Olympus UK Press Release 27/01/04

It’s not just the Olympus E-System that stands out from the crowd; the online firmware update service for this digital SLR system is also extremely sophisticated. The service is highly-automated, checking the firmware and downloads used, then installing a new version if necessary. Furthermore, the process is straight forward and takes just a few minutes.

Owners of Olympus E-System products who wish to use this service should update Olympus Viewer or Olympus Studio software to Version 1.1 or later by opening the ‘software update menu’ in the current version of their program. 

Using the new version of Olympus Viewer or Olympus Studio software, and an Internet connection, the user then simply needs to open the ‘Firmware Update’ function in the ‘Help’ menu. This initiates a check of the firmware in the camera body and any connected lens and flash. If necessary, the latest version can be automatically downloaded and installed.

“With the Olympus E-System, we have broken the mould and produced a truly ground-breaking digital SLR system. This new firmware update service is also an example of our commitment to the best solution,” says Heino Hilbig, Department Manager Marketing, Imaging Systems Europe.

The firmware update service goes into action on 28 January 2004. Users who do not have an Internet connection may contact authorised distributors or the European Customer Support Centre for information on updating their equipment. 

Olympus Viewer and Olympus Studio
Olympus Viewer software is supplied with the Olympus E-1 digital SLR camera. It allows the user to download, view, edit, organise and print images. The optionally available Olympus Studio features a number of additional highlights, such as direct control of the camera from a computer, batch processing and rapid processing of RAW files.

* Compatible with Windows OS: 98SE, 2000, XP and Mac OS: 9.1-9.2.2, 10.1.3-10.3.
Supported interfaces: USB1.1/USB2.0/IEEE1394.

The website LTL Imagery have recently published a number of articles which deal with the thorny issue of colour management and monitor calibration. If your prints don’t look like the image on your monitor, then give these articles a try…

Introduction to Color Management

Accurate Monitor Display

Monitor Calibration

Website: LTL Imagery

Ulead Systems, Inc. Press Release 26/01/04

DVD MovieFactory 3: A Complete DVD Creation Suite with Integrated Video Editing Tools and Extensive Support for a Wide Range of Consumer Electronic Formats and Device.

Northampton January 26th, 2004 - Ulead Systems, Inc., a leading developer of video, image and DVD software, announces Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3, a major upgrade of its PC consumer-level DVD creation software.  DVD MovieFactory 3 offers a rich, integrated suite of DVD creation tools for all DVD and CD burning needs. The software makes it simple for anyone, from home users to business managers, to create polished DVD movies, photo slideshows and quickly burn music and data to disc. DVD MovieFactory 3 offers significant enhancements such as motion menus and chapter buttons with real-time preview, and enhanced video editing tools such as the ability to add transitions and text to videos and photos. The software provides extensive and in-depth compatibility for all DVD formats including video recorded on set-top DVD recorders and DVD camcorders.

“We have put the broadest and deepest support for all DVD Video formats under the hood of an easy-to-master and feature-rich DVD creation suite,” said Mark Wurdemann, Marketing Manager at Ulead, UK. “Now consumers can create DVD titles from any content they desire and customize it over and over again on re-writable media. This is a major step towards DVD totally replacing VHS tape! By leveraging our leadership in consumer video editing and photo slideshow creation tools, DVD MovieFactory 3 is one of the easiest-to-use, all-in-one DVD creation programs available in the market today.”

Finnish photographer Petteri Sulonen has just published 2 more excellent articles on his website Petteri’s Pontifications. “Kwik ‘n’ Dirty Color Management” is a how-to article on setting up a simple color managed system for processing digital photos. “Is Slide Really Better?” is an investigation into the qualities of slide, negative, and Canon 10D RAW digital, from the point of view of an amateur photographer.

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications: Kwik ‘n’ Dirty Color Management

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications: Is Slide Really Better?

The winner of the 10th PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week contest is izo with the entry “nord”. There are no prizes as such for this contest, but the winning photo is displayed on the PhotographyBLOG homepage for a week, and the winner can display the Photo of the Week logo on their website if they wish.

