Photobird.com have posted a great interview with Rafa Torcida, who has had a portfolio published here on PhotographyBLOG.

Photobird.com Press Release 17/08/04

Torcida discusses his inspirations, his methods, and his tools for creating beautiful photographs

San Francisco, CA - August 17, 2004 - Photobird.com, the easy way to share your photos around the world, today announced the immediate availability of its interview with international award-winning Spanish photographer Rafa Torcida.  In this revealing interview, Rafa Torcida shares some insight into the tools he uses, his photography methods and processes, and his variety of inspirations that enable him to create beautiful photographs.  This interview with Rafa Torcida is available for free to everyone visiting Photobird.com and is published in the Photobird Learning Center at www.photobird.com/learn/rafa.html.  More details and a free trial to Photobird.com for sharing digital photos is available at www.photobird.com.

“I was really amazed when I saw Rafa’s photos for the first time.  They are some of the most vibrant and inspiring photos I have ever seen. Naturally, I wanted to learn more about Rafa and his techniques.  I also wanted to share his ideas with other digital camera users and
photographers so they can learn, improve their skills, and simply enjoy Rafa’s magnificent work,” said Ed Krimen, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Photobird.com.  “One of the best ways to improve one’s skills in any craft or occupation is to learn more from the experts.  I’m very pleased that Rafa was able to take time out of his busy schedule to share his thoughts with Photobird.com so that we can in turn share his expertise with everyone visiting Photobird.com.”

Sandisk Press Release 16/08/04

SANDISK WINS EISA AWARD-NAMED “EUROPEAN MEMORY CARD OF THE YEAR 2004-2005”

SanDisk Wins Second Prestigious European Award For Its High Speed CompactFlash

Sunnyvale, CA, Aug. 16, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA), has named the SanDisk Ultra II line of high-speed storage cards as the European Memory Card of the Year 2004-2005. The SanDisk Ultra II cards recently won a TIPA award, making this the second prestigious European award earned for the Ultra II cards speed and performance.

EISA is the largest editorial multimedia organization in Europe, with a membership of 50 Audio, Mobile Electronics, Video and Photo magazines drawn from 20 European countries. The highly sought-after awards are presented annually in recognition of new products that combine the most advanced technology, performance and value.

Epson Press Release 15/08/04

Epson Wins Prestigious EISA Award for its Market Leading Scanner

- TOKYO, Japan, August 15, 2004 - Epson announced today that it has been awarded this year’s European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) Award for one of its premier products, the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo. The Epson Perfection 4870 Photo has been voted the European Scanner of the Year for 2004-2005. The scanner was recognized by the 50 leading Photo, Video, Audio, Home Theatre and Mobile Electronics magazines from over 18 European countries for its outstanding innovation and technical excellence.

Every year, the EISA Awards applaud the new products that combine the most advanced technology, the most desirable features, the ultimate expression of design, the most satisfying ergonomics and, of course, the greatest value for money. In short, EISA recognizes the features most likely to be appreciated by an enthusiastic public seeking high quality and creative products.

Described by the judges as ‘beating all competitors in this price range,’ the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo offers the power and quality of a film scanner with the flexibility of a flatbed, without sacrificing the scan quality. Incorporating an unrivalled optical resolution of 4800 x 9600dpi, new DIGITAL ICE Technology and a moving TPU (transparency unit) lamp, this scanner challenges the traditional film scanner manufacturers on both quality and price.

Casio UK Press Release 15/08/04

CASIO flagship named European Digital Compact Camera of the Year 2004 / 2005

London, 15th August 2004 - A CASIO digital camera has for the second year in succession won a coveted EISA Award, this year it is the turn of the six megapixel EXILIM PRO EX-P600. Awarded every year by the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA), the eyes of the camera and electronics trade will be directed towards Geneva, where a panel of international trade magazines will be honouring the most innovative technology products. These prestigious awards are in five categories: Photo, Video, Audio, Home Theatre and Mobile Electronics.

This year CASIO was honoured with an EISA award for the EXILIM PRO EX-P600. The compact digital camera has won in the Photo category and is afforded the title of the “European Digital Compact Camera of the Year 2004 / 2005”. The judging panel considered the EXILIM PRO EX-P600 to be a modern digital camera with numerous features, appealing to both amateurs and professional photographers alike. The panel made particular mention of the EX-P600’s unique functionality and aesthetically pleasing, practical design.

Konica Minolta Press Release 16/08/04

Konica Minolta’s DYNAX 60 awarded the “European SLR Camera of the Year 2004-2005” and the “European Photo Innovation of the Year 2004-2005” for Konica Minolta’s AntiShake Technology.

Unterföhring, August 2004 - Konica Minolta Co., Ltd. is proud to announce that the DYNAX 60, a 35mm auto focus SLR, has received the European SLR Camera of the Year 2004-2005 award and the Konica Minolta’s AntiShake Technology the European Photo Innovation of the Year 2004-2005” from the EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association).

