CNET has just posted a review of the entry-level Olympus D-395 Zoom digital camera.

“The 3.2 megapixel Olympus Camedia D-395 offers a nice set of basic features at a very affordable price. However, its 33mm lens (35mm-camera equivalent) limits its versatility. It doesn’t cost much more to get a camera with a 3X zoom lens, a feature that most people will find is worth paying a little extra for. “

Website: CNET - Olympus D-395 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus D-395

Apogee Photo have published a new article all about the depth of field preview function, which means that only SLR camera owners need apply. Is that small button that makes the viewfinder go dark actually worth using after all?

“Landscape photographers are very opinionated when discussing the camera’s depth-of-field preview button.  Professionals applaud its virtues.  However, many amateurs say it’s a waste of time.  As opinions go, there is no middle ground.  People either love the depth-of-field preview, or they hate it.  This article will explain how the depth of field preview operates, its problems, and a few tips for making it work well for you.”

Website: Depth of Field Preview: Friend or Foe

PCWorld have a look-back at last week’s CES show, choosing their favourite gadgets and also the ones that are not so hot.

“From the all-in-one department comes a nifty battery charger—yes, I said battery charger. No kidding, in March Lenmar will ship a $139.95 device that will “speed charge” all your batteries including camera, camcorder, and AA/AAA batteries. It also has adapters to charge cell phones, PDAs, or anything else that can be recharged through a USB port.”

Website: PCWorld - CES 2005: Picks and Pans

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Press Release

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Releases Worldwide Mobile Imaging Study Results; Study Projects Nearly 900 Million Camera Phone Shipments Worldwide by 2009

WEYMOUTH, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 10, 2005—InfoTrends/CAP Ventures projects that worldwide camera phone shipments will grow from 178 million units in 2004 to over 860 million units in 2009. By 2009, camera phones are expected to account for 89% of all mobile phone handsets shipped.

Primary drivers behind this explosion are improvements in imaging functions (i.e. image sensors, zoom, auto focus); rapid declines in prices for this functionality; higher-speed wireless bandwidth; and easier-to-use handsets, services, and peripherals.

SoundPix Press Release

Macworld San Francisco 2005 Booth #2628

SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 11, 2005—SoundPix Inc., a leading developer of audio-imaging software solutions for handheld and desktop computers, digital cameras and web serving environments, announced today its first product for the Mac market, SoundPix(R) Plus Mac. SoundPix Plus Mac features a simple and familiar user interface to enable users to instantly capture and share sound-enhanced pictures, or “soundpix.” SoundPix will demonstrate this technology and software at MacWorld in Microspot’s booth, #2628.

G-Technology, Inc. Press Release

G-Technology Inc. Introduces G-PLAY; Your Movies, Music and Photos Wherever You Go

SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 11, 2005—G-Technology Inc. (G-Tech) today introduced G-PLAY(TM), a personal multimedia player that lets you take your movie, music and photo libraries with you wherever you go. G-PLAY holds up to 20 full quality DVD movies, over 100 DivX videos, up to 25,000 songs and over 1,000,000 VGA quality digital photos. It is simple to download content from your computer to G-PLAY and then play it on any TV. G-PLAY also doubles as an external hard drive for your data files.

“G-PLAY is the ultimate portable digital entertainment system,” said Roger Mabon, President of G-Technology Inc. “With G-PLAY you can enjoy your movies, music and photos anywhere. Transfer your personal DVDs, DivX videos, MP3s and JPGs to G-PLAY via USB and then play the content on any TV. It’s really that simple!”

G-Technology, Inc. Press Release

G-Technology, Inc. Introduces G-DRIVE mini; Portable Drives Weigh Less Than 9 oz and Sport Storage Capacities to 100 GB

Macworld San Francisco 2005 Booth 1548

SAN FRANCISCO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 11, 2005—G-Technology Inc. (G-Tech) today introduced G-DRIVE(TM) mini, a new line of portable storage solutions ideal for people on the go. G-DRIVE mini is equipped with the latest high-performance FireWire and USB interfaces and features a unique “fan-less” cooling system designed to silently dissipate heat for superior reliability and data integrity.

