DPReview have reviewed the new HP Photosmart R707, a stylish 5 megapixel digital camera.

“First impressions of the R707 are overwhelmingly positive - it is beautifully built, feels ‘right’ in the hand and is responsive enough for most every day photography. HP’s new ‘Real Life Technologies’ - from the extensive in-camera help to the red-eye removal and image advisor - offer a real benefit to the novice snapper without getting in the way of more experienced users. Shooting outdoors in good light the results are excellent; sharp, relatively free of processing artifacts and colorful without being over vivid.”

Website: DPReview - HP Photosmart R707 Review

DPReview have published their review of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

“As five megapixel compact digital cameras go the S60 is certainly one of the best, it may not be quite as thin or pocketable as some of the ultra-slim competition but what it does do better than a lot of the rest is take pictures, and that is the often compromised essential requirement of a digital ‘camera’. Canon’s mature image processing and a good lens combine to produce sharp images with lots of detail, a nice tonal balance and vivid ‘pleasing’ colors. With a 28 mm wide angle it’s also a perfect camera to take on holiday or tour, group shots and architecture will no longer require you to keep walking backwards.”

Website: DPReview - Canon PowerShot S60 Review

Nikon UK Press Release 13/08/04

Nikon are pleased to announce the launch of several new digiscoping accessories:

Product RRP
- Fieldscope Digital Camera Bracket FSB-1 £89.99
- Fieldscope Digital SLR Camera Attachment FSA-L1 £299.99
- Fieldscope Eyepiece 24x(?60)/30x(?82)Wide DS £230.99
- Fieldscope Eyepiece 40x(?60)/50x(?82) Wide DS £230.99
- Fieldscope Eyepiece 60x(?60)/75x (?82)Wide DS £230.99
- Digital Camera Attachment FSA-1 & 2 £69.99
- Digital Camera Attachment FSA-3 £19.99

Available from September 2004

The 27th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Benedetto Dell’Ariccia.

“Images are taken in Rome, on Monte Subasio near Assisi, and Gaeta! I use a Canon Powershot A75 since 3 weeks and these are the best shots.

My name is Benedetto Dell’Ariccia, 29 years old, I live in Rome and work in internet for Tiscali as a web developer.”

Website: http://bennyrosso.blog.excite.it

Website: Portfolios: Benedetto Dell’Ariccia

You’ve hopefully noticed by now that PhotographyBLOG has changed a little :-)

I’ve taken a good, hard look at the site and removed some of the clutter, as well as changing the navigation to a top horizontal menu bar. The Search box has also made a welcome return -with nearly 3,500 news entries so far it should make info easier to find!

As usual with these things, if you spot any site errors then please email me and let me know.

The 26th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Trevor Haldenby.

“My name’s Trevor Haldenby, I’m a Canadian young-photographer who has chosen to, for most recent work, head out of the homeland to Hong Kong, China, and Japan.

My photographs tend to reflect or explore the symbiotic relationship between the natural and the technological, usually with an emphasis on the resemblance between modern-day technological artifacts [telephone poles, hydro lines] and ancient ruins. To me, these modern artifacts come across as ruins-before-their-time, a fascinating thing to observe
and document.

This fall I’ll be studying at the HABITAT new media think tank at the Canadian Film Centre, designing prototypes for the next generation of mass communication technologies.”

Website: http://www.exposedbrain.com

Website: Portfolios: Trevor Haldenby

The German website Photoworld.de have posted their review of the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-W1 digital compact camera.

Website: Photoworld.de - Sony DSC-W1 Review

Luminous Landscape have reviewed a new inkjet paper from Epson, UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper, which unfortunately is only available in rolls and large sheet sizes suitable for use with Epson’s wide-format printers.

“After making a number of comparison prints on Ultrasmooth alongside Enhanced Matte, I must say that they look very similar. Ultrasmooth is slightly less white and has an ever so small amount of additional paper texture. I don’t see much of a difference in terms of black density, and colour saturation seems quite similar. The surface has a bit more tooth than Enhanced Matte and this means that it scuffs more easily. Prints on Ultrasmooth should have a sheet of tissue paper protecting them when they’re in transit or in a portfolio with other prints, to prevent scuffing. This makes it less than ideal as a portfolio paper but doesn’t present a problem with prints that are to be framed.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Epson UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper Review

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have just reviewed the new Pentax OptioMX digital digital camera, which features 3.2 effective megapixels and 10X optical zoom to capture still images and high resolution (VGA) full-motion movies on MPEG-4 format with zoom capability.

