News
Adobe Creative Suite 2 is announced. Adobe Creative Suite 2 includes new versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and GoLive. Creative Suite 2 also includes a brand new program called Version Cue, a powerful file-version manager and collaboration tool. Adobe Bridge is a new visual file browser and Adobe Stock Photos has 230,000 images from some of the world’s leading stock photography providers. Adobe CS2 will be available in two editions. The Premium Edition of Adobe Creative Suite 2 will cost £889. The Standard Edition of Adobe CS2 will cost £669. Adobe CS2 will be available in the United States and Canada in May, and internationally in late May / early June.
Adobe UK Press Release
Adobe Accelerates Print, Web and Mobile Publishing Workflows With Introduction of Adobe Creative Suite 2
Adobe’s Complete Design and Publishing Environment Integrates New Adobe Stock Photos Service, Introduces Adobe Bridge and Enhanced Adobe Version Cue CS2
SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 4, 2005 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced a new release of Adobe® Creative Suite, the powerhouse design environment that revolutionised print and Web workflows for creative professionals worldwide. Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium Edition integrates new full-versions of indispensable design software — Adobe Photoshop® CS2, Adobe InDesign® CS2, Adobe Illustrator® CS2, and Adobe GoLive® CS2 (see separate press releases) — with the all-new Version Cue® CS2. The recently released Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional also is included, as a key application in this milestone software release.
Adobe Creative Suite 2 is announced. Adobe Creative Suite 2 includes new versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and GoLive. Creative Suite 2 also includes a brand new program called Version Cue, a powerful file-version manager and collaboration tool. Adobe Bridge is a new visual file browser and Adobe Stock…
HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One Printer is announced today. TThe HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One allows images to be printed directly from a Pictbridge-enabled digital camera or via the built-in memory card slot. Thre HP 7210 can use the HP No. 348 Photo Inkjet Print Cartridge for true-to-life photos and the the HP No. 100 Grey Photo Inkjet Print Cartridge for black and white images. The HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One printer, fax, scanner and copier will cost £279.
HP UK Press Release
Built-In Networking Delivers Intelligent Features to be Shared Across the Small Office and Home Office
The HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One Printer, Fax, Scanner and Copier offers outstanding features as well as uncompromising functionality, quality and reliability
LONDON, UK, 4 April, 2005. HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) today announced the launch of the versatile HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One printer, fax, scanner and copier which boasts HP’s renowned reliability and quality. Equipped with built-in networking capabilities, this All-in-One allows high performance tools to be shared across up to five computers, while helping people de clutter and save space.
HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One Printer is announced today. TThe HP Officejet 7210 All-in-One allows images to be printed directly from a Pictbridge-enabled digital camera or via the built-in memory card slot. Thre HP 7210 can use the HP No. 348 Photo Inkjet Print Cartridge for true-to-life photos and the the…
Samsonite Trekking Pro and Trekking Premium camera bags are unveiled. The Samsonite Trekking Pro and Trekking Premium have both been redesigned. The Samsonite Trekking Pro comes in 13 different sizes with new colours available. The Samsonite Trekking Premium is also available in 13 sizes, all in black.
Samsonite Press Release
Samsonite expands its trekking range
Three – in One
Hama designed both the new Samsonite Trekking Pro and Trekking Premium camera case according to their expanding upon success principle. Those features that made the Samsonite Trekking series a bestseller, such as the covers for the equipment cases that open away from the body, still remain.
Trekking Pro
The thirteen most popular sizes of the original series were adopted for the Trekking Pro and the colour variations black, black and blue and black and grey were added. The durable nylon material was given a new trendy look and even the design was slightly changed. The new series has a soft fleece lining, an ultra flat front compartment and practical net pockets on the side.
Samsonite Trekking Pro and Trekking Premium camera bags are unveiled. The Samsonite Trekking Pro and Trekking Premium have both been redesigned. The Samsonite Trekking Pro comes in 13 different sizes with new colours available. The Samsonite Trekking Premium is also available in 13 sizes, all in black. Samsonite Press Release…
Apacer Share Steno CD311 is introduced. The Apacer Share Steno CD311 is a portable storage device. Digital cameras and other USB devices can be connected to the CD311’s USB 2 interface. The Share Steno CD311 has password and hidden-file protection. The 40GB Share Steno CD311 allows you to store more than 40,000 3 megapixel photos.
