallest and lightest DSLRs currently available. Highlights of the Pentax *ist DS include a large 2 inch LCD screen, 11 point auto-focus system, interchangeability with a wide selection of existing Pentax lenses and a range of different picture modes for beginners and experienced photographers alike. At a current street price around £650 / $850 / €850 with the Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens, the *ist DS represents Pentax’s attempt to capture a slice of the entry-level DSLR market, and is subsequently competing with the likes of the Canon EOS 350D, Nikon D70s and Olympus E-300. Pentax themselves have recently announced an even cheaper version, the *ist DL. So is the Pentax *ist DS a good choice in what is rapidly becoming a saturated sector of the digital SLR market? Read my review to find out.

Website: Pentax *ist DS Review

The Plugin Site Press Release

June 23, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) released Version 1.04 of FocalBlade, a Photoshop-compatible plugin for sharpening your photos for screen display and printing as well as for producing great looking blur, soft focus and glow effects on 8bit and 16bit images. FocalBlade lets you sharpen photos without amplifying noise or artifacts and produces impressive sharpening results even on low quality images. FocalBlade is the second product in our new PhotoWiz product line, which sets a new standard for photo correction tools. It can be used with a wide range of graphics applications, e.g. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint, PhotoImpact and Fireworks.

PCMagazine have published the first online review of the Casio EX-S500, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.2 inch LCD screen.

“With its super-slim body, light weight, versatility, and excellent picture quality, the 5-megapixel Casio Exilim EX-S500 is a camera you can carry everywhere. What’s more, the hot colors and “electrical coating” ensure you’ll take it out of your pocket as often as possible to show it off (and maybe shoot some photos, too). It doesn’t dethrone our Editors’ Choice, the 4-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital Elph, but it certainly comes close.”

Website: PCMagazine - Casio EX-S500 Review

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The Hungarian website Index Digicam have published the first online review of the Panasonic DMC-FX8, an updated version of the Panasonic DMC-FX7, principally offering enhanced battery life via a larger capacity lithium-ion battery and use of Venus Engine PLUS.

Website: Index Digicam - Panasonic DMC-FX8 Review

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DPReview have just reviewed Adobe Creative Suite 2.

“Vanishing point is an innovative feature which allows you to select, paint, clone, and transform in perspective. Cloning away an open window in the example image we used on the previous page will not work with the regular Clone Stamp tool because the perspective makes each row of windows smaller until it “vanishes” into a “point” at infinity. So you would have to copy the row below it, paste it into a new layer, rescale it, adjust perspective, adjust the effect of the different lighting, etc. The Filter -> Vanishing Point dialog box makes this much easier. It allows you to draw a mesh that matches the perspective so that the Clone Stamp tool takes into account the perspective differences between the source and the destination rows.”

Website: DPReview - Adobe Creative Suite 2 Review

DIWA member DigitalMagasinet.dk and Danish website have reviewed the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II film scanner, the successor to the popular Scan Elite 5400 model.

Website: DigitalMagasinet.dk - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II Review

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TrustedReviews have posted their review of the HiTi Photo Printer 730PS, which allows you to create 4x6, 5x7 and 6x8 inch borderless prints through its Dye Sublimation technology at 300 dpi.

“You might expect print times, because of the four-part process, to be long, but in fact the 730PS produced an 8 x 6in print in a respectable one minute 36 seconds. Working from a memory card took only a little while longer, completing in one minute 49 seconds. Print quality in resolution terms is excellent, but we were disappointed with the colours, which came through with a brown, rather lacklustre hue. You can, of course, correct for this, but we’d expect a more accurate rendition at the default settings. The brownish tint applied to prints from both PC and memory cards.”

Website: TrustedReviews - HiTi Photo Printer 730PS Review

DPNow have reviewed the Vosonic X’S Drive II Plus VP2160 (which I reviewed a few weeks ago).

