Fujifilm Press Release 21/10/03

FINEPIX F420 ZOOM: TINY AND SHINY, BUT NO LIGHTWEIGHT

Smallest Fujifilm camera to incorporate Super CCD HR technology and 30 frames per second video.

Fujifilm today introduced the FinePix F420 Zoom, an A-list compact digital camera that marries style with substance to stand out from the crowd.

Building on the success of the highly acclaimed FinePix F410 Zoom, the FinePix F420 Zoom oozes quality with its robust, metal body, yet measures just 77 (W) x 69 (H) x 26.4 (D) mm - even smaller than its predecessor.

A real show-stopper, the FinePix F420 Zoom is the smallest camera to include Fujifilm’s 4th Generation Super CCD HR (High Resolution) technology and can realise 3 million effective pixels, producing 6 million recorded pixels.  Its diminutive frame also successfully incorporates a 3x optical zoom lens and a voice memo recorder capable of storing up to 30 seconds of sound.

What’s more, the FinePix F420 Zoom’s high quality movie capture capabilities give an encore-deserving performance.  It records at 30 frames per second, a frame-rate that will ensure silky-smooth movie clips.

While this camera’s compact dimensions ensure it will fit into any shirt pocket or clutch bag, usability has not been compromised.  The FinePix F420 Zoom comfortably incorporates a 1.8” LCD monitor into its svelte frame, as well as a Video Out socket for viewing images on a TV.  The camera is also compatible with PictBridge, the industry standard for printing images from a digital camera without using a PC, making the process simpler and more efficient than ever.

This camera is a real crowd pleaser, and powered by its rechargeable battery (with an option to use AAA batteries should it run low), you can be confident the FinePix F420 Zoom will last the night - even if you don’t.

Adrian Clarke, Fujifilm’s Director of Consumer Products, commented: “Earlier this year, the FinePix F410 Zoom set some serious standards in photography; heavyweight picture power, contained within a small metal shell.  The FinePix F420 Zoom crams greater firepower into an even more discreet package. “This camera is that rarest of combinations - it looks great wherever you take it, and you can be sure the pictures will, too.”

Michael Reichmann has published a very interesting article called “Understanding Mirror Lock-Up” on his Luminous Landscape website. The article strongly encourages you to use the mirror lock-up function on your camera (if it has it) to ensure optimum image sharpness. Despite this being accessed through a number of menus as a custom function on the Canon EOS 10D, I intend to follow Michael’s advice in the future. But I won’t be trying this test:

“Here’s a small test that you can do. Set your camera on a firm support, such as a tripod, and then place a small glass of water on the hot-shoe (balance it carefully). Set the exposure time to about 1 second, and once the water is very still press the shutter release.

What you’ll likely see are ripples on the surface of the water. This may be caused by your touching the camera to press the shutter and / or the mirror flipping upwards. If you know how to set mirror lock-up on your camera body, do so, and then do the experiment again, but also instead of pressing the shutter release manually, use a remote release, cable release or the camera’s self timer. See any difference in the ripples?”

Website: Understanding Mirror Lock-Up

Epson USA Press Release 20/10/03

New Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Offers 17-Inch-Wide Professional-Level Photographic Printing and Seven-Color UltraChrome Ink System with New Eight-Channel Printhead

LONG BEACH, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Oct. 20, 2003—

Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Offers Nearly Twice the Speed of Previous Epson Stylus Pro Printers and New Ink System Automatically Switches Between Matte Black and Photo Black Ink Modes

Epson’s newest and most advanced professional-level photographic printer to date is taking the form of a desktop design. The new Epson Stylus(R) Pro 4000 creates exhibit-quality images up to 17 inches in width at speeds that nearly double that of previous Epson Stylus Pro printers. The printer features a new eight-channel printhead and seven-color Epson UltraChrome(TM) pigmented ink system that automatically switches between Matte Black and Photo Black inks for optimum print quality on different media surfaces. It’s also packed with several other advanced features designed specifically around the needs of today’s professional photographers, graphic designers, commercial printers, GIS mapping, CAD users and more.

“We’re confident the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 will be the most popular and best selling Stylus Pro printer yet,” said Mark Radogna, senior product manager, professional graphics, Epson. “The combination of this printer’s amazing image quality, dramatically faster performance and unique 17-inch-wide media handling, will make it a must-have product for any digital imaging professional—especially with an estimated street price of only $1,795.”

The Slovenian website e-fotografija have reviewed 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.

Website: e-fotografija - HP 945 Review

CNET have reviewed the 4 megapixel Kyocera Finecam L4v, which has a huge 2.5 inch LCD display on the back of the camera.

