Buried amongst the announcement of the Kodak EASYSHARE DX7590 a few days ago was a brief mention of the Kodak EASYSHARE CX7525, which has now magically appeared on Kodak’s website. Not exactly a great start in life for this 5 megapixel camera., which has the following specs:

- Striking picture quality for prints up to 20"x30” (50x75 cm) with 5.0 MP
- 3X optical zoom
- Point-and-shoot simplicity
- 9 scene and color modes, plus video capture
- Sharing is one-touch simple

Website: Kodak EASYSHARE CX7525

The Norwegian website DiGIT ran this story earlier in the week, but now Samsung have issued the official press release for their new 6 megapixel camera, the Digimax V6. The best news seems to be the price, which is “set to retail at well under £300”.

Samsung Press Release 05/08/04

Samsung Introduces the V6, its Most Powerful Digital Camera to Date

Building on previous success, Samsung Cameras introduces its most powerful camera ever to the acclaimed V range, the V6.

Developed with the more demanding photographer in mind, where high definition shooting is required, it features 6 million megapixels in a stylish aluminum design and is set to retail at a well under £300.

The Samsung Digimax V6 provides more enhanced manual photograph functions for advanced users who expect true professional quality photography. Three kinds of manual creative adjustments are available: Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual adjustment. The manual focus adjustment function allows fine focusing and total user control.

The exclusive 1400mAh Li-ion battery, enables users to take up to 380 images in succession. This feature provides unlimited ability for advanced users who want to take many pictures at once.

I’ve not been following this too closely, as I’m perfectly happy with my Canon EOS 10D (and won’t be upgrading), but the rumour about an 8 megapixel Canon EOS 20D, complete with an EF-S lens and 1.6x sensor , seems to be the most prevalent one at the moment. At least according to Bob Atkins and his Canon EOS Rumours page.

Website: Bob Atkins - Canon EOS Rumours

Lexar Media, Inc. Press Release 05/08/04

Lexar Unveils New Corporate Identity To Reflect Expanding Innovative Product Portfolio

FREMONT, CA, August 5, 2004 - Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a company known for digital media products and accessories, unveiled today a new corporate identity reflecting its growing worldwide popularity, leadership in digital media technologies and expanding portfolio of innovative products. Moving forward, Lexar Media will be known as Lexar, more accurately depicting its broadening market opportunity as removable digital media pervades consumer electronics.

“Providing advanced solutions for digital photography is a mainstay of Lexar, and the new look symbolizes its spirit of innovation that has led to advanced solutions in digital photography, USB flash drives and digital music players,” said Jim Gustke, general manager, marketing. “By creating a new logo and evolving the name, we are aligning the corporate identity to better illustrate who we are today and how we are growing to meet the future needs of our customers.”

One of the best-known photographers in the world, Henri Cartier-Bresson, died yesterday in Cereste, south-east France, aged 95.

Website: BBC.co.uk

Website: The Guardian

Website: Magnum Photos

Konica Minolta Europe have distributed a very interesting interview about the imminent Konica Minolta Dynax 7 DSLR, which all registered users of the Konica Minolta Photo World website received. I’ve posted the full text of the interview below…

Konica Minolta Europe Interview Text

Since Konica Minolta Europe is constantly receiving many requests for updates about the development status of the Dynax 7 Digital, Clemens Helberg, Marketing Manager from Konica Minolta Europe, has gained more information from the Japanese Development Centre.

He was able to ask Keiichi Ishizuka, General Manager of the Konica Minolta Development Center most of the questions posed by registered users of the Konica Minolta Photo World website.

Since Konica Minolta Europe is constantly receiving many requests for updates about the development status of the Dynax 7 Digital, Clemens Helberg, Marketing Manager from Konica Minolta Europe, has gained more information from the Japanese Development Centre.

He was able to ask Keiichi Ishizuka, General Manager of the Konica Minolta Development Center most of the questions posed by registered users of the Konica Minolta Photo World website.

BenQ Press Release 03/08/04

BenQ Introduces DC S40 Mega Multimedia Camera

Europe, 3rd of August, 2004 - BenQ launched the DC S40 Multimedia Digital Camera, the entertainment hub that combines superior image quality with a myriad of multimedia entertainment options. Targeted at trend-setting music and digital photography lovers, the S40 features a 4.24 mega-pixel with advanced 3x optical zoom, MP3/ FM radio player and a 180? flip- out LCD preview screen.

The BenQ DC S40 boasts four independent entertainment options including a MP3 player, high quality digital camera, digital video recorder and radio player. Despite its small size, the S40 also features a built-in speaker and microphone utilizing British Wolfson 8751 DAC for outstanding audio quality.

