About.com Photography editor Peter Marshall has published an in-depth guide to taking pictures of Christmas Lights with a digital camera. He explains 3 techniques that you can use - long exposures, combining exposures and flash.

“Larger public displays, floodlit buildings and the like are often easier to photograph than smaller and simpler ones, not least because there is more light. The problem with many small displays is really that the overall lighting is often very low.”

Website: About.com - Holiday Lights - Digital

Congratulations to the long-standing digital camera website Steves Digicams, who have apparentyl just reached the 200 million visitor mark. Yes, you read it correctly, 200 MILLION!! Not bad :-)

Website: Steves Digicams

Nikon user Thom Hogan has joined the Luminous Landscape website as an editorial contributor. His first article looks at the subject of noise in Nikon digital SLR cameras.

“One of the first questions I get asked about every new digital SLR is this: “how noisy is it?” As most digital photographers have learned, resolution generally isn’t the controlling factor in what we perceive as “overall image quality” when we shoot digital. Ctein spoke to this at length in a recent special publication for Photo Techniques, and I agree: one of the reasons why moderate megapixel cameras can produce “better-looking-than-film” 11x14” prints has to do with the better, more controlled tonality of the digital image. That’s assuming, of course, that the digital image isn’t peppered with random noise.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - DSLR Signal / Noise Ratios Compared

The Spanish website Quesabesde have reviewed the 3.2 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE Z1. This digicam has a 10x optical zoom lens, equivalent to a 38-380mm 35mm camera zoom, which in combination with the digital zoom offers a 40X zoom range.

Website: Quesabesde - Minolta DiMAGE Z1 Review

The Norwegian website Akamera.no have reviewed the Canon EOS 300D digital SLR camera.

Website: Akamera.no - Canon EOS 300D Review

The Danish website Akamera.dk have reviewed the Casio QV-R40, a 4 megapixel digicam which has an amazing start-up time of one second and shutter-lag of 0.01 seconds. The Casio QV-R40 currently retails for around $300 / ?300.

Website: Akamera.dk - Casio QV-R40 Review

FotoInside Press Release 18/12/03

CAMBRIDGE, England, December 18 /PRNewswire/—- FotoInside is celebrating Milestone with special offers

The market for real photo paper prints from individual digital image files uploaded over the internet is exploding. FotoInside Limited of Cambridge (www.fotoinside.co.uk) is preparing to celebrate with its providing photo lab current year’s 50 millionth photo print from files uploaded online and delivered within Europe. FotoInside expects this milestone to be taken in December. The European market for sublimation print from digital image files has grown by 353.2% in 2003.

FotoInside’s online photo processing serves a growing number of digital camera users, because desktop printing is expensive, frustrating, time consuming, disappointing and never quite as rewarding as the sound of professionally processed prints being posted through your letterbox.

Processing digital photos from the comfort of your home with guaranteed lasting colours starts from 10p ordering 25 prints or more visiting www.fotoinside.co.uk.

To celebrate the 50m online photo prints FotoInside has secured a special offer for ashampoo’s brand new Photo Illuminator v2. When registering for the http://www.fotoinside.co.uk/illuminator/ (January 2003) promotion readers get a voucher for 5 free prints (reduced postage at GBP0.95) and a GBP20 discount on “Illuminator”. Offer lasts until the end of March.

I missed this interesting but perhaps ultimately pointless article which was mentioned on Slashdot a few days ago, until Ed Krimen emailed me - thanks Ed :-) Would Ansel Adams Have Gone Digital? Personally I very much doubt it, but Richard LoPinto, vice president for SLR camera systems at Nikon Inc, thinks he would have loved digital cameras.

LoPinto is quoted as saying “He shot with a large-format camera and had the patience to stand around waiting for hours for the perfect shot, but he also used our Nikon FM series cameras,” LoPinto continued. “I would like to speculate, and it’s purely my personal opinion, that were he with us today he would be really taken by the technology and would be at the forefront.”

Anyway, I’ll let you read the full article here and make up your own minds:

Website: Fortune.com - Would Ansel Adams Have Gone Digital?

