WebFormation, Inc. have announced a number of significant changes to ExposureManager, a service that makes displaying and selling photography online quick and effortless. ExposureManager allows photographers to upload and display their photos. They are given complete freedom in the look and feel of their galleries, and are also able to customize a variety of templates through an easy-to-use interface.

The changes are:

1) You can now use ExposureManager to display your photography but to do the printing and fulfillment yourself. Through ExposureManager’s interface you can create as many product-price combinations as you want. ExposureManager will take care of the credit card transaction and send you an order confirmation.

2) For event photographers that want to use our fulfillment services we made life easier by now offering a ‘display only’ upload. Once an order is received, the photographer is e-mailed to upload the high resolution file. This way photograpers can save themselves many hours of uploading files.

3) We added a journal template (see
http://memorialdayproject.exposuremanager.com). It allows you to create a photo journal or a simplified blog. Rather than entering on a gallery overview it allows you to set a photo as an entry point.

Website: http://www.exposuremanager.com

The International Herald Tribune is reporting that Kodak are introducing their Picture Maker kiosks across Europe. The kiosks are equipped with Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology, which will allow camera phone users to beam their photos to the kiosks and print them out. Perhaps more interestingly for digicam owners, Kodak is also planning to expand the service:

“Within the next 12 to 18 months, Kodak plans to expand the range of mobile devices that can communicate with the kiosks and also include other wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi. “We are not married to any particular technology,” said Lisa Gansky, Kodak’s general manager for digital imaging services.”

From the same article, HP have introduced 2 inkjet printers that are bluetooth-enabled and which will accept photos from Sony Ericsson’s P800/P900 phones. “HP said it expects to introduce more Bluetooth-enabled printers that will work with a wider range of camera phones later this year.”

Website: International Herald Tribune - Your cellphone takes pictures. Now what?

Fortune.com have just published their review of the 6 megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR.

“Should you tempt the geek gods by buying a D70 now, knowing that next year there will be a newer, better, and maybe even cheaper digital SLR? The way I figure it, years from now, long after the D70 has been replaced by a fancier camera, I’ll still treasure the photos it has allowed me to take. To have missed them would be the real tragedy.”

Thanks to Sanj for the link.

Website: Fortune.com - Nikon D70 Review

Steves Digicams have started a new “Tech Corner” monthly column, written by Mike Chaney, who is the creator of Qimage Pro. Mike’s first article is called “The megapixel race. Where did it start? Where will it end?”.

“In 1996, I bought my first digital camera, a Kodak DC40. At the time, it was one of the only consumer cameras available and at 768 x 504 resolution, it offered only a little more than one third of a megapixel. It didn’t even offer a way to view your pictures on the camera, but it sure was cool. A year and a half later, I shelled out even more cash for one of the next generation: an Olympus D600L with a whopping megapixel of resolution. With that purchase, I became aware that the megapixel race had begun and that I’d be spending a lot of money on this new technology.”

Website: Steves Digicams - “The megapixel race. Where did it start? Where will it end?”

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have just reviewed the Sanyo Xacti VPC-S3 digital camera (also known as the DSC-S3). This is a 3.2-megapixel ultra-compact camera with a 3x optical zoom lens and high quality 1.8” TFT monitor.

Website: Index Digicam - Sanyo Xacti VPC-S3 Review

Imaging Resource have published their review of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

“Last year’s PowerShot S45 and S50 impressed me as well-built cameras with excellent image quality and rich feature sets. This year’s S60 model constitutes a significant upgrade to the S50, with a wider-angle zoom lens and improved control layout. As always though, image quality is the real test, and fortunately the S60 does very well in that department as well. Image noise on the S60 seems slightly higher across the board than on the S50, but it’s kept pretty well in check for ISOs of 200 and below, to the point that most users won’t notice it.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon PowerShot S60 Review

The Polish website FotoPolis have posted their review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC1, a rangefinder-like digital camera which is exactly the same as the more expensive Leica Digilux 2 in terms of camera design.

Website: FotoPolis - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC1 Review

e-FotoGrafija have reviewed the new HP Photosmart R707, a stylish 5 megapixel digital camera.