PC Magazine have reviewed the Fujifilm FinePix A340 Zoom, a digital camera that offers 4 million effective pixel resolution, 3x optical zoom and a sturdy but stylish body.

“The silver-colored A340 is cigarette box-shaped, with a gentle curve on one side for a comfortable grip. The camera is activated by sliding the lens cover away from the lens; pushing the cover back towards the lens causes the lens to recede and be protected when the camera is not in use. The mostly plastic body feels reasonably sturdy, though the ports on the left side (AV, USB, and DC) are exposed. Most cameras protect them with a rubber or plastic flap.”

Website: PC Magazine - Fujifilm FinePix A340 Zoom Review

The Gadgeteer have posted what I think is the first online review Sony’s new portable photo storage device, the catchily-named HDPS-M1 (found via Engadget).

“I personally like everything about the HDD Photo Storage device. If you happen to own a Sony DSC-F828 digital camera, there is nothing else on the market that will meet your portable storage needs as well as this device. Anyone using Memory Stick or Compact Flash would find it very handy to have in their gadget bag. If you want a small LCD for viewing photos, you will need to look at one of the other products on the market. I use my on-camera LCD for that purpose. Alternatively, I prefer my laptop for more detailed viewing.”

Website: The Gadgeteer - Sony Photo Storage Device Review

Luminous Landscape have reviewed a new book by Bruce Fraser which has the fairly self-explanatory title of “Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS”.

“RWCR, as I’ll call it from hereon, is a must-have for several reasons. Firstly, it describes in detail every major and minor function of Camera Raw and how it integrates into and functions with Photoshop’s File Browser. Secondly, and possibly even more importantly, RWCR explains why it does what it does. I found this to be one of the most valuable aspect of the book. Photographers who care about the quality of their work want to know why they are doing what they’re doing, because when you understand this you are better able to utilize the tools at hand for your own particular needs.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS Review

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

Website: digitalkamera.de - Sony DSC-W1 Review

Pixingo Press Release 05/08/04

About PhotoFirst
PhotoFirst is powerful digital photography workflow software. It is designed by, and for, professional photographers to simplify, streamline and save time in the management of their digital photographs from camera to client presentation. This fully integrated package allows the photographer to create job sessions that keep track of photos, photographer and job information and automatically tracks time spent on a project. Once imported, images can be organized, developed (if RAW), edited, grouped, batch corrected and renumbered. When done to the photographer’s satisfaction, the photos are exported for viewing by the client as studio branded custom Web galleries, proof sheets and/or resized image files. Photographer, job and copyright information travels with all images and the source files are never changed. A built in, side-by-side comparison window allows real time review and selection with customers for use as a sales tool.

PictureCode Press Release 04/08/04

August 4, 2004—PictureCode signs 450 leading camera stores as resellers

PictureCode has entered into a distribution agreement with the PRO buying group, the largest cooperative buying group for United States camera stores. The deal adds more than 450 leading camera stores to the list of authorized resellers for Noise Ninja.

The agreement grew out of a successful pilot project in which Noise Ninja was resold for several months by Precision Camera, a PRO member store located in Austin, Texas. “Noise Ninja has become our top selling software product,” says Jerry Sullivan, owner of Precision Camera. “It sells itself. We all know that noise is inherent in digital photography, especially at high ISO settings. Our customers, both professionals and amateurs, have been asking for a solution to the digital noise problem, and they are thrilled to know there is a solution. Noise Ninja is easy to use, and at any price it’s the best product out there. Plus, PictureCode is constantly improving it and adding value.”

Triscape, Inc. Press Release 04/08/04

FxFoto Standard, Deluxe Collage, and Pro Media provide easy to use tools for organizing, editing, correcting, sharing, and publishing photos and multimedia presentations

WINDHAM, NH, August 4, 2004 - Triscape, Inc. today announced enhancements to its popular software suites, FxFoto 2.0 Standard, Deluxe Collage, and Pro Media Editions.  The FxFoto titles are targeted at photography enthusiasts and advanced multimedia users giving them full control over their pictures and the tools to create stunning and captivating presentations and movies.  FxFoto 2.0 Standard is available today as a fully functional free download, while the Deluxe Collage Edition can be obtained for $29.99 and Pro Media Edition for $39.99.  All titles are upgradeable.

Triscape is providing its updates free of charge for all current users.  Printing upgrades include a new print wizard selection for 2x3 wallet-size and 4 x 6 and 3.5 x 5-inch snapshots and a new print “Center Image” option, which centers photos on the paper for printers with non-centered printable areas.

