Nature Photographers Online Magazine has been updated for February with some new articles and an excellent cover photograph. “Out with the Old and In with the New” looks at the ritual of replacing old photography gear with new and improved gear, whilst I wish “Quick Lessons in Computer Maintenance, Disaster Recovery, and Data Backup: Part 2” had been published about a month ago, before my PC’s motherboard decided to give up the ghost…

Website: Nature Photographers Online Magazine

The website Nomads’ Land, run by photographer Jean-Francois Maion, has recently published an excellent article which looks at the challenges of taking a digital camera, in this case the Canon EOS 10D digital SLR, to an environment as extreme as the Himalayas:

“Is digital photography up to the challenges of extended outdoor adventures in harsh conditions? A year ago, I would probably have answered: no. As a trekker and mountain climber, it was actually the main reason why I stuck with my film SLR.

That is, until this spring, when I could not resist the call of the new EOS 10D. And when I embarked this autumn on a climbing expedition to the Himalayas, I intended to photograph digital.”

Website: Nomads’ Land - Digital Photography in the Wilderness

Ulead Systems Press Release 02/02/04

Photo Explorer 8 Digital Photo Album Offers a Complete Digital Photography and Media Management Tool for the PC for only £24.99

Northampton, January 2004 - Ulead Systems, Inc., a leading developer of image editing, video editing and DVD authoring software, today announced the retail launch the Ulead Photo Explorer 8 Digital Photo Album, the most complete media management tool for the PC for acquiring, organizing, converting and sharing images, video and other media files.

The renamed, Photo Explorer 8 Digital Photo Album, provides a new format for easily and conveniently managing and finding photos according to file name, prefix, personal rating and date.

The software’s ability to pre-scan a folder and create image thumbnails both from a hard drive and CD allows users to quickly browse thumbnails and create a CD catalogue that can be used as a reference without inserting the CD into the drive. Its new auto-slicing tool saves time by slicing multiple scanned images to separate them into single images. Vast improvements in speed and performance, along with enhanced slideshow capabilities, and new, multiple interface layouts, make Digital Photo Album a fine-tuned and dynamic tool for digital media management.

Kodak Press Release 02/02/04

New KODAK EASYSHARE CX7430, CX7300 and CX7220 Digital Cameras Simplify Picture-Taking, Sharing and Printing

Latest Models Pair High Image Quality with Great Value; Compatible with the KODAK EASYSHARE Printer Dock for At-Home Prints in as Little as 90 Seconds

ROCHESTER, N.Y., February 2 - Building upon its popular EASYSHARE consumer digital photography system, Eastman Kodak Company today introduced three new digital cameras in the EASYSHARE CX line: the CX7430 camera, with 4 megapixel (MP) resolution and 3X optical zoom; the CX7300 camera, with 3 MP resolution and a fixed-focus lens; and the CX7220 camera, with 2 MP resolution and 2X optical zoom. All offer one-touch picture sharing, outstanding picture quality and Kodak?s hallmark simplicity of operation.

EASYSHARE camera owners can quickly select pictures for printing and e-mail - with up to 32 e-mail addresses stored right on the camera - with a touch of the exclusive, red-jeweled “Share” button. The CX7430 model also integrates Kodak?s new camera favorites feature for storing multiple pictures in an on-camera digital photo album. Each picture can then be shared anytime on the camera?s 1.6-inch indoor/outdoor LCD screen, or printed in as little as 90 seconds with the KODAK EASYSHARE printer dock 6000.

“Life moves at an incredibly fast pace these days, so capturing both everyday and once-in-a-lifetime moments with a digital picture becomes all the more important,” said Rowan Lawson, director of worldwide digital product marketing for Kodak?s Digital & Film Imaging Systems operation. “The newest additions to the KODAK EASYSHARE CX camera line give moms and others on the run great looking pictures without hassle, all at an affordable price. Whether those pictures are shared on the camera’s LCD screen, e-mailed, or printed, they’ll bring smiles to the faces of friends and family for years to come.”