”...the capabilities of this camera are great if we look even outside the photographic world. Lots of pixels (five million) enables us printing on larger formats and crops. 8x digital zoom make it possible to really reach far subjects. Internal memory of 32MB is a great solution for a small back up. The lens is ok and comparable with it’s competitors. It is true that it does not offer true wide angle and that maximum aperture at tele end is only f4.8. But this camera still is very user-friendly and easy to deal with.”

Website: e-FotoGrafija - HP Photosmart R707 Review

Harbortronics Press Release 28/06/04

Harbortronics is excited to announce a very simple method of performing time-lapse, and manual remote shutter release with the Nikon D70. The DigiSnap 2100 now includes an “IR Output” feature, which includes signalling particular to the D70. The 2100-IR cable is also now available, providing a tough, lightweight plastic fiber optic cable which can be taped to the front of the D70, or simply placed near the front of the camera.

The standard DigiSnap 2100, compatible with a wide range of cameras, is priced at $150. The new IR Output feature is available for $30, and is compatible with every DigiSnap 2100 ever built! The 2100-IR cable is priced at $30, and is normally 3 ft long, but can be provided in essentially any length for an additional $0.50 per foot.

For more information, please contact [email protected], 253-858-7769.

Website: Harbortronics

Following my enthusiastic review of the Lensbaby a couple of months ago, Alain Briot and Digital Outback Photo have started a diary review of this unique product in conjunction with the Canon EOS 300D DSLR.

“I took more photos with the lensbaby today. One of the main advantages of this lens is the possibility to create in and out of focus areas quickly and easily. Normally, to get a pronounced out of focus effect on a specific area of the image, you need to use some sort of gel on the lens to blur specific areas. Cokin even sells a special gel for this use, a sort of Vaseline. You can also use a veil or other semi-transparent cloth.”

Website: Alain Briot - Lensbaby Review

Website: Read my review of the Lensbaby

Epson USA Press Release 28/06/04

New Epson Perfection Scanners Feature Photo Restoration Capabilities and Amazing Image Quality

LONG BEACH, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—June 28, 2004—EPSON Perfection(R) 4180 Photo, Perfection 2580 Photo and Perfection 2480 Photo are the Latest Additions to Epson’s Affordably-Priced Scanner Line Up

The newest scanners to make their debut—the EPSON Perfection 4180 Photo, Perfection 2580 Photo and Perfection 2480 Photo—each offer a performance-rich set of features at incredibly affordable prices. These new models offer an impressive combination of image quality, versatility and innovative photo restoration software at prices ranging from $99 up to $199. Epson is known for delivering high-quality products to a variety of customers and its latest offerings to the scanner market are no exception.

All three models offer high-resolution scanning for amazing quality, with true maximum hardware resolutions of 4800 x 9600 dpi on the EPSON Perfection 4180 Photo, and 2400 x 4800 dpi on the EPSON Perfection 2580 Photo and 2480 Photo models. Each of these new scanners also includes the second generation of Epson Easy Photo Fix(TM) technology, which provides customers with precise one-touch color restoration of faded photos, slides and negatives, and one-touch dust removal from slides and negatives. Customers who have held on to treasured photographs can scan and restore those images with confidence and ease.
 

DCViews have just reviewed the new 5 megapixel Sony DSC-P100 digital camera.

“Exposure is spot on all the time and images are simply perfect straight from the camera, so no post-processing will be necessary if you don’t want to. The P100 produces fairly saturated colours by default, but should you prefer a bit more punch this can easily be adjusted by increasing saturation or contrast.”

Website: DCViews - Sony DSC-P100 Review

ByteSector have published their review of the 4-megapixel Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom digital camera.

“The major component that bothers me is that the lens is not attached to the camera properly. It wobbles a little. I have received e-mails from viewers who have expressed this issue as well and it is one that I think Olympus should fix. When the lens is extended out it wobbles back and forth if you move the camera rapidly or touch it with your finger. When I took a look at the C-740 model a while back, it did not have such an issue.”