“G-Tech once again trumps the competition with the introduction of G-DRIVE mini,” said Roger Mabon, President of G-Technology, Inc. “G-DRIVE mini features superior design, engineering and performance resulting in an innovative and portable disk storage solution without equal.”

Apple Press Release

Most Affordable Mac Ever Starts at Just $499

MACWORLD EXPO, SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Apple(R) today introduced Mac(R) mini, the most affordable and compact Mac ever. Starting at just $499, Mac mini is the ideal desktop computer for anyone looking to get started with Mac OS(R) X and features iLife(R) ‘05, the latest version of Apple’s innovative suite of software for managing digital photo and music collections, editing movies and creating music. Just two-inches tall and weighing only 2.9 pounds, Mac mini redefines design for the sub-$1,000 desktop.

Apple Press Release

Major Upgrade Features New Versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD & GarageBand

MACWORLD EXPO, SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Apple(R) today announced iLife(R) ‘05, the must-have upgrade to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring major new versions of iPhoto(TM), iMovie(R), iDVD(R) and GarageBand(TM) and including the latest version of iTunes(R). iLife ‘05 continues to lead the industry with the most innovative and comprehensive suite of software for organizing, editing and sharing digital photos; creating stunning digital movies and DVDs; and purchasing, managing and creating digital music.

Nikon have today released a new firmware version for the 6 megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR.

Issues addressed with D70 firmware B version 1.03
When the mode dial was set to an exposure mode (P, S, A, or M) and II selected for the Color mode setting in the Custom item of the Optimize image menu, and then an option other than Custom (such as Portrait) selected from the Optimize image menu, JPEG images captured after this procedure were recognized as having the Adobe RGB color space when opened in applications with a color-management function such as Adobe Photoshop. This problem has been corrected.

Website: Nikon D70 Firmware B Update 1.03 - Windows

Website: Nikon D70 Firmware B Update 1.03 - Mac

Check the Latest Prices for the Nikon D70

So you’ve got the latest digital camera, the biggest monitor and the most cutting-edge printer, but your prints still have an awful green cast that makes the people in them look seasick? Then you need to read “Color Confidence” by Tim Grey (published by Sybex), a book that aims to demystify the often misunderstood topic of colour management and make your prints look life-like. The book is aimed at any photographer who is fed-up of wasting valuable time and money on inaccurate prints and who would rather be out shooting pictures instead. So is Color Confidence the answer to all your colour nightmares - can it really make that green print match reality? Read my short review to find out.

Website: Color Confidence Review

LightScribe Press Release

Macworld 2005 announcement points to the growing support base for the technology

Macworld San Francisco, Jan. 10, 2005 - LightScribe today announced the immediate release of Mac OS X 10.3 support for its Direct Disc Labelling technology through a software development kit that allows application developers to integrate LightScribe support into their products. Macintosh users, known for their creativity and insistence on simple and elegant technologies, will now be able to complement digital information written to disc with the professional, iridescent Labelling results of LightScribe.

LightScribe and LaCie Press Release

Creative and Easy-to-Use Technology on Display at Macworld 2005

Macworld San Francisco, Jan. 10, 2005 - LightScribe and LaCie announced today at Macworld 2005 that they are partnering to offer the first direct disc labelling drive for Macintosh computers. For the first time, Macintosh customers can burn the data side of a disc, then flip the disc over and burn a precise, iridescent label with their desired text and graphics using the same laser that burns the data. No printer, permanent marker or adhesive labelling is required to develop and burn creative designs onto the CD or DVD.

The winners of the December 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for December was “Peace” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 3 winners:

1st Place
“Peaceful Slumber” by skmdc
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Powerretouche Full Pro Pack
Kindly donated by Powerretouche.
http://powerretouche.com

2nd Place
“On Golden Pond” by cdm36
View this entry

Prize: 1 copy of Digital Photography Hacks by Derrick Story.
Kindly donated by O’Reilly.
http://www.oreilly.com

3rd Place
“Remembering the Cost of ... Peace” by kevlar
View this entry

Prize: Photobird.com one-year subscription with 100 megabytes of storage space
Kindly donated by Photobird.com.
http://www.photobird.com

Congratulations to the 3 winners and thanks to everyone who took part!

