Steves Digicams have published their review of the Epson R300M photo printer, which offers convenient and innovative features such as printing directly onto the surface of ink jet printable CDs and DVDs, and being able to print photos with or without a computer. The EPSON Stylus Photo R300M includes a 2.5” color preview monitor for viewing and selecting images before printing them.

“The bottom line - this is a good printer for day-to-day printing tasks as well as producing excellent photo-quality prints. The R300M can function as a photo printer and a high-speed, multi-format card reader when connected to the USB 2.0 port on the host computer. It’s affordable with an MSRP of only $229, just remember that the cost of special papers and ink cartridges can often add up to more than the price of the printer. We are pleased to see that Epson is now using the separate ink cartridges in their lower priced printers. Speedwise the R300M isn’t as fast as competing Canon photo printers, they are still the fastest inkjet printers we’ve tested yet.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Epson Stylus Photo R300M Review

DPReview have posted an extensive 21 page review of the 8-megapixel Sony Cybershot DSC-F828 digital compact camera.

“Where the F828 starts to disappoint is image quality, many observers had concerns about the very small pixel pitch of the camera’s eight million pixel sensor knowing that it would most likely lead to noisier images but what we weren’t prepared for were chromatic aberrations. This came as a surprise especially considering the F828’s lens carries not only the Carl Zeiss name but also the ‘T*’ notation indicating the use of special lens coatings. So in reality the F828’s biggest issue becomes chromatic aberrations, with noise a second place.”

Website: DPReview - Sony DSC-F828 Review

The Danish website Akamera.dk have published their review of one of the more popular consumer digicams, the 4-megapixel Canon PowerShot A80, which sells for around $399.

Website: Akamera.dk - Canon Powershot A80 Review

The winners of the December 2003 PhotographyBLOG Competition have now been decided. The theme for December was “Night” - you can view all of the 42 entries in this gallery.

The panel of 4 judges thought long and hard before deciding on the three winners:

1st Place
“Potsdamer Platz Berlin ” by tamos
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“Great example of a traffic light trails shot combined with an interesting angle and building in the background.”

“Very vibrant and colourful night photo that sums up the city very well.”

Prize: 1 copy of Digital Photography Captured Volume 1, kindly donated by KnowledgeTrek.
http://www.knowledgetrek.com

2nd Place
“Night” by P-F
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“A wonderfully dynamic image that has a sense of humor. The vibrating green neon shape is a sci-fi counterpoint to the incongruous Hooters sign.”

“It’s the sense of movement that made this image stand out from the other entries.”

Prize: 1 copy of Picasa, kindly donated by Picasa Inc.
http://www.picasa.net

3rd Place
“The Cancer” by shanelavalette
View this entry

Judges Comments:
“Who knows what is going on in this photo?! Has a very ominous air about it. Great title and description too.”

“The power of this image lies more in what you can’t see than what you can.”

Prize: 1 copy of Photos on CD and DVD 2.0 Deluxe, kindly donated by FastTrak Software.
http://www.fasttrak.com

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who took part. The judges commented on the high standard of entries, saying that it was difficult to choose just 3 photos from the 42 that were submitted.

Imaging Resource have confirmed the rumours by publishing a news story that more than hints at a number of 8 megapixel digital cameras being released in the next 6 months, hot on the heels of the Sony DSC-F828.

“As always at this time of year, we’re under NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) with essentially all the major digicam manufacturers. We know a lot of what’s coming over roughly the next 6 months, but can’t breathe a word of it to anyone.

Well, almost. While we can’t say anything about any individual manufacturer’s plans, it certainly doesn’t violate anything that we’ve signed to observe that 2004 is going to be the year of the 8 megapixel prosumer digicam.”

Website: Imaging Resource - NDA report: The 8 megapixels are coming!

ePhotoZine have reviewed the Reflecta DigitDia 3600 film scanner, which is capable of scanning 100 mounted slides at once!