Website: ByteSector - Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom Review

Transcend Press Release 28/06/04

Taipei, Taiwan, June 28, 2004 /Various Agencies—- With high-resolution digital cameras and other multimedia appliances pushing the need for higher capacity flash memory cards, Transcend has proudly stepped up to the challenge. Transcend Information, Inc. a world leader in flash memory cards, has increased the capacity of their Ultra Performance 45X CompactFlash (CF) Cards to an eye-popping 4 gigabytes (GB), the highest capacity of any CF card in the world. Designed for cameras that use the FAT32 format, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Sony high-resolution digital cameras are verified to be 100% compatible.

About Photography have published an interesting look at correcting lens distortion, both before taking a photograph and afterwards using computer software.

“Digital images can be corrected in various ways after the picture has been shot. Increasingly we can expect digital cameras to incorporate lens-specific algorithms to correct some of the lens faults. This will of course increase the desirability of lenses from the camera manufacturer, as those from the independents are unlikely to be catered for unless legislation for free competition forces the makers to do so.”

Website: About Photography - Correcting Lens Distortion

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

“In terms of image quality, barrel distortion was visible at wideangle, though it lessened considerably as we zoomed to telephoto. Slight pincushion was observed at the telephoto end too. Vignetting was also visible at wideangle (36mm and f2.8). However, there is not much to fault in its white balance performance. Other than the expected orange cast under tungsten lighting when we used the automatic white balance setting, the rest were pretty much spot-on. A white or gray card can also be used for a custom white balance setting. Its macro performance was great too, offering very decent area coverage. Skintones were rendered beautifully; even when flash is used at close distances, though the colors may be a tad rich or saturated at times.”

Website: HardwareZone - Canon Digital Ixus 500 Review

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Fujifilm FinePix A330 Zoom, a digital camera that offers 3 million effective pixel resolution, 3x optical zoom and a sturdy but stylish body.

“The FUJINON 3X optical zoom lens produces sharp results throughout its range, with some barrel distortion at extreme wide angle and pincushioning at full telephoto. The operation of the optical zoom is smooth and quiet, but not continuous; it moves through its 38-114mm range in 10 distinct steps, more than adequate for composing most shots.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Fujifilm FinePix A330 Zoom Review

Steves Digicams 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 latest addition to Fujifilm’s “A” series camera line, the FinePix A340 is equipped with a 4.0 megapixel imager and a 3X optical zoom lens. This is a simple point-n-shoot that allows the beginner to obtain good results, while offering several appealing features to the intermediate user, including four scene modes and a 320x240 (10fps) movie mode. And for those who want a bit more control over the exposure process, the Manual mode offers settings for Exposure Compensation (?2 EV), and White Balance (Auto, plus 6 presets.)”

Website: Steves Digicams - Fujifilm FinePix A340 Zoom Review

Imaging Resource have reviewed the Olympus D-580 Zoom which has 4 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens (also known as the C-360 Zoom in some parts of the world).

“Since the D-580 Zoom offers only limited exposure control and a small number of external buttons, learning to use the camera shouldn’t take too long, even for relatively inexperienced users. Simply opening the lens cover puts it in Shooting mode. Entering Playback mode is obvious: Just press the Quick View button on the back panel, and the camera will switch to Playback mode if it’s in Shooting mode, or turn on and enter Playback mode if it was turned off.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Olympus D-580 Zoom Review

DCResource have published their review of the Canon PowerShot S60, a 5 megapixel digital camera with a wide-angle 28mm-100mm lens and a new thin body.

“The Canon PowerShot S60 is a nice camera for those looking for a high resolution camera with a wide-angle lens, full manual controls, and a fairly compact body. Most compact digicams have lenses that start at 35 - 39 mm, but the S60’s lens starts at 28 mm—great for indoor shots. If the 100 mm telephoto end isn’t enough for you, then Canon offers a teleconverter which attaches to the tripod mount. The S60’s body is fairly small, but it’s huge compared to things like the Digital ELPH. It’s not a pocket camera, but it’s small enough to carry around for the day. Build quality is good for the most part, though the plastic battery/memory card cover leaves something to be desired.”

Website: DCResource - Canon PowerShot S60 Review