Website: Index Digicam - Pentax OptioMX Review

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the 4 megapixel Kodak Easyshare LS743 digital camera.

“While the LS743 is very similar to the 5-megapixel LS753 model, after reviewing both models, I feel that the LS753 really offers better value for the money. While the LS743 is $50 cheaper than the 753 at retail, the 753 has a few more scene modes, twice the internal memory, and seems to have a more accurate white balance system than the LS743 as well. The LS753 shares the 743’s tendency to lose subtle subject detail to its anti-noise processing, but the higher resolution of its sensor will help win a little of that back. Bottom line, if you can afford the extra $50 (probably less than that, when comparing the cameras’ “street” prices), I’d recommend the LS753 as a better deal.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Kodak Easyshare LS743 Review

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the 5 megapixel Kodak Easyshare LS753, which was first announced back in January.

“High barrel distortion, but no pincushion. Very low chromatic aberration. Optical distortion on the LS753 Zoom was high at the wide-angle end, where I measured approximately 1.07 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared much better, as I couldn’t find any geometric distortion, either pincushion or barrel. There appeared to be a little “coma” in the corners of the image, producing a little blurring of target elements there, but chromatic aberration was quite low, showing only very faint coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)”

Website: Imaging Resource - Kodak Easyshare LS753 Review

Digital Outback Photo has published another excellent article by Glenn E. Mitchell II which looks at using the Lens Blur filter in Adobe Photoshop CS.

“I do a lot of botanical and nature photography, so I constantly wrestle with getting just enough DOF to blur the background without losing sharpness at the tips of flower petals or on stamens projecting out towards the camera on long antlers. Sometimes I get the shot. Sometimes I wind up with less DOF that I would have preferred. I usually hedge my bet by bracketing my shots.

The Lens Blur filter changes all that. I can shoot for wider DOF to make sure I get all of the flower details in focus and then narrow the DOF once I get the image loaded into Photoshop CS.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Taking Control Over Depth Of Field

Shriro Sweden Press Release 12/08/04

A BRAVE NEW WORLD: HASSELBLAD AND IMACON MERGE TO TAKE ON THE PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL MARKET

8/12/2004 Shriro Sweden, the holding company of Victor Hasselblad AB, and part of the Hong Kong-headquartered Shriro Group, has announced the acquisition of leading international high-end scanner and digital cameraback manufacturer, Imacon. The move will see Imacon and Hasselblad merge to accelerate Hasselblad’s ambitions in the professional digital photographic sector, and creates the first single source supplier for digital photography at the top end of the professional photographic market.

Christian Poulsen, founder of Imacon, and CEO of the newly-enlarged Hasselblad says: “Hasselblad has long been synonymous with quality in the field of analogue photography and Imacon is recognised as leading the way in terms of innovative technologies in the high-end digital photographic sectors.

This new company presents us with tremendous opportunities to move forward and is the most exciting development in the field of professional digital photography for many years. It will significantly lower the barriers to entry and allow more photographers than ever before to realise the quality, versatility and performance of our high-end digital solutions.”

CNET have published their review of the new 5 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 5200 compact digital camera.

“Although targeted at the same snapshooting cadre as its Coolpix 3200 and Coolpix 2200 siblings, the Nikon Coolpix 5200 is a horse of a different color. It’s just as pocketable and as highly automated as its stablemates, but the Coolpix 5200 sports a 5-megapixel sensor and a slightly smaller metal—not plastic—body with a better layout. Additionally, it costs $150 to $250 more. It will please first-time digital camera owners who want to make large prints without much editing, but if you’re an image-quality snob, look elsewhere.

Website: CNET - Nikon Coolpix 5200 Review

PictoColor Corporation Press Release 11/08/04

PictoColor Releases iCorrect EditLab Pro High Speed Professional Color Correction and Color Management Software

iCorrect EditLab Pro combines the highly-acclaimed, easy-to-use iCorrect color technology with automated processes for fast and easy digital photo color correction and color management.

