Sony Europe Press Release

Berlin, 26th January - Sony Recording Media and Energy Europe today announced at PaperWorld 2005 a 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media along with the introduction of its Memory Stick Data Rescue Service, providing additional peace of mind for those worried about losing personal information.

With increased durability, higher data transfer speeds, and compatibility with a wide selection of Memory Stick PRO devices*1 currently available, the new 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media will be a valuable tool for users needing to store and transfer large quantities of digital content, including high-resolution digital photos and video clips.

JPG Magazine Press Release

Photobloggers Derek Powazek, founder of www.fray.com, and Heather Champ, founder of www.mirrorproject.com, have launched JPG Magazine (www.jpgmag.com) using the full color print on demand technology of Lulu (www.lulu.com). JPG Magazine is for people who love imagemaking without attitude. It’s about the kind of photography you get when you love the moment more than the camera. It’s for photographers who share their work online, but would like to see that work in print.

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) January 31, 2005—In a sea of blogs, photobloggers offer some of the most beautiful and provocative content on the Internet. Photoblogging —- the posting of digital photographs on a web site, or blog —- provides an ideal way for photographers to share images, receive feedback, and form communities with common interests. But as any photographer will tell you, photoblogging can never replace the satisfaction of seeing and holding a picture in your hands. To marry the worlds of photobloggers and print photography, an innovative San Francisco couple hatched JPG Magazine (www.jpgmag.com), a full-color publication devoted entirely to photography.

The 48th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Keith Goldstein.

“My tools have always been simple - one camera and a couple of lenses. Lately I have begun to utilize the computer and video to bring out more of what I see within the image making process, and my feelings towards my place within the world.”

Website: Portfolios: Keith Goldstein

The 47th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Black Box Photo.

”“These photos are taken with all four, pretty much in random order, because making photographs that say something to - at least - the photographer is only incidentally related to the sophistication of the equipment that s/he uses, and it’s often usefully less obtrusive to be seen as a tourist or a snapshotter than it is to pose as A Photographer.

http://blackboxphoto.servepics.com/”

Website: Portfolios: Black Box Photo

In an earlier article, Luminous Landscape’s Michael Reichmann shared the contents of his camera bag with us as he prepared for a 2 week trip to Bangladesh. Now he looks back at what worked and what didn’t:

“I shot about 5,000 frames over 13 days. Because the 1Ds MKII produces roughly 15 MB raw files, this means that I ended up with around 75 GB of files by the end of the trip. And, since I always back everything up in the field, this means that I needed to have some 150 GB of storage with me. (The idea of having just one copy of once-in-a-lifetime shots is too scary. I always make field backups. After the card has been downloaded to a hard drive, I then make sure that it’s copied to a second hard drive before I go to bed at night, and that this second drive is stored and transported separately the whole time).”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Bangladesh: What Worked – What Didn’t

The German website Digitalkamera have just posted their review of the Fuji FinePix S3 Pro digital SLR.

Website: Digitalkamera- FujiFilm FinePix S3 Pro Review

Check the Latest Prices for the FujiFilm FinePix S3 Pro

Write a Review of the FujiFilm FinePix S3 Pro

DigitalCameraInfo have published their first impressions of the Kodak EasyShare Z700, a 4 megapixel digital camera with 5x optical zoom lens, which was first unveiled at the CES show a few weeks ago.

“With its 5x optical zoom and 4 megapixels, the Kodak EasyShare Z700 has some great features for its $399 price tag. The camera is compatible with both PictBridge and ImageLink printing systems, and its trademark Share button further streamlines the process. 17 scene modes allow point-and-shoot users to quickly and easily set the Z700 for any lighting situation, and 16 MB of internal memory comes in handy. This camera approaches the shape of an SLR, but is not as big. It does have a strange shape with its 3.8 x 2.85 x 2.2-inch measurements. The drawbacks to the Z700 are its tiny optical viewfinder, tiny 1.6-inch LCD screen, and its limited white balance options. However, sacrificing a little white balance for a little more optical zoom just might be a worthy trade-off for the right user.”