ODS Distribution Press Release
ODS Distribution introduces the stand-alone Apacer Portable Photomate, the OTG USB Share Steno CD311, which is designed to copy image files from a digital camera without the need for a PC. At just 220 grams, the Share Steno CD311 is lightweight and easy to carry, even outdoors. The device has been nominated for the 2005 “National Gold Awards of Excellence”, for products made in Taiwan. The Share Steno CD311 allows users to access every precious moment captured with a digital camera anywhere, anytime. The Share Steno CD311 is a perfect solution for any digital storage requirement and aims to let everyone enjoy digital life to the full.
Apacer Share Steno CD311 is introduced. The Apacer Share Steno CD311 is a portable storage device. Digital cameras and other USB devices can be connected to the CD311’s USB 2 interface. The Share Steno CD311 has password and hidden-file protection. The 40GB Share Steno CD311 allows you to store more…
The Epson PictureMate allows you to print 10x15 cms borderless photos at up to 5760 x 1440dpi-optimized dpi in the comfort of your own home. The Epson PictureMate uses a 6-colour high gloss pigment ink printing system and print life is claimed to be 104 years. The PictureMate has a built-in memory card reader supporting 9 different formats and can also be directly connected to any PictBridge or USB DIRECT-PRINT compatible device. The Epson PictureMate has a monochrome LCD screen that allows you to select which photos you want to print. A few weeks ago I reviewed the similar HP Photosmart 375 printer, awarding it 4.5 out of 5 stars - can the Epson PictureMate compete? Read my review to find out.
Website: Epson PictureMate Review
The Epson PictureMate allows you to print 10x15 cms borderless photos at up to 5760 x 1440dpi-optimized dpi in the comfort of your own home. The Epson PictureMate uses a 6-colour high gloss pigment ink printing system and print life is claimed to be 104 years. The PictureMate has a…
Find out about the latest colour management products in the March Colour Confidence Newsletter. Spyder2Plus from ColorVision (which I will be reviewing soon) and iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.5 are the featured products.
Website: Colour Confidence Newsletter
Find out about the latest colour management products in the March Colour Confidence Newsletter. Spyder2Plus from ColorVision (which I will be reviewing soon) and iCorrect EditLab Pro 4.5 are the featured products. Website: Colour Confidence Newsletter
Konica Minolta make some very nice digital cameras, but it doesn’t sound as if that is enough, as the company announced a 38% cut in its operating profit target for the next business year. Ominously the digital camera side of things was blamed at a press conference on Friday:
“Konica Minolta gets more than half of its sales and most of its profit from office equipment, but its photo imaging division, which handles film and cameras, has been its Achilles’ heel. The division is headed for a ¥9 billion loss this business year. “We will scale down our photo imaging business in step with the shrinking of the overall market and will rush to get the business out of the red,” Konica Minolta President Fumio Iwai told a briefing held to unveil a new medium-term business plan.”
Website: CNN Money - Konica Minolta cuts profit target by 38%
Konica Minolta make some very nice digital cameras, but it doesn’t sound as if that is enough, as the company announced a 38% cut in its operating profit target for the next business year. Ominously the digital camera side of things was blamed at a press conference on Friday: “Konica…
If you’ve read the many articles that urge you to shoot in RAW format (if your camera offers it) rather then JPEG and are still not convinced, here’s another one to read, looking specifically at Adobe’s Digital Negative format:
“Essentially, a Raw file is like color negative film in that it has a large recording range—restated in photographer’s jargon, it has very wide latitude. In contrast, slide film and print have a strongly limited range to what they can reproduce.”
If you’ve read the many articles that urge you to shoot in RAW format (if your camera offers it) rather then JPEG and are still not convinced, here’s another one to read, looking specifically at Adobe’s Digital Negative format: “Essentially, a Raw file is like color negative film in that…
Professional photographer Thom Hogan has decided to let you all take a peek inside his camera bag - find out what a professional typically carries with them.
“Articles showing what gear a pro is using are always popular with readers, but I’ve hesitating doing one on this site because my equipment since my switch to digital has been in an almost constant state of flux. With the appearance of the D2x, I find myself once again honing in on a more stable set of gear, so I’ve decided to let you take a look in the bag, complete with short explanations for many of the items I’ve chosen.”
