MSN Press Release 01/12/04

MSN Introduces New Communication Service That Enables Blogging, Picture Sharing and More

MSN Spaces Debuts Alongside Improvements to MSN Messenger and MSN Hotmail To Help Customers Connect in a Seamless and Meaningful Way

REDMOND, Wash. - Dec. 1, 2004 - The MSN network of Internet services today introduced updates to its free communication services to make e-mail, instant messaging and online sharing easier and more personal for consumers. The updates include a beta version of MSN Spaces, a new Web logging (blogging) service that enables consumers to create their own personal place on the Web, as well as a beta version of MSN Messenger 7.0, updates to MSN Hotmail, and deeper integration between the services to enable more compelling communications experiences for consumers.

“Communicating with others is the No. 1 thing people do online. As widely used as our individual services are today, we know we can do more to help our customers communicate across the different modes they use, like blogs, instant messaging and e-mail,” said Blake Irving, corporate vice president for the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform Group. “The investments MSN is making in MSN Spaces, MSN Messenger and MSN Hotmail are designed to break down some of the barriers between the services so people can focus less on the technology and more on the people they care about.”

NikonNet Press Release 01/12/04

NikonNet and ‘Legends Behind the Lens’ Honor the Work of Internationally Renowned Photographer Sandro

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/—It is one thing to capture an image, but a photographer who has the ability to capture the soul of his subject is one worthy of honor.  For over 25 years, world-renowned photographer Sandro, has been doing just that.  Considered to be one of the most successful commercial photographers working today, Sandro’s images have
an ability to capture the personality of the subject through techniques that range from the subtle to the provocative.

This December, NikonNet’s inspiring monthly, “Legends Behind the Lens,” honors the work of award-winning photographer Sandro (His last name is Miller, but he is known professionally by his first name only).  Sandro’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Details, Wired, and ESPN the Magazine, among many others. He has photographed some of the most recognizable images in national advertising campaigns for Allstate Insurance,
American Express, Anheuser-Busch, BMW, Miller Brewing Company, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nikon, Microsoft, Nike, Adidas, Champion, and the U.S. Army.

Phase One Press Release 01/12/04

Phase One is very pleased to announce its latest version of the popular C1 RAW workflow software. C1 3.6 for Mac OSX includes many new exciting features as well as improved functionalities.

Before & after preview
Before/after preview allows you to conveniently verify your image corrections while you carry them out. Before/after is easy to use and saves you time in the retouching process.

Export image index
C1 3.6 provides you with the ability to export your thumbnail previews as HTML. One click and the entire image collection or selected files are exported into an HTML file. The file then can be accessed and approved by your clients.

Improved 2 up and 4 up comparison
The 2 up/4 up preview functionality has become more intuitive to use. You can do multiple selections of the thumbnails you wish to preview. You can assign one of the 2 up or 4 up preview windows to work as a thumbnail browser. The left arrow key and the up key can be used as browsing hot keys. 

ATP Electronics Inc. Press Release 01/12/04

Ready for Mass Production
Highest Capacity SD card for Data Storage Intensive Applications in GPS mapping, Healthcare, Professional Grade Photography and music players

Sunnyvale, CA (Dec. 1, 2004) - ATP Electronics Inc., a leading manufacturer of high capacity, high performance digital flash media products, announced today that its 2GB SD flash cards are ready for mass production for its OEM customers, distributors and retailers.  The 2GB cards, in addition to offering a superior level of performance (60x or up to 10MB/s), are designed to meet the specific demand for higher capacity, highly durable flash cards set forth by GPS navigation units, high end digital photography, medical record keeping, and the ever-popular portable music-players.

The ATP 2GB cards, like its smaller SD siblings, are intended to withstand any harsh environment, offering ample protection from water, dust, electrostatic discharge, and
extreme temperatures.  This superior versatility and reliability makes the new ATP cards ideal for any indoor or outdoor portable electronic application.

ProFotoSoftware Ltd Press Release 02/12/04

December 2nd, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ProFotoSoftware have today released patch #1 for PFS Image Darkroom V1.10

This corrects a fault with the installation file that affected the development of EOS 20D and 1Ds MKII images.