Website: DigitalCameraInfo - Kodak EasyShare Z700 Preview

Write a Review of the Kodak EasyShare Z700

DCResource have posted the first online review of the new Olympus mju DIGITAL 500 digital camera (also known as the Olympus Stylus 500), which has 5 megapixels, a 3X optical zoom lens and large 2.5” LCD display.

“The image quality on the Stylus 500 was a little disappointing. Color and exposure were both fine, and purple fringing level were low. However, images were soft and details were really fuzzy, as illustrated in images like these. I also saw some strange artifacts on edges, such as in this shot. Despite these flaws, you’ll get nice 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 inch prints—any larger and I’d look at other cameras.”

Website: DCResource - Olympus mju DIGITAL 500 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus mju DIGITAL 500

Write a Review of the Olympus mju DIGITAL 500

The German website Photoworld have published their review of the 8 megapixel Canon EOS 20D DSLR.

Website: Photoworld - Canon EOS 20D Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Canon EOS 20D

Write a Review of the Canon EOS 20D

CNET have posted their review of the 14 megapixel Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n digital SLR camera.

“The Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n is an improved version of the earlier DCS Pro 14n, the company’s Nikon F-mount digital SLR with a 13.5-megapixel CMOS sensor that’s the size of the 35mm film format (24x36mm). The SLR/n uses a redesigned version of that sensor, which achieves higher ISO sensitivities and produces less image noise than its predecessor. But the SLR/n, like the 14n before it, is a sluggish performer that’s best suited to relatively static applications such as commercial, portrait, or architectural photography. “

Website: CNET - Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n

Write a Review of the Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n

In stark contrast to Sanyo and Sony, who have both lowered their sales predictions for 2004 (see below), SanDisk have just announced record results for the current financial quarter.

SanDisk Press Release

SanDisk today Announced that they have posted record 4Q Operating Income and revenues ($549 million). Unit sales are also up 45% and Megabytes are up 110%. Gross Margin increases to 32% and Operating Margin is at 23%. They put the increases down to strong interest by the market in Digital Cameras, Mobile Handsets, Digital Audio Playeras and Flash Drives.

In more industry news, Sanyo are also reported to be lowering their sales predictions, following in the steps of Sony (see next article) and other manufacturers like Olympus. Maybe we aren’t upgrading to the new models as quickly as the manufacturers would like? :)

“Sanyo is expected to lower its digital camera production projection for the year to March to 12 million units from the current estimate of 14 million units, a downward-revised target set in October, informed sources said. The company is now likely to fall behind Sony Corp. and Canon Inc. on the global output ranking.”

Website: Forbes.com - Sanyo Set to Lose Position As No. 1 Digital Cameral Maker

In a brief Reuters article, Sony are reported to be cutting their forecast for digital camera sales this financial year by 1 million units, down to 14 million. A sign that the digital camera market is slowing down, or just that Sony and other manufacturers were too bold with their predictions? Sony have still managed a significant increase on 2003/04, however, when they sold 10 million digital cameras.

Website: Reuters- Sony cuts digital camera sales target for 04/05

Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times have published a review (in English) of the Panasonic DMC-FZ20 digital camera, which has a 12x optical zoom lens from Leica (found via CameraTown).

“But the RM2.99 question is really this — how are the pictures? The fact is that the FZ20 takes brilliant ones, with vivid colours and minimal distortion or interference. And with all those features packed into its — admittedly chunky — body, this is one puissant force in the popular world of digicams. If you have RM2,499 to spend on a digital camera and consider yourself a taker of serious pictures (or a serious taker of pictures), this would be the one to get.”

Website: New Straits Times - Panasonic DMC-FZ20 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Panasonic DMC-FZ20

Write a Review of the Panasonic DMC-FZ20

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Press Release

Nearly 20% of U.S. Internet Users Now Own a Camera Phone, According to New InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Study

WEYMOUTH, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 27, 2005—A recent InfoTrends/CAP Ventures study reveals that nearly 20% of U.S. Internet users owned a mobile phone with an embedded digital camera at the end of 2004, compared to just 3% in 2003. In addition, 27% of consumers who do not currently own a camera phone are highly interested in purchasing one as their next mobile phone. Two out of three current camera phone owners use the camera function on a regular basis to take pictures.

