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.

Photo.net have published 33 interesting facts in a new article about colour film processing:

“Fact: Freezing or refrigeration slows down all chemical changes in unexposed or exposed film. This means that curve shape and speeds among other properties remain close to when you bought the film. Fog continues to rise due to cosmic or ambient radiation. Heat induced fog is slowed down or virtually stopped depending on temperature. This varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and from film to film. Negative films seem to survive better, because the fog can be ‘printed through’. In practice, though, no film keeps forever.”

Website: Photo.net - Color processing myths dispelled

Steves Digicams have posted the first review that I have seen of the recently announced Canon PIXMA iP4000 inkjet printer.

“For your everyday text and color document printing tasks the Pixma iP4000 is an excellent printer and it’s very fast. It’s also very quiet and one of the most versatile printers that I’ve used in some time. The built-in duplexer (two-sided printing) is great for web page or document printouts and will save lots of wasted paper. It’s also great for printing your own professional-looking photo albums, sales flyers, catalogs or whatever.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon PIXMA iP4000 Review

LetsGoDigital have published their review of the new 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8700 digital camera.

“Coming back to the Coolpix 8700 I see a digital camera with an excellent color reproduction at which the white balance functions far above average: extremely well! The exposure likewise. The automatic exposure hardly gets it wrong, hardly any failures and shadow or bright parts are well reproduced. The detail sharpness can be called very good, the structure of certain objects is captured excellently for example the structure of a towel. The clearness of Macro images is high class after setting the right aperture.”

Website: LetsGoDigital - Nikon Coolpix 8700 Review

Bytesector have just reviewed the new flagship model of the Canon Digital IXUS fleet, the 5.0 megapixel Powershot S500 (known as the Digital IXUS 500 outside North America), which was announced at the start of February.

“The ELPH series of cameras are all fairly small units that fit easily in any pocket when turned off. The power button is well recessed, so it is very unlikely that it will accidentally turn itself on. The matte silver finish looks good, but can be scratched if the camera is not taken care of. A case is highly recommended. The camera is easy to hold, and like all cameras, is made for right handed people. There are well placed grips for your hands, and controls are easy to reach, and manipulate.”

Website: Bytesector - Canon Powershot S500 Review

If like me you tend to take several photos of the same subject, from slightly different angles and focal lengths, then you will know how difficult it can be to select the best from the rest. Alain Briot’s latest article in his “Aesthetics and Photography” series is essential reading.

“Keepers. A photographer’s term for photographs we like enough to keep them in our permanent files and print them.

But how do you decide which photographs are good enough to be kept around or good enough to be shown to others, printed or exhibited? I receive numerous emails asking me this very question. It seems that many who ask this question believe there is some sort of infallible test which allows photographers in the know to somehow ‘“weed out” the bad photographs and select the good ones, without faltering, without hesitating, knowing exactly how successful any given image will be with the public.

Well, let me start this article by saying that ?it ain?t so.? I wish it was but it is not that simple. Why? That is what this article not only aims to explain but also aims to help you with. Read on!”

Website: Luminous Landscape - How to Decide Which Photographs Are Keepers and Which Ones Are Not

Fazal Majid has posted a useful look at loupes on his weblog, inclduing models from Peak, Contax and Schneider.

“Loupes (French for “magnifying glass) are high-quality magnifiers, originally used to help focus images on a ground glass, and later to view slides or negatives on a light table. You can find them in all shapes and sizes, at prices from $15 for a cheap plastic model, all the way to over $300 for a Zeiss loupe for viewing 6x6 medium format slides. Slides viewed on a light table with a high-quality loupe are a treat for the eyes, because of the high contrast (1000:1) that you cannot get with prints (more like 100:1).”

Website: Going all loopy about loupes

Steves Digicams has reviewed the Kodak Easyshare CX7530, a 5-megapixel digital camera with a 3X optical zoom lens, selling for US$299.

“The Kodak Retinar 3X optical zoom lens has a 35mm-equivalent range of 34-102mm, giving you coverage from wide angle through telephoto focal lengths. At the 34mm end of the zoom range you’ll have enough field of view for most interior and landscape shots, and at 102mm you’ll be able to capture the details of distant subjects. The lens produced sharp images throughout its zoom range, with only slight barrel distortion at wide angle, and almost no pin cushioning at telephoto. The zoom is smooth, and makes no noticeable noise when extending the lens or during autofocus.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Kodak Easyshare CX7530 Review

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

“The overall image quality in 2592x1944/Fine mode is good, for the most part the default settings will produce well saturated and properly exposed pictures. You can adjust the saturation, contrast and sharpness to “dial in” just the right look for your images. I found that the automatic white balance did its job well and only under some very mixed lighting did it show any problems. I was pleased with our outdoor test shots. The images were sharp, well saturated, and I noticed very little noise in high/low contrast areas. “

Website: Steves Digicams - Sony DSC-F88 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Canon PowerShot A310, which is targeted at consumers looking for an easy-to-use camera.

“The ergonomics of the A310 are great. Controls are well placed and functional, and the menu system is easy to navigate. The LCD works very well, even on the brightest of days, and when used in low-light it “gains up” to brighten the subject. A feature of the A310 that is a Canon (not industry) standard is the Focus-Assist Illuminator for shooting in low-ambient lighting conditions. There’s nothing more aggravating than attempting to shoot a picture in low light and discovering that the camera can’t focus. The A310’s focus-assist illuminator is a big help and I wish more digicam manufacturers would take a hint from Canon who uses these illuminators on nearly every digicam they make.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon PowerShot A310 Review