Kodak Press Release 02/02/04

New KODAK EASYSHARE DX7630 Zoom Digital Camera Delivers Unsurpassed Consumer Image Quality

6-Megapixel Model Features the KODAK Color Science image processing chip, SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON optics

ROCHESTER, N.Y., February 2 - Eastman Kodak Company today unveiled the Kodak EASYSHARE DX7630 zoom digital camera, which features unsurpassed image quality among 5- and 6-megapixel consumer digital cameras. With 6-megapixel resolution, a professional-quality SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON 3x optical zoom lens, precision low-light autofocus system, and a host of creative controls, the camera is well suited for the avid photographer. It will be available in April 2004 for a suggested retail price of US$499.

“We’ve designed the DX7630 camera for people who need sophisticated control and performance features without sacrificing compact design and ease of use,” said Rowan Lawson, worldwide director of product marketing for Kodak?s Digital & Applied Imaging operation. “The picture quality produced by this camera is nothing short of stunning. The images can even be printed as large as 30 x 40 inches, or even cropped up to 80 percent while retaining a printable 4 x 6-inch or 5 x 7-inch picture.”

Casio have today announced a 4 megapixel version of the the QV-R51 digicam, logically called the QV-R41. It’s identical to the 5-megapixel QV-R51, with the same industry leading start-up time of just 1 second and a 0.01 second shutter release lag time, plus a large 2.0” LCD screen which enables easy viewing and editing of images.

The QV-R41 will be available in the UK from February - no word yet on how much it will cost, although LetsGoDigital are reporting that it will be 399 Euros.

Casio Press Release 02/02/04

February 2nd 2004 ? CASIO Electronics Co. Ltd, are today delighted to unveil the latest addition to their popular QV compact digital camera series, the new 4.0 megapixel QV-R41. Following last month?s announcement of the QV-R51, also with 3x optical zoom, both models are perfect for the first time user. With compact good looks and improved user-friendliness the QV-R models provide incredible response and convenience while offering CASIO?s exceptional quality and value for money.

CASIO is well known as a pioneer in the digital camera market, having consistently delivered products with better performance and refinement while reducing size and bringing great advances in usability. This philosophy is clearly evident in the QV-R41, which has even more functionality than previous CASIO cameras in this range.

Kodak launched a new inkjet photo paper at the end of January called “Ultima Picture Paper”. The company claims that “When used with the latest inks from various manufacturers, photos printed on the paper will last for more than 100 years in typical home display without protection from gas and humidity.” The owner of the excellent weblog Tommy Blogs has got hold of a pack and tested it with his Canon i9100 printer. Whilst Tommy obviously can’t testify to the longevity of the print, he has reported on the print quality:

“About the printing ? fantastic! I printed the target for Profile Prism around 1:00PM today and let it dry for nearly 8 hours. The profile came out great. The histogram was the best I?ve seen. The dynamic range and color space coverage numbers were slightly below the Canon Photo Paper Pro, but just barely. Although I haven?t tested a range of scenes, I have printed a photo that needs a lot of ink and the results were completely different from anything I have seen from Kodak paper in the past. It was dry to the touch when it came out of the printer and I put my straight edge on it and cut within minutes of that and had no smears, no stickiness, no problems.”

So it seems like Kodak might have cured some of the problems with their inkjet papers - now we just have to wait 100 years to see if they suffer from fading :-)

Website: Tommy Blogs

It was only announced just over 2 weeks ago at the CES show in the USA, but DCResource have got hold of the 5-megapixel Casio QV-R51 and have published their review.

“While I doubt the review I wrote two weeks before this one had anything to do with it, Casio’s QV-R51 addressed many of complaints I had with their QV-R40. First and foremost is noise. It was pretty bad on the R40, and now it’s gone—images have a nice smooth look to them. I also didn’t like the R40’s slow shutter speed limitations; now you can shoot for up to 4 seconds. As added bonuses, Casio upped the LCD size to 2 inches (though the resolution didn’t go up as well), and the longest movie you can record is up to 60 seconds (though still without sound).”

Website: DCResource - Casio QV-R51 Review

Long-time Nikon user Thom Hogan has posted his first impressions of the Nikon D70’s feature specification, comparing it with the D100:

“Note how many of the features in the above list are “better than D100” and how few are “worse than D100.” Given the lower price, the D70 effectively removes the D100 from the market and lowers the resale value of the D100. Note that this doesn’t mean the D100 is any less capable than it has been (which is to say “very”), just that the target for digital cameras moves forward.”

