Foveon Inc Press Release 27/10/03

Foveon Introduces Newly Improved 10.2 Mp Direct Image Sensor
SIGMA SD10 digital camera the first to incorporate improved Foveon image sensor

Santa Clara, CA (October 27, 2003) - Foveon Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital photography, announces the immediate availability of the F7X3-C9110, an enhanced version of the Foveon X3? PRO 10M direct image sensor. The improved 10.2 megapixel (red + green + blue pixels) image sensor doubles the sensitivity and maximum exposure times and offers increased dynamic range over its predecessor. The new Foveon sensor is used in the Sigma SD10 digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. The new Foveon X3? PRO 10M direct image sensor will allow users to capture outstanding photographs at higher shutter speeds ideal for sports action as well as in low light situations requiring long exposures up to 30 seconds.

The new Foveon image sensor is a result of design and fabrication process improvements that result in higher image quality and superb color fidelity. “These improvements demonstrate the speed at which we are evolving the technology and support our confidence that X3 is the most advanced image sensor technology for capturing color images,” said Federico Faggin, Foveon’s CEO.

The first camera to incorporate the new image sensor is the Sigma SD10 digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. The camera supports an ISO range from 100 to 800, plus an extended mode option to ISO 1600, and exposure durations of up to 30 seconds.

“The choice of image sensor is becoming a top criterion, when choosing a digital camera, because it is the primary factor that determines the image quality. We believe that with Foveon X3 technology, the Sigma SD10 digital camera offers color resolution and color fidelity comparable to other cameras costing four times the price,” said Faggin.

The Foveon X3 PRO 10M direct image sensor has a total of 10.2 million red, green, and blue pixels that are organized into three layers (2268 x 1512 x 3 layers).

Foveon Inc Press Release 27/10/03

Foveon Enhances Digital Images With X3 Fill Light
New technology easily corrects lighting problems in digital photos

Santa Clara, CA (October 27, 2003) - Foveon, Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital image capture, today announced the release of X3 Fill Light, a powerful new technology that dramatically improves the quality of digital images affected by difficult lighting conditions. The technology is incorporated as a new software feature in the Sigma Photo Pro 2.0 application for the Sigma SD10 digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera.

The X3 Fill Light feature simulates the photographic method of “dodging and burning” adding extra light to shadow regions, while preserving highlight detail. It is a powerful method for simultaneously adjusting overexposed and underexposed areas of a digital image with a single simple control. The feature is bundled exclusively with the new Sigma SD10 digital SLR (Single-Lens Reflex) camera, which uses a Foveon X3 direct image sensor.

X3 Fill Light is designed for images taken under lighting conditions such as indoor-outdoor scenes, backlit portraits, or scenes with mixed lighting. Use of the X3 Fill Light feature creates natural-looking images that can be faithfully reproduced in a print.

“Challenging lighting conditions, such as backlighting from a window or subjects in front of snow, can result in disappointing images. The X3 Fill Light technology allows photographers to make excellent prints from poorly exposed images which otherwise would have been discarded due to poor lighting and exposure.” said Eric Zarakov, Foveon’s vice president of marketing.

X3 Fill Light is implemented as a simple slider interface that allows the user to control the amount of correction. By increasing the amount of X3 Fill Light, the brightness and contrast of the shadow regions are increased to add visibility into areas that have been underexposed. Simultaneously, the contrast in highlight regions is automatically increased and the brightness is adjusted to avoid saturation.

The Sigma Photo Pro 2.0 software, incorporating Foveon’s X3 Fill Light, is shipping with the Sigma SD10 digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera from Sigma Corporation (www.sigma-photo.co.jp).

Website: Sigma X3 Fill Light

As usual with a new camera announcement, several websites have already got their sticky hands on a sample of the camera. Imaging Resource have already posted a full review of the SD10! Here in alphabetical order are links to other sites with SD10 news, previews and reviews:

Website: A-Digital-Eye

Website: DCResource

Website: Digital Outback Photo - SD10 Experience Report

Website: DPReview - SD10 Preview

Website: Imaging Resource - SD10 Review

Website: Steve’s Digicams - SD10 First Look

A thread from Barrie Harwood over on the ePhotoZine forums is indicating that Canon have dropped the price of the Canon EOS 1D DSLR by a massive ?1,300, which is approximately a third off the previous list price. Furthermore, if you buy an “L” series lens at the same time as buying the body, Canon will give you ?300 cashback. I’m guessing that such a generous offer must mean that the 1D’s successor is in the pipeline…

Website: ePhotoZine Forums

The German website digitalkamera.de have reviewed the 5 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE A1 digital camera, which has recently been drastically reduced in price by many retailers in the UK and USA, no doubt because of the Canon EOS 300D. The A1, however, is still proving to be quite a popular choice with consumers.

