Xerox Press Release 07/09/04

New Xerox Scanner Helps People Easily Archive Favorite Photos and Restore Heirloom Prints

Xerox 6400 Scanner Offers Image Quality, One Touch Ease-of-Use and Restoration Software Bundle All for $199

PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/—The Xerox 6400 scanner, announced today, is a high-quality flatbed scanner for photo enthusiasts who want a complete archiving solution for photos, negatives and slides in a single piece of hardware.

The desktop scanner delivers outstanding results with its true 3200 x 6400-dpi resolution and built-in slide and filmstrip adapter for conveniently making duplicates or enlargements from 35mm slides and negatives. The scanner also features 48-bit color depth for remarkable color accuracy and a fast Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface for scanning photos, text and graphics with ease. The photo restoration software bundle was custom created for the Xerox 6400 and includes automatic photo-enhancement features and powerful text effects. The Xerox 6400 is the first Xerox flatbed scanner designed with the image-driven consumer in mind. It is a premium quality scanner at an affordable price of only $199.99.

Jasc(R) Software, Inc. Press Release 07/09/04

Paint Shop Pro Studio Ideal for Digital Photographers Ready to Do More With Their Photos

Paint Shop Pro 9 Offers More Advanced Functionality for Professional Results

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/—Jasc(R) Software, Inc. announced today the general availability of Paint Shop(TM) Pro(R) Studio and Paint Shop(TM) Pro(R) 9. The two new products offer digital camera users at all skill levels solutions tailored to their needs.

Paint Shop Pro Studio and Paint Shop Pro 9 are the result of Jasc’s market research that clearly defined a 50/50 split among users. Half wanted a Paint Shop Pro that was more powerful and offered even more professional-strength tools for photo editing, graphic design, and digital art. The other half wanted a Paint Shop Pro that was more fun and easier to use, making photo-editing projects a reality for everybody.

Creo Inc. Press Release 07/09/04

Vancouver, BC, Canada - (September 7, 2004) - Creo Inc. (NASDAQ: CREO; TSX: CRE) announces the latest generation of portable and studio digital camera backs - the Leaf Aptus. This new product line has the portability and ease-of-use of consumer products, combined with the robustness, resolution and powerful workflow required by professional photographers. The Leaf Aptus product line includes the Leaf Aptus 22 and Leaf Aptus 17 digital camera backs with resolutions of 22 and 17 megapixels respectively.

FotoInside.co.uk Press Release 06/09/04

Digital Photography, free software, printing, life style

Cambridge, September 2004. FotoInside.co.uk introduces a new photo software package called Home Photo Service Order Pro, resolving eight common problems of digital photography. For the first two month FotoInside is distributing free copies of Order Pro for download from its website at: www.fotoinside.co.uk/pro

Digital photography popularity is rapidly overtaking traditional colour photography. Once you fill your hard disk with digital images these cause a series of new requirements and needs:

1.- Escape lack of hard disk space and high storage costs.
2.- Back-up photo collections onto CD-R.
3.- Cropping digital images.
4.- Image file conversion to jpeg or other formats.
5.- Quality prints at competitive prices as with traditional (analogue) photo processing (from 10p per print).
6.- Organising image collections and albums find your images back.
7.- Creating a slide shows of your holiday pictures.
8.- Creativity: Printing calendars, frames, greeting cards.

HAIFA, Israel and NEW YORK, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/—Thanks to mathematics, the quality of underwater photographs is about to get dramatically better. The first-of-its-kind method for radically improving underwater shots combines a mathematical formula or algorithm with a filter normally used for land photography. The findings by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology were presented at the IEEE* Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition in Washington, DC in June.

“This is a brand new solution to solving the problem of underwater image degradation,” notes lead researcher Professor Yoav Schechner of the Technion Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

“Underwater photos tend to be degraded and lacking in clear details because of the ‘veiling’ effect of ambient light,” explains Schechner. “From above the water’s surface, ambient light scatters into the line of sight—an effect commonly known as ‘backscatter.’ This causes poor visibility in even the clearest water.” He adds that the veiling effect increases with distance, making many details undetectable.

The Spanish website quesabesde.com have just reviewed the Canon Powershot S1 IS digital camera, which offers 10x image stablised zoom, 3 megapixels and high-quality 640 x 480 video at 30 frames/second with sound.

Website: quesabesde.com - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have reviewed the Pentax Optio43WR. This digital camera features 4.0 effective megapixels, a 2.8X zoom lens, and a JIS Class 7 waterproof rating that keeps the Optio43WR watertight even when the camera is rinsed, splashed or submersed in water.

Website: Index Digicam - Pentax Optio43WR Review

Steves Imaging Resource have just reviewed the Konica Minolta DiMAGE X31, a stylish new 3.2-megapixel compact digicam that is easy-to-use and affordable.