Website: Thom Hogan - Nikon D70 First Impressions

Lexar Media, Inc. Press Release 29/01/04

Fourth Quarter Revenues of $177 Million Increase 80% Sequentially and 171% Year-over-Year;
Fourth Quarter Earnings Total $0.21 per Diluted Share

FREMONT, Calif, January 29, 2004—Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-performance digital media and accessories, today reported record financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2003.

Total fourth quarter revenues of $177.5 million increased 80% sequentially from $98.7 million in the preceding quarter and 171% from $65.5 million in the same period last year. Product revenues of $172.8 million increased 83% from $94.3 million in the preceding quarter and 183% from $61.2 million in the same period last year. Gross margin for the quarter was 24%, compared to 27% in the preceding quarter and in the fourth quarter of last year. Net income was $18.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, as compared to $9.7 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the preceding quarter and $5.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, in the same period last year.

Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2003, were $412.3 million, a 137% increase from $174.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. Product revenues of $394.6 million for 2003 increased 152% from $156.7 million for 2002. Net income was $39.9 million, or $0.49 per diluted share in 2003, as compared to $4.0 million, or $0.06 per diluted share in 2002.

The snow has now completely disappeared from most of the UK - instead we now have gale-force winds and driving rain. That’s the beauty of living on such a comparitively small island. Just before it all melted away, I managed a quick lunchtime walk around the industrial estate where I work - these are the best of the handful of photos that I took.

The February 2004 Competition is now open for entries. This is a monthly photography competition with a specific theme and prizes for the top 3 photos. The winning entries will be decided by a panel of judges. You just have to submit one photograph to the Competition Gallery that best interprets February’s theme, which is simply “Movement”.

Please make sure that you read the Monthly Competition Rules before submitting your entry. The competition is worldwide and open to everyone.

You can now start submitting entries to the February Compeitition here:
February 2004 Competition

The January 2004 PhotographyBLOG Competition has now closed. The theme for January was “Reflections” - you can view all 73 entries in this gallery.

The 1st / 2nd / 3rd place winners will be announced on Sunday 8th February, and the prizes will be sent out shortly after :-)

In this week’s Sunday morning column Mike Johnston talks about hi-fi systems, vinyl and a little bit about cameras:

“Digital makes all kinds of sense. It’s more fun that film. It’s easier than film. It’s more controllable than film. It’s more ecologically sound than film. It might require more money, but it requires a lot less space than a darkroom does, and, let’s face it, for some people space is more precious than money. With digital it might even be easier to make better pictures ? the advantages of instant feedback are that significant.

So why, then, do I keep resisting it?”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Of Old Dogs and New Tricks

The Minolta DiMAGE A1 was only announced in July 2003, but already it seems that the DiMAGE A2 is on the way. An eagle-eyed reader on the DPReview Minolta forum has spotted something interesting on the Minolta USA website:

“On the USA Minolta site:

http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPGProducts

On the Dimage A1 page click on “Software” and you’ll see the ” DiMAGE Viewer Update Ver 2.2.2 - 01-30 2004 ” (Today !!! ), click on it and a window opens with:

DiMAGE Viewer Update Ver 2.2.2 - Win

Model: DiMAGE_5,DiMAGE_7,DiMAGE_7Hi,DiMAGE_7i,DiMAGE_A1,DiMAGE_A2, ....... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The full text actually reads:

DiMAGE Viewer Update Ver 2.2.2 - Win
Model:  DiMAGE_5,DiMAGE_7,DiMAGE_7Hi,DiMAGE_7i,DiMAGE_A1,DiMAGE_A2,
DiMAGE_F100,DiMAGE_F200,DiMAGE_F300,DiMAGE_G400,DiMAGE_G500,DiMAGE_S304,
DiMAGE_S404,DiMAGE_S414,DiMAGE_X,DiMAGE_X20,DiMAGE_Xg,
DiMAGE_Xi,DiMAGE_Xt,DiMAGE_Xt_Biz,DiMAGE_Z1,DiMAGE_Z2 
Description:  This is an update to the DiMAGE Viewer 2.x for Windows. 
Instructions:  This is an update to the OPTIONAL DiMAGE Viewer 2.x.  It is a general improvement for overall functionality.  A previous version of the OPTIONAL DiMAGE Viewer 2.0 or higher must exist in your computer in order to complete installation of this update. If a previous version is not found, installation of this update will fail.  If you do not have a full version of the OPTIONAL DiMAGE Viewer 2.0, it can be purchased through Minolta?s on-line store. NOTE: While the DiMAGE Viewer is compatible with Windows 95 and NT, the DiMAGE cameras are not.  We suggest the use of a card reader when using the DiMAGE Viewer in those operating systems.