The January 2005 Competition is now open for entries. This is a monthly photography competition with a specific theme and prizes for the top 3 photos. The winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges. You just have to submit one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets January’s theme, which is simply “Red”.

Engadget have posted their initial impressions and a photo from CES of the Olympus m:robe MR-500i photo viewer/MP3 player.

“It’s very pretty, its touch screen interface is hugely appealing, but the MR-500i’s photo-slideshow-set-to-music tilt (they call it “remixing music and photos”) only answers a question that hasn’t been asked (and doesn’t manage to answer the ones that have, like portable video or PDA functionality).”

Website: Engadget - Olympus m:robe MR-500i Hands-On

Steves Digicams has published the first online review of the 5 megapixel Epson L-500V digital camera.

“Overall the image quality when using 2560x1920 Fine mode is good. Our outdoor samples were sharp with good color balance. I did notice that many of our outdoor shots were a bit over exposed, but nothing that a little exposure compensation can’t fix. There was very little noise in high/low contrast areas when using its ISO 100 equivalent as well as slight traces of chromatic aberration (purple fringing) around extreme highlights.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Epson L-500V Review

Warning: technical colour management article coming up! Digital Outback Photo explain the reasons why they have switched from using the Adobe RGB colour space to ProPhoto RGB…

“We followed the discussion about ProPhoto RGB for quite some time. Yesterday we had a conversation with a friend who understands color management and this made it pretty clear to us. We would never claim to be experts and do not even intend to get any expert status. But the arguments we heard were just too convincing.

All what we write here matters if your main goal is the fine art output (most likely prints).”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Why Use the ProPhoto RGB Color Space?

Lacie Press Release

January 10, 2005

  * Flexible and affordable network storage via Ethernet
  * Direct-attached personal hard drive via Hi-Speed USB 2.0
  * Simple to use: just plug and play
  * Designed for Windows®, Mac

LaCie introduces an affordable network hard drive for use in homes or small offices: LaCie Ethernet Disk mini with up to 500GB shared storage space. Anyone plugged into the dual-purpose Ethernet Disk mini can instantly share files via the Ethernet connection without having to install drivers, or the drive can be attached via USB 2.0 to any individual computer for faster throughput and a private connection.

Lacie Press Release

January 10, 2005

  * Up to 80GB multimedia hard drive for movies, photos or music
  * Plug directly into a TV for instant viewing, no computer needed
  * Store and view up to 14 MPEG-2 or 80 MPEG-4 videos on 80GB drive

Today LaCie premieres the LaCie silverscreen, a portable USB hard drive with the ability to plug directly into multi-standard television sets for instant playback of stored movies, music or photos. LaCie silverscreen is ideal for travelers wanting to enjoy digital entertainment or professionals wanting to show clients corporate videos on larger TV screens without the need for a computer. The ultra slim and quiet drive comes in 40GB or 80GB capacities.

Kodak Press Release

Groundbreaking KODAK EASYSHARE-ONE Digital Camera Wins Two Prestigious Best-of-Show Awards at 2005 CES; Awarded CNET’s ‘Next Big Thing,’ G4techTV ‘Best of CES’ Honors for Digital Imaging

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—(Business Wire)—Jan. 10, 2005—Eastman Kodak Company’s continued innovation in the digital imaging industry secured best-of-show honors at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show, where the company won the event’s two highest-profile awards for digital imaging products.

The first-of-its-kind KODAK EASYSHARE-ONE digital camera, created as much for sharing pictures as taking them, secured both the CNET Next Big Thing and the G4techTV Best of CES Awards. These are considered the ultimate honors at the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition, where more than 1,500 companies launch and display tens of thousands of cutting-edge products and services.