Dynax 60 - The SLR choice for families and enthusiasts alike
The Dynax 60 is a camera that offers sharp and clear images in the world of visual arts. It offers features like Wide Center-Cross 9-Point AF Sensor for increased focusing confidence, Multi-dimensional Predictive Focus Control for moving subjects, Direct Manual Focus for fine-tuning focusing, and a continuous advance speed of 3 frames per second. All features are accessible to beginners as well as photography veterans, so everyone can shoot like a pro. And in terms of price, functionality, quality, and reliability, nothing can touch the new Dynax 60 from Konica Minolta.

The EISA stated that “Konica Minolta Dynax 60 is the ideal synthesis of attractive price and generous equipment. Apart from its high-quality, compact body, the Dynax 60 is impressive primarily for its speed and precision in use. The proprietary wide nine-point AF with a central cross sensor and multi-dimensional predictive focus control guarantees very good focusing even on moving subjects. The Dynax 60 permits manual override of the focusing system by DMF (Direct Manual Focus) on Konica Minolta D-Series lenses. Fast continuous advance speed, intelligent ADI flash metering and 14 custom functions make the Dynax 60 a perfect choice for all engaged amateur photographers with 35mm film.”

Pentax USA Press Release

WELCOME TO SEVENTH HEAVEN: PENTAX UNVEILS 7 MEGAPIXEL DIGITAL

PENTAX ANNOUNCES HIGH-END OPTIO750Z WITH SEVEN MEGAPIXELS IN COMPACT SIZE

GOLDEN, Colorado (August 16, 2004)...PENTAX Imaging Company has introduced a little heaven on earth in the new Optio750Z digital camera.  With 7.0 megapixels and a 5X optical zoom, the Optio750Z will delight advanced photographers seeking high quality images from a compact digital camera. Strategically positioned at the high-end of the PENTAX Optio Series, the Optio750Z offers true performance in a pocket-sized digital camera. 

Classically designed with an aluminum alloy exterior and a leather-grained rubber fa?ade, the Optio750Z delivers high-precision imaging with 7.0 effective megapixels, a high-performance smc PENTAX 5X optical zoom lens, newly developed ASIC (Application Specified Integrate Circuit), and other impressive features. The camera?s 10 shooting modes meet a variety of shooting situations, and a large dial simplifies mode selections.  The generous 1.8 inch, low-reflection LCD monitor enhances visibility and shooting freedom and the camera captures VGA video with sound at a rate of 30fps (frames per second) with 640 x 480 recorded pixels up to the full available capacity of the chosen memory card.

Pentax USA Press Release 16/08/04

HIGH QUALITY DIGITAL EASIER THAN EVER IN OPTIO S50

NEW PENTAX OPTIO S50 OFFERS HIGH QUALITY DIGITAL WITH FIVE MEGAPIXELS

GOLDEN, Colorado (August 16, 2004)...PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the new PENTAX ptio S50 digital camera with a 5.0 effective megapixel CCD and a 3X optical zoom lens.  A successor to the popular Optio S40, the PENTAX Optio S50 offers an easy-to-use help function menu to help guide digital newcomers through the camera?s array of digital features.

With the superior imaging capability of 5.0 effective megapixels and a generous 1.8 inch LCD monitor, the Optio S50 is equipped with a handy mode dial that allows users to select one of nine modes with a simple turn.  Two AA batteries power the Optio S50 making it a perfect travel choice. Other easy-to-use features include 13 shooting modes to match any scene at hand and a menu display enlargement function. The Optio S50 also is PictBridge compatible to allow direct printing to compatible printers.

While positioned as a perfect choice for new digital users, the Optio S50 offers uncompromised image quality.  The camera incorporates an smc PENTAX lens that delivers crystal clear images, a high-resolution CCD with 5.36 total megapixels, and a 12-bit A/D converter that achieves smooth reproduction for gradations.

The 37th 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 23rd August. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 9th-15th August 2004 contest

The voting for the 36th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

There are 2 joint winners of the contest this week - they are:

“Cattlaya” by tootsie
“Concourse C” by nantel

Congratulations to both winners!

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

The 38th 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.

Luminous Landscape have just reviewed a powerful new stitching program for Windows and Mac platforms called Realviz Stitcher 4.0. The good news is that Michael Reichmann really likes it; the bad news is the $580 price-tag…

“I tried to learn to love PanoTools because the price is certainly right, but it never worked all that well for me. I like smooth and competent programs that are powerful and that work without hassle, and PanoTools just didn’t fit that bill. It seemed to me to be more of a hobbyist’s toy than a professional production tool. So I examined Stitcher 4.0, and discovered, much to my surprise, that it is as powerful and easy to use as was Powerstitch. I thought Powerstitch was expensive four years ago at $399. As the saying goes, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that while Stitcher 4.0 is available for both Mac and PC, and it really delivers the goods, at $580 the price is the bad news . I’ll have more to say about the subject of price before the end of this review.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Realviz Stitcher 4.0 Review

There are nearly as many noise removal software applications as there are sharpening ones; Digital Outback Photo have just reviewed another new tool called Helicon Filter Pro:

“The best known noise removal tools today are Neat Image and Noise Ninja. A couple of months ago we got a first version of the Helicon Filter and followed the betas since then. Besides the very good results we like the following features:

Large preview to judge the noise removal effect
Easy to use
Hardly any plastic look and only minor softening of the image
Control of shadow, midtone and highlight noise removal
Photoshop plugin”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Helicon Filter Pro Review

Bob Atkins has updated his Canon EOS Rumours page with, well, some more as yet unsubstantiated rumours, including the Canon PowerShot G6 news that PhotographyBLOG first reported a couple of weeks ago. There’s also a bit more “news” about the 20D:

“On the “20D” front, the only new rumors that may have credibility are that there may be 9 AF zones and that a new Digic II chip will reduce startup time from the current 1 or 2 seconds down to 0.2s (200 milliseconds), which would be nice. There’s also talk of a 4 way “joystick” button in the center of the rear command dial.”