“For a scanner costing over ?500, the DigitDia 3600 produces scan quality slightly below what we’d expect. Weak points include unsatisfactory dynamic range, slight image noise and lack of sharpness. The most noticeable of these points is the scanner’s inability to finely capture the darkest parts of a slide and at the other end of the dynamic range we also found some highlight details being blown out.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Reflecta DigitDia 3600 Review

It’s official - Adobe Photoshop CS automatically prevents you from making copies of world currencies. Adobe have added technology to it’s market-leading image-editing application that generates a warning message when someone tries to make digital copies of some currencies. Many users are now wondering what else is built into Photoshop CS that Adobe haven’t made public…

“Adobe Systems Inc. acknowledged on Friday it quietly added technology to the world’s best-known graphics software at the request of government regulators and international bankers to prevent consumers from making copies of the world’s major currencies.

The technology was designed recently by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, a consortium of 27 central banks in the United States, England, Japan, Canada and across the European Union, where there already is a formal proposal to require all software companies to include similar anti-counterfeit technology.”

Website: Miami Herald - Adobe Helped Gov’t Fight Counterfeiting

A-Digital-Eye have been providing some excellent coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, over the last couple of days, including 3 reports with photos of photography-related products. It’s one thing reading all the press releases, but it’s also good to see the products “in the flesh”. Click the links below to actually see what has been announced at CES 2004.

Website: A-Digital-Eye

Website: A-Digital-Eye - CES Photo Gallery 1

Website: A-Digital-Eye - CES Photo Gallery 2

Website: A-Digital-Eye - CES Photo Gallery 3

Some more shots from the winter garden shoot…

View more Winter photos

One of the Lowest Priced 4 Megapixel Optical Zoom Digital Cameras on the Market
Featuring AVI Video at 30 Frames per Second for Mini-Movies

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—(CES BOOTH: SOUTH HALL 3-4, FLASH FORWARD# FF-1A)—Concord Camera Corp. (“Concord”) (Nasdaq: LENS - News), a leader in high-quality low-priced digital cameras, today announced at CES shipment of their new 4 Megapixel 3x optical zoom point & shoot digital camera, the Concord Eye-Q 4360z. With a suggested retail price of $199, the Concord Eye-Q 4360z delivers exceptional price/performance.

Targeted at cost-conscious consumers who want a high quality, high resolution digital camera at a low-cost, the Concord Eye-Q 4360z features a 4 Megapixel CCD sensor, advanced optics, a 3x optical zoom and 6x digital zoom (18x total zoom), exposure control and 30 frames per second AVI video.

First time digital photographers will find taking great shots simple with the built-in automatic features, while more advanced users will find that the user-friendly interface allows easy and intuitive access to more sophisticated photographic controls, such as exposure and white balance control.

Capturing AVI video at 30 frames per second, the Concord Eye-Q 4360z stands far above other digital cameras on the market that offer just 15-16 frames per second. At 30 frames per second, mini-movies will look more real and exciting. Video length is determined by the capacity of the SD card and can then be replayed on your TV for the whole family to see with the included video out cable.

To save consumers the expense of buying batteries, the Concord Eye-Q 4360z includes two rechargeable NiMH AA batteries, a four battery charger and a power meter which continuously displays battery-life on the 1.5” TFT LCD screen indicating when to change batteries.

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 08/01/04

SanDisk Leads In Capacity By Designing And Manufacturing Memory Card Format Pioneered By Sony and SanDisk

January 2004 (Newstream)—SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today introduced a 2 gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Memory Stick? PRO?, the highest capacity available in this card format. SanDisk also introduced the first Memory Stick PRO Duo cards that it has designed and manufactured. The new cards were introduced at a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth #23062, South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.

Sony and SanDisk jointly pioneered Memory Stick PRO to meet the growing consumer need for high performance and high capacity flash cards for a wide variety of digital devices including digital cameras, camcorders and PDAs. These new cards are manufactured by and include advanced technology from SanDisk to assure optimal performance and large capacities at very competitive prices. SanDisk meets or exceeds all Memory Stick PRO specifications and performs extensive testing to guarantee compatibility.

“SanDisk has dramatically extended its commitment to the Memory Stick flash card format by upping our investment in design, manufacturing, technology and the channel to rapidly grow the market,” said Nelson Chan, senior vice president and general manager of SanDisk’s retail business unit. “The company has leveraged its expertise to deliver new Memory Stick PRO and PRO Duo cards at competitive prices in line with other industry-standard card formats such as the SD card. Through this renewed focus on the Memory Stick card format, we intend to deliver the best overall price/performance and value to our customers.”