Minolta DiMAGE Z2 and Xg models are also listed, so maybe Minolta are set to announce updates to the A1 and Z1 models and a new Xg model at PMA?

Website: DPReview - Minolta Forum

The Norwegian website Akamera.no have reviewed the Fuji FinePix S7000, which is the successor to the popular FinePix S602 model. The S7000 uses Fuji’s 4th Generation Super CCD HR with 6.3 Million Effective Pixels output and 12.3 million recorded pixels. It costs around $799.99 and is available now.

Website: Akamera.no - Fuji FinePix S7000 Review

Website: Read my review of the Fuji FinePix S7000

Canon 2003 Group Pretax Profit Y448.2 Billion Vs Y330.0 Billion -5
[Dow Jones and Company, Inc.]
Dow Jones News Service via NewsEdge Corporation : The Japanese precision equipment maker said it expects another record net profit this year.

For 2004, Canon projects a group net profit of Y286 billion, up 3.7%. It expects group operating profit to rise 2.3% to Y465 billion this year, on a 4.1% increase in group revenue to Y3.330 trillion.

For this year, Canon estimates its digital camera sales will come to 15 million units, up sharply from 8.6 million units in 2003.

Canon said it expects the dollar to average Y105 and the euro Y130 for 2004.

Canon’s senior managing director, Toshizo Tanaka, said the company needs the dollar to trade between Y100 and Y105 to achieve profit growth this year.

“It would be difficult for us to lift profits if the yen becomes stronger than that,” Tanaka said.

Last year, Canon benefitted from its focus on a limited number of high-margin products, such as digital multifunction copiers and high-performance digital cameras, as well as from cost cuts at its manufacturing operations.

Among these products, the “EOS Kiss Digital,” a single-lens reflex digital camera designed for general users, sold well in Japan though the model is relatively expensive compared with compact-type digital cameras.

In the October-December quarter, Canon’s group net profit rose 25% to Y74.96 billion from Y60.07 billion a year ago, with group revenue growing 3.9% to Y894.89 billion from Y861.66 billion.

Imaging Resource have posted a very indepth and handy guide to the new Canon EOS 1D Mark II digital camera, including a feature-by-feature comparison with its predecessor, the EOS 1D, and its direct competitior, the Nikon D2H.

“Given the major resolution increase, it is extremely impressive that Canon has managed to not just maintain the speed and burst depth of the camera, but actually increase it as compared to the EOS-1D to 20 RAW or 40 JPEG frames at 8.5 frames per second. The speed comes courtesy of the new CMOS sensor coupled with a doubling of the amount of buffer memory, the choice of DDR-SDRAM for that buffer memory (a first for a digital camera), and the new DIGIC II processor (now a single board instead of two) which reads 8 channels of data off the sensor at a time instead of the usual 2 channels.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon EOS 1D Mark II Analysis and Comparison

DPReview are reporting that both the Pentax *ist D and the Olympus E-1 have had their prices cut in the USA. Pentax have reduced its only DSLR by $300, effective from February 1, 2004 through June 30, 2004. There are also a number of smaller discounts on other Pentax cameras. Meanwhile Olympus USA have apparently announced a $300 trade-in promotion on the E-1 DSLR and 14-54 mm lens kit, via a trade-in system. You can take in any digital or film SLR camera and get $300 off, available until March 31st 2004. The E-1 kit after the trade-in costs $1,999. Both of these cameras have only been on the market for a few months, so it’s great news for us consumers.

Website: DPReview - Pentax *ist D Price Cut

Website: DPReview - Olympus E-1 Trade-in

Digital Outback Photo have started selling a new filter called PreSharpen 3D which apparently gives some photographic images a more 3D feel. There’s a free demo version available to download and try for yourself.

“Kevin Dobson implemented this concept as a pre sharpening filter. This filter gives the impression of a more 3D like feel to some images. Because it is a pre sharpening filter you can use your sharpening tool of choice for your final sharpening. PreSharpen 3D is best used just after your raw conversion or on your JPEG files right out of the camera. Always 16bit is better than just using 8bit.”

Website: Digital Outback Photo - PreSharpen 3D