Editing and viewing enhancements include an optional fixed aspect ratio rope that enables users to crop to desired proportions.  A new multi-photo move facility makes it easier than ever to organize photo folders.  The FxFoto Viewer can now blowup photos to cover the screen without extra margins.  Also, the FxFoto Viewer now blanks the mouse cursor when it is not being used to reduce distractions.

It looks like the French shopping website Fnac.com may have inadvertently spilt the beans on the much-rumoured but as yet unseen Canon Powershot G6. It looks like a 7 megapixel version of the G5 to me, albeit with a slightly redesigned silver body. Fnac.com has a larger picture of the camera and the following specs are listed:

- 7.1 megapixel camera
- 3x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 35-140 mm on a 35mm camera
- Aperture range f/2.0-3.0
- Maximum file size of 3072 x 2304 pixels
- Supports JPEG, RAW, AVI formats
- 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 video
- CompactFlash Type I / II memory cards
- USB Interace
- 104 x 70 x 72 mm dimensions
- Weighs 375 grams
- PictBridge support
- Advertised price of 899,00 Euros

The following URL is working at the moment, but bear in mind that Fnac.com may well take it down once you all start visiting it!
UPDATE: Somewhat predictably the Fnac.com webpage for the G6 has now been taken offline…

Thanks to eagle-eyed PhotographyBLOG reader Joao Mestre for letting me know :-)

Website: FNAC - Canon PowerShot G6

More Epson news for you - Seiko Epson Corp and NGK Insulators, Ltd have teamed up to create the world’s smallest gyro-sensor, measuring just 5.0mm x 3.2mm x 1.3mm. What’s more interesting is that this new technology will eventually be used in digital cameras and cameraphones as an anti-shake system.

“This subminiature angular velocity sensor is ideally designed for use in systems that correct camera vibrations. The sensor will enable compact digital cameras, camera-phones, and other products to be equipped with a high-performance motion correction feature.”

Website: NE Asia - Epson Develops World’s Smallest Gyro-Sensor

Website: Epson Press Release

Epson is promoting television-based printing with its Livingstation line of large-screen televisions with built-in printers, and a recent partnership with several Japanese organisations:

“The Megaport project, which also involves media organizations such as Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun and publisher Kadokawa Shoten, produces television programs that combine broadcasts with printable content such as maps and brochures. For example, a viewer could watch a television commercial for a furniture store, then print out the product catalog with the click of a button.”

Livingstation projection TVs are currently available in the US, with the cheapest 47-inch LCD screen priced at $3,199. I wonder how much the inkjet cartridges cost?!

Website: CNET News - Epson aims to turn TVs into printers

The 24th PhotographyBLOG Portfolio has been submitted by Mikhail Radin.

“These images are a subset of my ‘Spring’ album; the rest are available on my website along with a lot of other photo content. These images were taken around New York City in various parks during the Spring of 2003 and 2004. I use a Canon PowerShot s45.

Photography lets me experience my surroundings with a deeper appreciation and understanding. It forces me to pay attention to minor details that otherwise go unnoticed. It makes travel that much more rewarding.”

Website: www.projecttree.com/photo.html?toc=1

Website: Portfolios: Mikhail Radin

The forum user over on Photohobby.net who got hold of a production Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 at the end of July has now followed up his initial preview of the camera with a mini-review.

“I’ve used the same method with A1/A2 and found that Z3 prefocus shutter lag is as good as A2. Here is how I tried, frame and pre-focused the picture first. Then wait until the arm reach left most swing which is frame#6 in the above picture and then press the shutter release. Tried it several times to reduce human error. From this pic you can see that Z3 can get the arm position exactly when you press shutter release. This is better even than the A1. However, full focus lag depends a lot on lighting condition. The AF can be extremely fast in good condition and struggle quite a lot in low light condition. There is a bit improvement of low light AF from Z2 though but I would be glad to see KM include AF assist to this camera as well.”

Website: Photohobby.net - Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 Mini Review

The finance website Forbes reported yesterday that Olympus’ net profits for the first quarter to June dropped 88.4% from a year earlier. The company blamed a dramatic decrease in digital camera prices for the fall.

“The average price of our digital cameras dropped by some 18 pct in the first quarter from the average price in the full year to March 2004… way above the projected 10 pct decline in the average price,” Olympus finance department manager Kazuhiro Watanabe said a press conference.

“Because of falling prices, combined with the deterioration of the product mix, stemmed from a shift of consumer interest to low-end models, and operating profit of our digital camera division dropped to almost zero in the first quarter.”

Website: Forbes.com - Japan’s Olympus Q1 net profit drops on falling digital camera prices