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 08/01/04

Growing Need for Portable Storage to Transfer Digital Images, Music, Video and Data Fuels Demand for Larger Capacities; Two New Capacities Expand Cruzer Mini Line

January 2004 (Newstream)—SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced a 512 megabyte (MB) and 1-gigabyte (GB) version of the CruzerTM Mini, an embedded USB 2.0 hi-speed “key chain” flash drive. With the 1GB Cruzer Mini, consumers can transport up to 30 hours of digitally compressed music, more than 5 hours of MPEG-4 compressed video or more than 1000 high-resolution digital images.

The 512 and 1GB Cruzer Mini drives are part of SanDisk’s most popular family of USB drives including the new Cruzer Titanium, an incredibly rugged and stylish flash drive with a titanium-coated flash drive case, and the new Cruzer Micro, an extremely small form factor that is approximately half the size of Cruzer Mini and expandable with an available MP3 Companion accessory. SanDisk introduced its family of Cruzer flash drives in a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth #23062, South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.

“USB flash drives are now a ‘must-have’ item as consumers use them to transport and easily access personal computer data files, image files or video and audio between home, office, school and other locations,” said Eric Bone, retail product marketing manager at SanDisk. “With up to 1GB of storage capacity, USB 2.0 accessibility and a sleek design, the Cruzer Mini is the ideal personal storage device for work, school and personal use.”

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 08/01/04

Cruzer Micro Adds To SanDisk’s Reputation As The Company With The Most Innovative Line Of USB Storage Drives In The Industry

January 2004 (Newstream)—SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced Cruzer? Micro, one of the world’s smallest USB 2.0 hi-speed flash memory storage drives, and the Cruzer Micro MP3 Companion which provides MP3 player functionality when connected with the Cruzer Micro USB flash drive. Cruzer Micro and other new additions to the Cruzer USB storage drive product family were introduced at a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth #23062, South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Cruzer Micro is very small, with a size roughly equivalent to half a stick of chewing gum. Another great feature of the Cruzer Micro is that it can be upgraded to become an MP3 player simply by sliding it into the Cruzer Micro MP3 Companion. With the Cruzer Micro and Cruzer Micro MP3 Companion, users can carry their important files and favorite songs on their keychain and simply attach the MP3 Companion when they want to enjoy music. The two items will be sold separately.

Eric Bone, SanDisk Cruzer retail product line marketing manager, said, “A small-size USB flash drive is a big priority for many of our customers. And you don’t have to sacrifice storage capacity with this tiny drive because we are initially selling three different capacities - 128, 256 or 512 megabytes (MB). With its stylish design and miniaturization the first word that comes to mind for most consumers is “cool”. Besides storing your music, Cruzer Micro also can be used to transport data files, images or video between home, office, school and other locations.”

Bone added, “It is quite exciting for the USB flash drive market to have a stand alone device such as the Cruzer Micro that can be expanded with the addition of the MP3 player. We think that this combination will give consumers an excellent value.”

SanDisk Corporation Press Release 08/01/04

Cruzer Titanium Has Style, Extraordinary Mechanical Strength And Great Speed
January 2004 (Newstream)—SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today introduced CruzerTM Titanium, a sleek, stylish and mechanically virtually indestructible*, portable USB flash storage drive that can withstand harsh working environments and operating conditions and physically protect the valuable data of business and power users. Cruzer Titanium, a USB 2.0 hi-speed flash drive, is one of the fastest USB type 2.0 flash drives on the market with a write speed rating of 13 megabytes (MB) per second and a read speed of 15MB per second. Cruzer Titanium, along with an expanded portfolio of new Cruzer USB storage drives, was launched at a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth #23062, South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.

The new flash drive’s titanium-coated metal casing is hardened to provide extra protection against the inevitable rough handling encountered in a typical workday. Cruzer Titanium will start shipping to stores this month and has a suggested retail price of $199.99 for the 512MB version. Higher capacities are planned for future introduction.