Website: digitalkamera.de - Minolta DiMAGE A1 Review

I’ve been working behind the scenes during the last month on a lot of new features for PhotographyBLOG, and at last they’re ready to share with you :-) So without any further delay, here’s a quick explanation of each one:

Gallery -:- PhotographyBLOG now has its very own Gallery where you can submit your photographs. There are several themed galleries in which you can share your photographs with everyone and get constructive feedback. Every member is automatically given 5Mbs of free storage space and there is a file size limit of 100Kb, which means that you can upload at least 50 photos.

Competition -:- 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 can only submit 1 photograph that best interprets the theme Autumn Colour, so choose wisely. Competition #1 starts on 1st November 2003 and ends on 30th November 2003. Please read the Monthly Competition Rules before entering.

Photo of the Week -:- A weekly photography challenge where you decide who the winner is by voting for your favourite photos. The photo with the most votes wins the coveted PhotographyBLOG Photo of the Week award. You can submit any photograph into the Photo of the Week competition. Competition #1 starts on 3rd November 2003 and ends on 9th November 2003. Please read the Photo of the Week Rules before entering.

User Reviews -:- Submit your own reviews of cameras, lenses, printers, scanners and lots more. Don’t agree with what PhotographyBLOG or some other website says about your camera equipment? Write your own review, good or bad. The User Reviews section is still being developed, so if the product that you want to review isn’t available, let me konw and I’ll add it asap.

Forums -:- The rather limited old forums have been replaced by some shiny new ones with a lot more features. You can still access the content of the old forums via this link, but you can no longer post new entries there.

PhotographyBLOG Membership -:- The membership of the site as a whole has changed. There is no longer any login required to add your comments to the weblog entries. You are only required to register as a member or login if you want to use the Gallery.

*If you are already a member of PhotographyBLOG, you have already been converted to the new membership scheme and you can use your existing username and password to login to the Forums / Gallery / Competition / Photo of the Week / User Reviews.

As these are all new features, there may be some initial teething problems, so if you experience anything strange then please let me know by emailing:

[email protected]

Many thanks to Sue for helping out with the coding :-)

DCResource have reviewed the 5 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE G500, which has a 3x zoom lens with a range that is equivalent to 39 - 117mm on a 35mm camera.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the photo quality on the G500. For a compact camera, they are very good. Minolta definitely has the sharpness cranked up, which adds a tiny bit of noise to the images. Color and exposure were also good. Purple fringing / chromatic aberrations were nowhere to be found (except for a little in the torture test). I guess the blurry corner is my only real complaint—good job Konica/Minolta!”

Website: DCResource - Minolta DiMAGE G500 Review

The Norwegian website DigIT 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: DigIT - Sony DSC-V1 Review

Popular Photography have reviewed two light-weight light meters, the Minolta VF and Sekonic L-358 models. Find out which one came out on top in this head-to-head challenge.

“For most of my career, a Minolta has been my meter. In recent years, it?s been the Auto Meter IVF (that?s ?four F?) because of its light weight. But when they introduced the Minolta VF (that?s ?five F?) and Sekonic came out with the new L-358 Flash Meter, I wondered if the new Sekonic had the mettle to dethrone my Minolta dynasty. I decided to put the two new meters to the test, and since September ?02, the Sekonic has joined the Minolta in my arsenal.”

Website: Popular Photography - Light Meters Review

Popular Photography have published their 5-page review of the Olympus E-1 digital SLR camera.

“As for image quality, there?s very good news and a tiny bit of bad news. The good news is that the camera captures images with extremely high color accuracy and resolution. And, as promised, images shot at wide angle, using the 14?54mm Zuiko lens at a wide-open aperture, f/2.8, showed no measurable resolution falloff in the corners. Impressive! Contrast was also normal and adjustable, and JPEG artifacts were minimal at the highest-quality settings.”

Website: Popular Photography - Olympus E-1 Review

The American photography magazine “Photographic” has published a review of the new Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di AF lens on its website. With equivalent own-brand lenses from the likes of Nikon, Canon and Minolta costing several times more, the ?300 Tamron lens could find its way into quite a few photographer’s bags. (found via digicamera.net)

“Maintaining its fast f/2.8 aperture at all focal lengths, the AF28-75mm zoom is great for low-light shooting, allows you to use slower films and lower ISO settings on digital SLRs for better image quality, and produces beautiful blurred backgrounds for wide-open selective-focus shots.”