The patch can be downloaded from: http://www.profotosoftware.com/eos_raw.php

If you were on the email notification list for the Konica Minolta 7D DSLR, you will have received an email today for the Shake Your Body promotion. From now until December 31st, get $150 check back by mail toward your next purchase of a Konica Minolta Maxxum AutoFocus camera lens when you purchase the Maxxum 7D digital SLR camera. If you weren’t on the list, here’s the link that you need:

Website: Konica Minolta 7D Promotion

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D

DxO Press Release 30/11/04

We’re delighted to announce that DxO Optics Pro 2.0 and DxO Raw Engine both now support the brand new Canon EOS 20D.

DxO Raw Engine from now on also supports the Canon EOS Digital Rebel/ 300D.
An innovative solution making it possible to achieve optimum image quality, DxO Optics Pro with DxO Raw Engine have won many accolades from the specialist press and experts. Three examples: 

Keith Cooper professional photographer with a deep digtal experience did a very interesting review of DxO Optics Pro 2.0 and DxO Raw Engine which you can read here.
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/dxo_raw1.html

Intelligent Mobile Solutions Limited Press Release 01/12/04

IMS LAUNCHES DSLRCLEAN - A REVOLUTIONARY NO-LIQUID WAY TO CLEAN DIGITAL SLR SENSORS.

Intelligent Mobile Solutions Limited (IMS) has launched a groundbreaking new product DSLRClean (TM) - a specially created cleaning stick for removing dust from digital SLR camera sensors.

The DSLRClean sticks use a unique micro-pore swab to create a mini vacuum effect, gently lifting dust from both CCD and CMOS type sensors.

The DSLRClean sticks are an effective and safe solution for sensor cleaning at less than half the cost of other available products.

“Dust has always been an issue with any photographic system, whether on lenses or slide negatives or in the camera chamber,” said IMS managing director Andrew Stagg.

“But the need for an effective, low cost solution has sharply increased with the advent of the digital SLR.

“With over a million digital SLRs in circulation in the UK alone, sensor dust is a major issue for photographic professionals and amateurs alike.”

Today at 12 midday CET, 6 names were randomly selected from the list of PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscribers. If you are one of the winners, you will already have received an email from me ([email protected]). In order to protect the winners’ email addresses, I’m not going to publish them here.

One person has won a copy of Digital Photography & Adobe Photoshop - A Total Training Workflow Guide.
Kindly donated by Total Training.
http://www.totaltraining.com

Three people have each won a book of their choice from the current ILEX list.
Kindly donated by Ilex.
http://www.ilex-press.com

Two people have each won a copy of Ulead Photo Impact XL.
Kindly donated by Ulead Systems.
http://www.ulead.co.uk

If you haven’t won anything, then don’t worry, as a brand new contest will be starting soon!

To have any chance of winning, you must subscribe to the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter.

Every Saturday of each week you will receive a Newsletter containing the lastest digital and film photography stories from the United Kingdom and around the world. It also contains the latest news from the PhotographyBLOG website. You can choose to have the Newsletter delivered to you as either a HTML or text version.

If you are already a subscriber, you do not have to do anything to enter this competition. Your name will automatically be entered in the prize draw.

If you are not currently a subscriber, then what are you waiting for?!! Enter your email address to subscribe now.

The December 2004 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 December’s theme, which is “Peace”.

Please make sure that you read the Monthly Competition Rules before submitting your entry. Note that you are only allowed to enter 1 photograph. The competition is worldwide and open to everyone.

You can now start submitting entries to the December Competition here:
December 2004 Competition

The November 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition has now closed. The theme for November was “Symmetry” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery.

The 1st / 2nd / 3rd place winners will be announced on Wednesday 10th November, and the prizes will be sent out shortly after :-)

FotoInside Press Release 01/12/04

Cambridge, 1 December 2004. The web’s fastest growing photo processing service has a new face: www.FotoInside.co.uk launched its new, much enhanced website. It now features easy upload straight through drag & drop (JPEG, TIFF, PNG) from file trees and as a UK first the option to upload complete ZIP and RAR folders. FotoInside also offers the convenient and secure upload through its photo editing software “HomePhotoService OrderPro”.