“The VP2160 must be one of the simplest devices around. All you need to do is insert a memory card, wait a second for the card to be identified and you are then prompted to press the copy button. All files on the card are then copied into a new sequentially numbered folder on the VP2160’s hard drive. The card is not wiped, so the VP2160 can be used as a security back up device or you can simply format the card in the camera and re-use straight away.”

Website: DP-Now - Vosonic X’S Drive II Plus VP2160 Review

Website: Read my Vosonic X’S Drive II Plus VP2160 Review

Plustek OpticFilm 7200i scanner is announced. The Plustek OpticFilm 7200i is a new film and negative scanner which incorporates SilverFast’s Infrared Smart Removal of Defects (iSRD) technology. Delivering 7200x7200 dpi, the Plustek OpticFilm 7200i generates an uncompressed picture file that is larger than 200 MB. The OpticFilm 7200i is priced at $399.

Plustek Inc Press Release

The OpticFilm 7200i Now Ships with SilverFast iSRD; Professional Resolution Scanner for Slides and Negatives with New Infrared Scanning Channel for Seamless Image Defect Removal

LOS ANGELES—(BUSINESS WIRE)—June 21, 2005—Plustek Inc (www.plustek.com), a leading manufacturer of consumer, prosumer and professional imaging devices, today launched the OpticFilm 7200i, a high-resolution professional-grade film and negative scanner for photographers and small office/workshop users who want the best in resolution quality and fast scan speeds. Following on the heels of the company’s award-winning OpticFilm 7200, the OpticFilm 7200i will be the first scanner to incorporate SilverFast’s new Infrared Smart Removal of Defects (iSRD) technology, which provides an additional infrared scanning channel, on top of the standard scan channels, to remove any defects on the surface of the film or in the scanned image. A high-tech hardware enhancement, the SilverFast iSRD automatically eliminates the appearance of grime and visually fills in scratches for near-perfect scans. The OpticFilm 7200i is priced at $399.

DxO Press Release

DxO Optics Pro v3.0 Software now Available in Stores and Online

Thousands of beta testers confirm the ease-of-use and significant image quality improvements of the latest version

New support added for Nikon D70s and Nikon D2X

Paris, France, June 23, 2005 – DxO Labs announced today that DxO Optics Pro v3.0 Digital SLR and lens automatic image quality enhancement software is available on the company’s e-store (http://store.dxo.com) and via selected resellers. DxO Optics Pro v3.0 incorporates revolutionary optics, noise and exposure corrections in an all-new, easy-to-use, feature-rich application for both Mac and PC users.

The latest issue of Nikon’s Pro Views online magazine has just been published. Highlights this month include a look at digital workflow by Rob Van Petten, and an in-depth article about Wi-Fi and Nikon DSLRs.

“With an ever-increasing number of digital tools and controls, there’s always something you can go back and try on an image you once thought complete. With all the possibilities of various programs—from Capture to Photoshop—and their sharpening techniques, color balances and retouching tools, an image is hardly ever complete—it’s just waiting in a dormant state until the moment you come to play with the process.”

Website: Nikon - Pro Views

BIOS Magazine have today reviewed Adobe Creative Suite 2.

“The original Creative Suite, launched a year and a half ago, offered an outstanding collection of software at a great price. With Version 2, Adobe has made general improvements to the functionality and integration of all the included programs, and even topped the whole package off with a more attractive price. Some of the new tools feel a little experimental, but overall the suite is a class-leading design package.”

Website: BIOS Magazine - Adobe Creative Suite 2 Review

Luminous Landscape editor Michael Reichmann recently went behind the scenes at the Phase One head office and factory in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“From a visual point of view the most interesting aspect of the visit was the manufacturing facility. The first thing that one is aware of (because otherwise they won’t let you in) is the strict attention to anti-static measures. Special smocks and ground straps for ones shoes are de-rigeur. Approximately a dozen people are involved in the final assembly of the camera backs. The actual boards are manufactured elsewhere under contract, based on Phase’s original designs. Once the completed boards and sensor chips are in house, assembly and testing of each back takes four people about 10 hours, spread out over roughly a 10 day period.”

