Fujifilm UK Press Release 28/07/04

Fujifilm FinePix E500 Zoom and FinePix E510 Zoom: refreshingly candid cameras

Fujifilm takes a wide angle on things with no-nonsense ‘E’ range duo

Fujifilm today announces the launch of the FinePix E500 Zoom and FinePix E510 Zoom: compact digital cameras that are dependable in design and straightforward in operation. The cameras are the first models in Fujifilm’s newly-launched E series, which is characterised by wide zooms, large LCD screens and useful features, allowing photographic creativity to be explored, all at a competitive price.

The sturdily-built FinePix E500 Zoom and FinePix E510 Zoom are a pleasure to use. With a durable chassis featuring a solid ?grip’, they are more comfortable to operate than smaller lifestyle cameras, and will bring even the most hardened sceptic round to digital photography.

The FinePix E500 and E510 Zoom deliver 4.1 million effective pixels and 5.2 million effective pixels respectively. Each has a Fujinon 3.2x zoom lens, boasting a wider-than-average equivalent of 28mm on a 35mm camera. With a starting sensitivity of ISO 80, both models have a pleasingly high signal to noise ratio and an accompanying increase in image quality. The generous 2” LCDs on the rear ensure clear playback and confident picture-taking.

Imatest is shaping up to be an interesting development for the photographer who likes to know everything about their equipment. It is a suite of programs for testing the sharpness and image quality of lenses, digital cameras, and digitized film images using inexpensive, widely available targets. Imatest will be released in August 2004.

“With Imatest you can:
 
- test lens performance at different focal lengths and apertures to learn where each lens works best; 
- examine the effects of camera and post-processing settings, such as mirror lock, ISO speed, white balance, RAW converter, and sharpening; 
- compare the performance of different cameras, even if they have different amounts of built-in sharpening; 
- compare your camera and lenses with results derived from websites such as imaging-resource.com, dpreview.com and others. This is important because quality control is far from perfect. Even premium lenses from reputable manufacturers may fail to meet expectations. With Imatest you can find out fast and return them if they are substandard. “

Website: Imatest

Michael Reichmann explains the thinking and execution behind two of his most recent images in a new article entitled “Abstracting The Landscape”.

“Each of the above photographs are straightforward photographic records of a particular situation. Neither has been enhanced using Photoshop or any other techniques. The only controls applied were those of traditional darkroom work, including brightness, contrast and saturation. Taken with a square format digital back on a 645 format camera, both frames have been cropped only slightly from what was photographed.

What elevates them from being snapshots or postcards? In both cases it is emotion. These scenes spoke to me, and because of what they said caused me to want to record them and share them with others. Each is an abstraction of the reality in which they were found. A wider view would have shown the context in which they were situated, but would have also included much that wasn’t relevant to the story being told.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Abstracting The Landscape

Imaging Resource have just reviewed Optipix 3, a suite of software applications for improving your digital images from Reindeer Graphics.

“If you think Optipix is a little too exotic to add to your software suite, think of it as the nicest thing you can do for your digicam. We’ve been able to get dynamic range out of images captured by our old Average digicam that just wasn’t built into it. And the tweaks you can now perform range from important edits like JPEG Cleaner to rewarding effects like Grain Maker. You really can’t lose with Optipix. These are tools written by someone who not only knows about pocket protectors but who loves taking pictures, too.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Optipix 3 Review

Peering inside another photographer’s camera-bag is always an interesting experience, and a look inside Uwe Steinmueller’s collection of Canon lenses is no exception.

“In our work we most often use zoom lenses. 30 years ago we did not even think of touching a zoom lens (we used mainly two Nikon F2s and owned (still have them) prime lenses from 20-200mm). Why zooms today?

- Zooms improved a lot over the last 30 years
- We try to minimize lens changes as this may introduce dust into out DSLRs
- Zooms are flexible
- We may be a bit lazy :-)

But we try to stay away from zoom lenses with a huge focal range as this means that these lenses are either heavy and expensive or of inferior quality.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Uwe’s Canon Lenses

DPReview have posted a hands-on preview of the new 7 megapixel Sony DSC-P150 digital compact camera.