August 11, 2004, Burnsville, MN, USA, PictoColor Corporation has released iCorrect EditLab Pro color correction and color management software that enables photographers and photo labs to accurately color correct images with speed and precision.  Based on an enhanced version of the award-winning and highly-acclaimed iCorrect ?point-and-click? color technology licensed from Pictographics International Corporation, iCorrect EditLab Pro incorporates automated batch processing features designed to make digital photo color correction simple and extremely fast. Color accurate images are automatically profiled into a RGB working color space for use in a color managed workflow. Color correction parameters can be saved as ICC input profiles or as Custom Settings.  It is available either as an Adobe Photoshop action enabled plug-in or a Stand-Alone application for rapid-fire batch color correction. The Stand Alone version features ProcessQ(TM), PictoColor’s new technology for automatically applying customized correction parameters or ICC input profiles to a group of pictures. Both versions are available for Macintosh or Windows operating systems.

PhotoScala are reporting that Leica, in conjunction with a company called Hugyfot, have announced an underwater housing kit for their Digilux 2 digital camera, which allows you to dive up to 80 metres. As is usual with all things Leica, it is both very well-made and very expensive (2,400 Euros!).

“The Hugyfot underwater body has cable bushing for external flash units and sports many useful features, including a flat port, an anti-shock handgrip with screw ball and toothed rings for aperture, focus and shutter speed settings.”

Website: PhotoScala - Leica Digilux 2 Underwater Housing

In a blatant rip-off of a story that was on Engadget yesterday about people’s first ever cellphones, I thought it would be interesting (and a bit of a laugh) to find out what was your first ever digital camera. I was late to photography, never-mind digital cameras, so my first digicam was the Minolta DiMAGE 5 (pictured), a 3 megapixel model that I bought because it offered a lot of photographic control and because I couldn’t afford the 5 megapixel DiMAGE 7. The Minolta DiMAGE 5 cost me about ?500 a couple of years ago - how times have changed!

So what was your first ever digicam, or are you too embarassed to own up to it? :-) Post a comment below and share it with everyone…

UPDATE 11/08/04: As this story has proved so popular, I’m promoting it to be the lead story for the next few days :-)

LetsGoDigital have just reviewed the 8-megapixel Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 digital camera.

“The unique Anti-Shake function is absolutely one of the strongest trump cards that Konica Minolta possesses. We will undoubtedly hear more about it! The camera starts up really fast and is excellently capable of capturing the fast moments. Despite of the high resolution on a relatively small image sensor, the low ISO values have an outstanding noise proportion. Beside that the Konica Minolta’s focusing technique is capable of dealing with diverse objects. It is only occasionally that the focus gives in. If that is the case the switch to manual focus can be made easily and quickly.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 Review

Photo.net have posted a review by Damon Fernandes of the 8-megapixel Sony CyberShot DSC-F828 digital camera.

“The pictures that the Sony produces are incredibly sharp and natural. As far as the “purple fringing” issue, for me it wasn’t a problem. In 3,000 frames, I’ve seen it maybe four times. I have no idea why there is such a focus on this issue in the various forums on the web. I’ve read that there are ways to get around the issue, but really, it hasn’t been an issue for me. I feel safe in saying that with the type of images I shoot, I have not experienced a purple fringing problem with the F828.”

Website: Photo.net - Sony CyberShot DSC-F828 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the new Olympus Ferrari-branded digital camera, which is based upon the the ultracompact Olympus Camedia AZ-1 (first announced on April 19th 2004). 10,000 of these cameras will be sold worldwide.

“The Ferrari Digital Model 2004 is the second generation of limited edition Olympus Ferrari Digital cameras. It’s a stylish and durable point-n-shoot, that offers 3.2-megapixels of resolution coupled with a high quality 3x optical zoom lens. With its Program Auto mode, any user can obtain great images without enduring a long learning process, and if you want to be more creative simply select one of the twenty-two scene modes. When using one of these scene modes, it offers helpful advice on what the intended uses for the particular mode are. This is useful when trying to capture a certain look and you are not exactly sure how to achieve it.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Olympus Camedia AZ-1 Ferrari Edition Review