The 11th Photo of the Week contest is now open. This is a weekly photography challenge where you decide who the winner is by voting for your favourite photos. It’s an open contest with no set theme and you can enter as many photos as you like.

Digital Outback Photo have restarted their report on the Olympus E-1 digital SLR. Part 2 kicks off with a new gallery of photos.

Website: Digital Outback Photo - Olympus E-1 Experience Report Part 2

Photo.net have published a comparitive test of the $100 Canon EFS 18-55mm, which ships with the Canon EOS 300D digital SLR, and the 12 times more expensive Canon EF 24-70mm L series lens.

“Despite the fact that the “L” lens won in every comparison, I’m being pretty picky and I’m looking hard for faults. The EFS 18-55/3.5-5.6 actually looks like a pretty decent lens for casual use, and at $100 it’s probably a bargin. It seems to suffer from the same defects that I’ve seen in similar low end, plastic mount, canon lenses (22-55/4-5.6 and 28-90/4-5.6, both of which sell for around $100 also). Contrast tends to be low, especially wide open, and edges tend to be soft. If you’re intending to shoot landscapes and make full frame 13x19 prints, you’re probably going to be disappointed. On the other hand if you’re printing 4x6 prints you’ll probably be delighted. At 8x12 it probably depends on how picky you are.”

Website: Canon EFS 18-55mm vs Canon EF 24-70mm L Lens Comparison

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

“With its robust performance, useful and unique scene modes, 5-megapixel imager, small size, durable aluminum-alloy body and good image quality, the Casio QV-R51 packs a lot of value into its MSRP of $399.99. It’s a camera that the entire family can use, but its simplicity doesn’t diminish the usefulness of the more advanced features which make this camera unique in the digicam marketplace. We think that you’ll enjoy this all-around family camera.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Casio QV-R51 Review

The German website PhotoWorld.de have reviewed the 4 megapixel EasyShare DX6490 digital camera, a digital camera which features a 10x optical zoom lens (38-380mm focal length). The Kodak EasyShare DX6490 has a suggested retail price of £399.99.

Website: PhotoWorld.de - Kodak EasyShare DX6490 Review

This week, Mike Johnston’s Sunday morning column is a review of Frank Van Riper’s “Talking Photography” book.

“Frank Van Riper’s Talking Photography may be the friendliest book of essays about photography ever written. It’s aptly titled: Van Riper has an easy, relaxed writing style that does indeed read very much like someone talking. His deceptively simple prose, which is articulate, and even erudite when needed, flows like water, naturally. Although they’re almost all in classic essay form, each of the book’s nearly one hundred pieces was originally a weekly newspaper column written for The Washington Post, so they’re also short and sweet.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Talking Photography

Luminous Landscape have published a review of the 6-megapixel Contax N Digital SLR camera by photographer Irakly Shanidze. Never heard of this camera before? That’s not too surprising, as it was discontinued by parent company Kyocera back in June 2003. The 6-megapixel Contax N Digital SLR is one of the few DSLRs available (if you can find one, that is) with a sensor that is the same size as a 35mm film frame.

“After almost a year of working with this camera, I can affirm that it is a fine photographic tool that blends legendary excellence of Carl Zeiss optics with visionary ideas and technological advancements of digital age.

Outstanding image quality makes the Contax N Digital quite a capable performer, even compared to new generation over-10-megapixel DSLRs. It is especially suitable for fine art, glamour and portraiture as well as for landscape photography. Its studio performance is outstanding.

Unfortunately, there are some tasks that the Contax N Digital is just not equipped to perform well enough. High power consumption, small and slow buffer, poor performance in low light and limited selection of high-speed lenses makes it nearly unsuitable for photojournalism.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Contax N Digital SLR Review

The Slovenian website e-Fotografija have reviewed the Sony DSC-V1 compact digital camera, which features 5 megapixel resolution, 4x optical zoom, flexible exposure control and an infrared laser hologram.

Website: e-Fotografija - Sony DSC V1 Review

Website: Slovenian Translator

Famous fashion photographer Helmut Newton has died in a car crash in Los Angeles. Aged 83, Newton apparently lost control of his car whilst leaving the car park of a hotel in Hollywood and crashed into a wall. Click below for the full story.

