Fred Miranda has released a new sharpening plug-in called Intellisharpen II, which is compatible with Photoshop 6, 7, and CS, Photoshop Elements 1 and 2.0. Both Mac and PC versions are available.

“This new sharpening technology has been completely re-designed and accommodates all digital files including scanned film. Intellisharpen II is simple to use, and very intuitive. It provides haloless sharpening, edgesharpening, luminance sharpening, mode sharpening and more.

With this plugin you can choose from low or high ISO settings, and other options allow you to sharpen fine detail.

Photographers can now choose from 100 Intellisharpen intensity levels and 100 sharpen fine detail levels. You can even reduce color noise from high ISO files. Another feature unique to Intellisharpen II, is that you can save and load your own sharpening profiles. In addition you have the ability to preview settings and tweak intensity results for maximum control over your work.”

Website: Fred Miranda - Intellisharpen II Plugin

Digital Outback Photo have published a new article by Paul Caldwell, in which he explains how to use non-Canon lenses with his Canon 1Ds. Why would you want to do this? Well, here’s one reason:

“The 28mm F2.8 Contax was sharper all the way to the corners on every shot. When looking at the various test images I found that the center areas of each image were very close from both the (Canon) 24-70L and the Contax Distagon 28mm. But when you looked at each image at a 100% view, often times, you would see the sharpness fading on the images taken with the 24-70L as you moved out to the corners. This wasn?t true with the Contax Distagon. “

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Non-Canon Lens Adapters

On the same day that Microsoft announces Digital Image Suite 10, one of its main rivals, Jasc Software, releases two new Beta versions of Paint Shop Pro. According to Jasc’s website, Paint Shop Pro 9 is for power-hungry imaginations that want advanced, precision tools they can control, whilst Paint Shop Pro Studio is for those who want to have fun with their photos without the hassle of learning advanced power tools.

I’m not sure that splitting their main imaging application into two different programs is such a great idea by Jasc - why not just make one version that is both powerful AND easy to use? Anyway, both beta versions are now available to download.

Website: Jasc Software - Download Paint Shop Pro 9 & Paint Shop Pro Studio

Microsoft Press Release 10/08/04

It’s a Snap! Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 Gets Pictures Perfect

New One-Click Auto Fixes, Advanced Editing Features and Intelligent Panoramic Stitching Create Professional-Quality Photos

REDMOND, Wash.—Aug. 10, 2004—On a high-resolution digital camera or a camera phone, great photos are just a click away with Microsoft Corp.‘s latest digital photography offering. Today, Microsoft announces the availability of its new line of digital imaging software, including Digital Image Suite 10, the comprehensive yet easy-to-use photo solution for organizing, editing, sharing and safekeeping digital photos. Digital Image Suite 10 combines the power of two digital imaging software applications—Microsoft Digital Image Library 10 for organization and Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 for editing—to offer an end-to-end solution with powerful panoramic stitching in two dimensions, intuitive color-correction tools, even more one-click fixes, and added options for organization and sharing.

IDC Press Release 10/08/04

Boom Times Continue in the Western European Digital Camera Market, But Tougher Battles Lie Ahead, Says IDC

LONDON, August 10, 2004 - During 2003, shipments of digital cameras into Western Europe increased by over 95% and reached almost 16 million units, which translated into $5.9 billion in end-user spend, according to a new IDC study. Consumer demand for digital imaging has once again brought healthy revenues to the key players in the industry.

“As predicted, in 2003 we witnessed another phenomenal year for the industry - prices dropped even further and vendors repositioned their products to capture the next wave of digital enthusiasm,” said Paul Withington, senior research analyst for IDC’s European Peripherals Group. “This has translated into a mass-market adoption particularly within the 3 megapixel [MP] segment, which became the area where vendors found their greatest success.”

Percentage growth into 2004 will not prove as dramatic as in previous years, as the market moves beyond its adoption stage. Across Western Europe, IDC predicts 45% overall growth in 2004 and towards the end of IDC’s five-year forecast period to 2008 we can expect the market to have matured and the vendor landscape to be carrying significant battle scars through jousts with the camera phone.

Press Release 10/08/04

Sony Ericsson, global manufacturer of leading communications devices and Proud Galleries, Europe’s most popular private photography gallery - have today announced a major new collaboration - with the mobile phone company joining forces with the top photographic gallery in a unique sponsorship agreement for 2004.

In the deal, Sony Ericsson will become the headline sponsors of the summer and autumn schedule of Proud Galleries photographic exhibitions. The logical partnership demonstrates Sony Ericsson’s commitment to the increasingly important market of imaging in mobile phone technology.

The deal will also benefit Sony Ericsson users, with free entry to any Proud Gallery exhibition for the rest of the year when you show your Sony Ericsson mobile phone. Those wanting to view the exhibitions from the comfort of their own PC, will be able to visit a microsite that is being created to house a selection of images from each show, which visitors can download as wallpaper, as well as information and images on as the latest product offerings from Sony Ericsson.

This is the final image in my London seaside trilogy - you can view the first shot here, and the second one here. I think this photo best captures the sandy beach, but it lacks the famous landmarks that the other two images have and therefore loses its sense of place.

Click on the image to view a larger version in a new window.

PC Magazine has reviewed the Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10, which contains Microsoft Digital Image Library 10 for organizing your digital photo collection and Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 for editing photos.

“To help in sorting and grouping your photos, you can assign keywords, star ratings (1 through 5), and new user-definable flags to individual images. Unfortunately, Digital Image Library gives you no way to organize the keywords themselves. Over time you can easily end up with scores of keywords assigned to thousands of images, but the only way the program lets you arrange your keywords is in one long alphabetical list. Compared with the keyword hierarchies offered by Adobe Photoshop Album 2 and Jasc’s Paint Shop Photo Album 5, this is too unwieldy.”