“The P150 is obviously based on the current P100; the body design and control layout appears to be identical, though the new model sports a natty brushed metal finish on the front. As with the P100 the lens retracts fully into the body, meaning the camera is - at around an inch thick - easily pocketable. The new ‘Real Image Processor’ (RIP) is claimed to speed up startup, focus and other important functions, and we certainly found this pre-production sample to be no slouch.”

Website: DPReview - Sony DSC-P150 Preview

DCResource have reviewed the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-F88 digital camera.

“Overall, image quality on the DSC-F88 was good but not great. Color and exposure were both accurate, and purple fringing levels were quite low. What bothered me the most were the muddy/fuzzy details and above average noise levels. Things like grass and trees look like they’ve been grabbed from a video camera, with fine details washed away (giving images a “soft” look). For small prints this will not be an issue, but I printed gallery photo #9 at 8 x 10 and some of the foliage detail was lost, so you’ve been warned. Noise levels seemed a bit high as well, most notably in shadow areas.”

Website: DCResource - Sony DSC-F88 Review

Photobird have just reviewed the 5 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 digital camera.

“The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 is extremely easy to use to take photos. It’s very self-explanatory. I didn’t even need to read the instructions. I did need some help getting the photos out of the camera and onto my Windows computer though. Sony should make that step easier, perhaps with a quick start guide.”

Website: Photobird - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 Review

The 34th 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 2nd August. The Poll will then be closed and the overall winner announced.

Vote now for your favourite image from the Photo Of The Week 19th-25th July 2004 contest

According to the website PhotoScala, Mamiya are releasing a digital version of its popular professional medium format camera, the RZ67 Pro. The new model, called the RZ67 Pro IID, features a MSCE (Mamiya Serial Communication for Exchange) connection to allow any MSCE compatible digital back to be used with the camera. The RZ-67 Pro IID will be available in August, costing around ?1300 / 2000 Euros.

Thanks to Giallauk for sending me the link :-)

Website: PhotoScala - Mamiya RZ67 Pro IID

Yakumo Press Release 21/07/04

More camera highlights from Yakumo  

Braunschweig, 21st July 2004 - Two new digital camera bargains are set to put Yakumo in the digital camera market spotlight. The new Mega-Image 47sx joins the Yakumo camera line up at entry-level with a price tag of 99 euros. And, with an unbeatable recommended retail price of 199 euros, the Mega-Image 67x targets creative hobby photographers.

Yakumo Mega-Image 47sx
The Mega-Image 47sx comes equipped with a technical profile that - up to now - was only available in much more expensive camera models. It has a CCD chip with effective 4.10 megapixel resolution, 3x optical (small picture format: 34-102 mm) and 2x digital zoom. For memory expansion, the camera has a slot for Compact Flash cards. All in all, the Mega-Image 47sx is destined to be an ideal camera for good quality, holiday snapshots.

Yakumo Mega-Image 67x
The Mega-Image 67x is Yakumo’s new top model. It has a CCD chip with an effective resolution of 6.36 megapixels, 3x optical (small picture format: 37-111 mm) and 2x digital zoom and also provides an extension slot for SD cards. This Yakumo model offers manual exposure control, manual white balance and focus settings - allowing the hobby photographer to produce individual and creative photo results. Two rechargeable AA batteries, charger and power supply are supplied with the new Yakumo camera.

Both models are available now at all Yakumo dealers.

http://www.yakumo.com

Olympus Japan have released a new firmware version (1.3) for their 5-megapixel Olympus E-1 DSLR, which fixes the following issue:

- A communication error rarely occurred when the lens opening value of E-1 was changed using the Camera Control Function of OLYMPUS Studio installed on a personal computer. This problem was solved.

Website: Olympus E-1 Firmware

Olympus Japan have released a new firmware version for the 8-megapixel Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom digital camera. It fixes the following issues:

- By taking certain type of route in camera operation, malfunction of AF or the camera not accepting any button operation occurs.
- In Exif Viewer, CAMEDIA Master and Olympus Studio software, information of the focal length (Exif-information) in 35mm photography appears to be incorrect. 

Website: Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom Firmware

Website: Read my review of the Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom

Steves Digicams 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.