Website: BBC News

Website: About.com - Directory of Notable Photographers: Helmut Newton

3 images have appeared on the Nikon forum over at DPReview which look as though they might be the genuine article. There’s a shot of the camera from the top, the rear and an isometric view. The pictures seem to have originally been posted on a Chinese photography forum. Also 29th January has been rumoured to be the date for the official unveiling of the D70, with cameras in stores by the end of February.

Website: DPReview - Nikon Forum

LetsGoDigital are reporting that HP have silently added a new digicam to their lineup ahead of PMA 2004. The HP Photosmart 733 is an entry-level 3.2 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom. It can be used with the optional HP Photosmart 8886 camera dock for easy image transfer to a PC or Mac.

Website: LetsGoDigital - HP Photosmart 733

The Hungarian website Index Digicam have just posted their full review of the Sanyo Xacti VPC-C1, a new hybrid digital still/video camera that certainly looks very stylish.

Website: Index Digicam - Sanyo Xacti VPC-C1 Review

Digital Photography Now have posted a 10-page review of a budget printer from Epson, the Stylus C84, which is priced at £99 (exc. VAT). The C84 printer uses DURABrite ink, rather than the more conventional dye-based ink. Epson claims that their new new DURABrite inks “ensure laser sharp blacks and vivid, life-like colours that are waterproof, smudge proof and fade resistant for up to 80 years.

“The harsh reality is that if you handed anyone two photo prints, one from the C84 and one from Epson’s cheapest dye-based photo ink-jet printer and I’d lay odds that they would choose the dye-based print over the C84 print. Colour accuracy and range, black density and overall sparkle are all superior in a dye-based print, especially on glossy paper.”

Website: DP-Now - Epson Stylus C84 Printer Review

ByteSector.com have reviewed the 5 megapixel Olympus CAMEDIA C-5000 Zoom, which relaces the older 4 megapixel C-4000 Zoom model.

“As far as the noise level is concerned for the camera again high amounts of noise could be found. The camera comes equipped with a standard tight grain pattern to reduce noise level but it appears that the system is not up to mark to accomplish its job. The reason behind high noise level is that as CCD resolution has increased and pixel dimensions on average have shrunk, image noise has increased to a great amount. Due to this 5 megapixel cameras have higher image noise than 2-3 megapixel cameras. Image noise is the ?film grain? effect one may notice in an image, especially in night shots.”

Website: ByteSector.com - Olympus CAMEDIA C-5000 Zoom Review

Funtigo LLC Press Release 22/01/03

San Francisco, CA—01/22/2004—Today, Funtigo LLC launched a significant upgrade to its photosharing site, Funtigo.com. With integrated PayPal e-commerce functionality, 10 free email addresses and search engine optimization support, Funtigo now also targets small to medium-sized businesses.

These new features supplement the existing features of Funtigo’s Deluxe membership program, which includes a free domain name and storage for up to 1,000 photos. According to Hans Hartman, partner at Funtigo, now small businesses can save themselves the costs of domain name registrars, hosting companies, and e-commerce service providers, because these services are all included in Funtigo Deluxe.

Why add e-commerce capabilities to a photo site? According to Hartman, this decision was a natural extension of how his customers create Funtigo sites.

“Many of our customers run small businesses that rely heavily on the display of photos to sell their products. They chose Funtigo because it is the easiest to use and the most flexible in how photos can be displayed, resized, and arranged on their Web pages. Now they can add “Buy Now” and “Add to Shopping Cart” buttons to photos that display items for sale. For these customers Funtigo has turned into a full-blown catalog site - an incredibly flexible and, at $5.95 per month, an inexpensive one as well.”

Following on from the earlier story today about Kodak offering a $1,000 instant discount on the purchase of the Kodak Professional DCS Pro 14n Digital Camera, it looks like job losses may be the reason. Kodak have today announced the loss of 15,000 jobs worldwide over the next 3 years, following a sharp fall in profits for the last three months of 2003. Apparently less popular product lines will be dropped, with a lot more emphasis placed on digital products. Click the link below for the ful story.

Website: BBC Business