“Like the Finecam L3v, the otherwise ordinary L4v stands out from the point-and-shoot crowd, thanks to a large, 2.5-inch LCD. It’s really handy for framing shots and playing slide shows for friends, but poor power management negates whatever small advantage a large screen might have given the L4v over its competitors.”

Website: CNET - Kyocera Finecam L4v Review

The Olympus ?[mju:]-III Wide 100 is an advanced compact camera with a wide 28mm-100mm zoom lens, autofocus system with 11 autofocus-points, 3-way Auto Exposure (AE) system for accurate exposure of images and six different flash modes. With a retail price of ?169.99, the Olympus ?[mju:]-III Wide 100 is positioned at the more expensive end of the compact camera market. Do all those features justify that cost? Read my review to find out.

Website: Olympus ?[mju:]-III Wide 100 Review

PhotographyBLOG reader Shaun has recently had a bad experience with the popular online print service Ofoto, which is owned by Kodak. Shaun has allowed PhotographyBLOG to publish the full details of the whole sorry saga, including the email exchange, so without further ado here is Shaun’s review of Ofoto…

Website: Ofoto Reader Review

Website: Ofoto

Steve’s Digicams posted no less than 5 new reviews on Friday and Saturday of last week, so rather than post separate entries, here’s a round-up of the reviews.

Pentax *ist D

“The PENTAX *ist D digital SLR camera combines a high-performance, APS-sized 6.1 effective megapixel CCD image sensor, Pentax K lens mount, pentaprism viewfinder, and a 1.8 inch LCD monitor in one of the world’s smallest and lightest camera bodies in the digital SLR category. The *ist D measures a very compact 5 x 3.7 x 2.3 inches and weighs just 18 ounces without batteries.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Pentax *ist D Review

Pentax Optio S4

“The Pentax Optio S4 is the same height and width of a credit card yet is packed with features that you wouldn’t expect to find in such a small camera like a 4-megapixel imager, 3x optical zoom lens, 11MB of built-in memory, 3D Imaging, Panorama Assist and Digital Filtering for color and image effects.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Pentax Optio S4 Review

Canon PowerShot Digital ELPH SD10

“Stretching the limits of style, size, and resolution, Canon have produced (at least for the moment) the worlds smallest 4-megapixel digicam, the PowerShot SD10 Digital ELPH. This tiny, unintimidating (dare I say cute?) point-n-shoot will please beginners with its ease of use in automatic exposure mode, yet it offers a limited range of adjustments in Manual mode that will help the intermediate user deal with less common shooting conditions.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Canon PowerShot Digital ELPH SD10 Review

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P92

“The DSC-P92’s images are excellent. The P92 is accurate even in low light conditions. The overall image quality, sharpness and color balance is on the same level as much more expensive cameras with the same image resolution capabilities.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P92 Review

Canon i860 Photo Printer

“The Canon i860 is an incredibly fast printer and is the perfect replacement for both an all-purpose text and graphic printer and a photo printer. Most people don’t print enough photos to justify a dedicated photo printer and with today’s inkjets like the Canon i860, i960 and i9100 you no longer need a dedicated photo printer. These printers are up for both of these tasks and do them extremely well.”

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Canon i860 Photo Printer Review

Photo-i have just reviewed the Hi-Touch 640PS Photo Printer. This dye-sublimation printer features stand-alone, direct printing of 6x4 inch lab-quality photos at an increased 403dpi (equivalent to inkjet 6400dpi) in only 75 seconds.

“For a professional studio photographer the HiTi printer gets my vote of the day. I had to think hard about this one, again I was apprehensive as to what use this small print size was going to be. But after playing about with the printer and seeing how many different ID sized portraits it can produce, including UK passport size pictures, I can see the advantages that this printer offers over other instant film systems.”

Website: Photo-i - Hi-Touch 640PS Photo Printer Review

One of the most recent worst-kept-secrets on the Web has been the Epson Stylus PRO 4000 printer, which the website Photo-i has now made official by publishing the specifications, sample images, price and their initial impressions:

“The Stylus Pro 4000 promises to give professional photographers a cost effective replacement to the traditional darkroom. The colour prints I have seen from this printer are stunning, I don’t know if Epson have re-formulated the inks but they certainly seem to have more punch than the original 2100 UltraChrome inks, perhaps it is due to better profiles and improved media.”

The A2, 8-colour, 2880x1440 dpi Stylus Pro 4000 will, however, cost the equivalent of a digital DSLR camera - ?1,495 + VAT to be exact.