Website: Thom Hogan - It’s in the Bag
Professional photographer Thom Hogan has decided to let you all take a peek inside his camera bag - find out what a professional typically carries with them. “Articles showing what gear a pro is using are always popular with readers, but I’ve hesitating doing one on this site because my…
Photoxels have reviewed the 5 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5600 that was announced at PMA in February.
“CA is minimal in everyday shots. It’s not too sunny here, but out of our high contrast shots, we found a couple with a bit of purple fringing at full image size. In the above photo, the corner delimited by the red square at top middle, and reproduced at 100% crop at bottom right, showed some purple fringing. At 4x6 in. prints, this should not be a problem at all and won’t show up.”
Website: Photoxels - Nikon Coolpix 5600 Review
Photoxels have reviewed the 5 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5600 that was announced at PMA in February. “CA is minimal in everyday shots. It’s not too sunny here, but out of our high contrast shots, we found a couple with a bit of purple fringing at full image size. In the…
DIWA member and Slovenian website e-fotografija have just posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Konica Minolta Z5 digital camera.
Website: e-fotografija - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 Review
DIWA member and Slovenian website e-fotografija have just posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Konica Minolta Z5 digital camera. Website: e-fotografija - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 Review Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5 Write a Review of the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5
Pocket-Lint have published their review of the new Nikon F6 film SLR camera.
“Overall the F6 is as impressive a camera as you are likely to see at the top-end of the market. Make no mistake, this is not the camera for 98% of photographers, the F6 is aimed at the kind of people who already know what the camera does without having to open the manual and can actually use AUTO FP High-speed Sync Capability correctly (it’s a flash thing). It’s not simply enough to flash the plastic for the F6, you must first acquire the knowledge of how to use it. This is how you obtain enlightenment, and very good photographs on the way.”
Website: Pocket-Lint - Nikon F6 Review
Pocket-Lint have published their review of the new Nikon F6 film SLR camera. “Overall the F6 is as impressive a camera as you are likely to see at the top-end of the market. Make no mistake, this is not the camera for 98% of photographers, the F6 is aimed at…
The Czech website Digineff have just published their review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700 digital camera (also known as the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH).
Website: Digineff - Canon Digital IXUS 700 Review
The Czech website Digineff have just published their review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700 digital camera (also known as the Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital ELPH). Website: Digineff - Canon Digital IXUS 700 Review Check the Latest Prices for the Canon Digital IXUS 700 Write a Review of the Canon Digital IXUS 700
The Danish website Akamera.dk have just reviewed the 6 megapixel Acer CR-6530 digital camera.
Website: Akamera.dk - Acer CR-6530 Review
The Danish website Akamera.dk have just reviewed the 6 megapixel Acer CR-6530 digital camera. Website: Akamera.dk - Acer CR-6530 Review
DigiCamReview have reviewed the 5 megapixel Olympus MJU DIGITAL 500 digital camera.
“The Olympus Mju Digital 500 is a very nice digital camera - it has an excellent large 2.5” screen, good image quality, a stylish weatherproof metal body, an excellent super macro mode, and is extremely fast and easy to use as well. The only negatives I can think of are the lack of custom white balance and other more advanced controls, the movie mode is fairly average, and the lack of an optical viewfinder may put some people off. “
Website: DigiCamReview - Olympus MJU DIGITAL 500 Review
DigiCamReview have reviewed the 5 megapixel Olympus MJU DIGITAL 500 digital camera. “The Olympus Mju Digital 500 is a very nice digital camera - it has an excellent large 2.5” screen, good image quality, a stylish weatherproof metal body, an excellent super macro mode, and is extremely fast and easy…
MediaGear XtraDrive is lauched today. The MediaGear XtraDrive allows you to turn memory cards into USB devices. The XtraDrive supports Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard, Sony Memory Stick, Compact Flash Types I and II, MicroDrives, SmartMedia and xD card formats. The The MediaGear XtraDrive will cost $14.95 MSRP and be available this month.
MediaGear Press Release
MediaGear Launches New See-Through XtraDrives That Turn Your Unused Flash Memory Cards into Convenient USB Drives
April 4, 2005 – Santa Ana, CA –MediaGear announced the next generation of its popular Keychain drives called “XtraDrive”, to help satisfy the growing consumer demand for convenient extra USB flash drives created from unused memory cards.