Website: Slashdot

DPReview are reporting today that Sharp have just announced a 6 megapixel CCD, which is exactly the same size as the CCDs used in the current crop of 4 and 5 megapixel digital cameras (1/1.8” type). So expect to see a number of new releases of 6 megapixel compact digicams throughout 2004. DPReview have a photo of the new Sharp sensor and specifications list.

Website: DPReview - Sharp 6 Megapixel CCD

The Slovenian website e-fotografija have posted yet more sample images from a full-production version of the highly-anticipated Sony DSC-F828 digital camera. There are 25 new shots for you to look at, although this time they have been resized for the web and aren’t available as full-sized originals.

Website: e-fotografija - More Sony DSC-F828 ISO Samples

Website: Slovenian Translator

Professional photographer Bjorn Rorslett has just published his in-depth review of the Nikon D2H DSLR.

“Nikon D2H has, pixel by pixel, the best image quality of any Nikon DSLR so far available to the public. Do not let the pixel count mislead you into thinking “small in numbers, small in quality”, because the exact opposite is true. From the D2H emerges digital images with a clarity you should see to believe, provided you manage to get the exposure correct. The camera itself exposes virtually perfect when the lighting is flat or the contrast range within the frame is moderate, so under these conditions absolutely no user intervention with regards to the exposure settings is necessary. However, you do need to be a little more careful under high-contrast situations or when flash is used, because most shots then will benefit from a judicious additional increase in the exposure. Anything from +0.3 to +1 EV can be appropriate.”

Website: Bjorn Rorslett - Nikon D2H Review

A-Digital-Eye and DCResource have both just received a production version of the Sony DSC-F828, and rather than leaving us to wait until they have completed their full review, they have posted a number of sample shots. A few comments about the camera’s performance have also been published by A-Digital-Eye:

“We will say that the F828 does appear from all the shots we have now gone through to do a very impressive job with noise levels, including some very good sky shots with low noise all things considered. We did see some Purple fringing or Chromatic Aberrations in a few shots, but at this point it would be too early to say if the levels are anything unusual. We have many shots where there is no issue except the usual ones such as trying to get the perfect exposure or framing it just right.”

Website: A-Digital-Eye - Sony DSC F-828 Images

Website: DCResource - Sony DSC F-828 Images

The last sh1ft.org project for 2003 will be A Day In The Life .. New Years Eve ‘03.

Starting 12 Noon - December 31st 2003 and going straight through to 12 Noon - January 1 2004, take a photograph an hour to document how you spend the last hours of 2003 and the first hours of 2004.

For more details, please visit sh1ft.org/adayinthelife.

Epson Press Release 16/12/03

LONG BEACH, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 16, 2003—

Epson Adding Unique Online Component to Successful Traveling National School Program

Advanced amateur photographers and photo enthusiasts across the country will soon have two new programs in which they can learn from the pros how to use the latest digital technology to create the highest quality prints. Based on the success of last year’s program, Epson is offering the Epson Print Academy 2004 traveling school, as well as adding the Online Experience, a new web-based course to provide even more educational opportunities.

Print Academy 2004 will travel to 30 cities on weekends beginning Jan. 31 for half-day sessions, with multiple programs offered in several cities. The program will feature all new content from last year’s program, enabling participants to learn more creative solutions from master photographers and printmakers, watch live demonstrations of the latest digital imaging equipment and learn valuable tips and techniques they can use right away to improve their photography and printmaking.

Version 3.3. of Pixory has just been released. This software program allows you to store your photos on your own PC but to access, compose into albums, and share them anywhere on the internet. It’s your personal online photo sharing service, running on your computer using your broadband internet connection. Pixory is a client and a server, a lightweight web application for browsing photo collections on your hardrive; an album server to your friends and family or anyone on the internet. It simplifies accessing and organizing photo collections on your home network. Pixory is free for non-commercial use.