Website: Photographic - Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di AF lens Review

After a very successful first event, the unique photographic scavenger hunt 26 Things is set to be repeated in November. The first 26 Things was held in July 2003 with over 400 people hunting for the 26 items listed by Tracey of sh1ft.org. On Saturday November 1 (Australian time), a new list of 26 Things will be posted on the website at sh1ft.org/26things and you will have the whole month of November to search for them. It really is that simple :-)

Website: 26 Things : 2

The Dutch digital photography website LetsGoDigital are reporting that Rollei are set to release the dt4200 digital camera in November. The dt4200 will have a 4 megapixel CCD and uses a docking station to download your photos to a PC, much like Kodak’s range of EasyShare cameras. The dt4200’s 3x optical lens is equivalent to 35-104mm on a 35mm camera, and there is a high-resolution 1.6-inch TFT color LCD on the rear of the camera. There’s no indication of price yet.

Website: LetsGoDigital - Rollei dt4200

Photoxels have published a guide to Area Focus, which apparently is one of the three focusing modes found on newer digital cameras. I must admit to never using or seeing this feature before, but if your camera has this mode and you’re unsure of how to use it, then the Photoxels tutorial is a good read.

“Area Focus extends Center Focus by allowing the AF frame to be moved anywhere on the screen. So now, if your subject is to the left of center, instead of moving the camera left, pre-focusing and then moving the camera back, all you do is move the AF frame left instead while keeping the camera still!”

Website: Photoxels - Area Focus Tutorial

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

“Though it’s not the cheapest model in Canon’s A series, the 4-megapixel A80 delivers the best combination of features, image quality, performance, and price that we’ve seen in any recent camera. The A80 improves on the A70 in almost every way while maintaining a great balance between point-and-shoot ease and room-to-grow sophistication. Just don’t let the myriad options scare you away.”

Website: CNET - Canon Powershot A80 Review

It seems that multiple copies of today’s Newsletter (issue 37) were inadvertently sent out to everyone on the subscriber list. Please accept my apologies for this and rest assured that it won’t happen again!

Mark Goldstein

Well-known UK UK wildlife photographer Andy Rouse has has just published his review and 10-day field test of the Canon EOS 300D. Andy subjected the 300D to tests that are usually handled by the likes of the much more expensive 1D and 1DS, so this will be one of the more unusual reviews of the 300D that you’ll ever read.

“Speaking as a photographer I actually like these enhancements and they make shooting a whole lot easier with the 300D than the 10D. Having the settings information just below the viewfinder means I can quickly glance at it without having to shift the camera away from my eye. It?s a shame that the compass point buttons are only used for controlling the menu functions and setting the ISO / White Balance, as they would have been superb for controlling the autofocus points.”

Website: Andy Rouse - Canon EOS 300D Review

Photo.net have published their review of the HP Photosmart 945 digital camera, which features a 5.3-megapixel total resolution and 56x total zoom (8x optical zoom). The HP Photosmart 945 digital camera is available now and has an estimated U.S. retail price of $549.

“I liked the digital flash which does a good job in bringing up the detail in darker areas of the image. The wide range zoom (37mm-300mm 35mm equivalent) was nice too. Generally exposure seemed accurate. Since there is no histogram display you can’t tell exactly when you have the best exposure, but you can get a reasonable idea from the image playback. Exposure compensation is available in full auto, aperture priority and shutter priority modes (there is no fully manual mode). I used the camera in full “idiot mode” most of the time (full auto with default settings) and in general the camera did a pretty good job.”

Website: Photo.net - HP Photosmart 945 Review

Steve’s Digicams are once again the first website to review a recently-announced digital camera; this time they have the scoop on the Pentax Optio 555, a 5 megapixel updated version of the popular 550 model.

“The Optio 555 is the premiere consumer digicam offered in the Pentax line- up. It boasts a 5x optical zoom lens and is housed in a durable aluminum alloy case that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Packed with features the beginner will love and the advanced user will appreciate. The automatic and manual exposure modes will make both the beginner and advanced users happy. Creative features like panorama assist, 3-D, digital filtering (color filters) and time-lapse shooting will allow your creative side to show. With its 5x optical zoom lens and all the other features, you’ll always want this camera by your side.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Pentax Optio 555 Review

Luminous Landscape contributor Andy Biggs has reviewed 4 of the latest inkjet papers available from the Moab Paper range. These fine-art papers were tested using the Epson Stylus Photo 2100 printer. I think these papers are only available in the USA at the moment, but as they are cheaper than the Epson equivalents, they may be worth tracking down or ordering from an online store.

Website: Luminous Landscape - Moab Inkjet Paper Review