The best photo gift range
FotoInside promises increased quality, higher perceived resolution, brighter colours and overall better looking pictures on real photographic premium paper plus the most extensive range of photographic gift items. All this can be ordered online, from the comfort of your home and delivered in the UK, Ireland and most European countries.

ProFotoSoftware Ltd Press Release 30/11/04
 
ProFotoSoftware have today released version 1.10 of PFS Image Darkroom for Windows,a program for converting Canon RAW images from EOS Digital SLRs into 16 bit and 8 bit TIF files as well as 8 bit JPEG files.

This new release adds support for the 20D and 1Ds Mark II EOS Digital SLRs, as well as improving the Raw Preview facility.

PFS Image Darkroom improves digital photographer’s workflow by removing the frustrating delays associated with Raw image processing. The software remains fully operational during Raw processing, enabling users to prepare the next image or set of images for processing instead of pausing whilst the processing is performed.

Fred Miranda has released Canon 20D CSpro, a new sharpening Photoshop plug-infor the Canon EOS 20D DSLR.

The Canon 20D CSpro plugin is a new sharpening technology specific designed to accommodate Canon 20D SLR files. This plugin is compatible with JPEG files straight from the camera or TIFF/JPEG files converted from RAW files.

lthough the Canon 20D CSpro’s interface appears simple and intuitive, complexity makes this plugin very smart: It provides everything from haloless sharpening, edge-sharpening, luminance sharpening, mode sharpening, and more with just the press of a button. With this plugin you can also choose from low or high ISO settings.

Other options allow you to sharpen fine detail. There are pre-designed intensity levels, and options to reduce color noise from high ISO files. You can even create your own sharpening settings, preview settings and tweak intensity results.

Website: Fred Miranda

The Estonian website Fotodiip have posted a review of the Konica Minolta 7D DSLR.

Website: Fotodiip - Konica Minolta 7D Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta Dynax 7D

PC Magazine have just reviewed the new wireless HP Deskjet 6840 printer.

“There’s one big difference between the HP Deskjet 6840 Color Inkjet Printer and almost every other personal ink jet on the planet: Built-in networking with both an Ethernet port and 802.11g if you want to go wireless. This alone makes the 6840 viable to anyone who has a home network or is looking for a personal printer to use in the office. There’s also a USB 2.0 port if you want to connect the old fashioned way, and even a PictBridge connector for cameras.”

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1733159,00.asp

About Photography’s latest article, Delivering Your Images, looks at preparing your images for both printing and your clients.

“Delivering Your Images follows on from a previous feature ‘Sharpening & Workflow’ and gives some suggestions on how to deliver your work to clients, as well as looking at getting ready to print your images. It looks at issues around file types, file sizes and quality (and what clients really want when they say “300 dpi”.) Some ‘do’s and don’ts’, whether you should make your own prints, and some basic advice on print profiles.”

Website: About Photography - Delivering Your Images

The Spanish website quesabesde have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Ricoh Caplio 400G Wide, which falls into the waterproof category of digital cameras.

Website: quesabesde - Ricoh Caplio 400G Wide Review

Website: Read my Review of the Ricoh Caplio 400G Wide

Imaging Resource have published their review of the 7 megapixel Sony Cybershot DSC-V3.

“Having now worked and lived with a production sample for a couple of weeks, I can say that the Sony DSC-V3 digital camera is a very compelling/appealing entrant in the high-end digicam derby. It’s exceptionally responsive, in terms of both shutter lag and shot to shot cycle times. Image quality is very good, with good color (if a little bright on highly-saturated colors), and its images are sharp from corner to corner. It does have a tendency to use a too-small aperture when shooting in bright conditions (eg, outdoors in full daylight), with the result that using it in Program or Auto mode can result in lost detail relative to the camera’s true capabilities.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Sony Cybershot DSC-V3 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Sony Cybershot DSC-V3

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have just reviewed the Sanyo Xacti VPC-C4 digicam, which has a video stabilizer, 4 megapixel CCD and a 1.8 inch LCD screen.

Website: Index Digicam - Sanyo Xacti C4 Review