Website: http://www.pixory.org

Brilliant Labs Press Release 16/12/03

December 16, 2003 03:05 PM London Timezone

BrilliantPhoto Brings Order to Digital Photo Collections; New Full-featured Photo Manager Takes a Fresh Approach to Organizing Large Collections of Digital Photos

MT. PLEASANT, S.C.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 16, 2003—Brilliant Labs today announced the release of BrilliantPhoto, a new software tool for managing, sharing and editing digital photographs. Developed by Jim Lamb, former director of product development for Intuit Inc. and architect for Symantec Corporation’s Consumer Products Division, BrilliantPhoto is a feature-rich product that simplifies importing, organizing, editing, and sharing digital photos.
Lamb designed the software to meet his own needs as a digital photography buff who has taken thousands of digital photos of his two young children. “As we took more and more pictures with the digital camera, it became increasingly difficult to manage our photo collection. I designed BrilliantPhoto to organize my photos automatically, let me add descriptive information quickly, and make it easier to share photos by e-mail.”

Concord Camera Corp Press Release 15/12/03

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 15, 2003—Automatic Film Advance, Red-Eye Reduction, Superior Lens, 800 Speed Film for Extended Flash up to 14 Feet - for Only $7.99

Concord Camera Corp. (“Concord”) (Nasdaq:LENS) today announced its first One-Time-Use camera with motorized film advance and Red Eye Reduction, the Polaroid SL100. The Polaroid SL100 incorporates features normally found in more expensive re-loadable film cameras while maintaining the convenience and ease of use of One-Time-Use cameras for just $7.99.

Always Ready to Shoot
After each picture, the Polaroid SL100 automatically advances the film to the next frame, so it is always ready to shoot the next photo without delay. The camera boasts a superior 27mm f/8, 2-element lens for sharp quality pictures every time and is equipped with a simple but sophisticated one touch flash system. Before the flash fires, the red eye reduction LED will illuminate helping to reduce the reflection that causes the irritating red eye effect. The Polaroid SL100 is preloaded with high quality 800 speed film, providing an extended flash range of up to 14 feet to capture more vibrant pictures and is ideal for night time shooting.

The slim design of this camera makes it perfect for travel or spur of the moment picture taking. “Many motorized cameras tend to be bulky,” stated Giovanni Zangrande, Director of Marketing of Concord. “One-Time-Use cameras are often used for travel purposes and our goal was to provide a slim, motorized, One-Time-Use camera suitable for travel.”

“Consumer research indicates that One-Time-Use cameras are considered the easiest to use and the most convenient camera format,” said Urs Stampfli, Senior VP & Director of Global Sales & Marketing of Concord. “Our philosophy is to make technology affordable, and one result is the Polaroid SL100. This camera provides a unique combination of features and sets a new standard for One-Time-Use cameras.”

The Polaroid SL100 Motorized One-Time-Use camera is now available at Wal-Mart and BrandsMart at a suggested retail price of $7.99.

Inside the Fuji Finepix F700 Zoom is an innovation that makes it stand out from the crowd, on paper at least. It’s the first camera to feature Fuji’s new 4th Generation SuperCCD SR. This new sensor technology enables the user to capture highlight and shadow detail missed by conventional digital cameras. So does the F700 Zoom actually produce images that live up to the hype? Find out in my review.

Website: Fuji Finepix F700 Zoom Review

Steves Digicams is the second website today to post their review of the Nikon Coolpix 3700 digital camera. The Coolpix 3700 has a very different design from previous Coolpix models, with a brushed aluminium body that’s both slim and lightweight. The 3.2 megapixel 3700 features a 3x optical zoom that is equivalent to 35-105mm lens on a 35mm camera.

“Combining a 3.2-megapixel imager and a 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens into its stylish and durable all-metal body, Nikon has positioned the CoolPix 3700 as a worthy competitor in the miniature consumer digicam market. Its automatic exposure mode will produce good results for the point-n-shoot beginner, while the 15 Scene modes offer preprogrammed convenience for taking exposures of differing subjects or under demanding lighting conditions. Manual mode offers the intermediate user control of White Balance, Image Sharpening, and AF area, while providing for continuous shooting and Best Shot Selection; the user has no direct control of aperture, shutter speed, or ISO.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Nikon Coolpix 3700 Review

DCResource have published their review of the 6 megapixel Pentax *ist D digital SLR.

“Despite it’s dumb name, the Pentax *ist D is a high quality digital SLR camera. It offers excellent (but very soft) photo quality, top-notch performance (though its burst mode isn’t as good as other D-SLRs), full manual controls, and nearly infinite expandability. Noise levels are extremely low, even at ISO 1600.”

Website: DCResource - Pentax *ist D Review