Eric Bone, SanDisk Cruzer retail product line marketing manager, said, “Cruzer Titanium is the flagship product in our USB drive line and, we believe it is the premier USB flash drive on the market today. This is easily the most durable and rugged USB flash storage device on the market with construction similar to that found in aircraft and medical instruments. Many other USB flash drives are made out of plastic, and consumers have found that some of these drives can break rather easily.”

Bone also noted “the increased speed of Cruzer Titanium ties in perfectly with the need expressed by many consumers for more storage capacity in USB type 2.0 drives. Many USB drive owners, especially business people, carry numerous, large files on the devices and they need a high-speed drive to quickly and efficiently move their data. You get this high performance when you have a Cruzer Titanium and a PC or Mac that has hi-speed USB 2.0 connectivity.”

Picture Services Network Press Release 07/01/04

LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 7, 2004—The Picture Services Network (PSN), a subsidiary of the leading global association for the imaging industry, I3A, has launched a service to enable digital photograpy users to quickly and easily locate and connect to digital imaging service providers nearby or wherever it’s most convenient - with any camera, through any Web browser, to any photofinisher participating in PSN.

PSN is the heart of the CPXe specification suite developed by I3A’s Common Picture eXchange Environment (CPXe) initiative, which delivered Version 1.0 in February 2003 and has just begun working on Version 2.0. Based on a Web Services framework, the CPXe specification comprises open standards for the exchange of digital images and photo services orders via the Internet.

By incorporating CPXe, photographic device and software vendors give their customers easy connection to a range of digital photography services. PSN’s private UDDI-based Directory Service allows any CPXe-compliant application to present consumers with a list of participating service providers. PSN thus enables digital camera users worldwide to quickly and easily locate digital imaging service providers near them, or wherever it may be convenient for them to purchase available services, such as near a friend’s or relatives’ home.

For example, a digital camera user in rural Vermont, where a winter storm has closed the roads, could take pictures of Baby’s first birthday party, then use PSN to locate a suitable CPXe-compliant photofinishing service in Los Angeles. The retailer will receive her images and order information, then create a keepsake for the Baby’s grandparents, or simply a set of prints made in one hour, for pick up near their home in Century City.

Veo Press Release 08/01/04

SAN JOSE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 8, 2004—Veo, a leading provider of digital imaging products, today introduced a 1.3 megapixel camera designed to utilize Secure Digital IO(TM)(SDIO) card slots on select Tungsten(TM) handheld devices from palmOne, Inc. The Photo Traveler 130S(TM) is equipped with a true 1.3 megapixel sensor and standardized JPEG encoding, which allows users to easily transfer photos between devices or print 3"x5” photos directly from their handheld.

“With the release of our Photo Traveler 130S for Pocket PC, we were inundated with supporters who wanted the same great technology for the Palm OS platform,” said Tim Martin, Veo vice president. “We listened to our customers and today’s announcement answers all of those requests.”

The Photo Traveler 130S, priced at $99.99, will be available at major retailers in early February. The camera features an adjustable lens providing users with the flexibility of focusing on close or far away objects with crisp definition. Like the previous Compact Flash version of the Photo Traveler, the 130S can easily capture video clips, but takes the feature a step further by adding advanced audio/ video synchronization into the ASIC. The new 130S lens design now moves in a vertical orientation and features a “+10 design” to add additional degrees of freedom to the 180 degree swivel lens, making it more natural for users during self portrait and downward shots.

Actiontec Introduces the First Wireless Digital Media Player With Eight-In-One Reader for Portable Memory Cards

LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Jan. 8, 2004—Brings Digital Music, Movie & Photos from PCs and Memory Cards to TVs and Stereos Without Wires  

Actiontec Electronics today announced the Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player with Built-in Card Reader, the first product in its class that enables consumers to play digital images and music on their TVs and stereos from any of the eight major portable memory card formats used in digital cameras, digital camcorders and MP3 players. The VCR-sized appliance also wirelessly links computers to home entertainment centers for big-screen and big-speaker enjoyment of PC-based content ranging from downloaded music and movies to Internet radio.