Now this looks interesting - Hama are introducing the Mobile MediaSafe VSV-20, an iPod Photo-like portable device that crucially has a built-in card reader.

Hama Press Release

Mobile MediaSafe VSV-20 - the portable all-rounder

Multi(media) Talent

The world of small technological wonders keeps getting more colourful. Mobile phones take pictures, PDAs send e-mails and USB sticks play music.
Hama will present a mobile device at CeBIT that not only reads and stores photos from memory cards, but also plays music and video files. The Mobile MediaSafe VSV-20 is the same size of a walkman, and combines a digital photo album, picture viewer, mp3 player, card reader, video player and an external 20 GB hard drive that can store up to 25,000 pictures. The data can be loaded from a computer or memory card using USB 2.0 and the MediaSafe 16 can process 16 different card formats.

Sony announces the Cyber-shot DSC-W5, a 5 megapixel update of the DSC-W1 with 2.5“ LCD screen, 3 optical zoom and 32 Megabytes of built-in flash memory.

Well, that’s not exactly true - Sony didn’t so much announce the DSC-W5, as let the details slip on the SonyStyle website last night. That page has now been removed, but not before the details have been posted on most of the major digicam websites. It must be that time of year again, as PMA approaches and over-worked employees press the wrong button.

Thanks to Beverly Wrensch - Beverly also passes on rumours of several other new Sony models, including the DSC-W7 (as spotted on the Cheap Electricals website), DSC-S40, DSC-S60 and DSC-S90.

Update: several new Sony models have turned up on a Russian digital camera website. Genuine? Who knows?! Thanks to Leo for letting me know.
http://www.dcam.ru/Camera-Sony.html

(DSC-W3 details from the SonyStyle website)
A classic design meets modern technology in the Cyber-shot® W5 digital camera from Sony. It combines a traditional rangefinder camera layout with high-end features such as a huge 2.5“ LCD screen, 5.1 Megapixel image capture, and high speed performance thanks to the Real Imaging Processor™ chip.

The W5’s Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens provides crisp, clear visuals and a 3X optical zoom without compromising the camera’s amazingly compact design. Image quality is further enhanced with such features 5 area multi-point auto focus, auto focus illuminator and multi-pattern measuring.

The W5 includes 32 Megabytes of built-in flash memory, so you’ll have room for additional photographs if you are ever without a Memory Stick® media. With a classic build, easy control, and numerous advanced features, the Cyber-shot® W5 has something for everyone.

PCMagazine have posted their review of the new 6 megapixel Konica Minolta Dynax 7D digital SLR camera.

“Although the 6-megapixel Maxxum 7D is pricey relative to the competition, its excellent construction, outstanding ergonomics and handling characteristics, and built-in image stabilization will have most users agreeing that it was well worth the wait and money. We wish its built-in flash performed more consistently and that Konica Minolta offered a more appropriate standard zoom lens, but apart from this there is a lot to like about this new D-SLR.”

Website: PCMagazine - Konica Minolta Dynax 7D Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D

Write a Review of the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D

PCMagazine have posted a review of the Epson Stylus CX4600 all-in-one printer/scanner/copier.

“The Epson Stylus CX4600 ($129.99 direct) comes up short on speed and on AIO niceties, with no ADF and no fax features other than a scan-to-fax option, which assumes you have a separate fax modem and fax program. For those who care about output quality, however, it makes up for these shortcomings with great-looking text, graphics, and photos. Like Epson’s inexpensive C66 printer, it offers among the best overall output that you’ll find in any ink jet, regardless of price.”

Website: PCMagazine - Epson Stylus CX4600 Review

Ricoh have released a new firmware version (Windows and MAC) for their 5 megapixel Caplio GX digital camera.

Version 1.07 includes the following change:

Fixed a histogram display error that occurs when using the digital zoom function.

Website: Ricoh Caplio GX Firmware

Website: Read my Review of the Ricoh Caplio GX