This is meticulous hand assembly. No automated assembly line…simply skilled hands and eyes carefully putting each component into place, and testing and retesting each step of the way.

Website: Luminous Landscape - A Visit With Phase One

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Canon Digital IXUS 50, a 5 megapixel digital camera with stainless steel finish that is Canon’s smallest ever 5.0 Megapixel optical zoom camera (also known as the SD400).

“The Canon PowerShot SD400 Digital ELPH was unveiled as part of Canon’s wide ranging digital camera announcements at this year’s Photo Marketing Association tradeshow. The Canon SD400 is a lot like an SD-card based version of the prior PowerShot S400 in Canon’s popular, diminutive Digital ELPH camera line. The Canon SD400 and SD500 models both offer extremely unusual (and frankly, rather cool) “My Color” modes that allow you to selectively replace any color in your photo with a different one, or to make the image black and white with the exception of a single color. The Canon PowerShot SD400 features a high resolution 5.0-megapixel CCD imager, big two-inch LCD, and use of the (very fast) Canon DiGIC II processor. Overall, one of the more appealing subcompact digital cameras we’ve seen to date.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon Digital IXUS 50 Review

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Nikon have released a new version (6.2.6) of their Nikon View software.

This update (version 6.2.6) includes the following additional functons and improvements:

* Support for RAW images captured by the D50 has been added.
* The Red Eye Correction function can now be used on RAW and 16-bit TIFF images.

Website: Nikon View 6.2.6

Canon have released a new firmware update (version 1.1.3) for the EOS-1Ds Mark II DSLR.

This firmware update (version 1.1.3) includes the following additional functons and improvements:

* With the version 1.1.2 firmware, pressing the DISPLAY button right after shooting images resulted in an abnormal display and the camera would freeze. This firmware fixes that problem.

Website: Firmware Update Version 1.1.3

Canon have released a new firmware update (version 1.2.3) for the EOS-1D Mark II DSLR.

This firmware update (version 1.2.3) includes the following additional functons and improvements:

* With the version 1.2.2 firmware, pressing the DISPLAY button right after shooting images resulted in an abnormal display and the camera would freeze. Images are not lost when this occurs. Also, removing and then reloading the battery restores the camera to normal operation. This version 1.2.3 firmware incorporates fixes for the issue described above.

Website: Firmware Update Version 1.2.3

DIWA member and Czech website FotoAparat.cz have posted a review of the 6 megapixel Konica Minolta Dynax 7D digital SLR camera.

Website: FotoAparat.cz - Konica Minolta Dynax 7D Review

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ePhotoZine have taken a look at the DSLRClean, a sensor cleaning product that uses a unique micro-pore swab to create a mini vacuum effect, gently lifting dust from both CCD and CMOS type sensors.

“Digital SLR users will face the inevitable fact that the camera’s sensor will need cleaning at some point during their period of ownership – and more than once. Even those manufacturers who install a ‘Dust Barrier’ on their cameras will encounter similar problems. All imaging sensors, whether CMOS or CCD, are very sensitive to static charge build-up or the use of ‘hazardous’ liquids, so one will be entering very new territory when the time comes to clean that sensor for the first time.”

Website: ePhotoZine - DSLRClean Review

Keith Cooper over at Northlight Images has just reviewed the GretagMacbeth Eye One Design calibration application.

“The Eye One spectrophotometer from GretagMacbeth is a sophisticated measuring device that can measure detailed spectral information from emissive sources (ambient light or a CRT/LCD display) or reflective sources (print samples or just about any coloured object) It is available with a number of different software options which enable different functionalities in the supplied software. retagMacbeth provide a range of colour management hardware and software aimed at professional users. The product that Keith specifically looks at here is the ‘Eye One Design’ package, which offers monitor calibration, emissive and reflective source measurement and basic RGB/CMYK printer profiling.”

Website: Northlight Images - GretagMacbeth Eye One Design Review