“Pentax touts the OptioMX as both a still and movie camera. It records compressed MPEG4 movies at 30 frames per second, and allows the use of the optical zoom and autofocus during recording without introducing camera noise into the audio. But I was disappointed with the jumpiness of the results - it fell far short of the smoothness expected of a 30fps recording. I was also disappointed with shutter lag during movie recording; I measured a consistent delay of 2.2 seconds between depressing the movie button and recording the first frame.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Pentax OptioMX Review

Imaging Resource have just reviewed the Pentax Optio43WR. This digital camera features 4.0 effective megapixels, a 2.8X zoom lens, and a JIS Class 7 waterproof rating that keeps the Optio43WR watertight even when the camera is rinsed, splashed or submersed in water.

“Despite my modest expectations for the Optio 43WR, by the end of the trip, I was very glad that I’d decided to bring it along. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a 43WR on my own dime, to carry as my “take anywhere” digicam. (As I write this, the unit I had on vacation with me is sadly on its way back to Pentax.) While I wouldn’t choose it as my only camera, I just as surely wouldn’t want to be without it on any outings involving quantities of water, dust, or mud. If you’re into almost any form of “adventure sports,” the Optio 43WR is a camera you need to own.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Pentax Optio43WR Review

Shuttertalk have published their review of the 5 megapixel Ricoh Caplio GX digital camera.

“The macro mode is quite remarkable on this camera - objects can be minimum of 1cm away. Focusing was fast, and I was able to achieve a focus lock most of the time. The camera was also smart enough to throttle the flash power back when in macro mode, so that objects weren?t washed out. Overall, this camera produced some good macro shots.”

Website: Shuttertalk - Ricoh Caplio GX Review

Website: Read my Review of the Ricoh Caplio GX

Continued High Growth Rates in the Consumer Digital Camera Market Astound Industry

WEYMOUTH, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—July 27, 2004—Continued high growth rates in the consumer digital camera market are astounding industry vendors, who are waiting for the peak. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures predicts two more years of strong growth before sales peak. Consumer digital camera unit sales in the United States are forecasted to reach 22.8 million in 2004. This represents a unit growth of 42% over 2003, which showed 58% unit growth over 2002.

Factors that contribute to ongoing high growth rates include the growing market of first-time buyers (digital camera penetration is expected to reach over 40% of U.S. households by year-end), and the rate of digital camera users replacing or purchasing an additional digital camera.

“Digital camera users have a lot of incentive to upgrade to the latest crop of digital cameras, since many models introduced this year address several user complaints such as slow imaging processing and poor battery life,” says Michelle Slaughter, Director of Digital Photography Trends at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. “Additionally, manufacturers are gaining more traction in the U.S. market with premium features, including larger color LCDs (2 inches and larger), ultra-compact and stylish designs, extended zoom models (over 3X optical), and digital SLRs.”

Lyra Research Press Release 27/07/04

Worldwide Revenue from Photo Prints Captured with Digital Cameras to Surpass $15 Billion by 2008; Lyra Projects a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 12 Percent

NEWTONVILLE, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—July 27, 2004—The growing popularity of digital cameras is increasing the number of digital photos taken and saved. This, in turn, translates into more digital photos printed at various locations including at home, in retail locations, and via online photo-printing services. In a new report entitled Consumer Photo-Printing Market: Where Digital Photos Will Be Printed, Lyra Research forecasts that revenue from photo prints captured with digital cameras will increase from $6.6 billion in 2002 to $15.1 billion in 2008, a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent.

“With home, retail, and online photo-printing options, where consumers choose to print their digital photos now and in the future is the key issue in this market,” comments Bob Palmer, director of Lyra’s Digital Photography Advisory Service. “This report looks at consumer behavior and deals with the key issues and trends driving the photo-printing market, which has become a dynamic segment now that digital cameras have reached mass-market appeal.”

Lyra will publish Consumer Photo-Printing Market: Where Digital Photos Will Be Printed in September 2004. The report contains digital camera shipment and revenue forecasts through 2008 and estimates the size of the photo-printing market for digital cameras with details by world region. The report also offers suggestions for vendors on capturing a share of this burgeoning market.

The 35th 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.

The voting for the 33rd Photo of the Week contest has now finished.

The winner of the contest is “Callas Teardrops” by tootsie. Congratulations!

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