XtraDrives have a colored, transparent cap that allows the user to see if a media card is installed. Also, to eliminate crowding of several drives together on a PC or notebook, the XtraDrive package also includes a USB adapter cable.
“Photographers have an abundance of old memory cards that are no longer used because of their low megabyte storage. The new XtraDrive gives these outdated memory cards a brand new life,” noted Terry Smith, VP of Marketing at MediaGear.
MediaGear XtraDrive is lauched today. The MediaGear XtraDrive allows you to turn memory cards into USB devices. The XtraDrive supports Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard, Sony Memory Stick, Compact Flash Types I and II, MicroDrives, SmartMedia and xD card formats. The The MediaGear XtraDrive will cost $14.95 MSRP and be available…
Further evidence that the digicam boom is slowing down comes from a Reuters report which says that Japanese exports of digital cameras fell for the first time ever last month. A sharp drop in shipments to Europe was blamed for the 0.9 % decline. Exports to Europe in February dropped by over 10%. Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) compiled the report.
Further evidence that the digicam boom is slowing down comes from a Reuters report which says that Japanese exports of digital cameras fell for the first time ever last month. A sharp drop in shipments to Europe was blamed for the 0.9 % decline. Exports to Europe in February dropped…
Canon Europe Press Release
Amstelveen, The Netherlands, March 2005. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, has been awarded two prizes by DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) for outstanding digital cameras: the Canon EOS 20D received DIWA’s Platinum Award for the best ‘Digital System Camera’ of 2004, and the Digital IXUS 40 won a gold medal in the Amateur Digital Mini Camera category.
Throughout the year, DIWA members rigorously test and review digital imaging products, awarding those with the highest scores gold, silver or bronze medals. Once a year, one of the gold winners from each of three categories is selected by the members as the best of the best – honoured by a DIWA Platinum Award.
“At Canon we are passionate about photography, so we are delighted to receive these two prestigious DIWA awards,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. “The awards reinforce our commitment to Canon customers and cement our dedication to continually setting standards in digital photography technology.”
Canon Europe Press Release Amstelveen, The Netherlands, March 2005. Canon, a leader in photographic and imaging technology, has been awarded two prizes by DIWA (Digital Imaging Websites Association) for outstanding digital cameras: the Canon EOS 20D received DIWA’s Platinum Award for the best ‘Digital System Camera’ of 2004, and the…
Trusted Reviews have published their review of the new waterproof Pentax OptioWP digital camera.
“More seriously, the WP coped very well under water and sub-aqua operation had no deleterious affects. The image quality was actually reasonably sharp and colours where reproduced well, despite the light bending watery environment. Detail is not quite up to that of the air breathing world, but it’s far better than the results I’ve obtained from those disposable underwater cameras. I’ll also add that the water in the fish tank was crystal clear and very still, and I’d imagine that taking pictures in our Worlds’ not so clean seas could result in murkier results. That said, Pentax include an Underwater mode that brings out the blueness of the sea for that added bit of vibrancy. The other point I should make, if you haven’t already noticed from my first picture, is the fact that the WP doesn’t float so be sure to keep that hand strap wrapped around your wrist before you wade in.”
Trusted Reviews have published their review of the new waterproof Pentax OptioWP digital camera. “More seriously, the WP coped very well under water and sub-aqua operation had no deleterious affects. The image quality was actually reasonably sharp and colours where reproduced well, despite the light bending watery environment. Detail is…
Steves Digicams have reviewed the new A3+ printer from the HP, the Photosmart 8750, which was announced at PMA in February.
“For large format printing the HP8750 isn’t what I would call “fast,” taking 13 minutes to make a borderless 13x19” print that the Canon i9900 cranks out in two minutes and forty seconds. Not sure how HP came up with the 3.5 minute figure in their specs as no one is going to print a 13x19” photo using less than “Best” quality. The HP 8750 does produce superior black and white prints over any of the Canon printers due to its photo gray inks. The only other wide carriage printer that does B&W this well is the Epson 2200, which also has a dedicated photo grey (light black) ink cartridge.”
Website: Steves Digicams - HP Photosmart 8750 Review
Steves Digicams have reviewed the new A3+ printer from the HP, the Photosmart 8750, which was announced at PMA in February. “For large format printing the HP8750 isn’t what I would call “fast,” taking 13 minutes to make a borderless 13x19” print that the Canon i9900 cranks out in two…