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

PC Magazine have published an article by David Cardinal, a professional photographer who runs the website nikondigital.org, which is an easy-to-understand introduction to the RAW image file format.

“The most common reason to shoot RAW is to handle tricky lighting situations. Getting the color right in a digital image is hard, and the automatic white balance setting on your camera does not always work. But instead of worrying about setting the white balance, you can make your best guess, shoot in RAW mode, then change the white balance of the images later on the computer.”

Website: PC Magazine - Photos in the RAW

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have posted their review of the Kyocera Finecam M410R, a 4.0 megapixel digital camera with a high-powered 10x optical zoom and high-speed lens.

Website: Index Digicam - Kyocera Finecam M410R Review

A new article on Digital Outback Photo discusses image and data backup and briefly reviews a Windows program called FileBack, which automates the backup process.

“There is the irony about digital photos: They actually can last without degrading forever (even improve by better imaging software) and yet they are very volatile, many bits on some storage device (we won’t even touch the topic of the volatility of file formats here).

You have to protect your images against data loss. This means you need to backup your data and it is not bad to get a bit neurotic about saving your valuable images.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - FileBack Review

Canto Press Release 29/07/04

Enhanced features in version 6.0.3 lead the way with XMP support and extensive improvements in ease-of-use

July 29, 2004, San Francisco, Berlin. Canto, a global leader in Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions, today announced the immediate availability of Cumulus 6.0.3. for myCumulus, Single User, Workgroup and Enterprise. Stability and performance are still central to every Cumulus update, and version 6.0.3 takes this to another level.

Cumulus 6.0.3 now offers support of XMP files, the metadata standard for Adobe files. In addition to the long time support of IPTC, users can now not only read but also write XMP information back to the original asset.

Sigma UK Press Release 03/08/04

An advertisement for Sigma’s SD10 digital SLR has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority after a complaint from a magazine reader.

The ad, which showed a close-up colour photograph of a human eye, claimed “10.2 million pixels will open your eyes to the true colour reproduction and outstanding picture quality…Don’t compromise on quality. See the difference.”

The complainant, from Leicestershire, reckoned the photograph had been retouched with digital imaging software and claimed that the use of the image, without a suitable disclaimer, was misleading because readers would assume that the image represented picture quality achievable directly by the camera.

Epson UK Press Release 03/08/04

EPSON brings effortless and easy film scanning to amateur film photographers

EPSON launches the EPSON Perfection 2580 Photo, featuring new film scanning capabilities that includes the first automatic film loader for digitising 35mm film.

1st August 2004: The EPSON Perfection 2580 Photo is the first scanner to include Auto Film Loader features for digitising 35mm film. Filmstrips can now be scanned effortlessly with just one click. The EPSON Perfection 2580 Photo also includes high optical resolution for picking up minute detail and creating large prints from film.  Furthermore, EPSON’s unique photo restoration tools are included for repairing and rejuvenating old photographs.

Richard Baylis, Sales and Marketing Manager, Consumer Product, EPSON UK says, “This new scanner offers users a higher resolution, improved photo restoration and fast film scanning solution. The revolutionary auto film loader will make film scanning easier and quicker for amateur film photographers by automating the loading process.”

RRP inc VAT £99.99

An interesting series of new articles has just started over on the website PIXIPORT, called “The Eye Within”. As the name suggests, the articles by Simon Maxwell will focus on the creative aspect of photography, rather than the technology behind it. The first article is called “Standing still to start the dance”:

“What’s the difference that makes the difference?

What makes some photographs examples of creative art and others simply competent records? Why do some images have soul to them and others, while technically perfect, leave us feeling cold?

I believe that part of the answer lies in the state of mind of the photographer during both the capturing of the image and the post-shooting work that makes that subject expressive. That state of mind is the result of being able to spend time with the image.”

Website: PIXIPORT - The Eye Within

UK website The Register have posted a reader’s experience with the new digital print kiosks from Kodak, which may have appeared recently in a Boots store near you. All seemed well - fast print times, good quality, kind-of-reasonale cost - until the reviewer went to leave the store:

“Anyway, onto the point of most concern. Having paid for my photos at the counter, i turned to leave the store, passing the kiosk again… only to notice the “Previous Pictures” button on the main display. Curious. I walked over and touched the button. Lo and behold, my photos. The kiosk copied them from my disk to print a copy… but you’d assume they’d be deleted afterwards. However, it seems they remain in a cache of some sort. Not all of my pictures were there, granted, but about half of them at least.”

Website: The Register - Reg reader tackles Kodak digital print booth

UPDATE 05/08/04: The Register have now published an update in which Kodak have responded to the concerns raised by the original article.

Website: The Register - Digital print booths: Kodak addresses your concerns

Samsung have unveiled a new 6 megapixel digital camera, the Digimax V6. The Norwegian digital camera website DigIT seems to have exclusive news about the new model at the moment. As far as I can make out, the V6 will have a 1/1.8” CCD, a 38-114 mm optical zoom lens and will be available in mid-September. More details when I get them…

Website: DigIT- Samsung Digimax V6