“The Minolta DiMAGE X31 is one of the latest in Minolta’s line of subcompact DiMAGE X models, using a unique “folded” lens design to achieve a remarkably compact form factor and very fast startup times. Minolta really turned heads when they introduced the original DiMAGE X, now nearly three years ago. A two-megapixel camera in the form of a square block of metal, just barely over three-quarters of an inch thick, the DiMAGE X was an immediate hit, as popular as a fashion statement as it was for its status as a go-anywhere, shoot-anytime digital camera. The X20 was the first affordable version of this popular camera, reducing the price by enclosing the same mechanism in a plastic body. While the metal versions of the X-series have gone as high as 5 megapixel, the X31 is the first resolution bump at the low end, now to 3.2 megapixels.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Konica Minolta DiMAGE X31 Review

The Slovenian website eFotoGrafija have posted a review of the new Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3, specifically focusing on its anti-shake capabilities.

Website: eFotoGrafija - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3

The Norwegian website Akam.no have published their review of the A4 Epson Stylus Photo R800 printer.

Website: Akam.no - Epson Stylus Photo R800 Review

Website: Read my review of the Epson Stylus Photo R800

PhotographyBLOG was hacked by a malicious user early this morning, forcing me to roll back the site to the most recent backup. Therefore all comments, photo uploads and user registrations etc. made in the last 12 hours have been lost. Please accept my apologies for this temporary problem, and let me know if you find anything that doesn’t seem quite right.

The 40th Photo of the Week contest is now closed.

I have choosen what I think are the best photographs in my opinion. Now it’s your turn to vote for the overall winner of the contest. A Public Poll has been setup on the PhotographyBLOG Forums and you have 7 days during which you can vote for your favourite photo from the ones that I have chosen. Voting will end on Monday 13th September. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 30th August - 5th September 2004 contest

The 41st Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography contest with no set theme and you can enter as many photos as you like.

Click here to read the Photo of the Week Rules.

The voting for the 39th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

The winners are “Another world” by gav_davies and “Perrons Tree Frog” by tootsie.

Congratulations to the winners!

You can view all of the entries that were submitted in this gallery.

It’s not all good news for the digital camera boom, as a report by RBC Capital Markets Inc. has indicated that digital camera shipments from Japan dropped by 6% in July. Japanese vendors make up an estimated 80 percent of the market. The biggest geographic slowdown was in Europe and North America, down 9 percent and 8 percent respectively.

“The majority of the weakness is attributable to lower-end cameras [below 4-megapixals], with year-to-date shipments down 10 percent to 13 million. “We are not wholly surprised by the continued softness as we believe the industry continues to rationalize excess inventory exiting Q2, as noted by both Sony and Canon,” according to the report.”

Website: EE Times UK - Digital camera shipments down 6% in July

Digital Outback Photo contributor Paul Caldwell has taken a look at the BH-55 Ball Head from Really Right Stuff. Don’t know what a ball head is? Let Paul explain:

“With a ballhead, you have a very versatile shooting platform. The basic layout is to have a ball which has a shaft that is attached to your quick release platform, and a case around the ball. The case provides both a method to capture the ball and apply friction to the ball. You need to be able to have a friction mechanism that is variable. This will allow you to free up the ball to allow movement so you can position it for the next shot, but also then tighten down on the ball after the correct position is achieved.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head Review

The Norwegain website DigIT have just reviewed the 6 megapixel Olympus CAMEDIA C-60 ZOOM.

Website: DigIT - Olympus CAMEDIA C-60 ZOOM Review

Check the Latest Prices for the Olympus C-60 Zoom

Write a Review of the Olympus C-60 Zoom

Photobird.com have posted their review of the 8-megapixel Sony CyberShot DSC-F828 digital camera.

“The 7x zoom lens on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 stands out as one of the best features of this digital camera. It has a natural feel to be able to zoom in and out by turning the zoom ring around the lens. Comparatively, other digital cameras with zoom lenses require the user to press a rocker switch that must operate a motor, and the starting and stopping of the motor can introduce delays in getting the right shot.”

Website: Photobird.com - Sony CyberShot DSC-F828 Review

An article over on Rob Galbraith states that the Canon EOS 20D is due to begin shipping the week of September 13, 2004. You may be lucky to get hold of one if you haven’t pre-ordered, however, as “Canon USA is anticipating that it will take a couple of months before supply begins to catch up with demand for the 8MP, 5 fps camera.”

Website: Rob Galbraith - Canon EOS 20D on target to ship the week of September 13 in USA

Pre-order the Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera (Body only) from Amazon

Pre-order the Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens from Amazon

In this month’s Sunday Morning Photographer column Mike Johnston explains what he got up to in hospital, what he thinks of the Canon EOS 20D, and why he’s just purchased a Bronica:

“So what’d I do on my summer vacation? Well, the flip side of digital’s snowballing popularity is that film cameras are going begging, much like a used M3 in 1969. Being the astute market analyst that I am, I’ve perceived that the steepest price drops have been in professional equipment, especially second-tier professional equipment that even in good times sells without a snootiness premium. So before I left for Michigan, I bought a nearly perfect Bronica SQ-A, lens, and back for less than a few couples would spend on dinner and wine at Lutece. Old technology? To be sure. A fierce shout-out against digital? Not at all, friends, not at all. I’d take a shiny new (okay, matte black new) 20D over an old Bronica any day. It’s just that the Bronica is still a lot better than a gnarly little consumer digicam. IMHO anyway.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Bronicas and Robot Friends: What I Did Last Summer