With the player’s built-in card reader, users can insert any CompactFlash Type I or Type II, IBM Microdrive, MS Pro, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MultiMedia or Secure Digital card into the machine, and the contents will play on the designated TV or stereo. As a result, digital home movies, digital camera photos and other images stored on the cards can be shared with friends and family from the comfort of the couch without first downloading them to a PC, and portable music files can be heard on the biggest sound system in the house.

In addition, digital music files housed on a PC can be played on the family stereo in their full audio glory without transferring them to CD, and Internet radio can be piped through the home stereo system instead of trapped in minuscule computer speakers. Users can also watch digital video from a family vacation or a child’s birthday party on the TV screen without converting it to videotape, view downloaded Internet movies without sitting in front of their PCs, and surf the Web using the television as their monitor.

Western Digital Corp. Press Release 08/01/04

Western Digital’s Media Center combines external hard drive with media readers

Western Digital Corp., Lake Forrest, Calif., USA, introduced its Media Center storage peripheral, combining a 250 GB WD Caviar SE hard drive, an 8-in-1 memory card reader, USB 2.0 hub and the company’s Dual-option Backup feature in one external storage device. Western Digital says its Media Center is the only storage peripheral that provides consumers with all-in-one functionality and an easier way to download and store files from a variety of digital accessories.

Western Digital’s Dual-option Backup system gives consumers the option to back up data either automatically or on-demand. Using an easy set-up wizard, users can schedule a recurring backup; a button glows blue to confirm that files will be backed up automatically. The Media Center and new external drives with Dual-option Backup are also capable of backing up data from multiple sources for consumers who have a number of drives and/or PCs and notebooks.

Combining external storage with a built-in card reader for space-saving convenience and easier downloading at the touch of a button, the Media Center is compatible with 8 major media card formats, including CompactFlash Type I and II, IBM Microdrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMedia Card and SD Card.

  Western Digital’s Media Center and new USB/FireWire external hard drives with Dual-option Backup are expected to be available this month through Western Digital’s retailers, distributors and the company’s online store. Suggested retail price for Western Digital’s Media Center 250 GB is US$399; suggested retail price for external USB 2.0/FireWire hard drives with Dual-option Backup 250 GB is US$349.

Pentax have released a firmware update for the *ist D digital SLR camera. These are the changes:

- You can use the HyM (hyper manual) function when your lens aperture ring is set to a position other than the “A” position.
- You can use EV compensation in the M (manual) mode.
- If you are using the auto bracketing mode and the camera automatically powers down after a period of inactivity, the auto bracketing mode will not be cancelled.
Note that turning off your camera normally will cancel the auto bracketing mode. This enhancement only applies when the *istD engages its auto-power-off function.
- The file format and file system of the *istD are compatible with the EXIF 2.21 and the DCF 2.0 standards.
When you set [Color Space] in the *istD custom function menu to [Adobe RGB], your TIFF and JPEG image file names will change from “IMGPxxxx” to “_IGPxxxx” where “xxxx” is a 4 digit numeral.

Website: Pentax USA

Picasa, Inc. Press Release 08/01/04

Digital Photos Can Now Be Displayed on the Living Room Television, Offering a Comfortable Way to View Slideshows that Friends and Family will Enjoy

Las Vegas, NV (Consumer Electronics Show) ?- January 8,  2004- Picasa, Inc.(tm),  the leading developer of software which enables photographers to effortlessly organize, manage and share digital photos, announced today it has added new functionality to its service to allow compatibility with the TiVo Series2TM DVR and TiVo’s Home Media OptionTM. Now enjoying your Picasa digital photo collection on the family room television is easy .

Digital pictures can be transformed into a home entertainment venue for Picasa users who also subscribe to the TiVo Home Media Option. Once a member downloads the TiVo Desktop software application at www.tivo.com,  select your favorite photos in Picasa and click the ‘Export to TiVo Series2 DVR’  button to enjoy high resolution digital details on your big-screen TV. 

“Picasa is committed to delivering its customers a variety of platforms that allow them to share and show their favorite photographs,” said Lars Perkins, CEO of Picasa. “The simplicity and control that are the hallmarks of TiVo now extend to the home network, making it fun and easy to enjoy digital photos stored on Picasa on the television in the family room rather than crowding around a PC monitor.”