Website: Bob Atkins - Canon EOS Rumours

ByteSector have reviewed the Fuji FinePix S7000, which is the successor to the popular FinePix S602 model. The S7000 uses Fuji’s 4th Generation Super CCD HR with 6.3 Million Effective Pixels output and 12.3 million recorded pixels. It costs around $799.99 and is available now.

“This camera is equipped with a 6x optical lens. The great thing about this lens is that it can be controlled manually with a zoom ring or by the ?W? and ?T? buttons on the camera. This gives you both precision and control over your lens. When using the buttons a camera zooms in and out at a set interval, when you use the zoom ring you can be more precise and gain more control over your images; this comes in handy when you need to focus objects, a ring is much easier to navigate with than a button in such conditions.”

Website: ByteSector - Fuji FinePix S7000 Review

Website: Read my review of the Fuji FinePix S7000

Olympus Press Release 15/08/04

OLYMPUS C-8080 WZ CROWNED “EUROPEAN DIGITAL CAMERA OF THE YEAR” IN 2004 EISA AWARDS

15th August 2004 Olympus announce today that their popular C-8080 WIDE ZOOM has been awarded the prestigious title of ‘European Digital Camera of the Year’ in the annual European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) awards.

Comprising of nearly fifty leading photo, video, audio, home theatre and mobile electronics publications from over eighteen European countries the EISA awards are respected by consumers and valued by retailers alike. Highly coveted by manufacturers, Olympus hare proud to receive one of these highly valued industry commendations.

The winning camera delivers an outstanding performance and confidently measures up to any digital SLR in its class.  Packed with features and offering a wide angle, 5x zoom lens, sunshine LCD technology and a short shutter release lag time, the C-8080 WIDE ZOOM is capable of even the most demanding of creative photography.

PhotographyBLOG has teamed up with ILEX Books to offer you up to 20% off the list price of their range of digital photography books, which include “The Digital Photographer’s Guide to Photoshop Elements” by Barry Beckam and four Digital Photography Expert-series books from Michael Freeman.

Website: ILEX Books Shop

Digital Camera Magazine have just reviewed the new 8-megapixel Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 digital camera.

“The first thing you notice about the images from the A2 is their sheer size. After shooting on five and even six megapixel compacts, the extra gains wrought by eight megapixels are there for all to see on screen. However, things aren’t as rosy as you’d expect when you get up close and personal. The resolution appears to be a little weak, with lines breaking down at relatively close distances (at 20 metres, car number plates start to become unreadable, for instance). In some respects, this analysis is a little unfair, as it?s only because of the enormity of information that you can get in close enough to make these sorts of judgements - at six megapixels, things start to become jagged at these kinds of distances. That said, there’s nothing wrong in pointing out that improvements can be made.”

Website: Digital Camera Magazine - Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 Review

LetsGoDigital have posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-W1 digital compact camera.

“The Sony DSC-W1 is a very successful digital camera, it can’t be commented on in a negative way. Alright, for me personally I would like to see the camera equipped with a 28-100mm lens in stead of starting with a 38mm one, however technically seen and after using the camera in practice there is hardly any reason to complain. The compact beautifully designed housing lies comfortably in ones hand and is solidly finished.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Sony DSC-W1 Review

The Observer recently published a great interview with the photographer William Eggleston:

“And yet, at 65, William Eggleston is perhaps the most innovative American photographer of the past 50 years whose unique style has transformed the way we look at the world. His influence on our visually led contemporary popular culture is now so pervasive that it goes unnoticed. In fashion shoots and films, advertising and art photography, Eggleston’s everyday view of things, initially dismissed by critics in the mid-Seventies, is now the prevalent aesthetic. Put simply, it would be difficult to imagine the world according to David Lynch or Gus Van Sant or Juergen Teller or Sofia Coppola without the world according to William Eggleston.”

Website: The Observer - William Eggleston Interview

DPReview 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.

“Despite one or two minor annoyances - specifically the focus performance at the long end of the zoom and the rather puny screen - the Canon S1 IS is a camera it is hard not to like. Sure, there are a few high end features missing (no live histogram, no flash hot shoe, manual focus point selection rather than automatic, no RAW mode), but this is no glorified point-and-shooter. The movie mode is superb, the image stabilization works a treat - and certainly does away with the need for a tripod for most daylight shooting - and the control layout is excellent.”

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot S1 IS Review