Website: PC Magazine - Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 Review

PC Magazine has reviewed the Canon CanoScan 3000ex flatbed scanner, which features a maximum optical resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi and an enhanced resolution of 9600 dpi.

“Photo scan quality was a bit better than good. Prescans for 4-by-6 and 5-by-7 photos took 11 to 39 seconds, depending on how much the scanner had to warm up. At resolutions of 300 to 400 ppi, the 3000ex took 18 to 20 seconds to scan to the bundled Arcsoft PhotoStudio and save the scans. That’s slower than some other scanners, but faster than our current Editors’ Choice, the Microtek ScanMaker 6100 Pro.”

Website: PC Magazine - CanoScan 3000ex Scanner Review

Casio USA Press Release 06/08/04

CASIO’S EXILIM DIGITAL CAMERAS WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS FROM PC MAGAZINE AND AMERICAN PHOTO

Stylish, Compact EX-P600 and EX-Z40 Digital Cameras Are Named “Editor’s Choice” Winners

DOVER, NJ, August 6, 2004 - Camera buffs in the market for stylish and compact digital that offers award-winning performance, features and value may want to take a recommendation from two leading industry publications and choose one of Casio’s affordable EXILIM digital cameras. PC Magazine and American Photo both awarded Casio’s top-of-the-line 6-megapixel EXILIM PRO EX-P600 “Editor?s Choice” honors in their July 2004 issues. American Photo also cited Casio’s 4-megapixel EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z40 as an “Editor?s Choice” in its look at the top Digital Point and Shoots.

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 09/08/04

SANDISK’S ULTRA II COMPACTFLASH CARDS WIN PRESTIGIOUS DIGITAL IMAGING AWARD FOR SPEED AND PERFORMANCE

SanDisk’s Ultra II CompactFlash Cards Win TIPA Award - Europe’s Highest Award For Best Photo Products

Sunnyvale, CA, Aug. 9, 2004 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), an association made up of 30 top photography publications from across Europe, has awarded its Best Imaging Storage Media Award to the SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash line of high-speed storage cards. The SanDisk Ultra II cards were recognized by leading editors, many of whom are professional photographers, as setting “a new standard for industry performance.” TIPA editors judge on quality, performance and value - criteria that are very important to all photographers.

“We have worked very hard to take the leadership position in the digital camera storage card market,” said Nelson Chan, senior vice president and general manager of SanDisk’s retail business unit. “It is a real honor for our efforts to be recognized by such a distinguished panel of experts and one that makes all of us here at SanDisk very proud. The TIPA Award is further assurance that SanDisk’s Ultra II cards will meet the rigorous demands of digital photographers around the world.”

Another take on the London seaside idea - I actually prefer this shot to the one that I posted yesterday, as it shows more of the skyline.

Click on the image to view a larger version in a new window.

The 36th 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 16th August. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 2nd-8th August 2004 contest

The voting for the 35th Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

There are 3 joint winners of the contest this week - they are:

”@Crummock” by Onion Club
“Fringe Lily” by tootsie
“u bein bridge amarapura mandalay myanmar” by asasasasas11

Congratulations to all 3 winners!

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

The 37th 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.

Pentax Press Release 08/08/04

Pentax Introduces Two Compact, Lightweight Macro Lenses: First Models Of High-Performance smc Pentax-D FA Series Optimize Digital SLR Image Quality

GOLDEN, Colorado (August 8, 2004) PENTAX Imaging Company will bring the best of both worlds to photographers with two smc PENTAX-D FA interchangeable lenses - the smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 100mm F2.8 and the smc PENTAX-D FA Macro 50mm F2.8. The latest series is designed to optimize image quality in both digital SLR and film photography. Each lightweight macro lens features an image circle to accommodate 35mm format and offers close-up to life-size magnification.

Popular Photography have been busy posting a lot of new reviews and articles on their website, including a review of the Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro (pictured). So in no particular order…

- Fujifilm Finepix S20 Pro Review
- Blur Busters!
- Snapshot Print-Off
- Kodak EasyShare DX7630 Review
- Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Review
- Digital Toolbox: Divorce, Digital Style
- Digital Toolbox: The Photoshop Makeover
- Sigma 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX OS APO AF
- Canon 28-105mm F/4-5.6 AF
- Flash Battery Packs Review

DigiTimes are running a story about yet another new memory card format, confusingly named the ucard (how do you pronounce that?). What sets it apart from all the other formats on the market is its maximum storage size - a massive 2 terabytes! Apparently the new format will go into mass production in early-2005. We’ll wait and see if it can make an impression in the digicam market, and just how expensive a 2 terabyte card will actually be…(found via Engadget)

“The cards will be able to transfer 120MB of data per second, 10 times faster than Secure Digital (SD) memory cards, sources said. Additional features for the new card include USB 2.0 compatibility, low power, fast I/O and a compatible interface with existing memory cards, the sources added.”

Website: DigiTimes - Taiwan to produce a new type of memory storage device

The Danish website Digital Magasinet have just reviewed the 4-megapixel, 10x zoom Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2.

Website: Digital Magasinet - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 Review

ByteSector have published their review of the HP PSC 2510 Photosmart all-in-one printer/scanner.

“The HP PSC 2510 Photosmart all-in-one delivers all you could really need in a printer. With printer, fax, scanner, and copier all built in and incredibly easy to use, this multi-function printer is a great choice for everyone. The printer is a breeze to integrate into any network especially with its 802.11b wireless capabilities. Even with all these features, HP has not lost sight of the ultimate goal: impeccable image quality. The 2510 prints almost every document in a near perfect fashion and you will likely not be disappointed, especially with high resolution pictures.”

Website: ByteSector - HP PSC 2510 Photosmart Review