Website: Photo-i

UPDATE 21/10/03
Epson UK are now listing the Stylus Pro 4000 on their website. If you are interested in buying one, you’d better be quick, as Epson have issued the following statement:

“Available from January 2004, however, we anticipate demand to be extremely high, so please contact your reseller from the 1st November to place an advance order.”

Website: Epson UK

DCResource have reviewed the 4.1 megapixel Kodak EasyShare DX6440, which has a 4X Schneider 33 - 132mm zoom lens and retails for around $400.

“The Kodak EasyShare DX6440 ($399) is a low priced 4 Megapixel camera with a 4X Schneider-Kreuznach zoom lens. Unlike most of Kodak’s other cameras, the 6440 has full manual controls and a hybrid autofocus system. It can be a point-and-shoot for beginners, or a manual camera for enthusiasts. If there’s one thing that Kodak does very well, it’s making a camera easy-to-use. The EasyShare system lets you easily share your photos with the push of a button (literally).”

Website: DCResource - Kodak EasyShare DX6440 Review

Pearly Kings and Queens #1	Pearly Kings and Queens #4	Pearly Kings and Queens #2
Pearly Kings and Queens #12	Pearly Kings and Queens #8	Pearly Kings and Queens #7

A few weeks ago the annual Pearly Kings and Queens’ Harvest Festival was held at St Martins-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, London. I spent a completely mad 30 minutes dashing around the very confined and very contrasty area outside the church; it was a sunny day and there were deep shadows and very bright highlights. Not that great for flattering portraits! Still, I managed to get a few good shots of this very British institution before they headed inside the church for the service.




You can see the full album of shots here:
People - Pearly Kings and Queens

Autumn Leaves #1	Autumn Leaves #5	Autumn Leaves #4
Autumn Leaves #7	Autumn Seeds #1	Autumn Leaves #8

Autumn is in full swing at the moment here in England. Living in London means that you don’t really get to appreciate this fantastic season, as green areas are few and far between, but I did manage a flying visit to Hampstead Heath the other evening before it got too dark (at about 6.30pm!). These were all taken handheld using my macro lens and a wide-open aperture of f/2.8 to keep the shutter speeds fast enough and to throw the background out of focus.




You can see the full album of shots here:
Macro - Autumn

The innovative Belkin Media Reader for iPod lets you store more than tunes. It gives you a great way to transfer images from your digital camera to your iPod. Now you can take more pictures and not worry about running out of space in your digital camera. The Belkin Media Reader costs US $99.00.

The Belkin Media Reader for iPod works with the iPod with dock connector.

Your iPod’s abundant storage handles thousands of digital photos and frees up your camera’s memory card so you can take more pictures. Simply connect the Media Reader to your iPod, and insert any of the six supported media types. Using software support that’s built into your iPod (iPod software version 2.1 or later), transfer your pictures quickly via FireWire technology and you’re ready to start shooting again. To retrieve the images, simply connect your iPod to your computer and import them into iPhoto or Image Capture. It’s like having virtually unlimited storage space for all your photos.

- Transfers files quickly and easily via FireWire Technology
- Protects the media slots from pocket dust and dirt when not in use with sliding cover.
- Dock Connector Cable stores away easily when not in use.
- Saves thousands of digital images to your iPod
- LED indicates power and data transfer status of Media Reader.
- Supports Compact Flash, (Type 1 and 2), Smart Media, Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick, or -—Multi Media Card (MMC)
- Works with iPod software version 2.1 or later
- Includes 4 AAA batteries
- 3-Year Belkin Product Warranty

Website: Belkin Media Reader for iPod

Olympus UK have confirmed that the limited edition Ferrari version of the Olympus Mju 400 digital camera will be available in the UK by mid-November 2003, costing ?599.99. Just in time for Christmas, Olympus launches the first, and only, digital camera in the world currently branded by Ferrari SpA. The ?Ferrari DIGITAL MODEL 2003? is a limited-edition camera, developed to celebrate the Olympus sponsorship of the Ferrari Scuderia Formula One Racing Team. As a limited-edition model with a production run of only 10,000 units worldwide, each camera is stamped with a unique production number.

Australian photographer Nick Rains has published a thought-provoking article on the Lumoinous Landscape website about Government control of the landscape and the rights to photograph it.

“Australia is in the middle of a major crisis with respect to photography of National Parks, Commonwealth Reserves and on public land administered by local Councils. Photographers have to dip into their pockets time and time again to be allowed to make images even if those images are what we might consider small scale and non-commercial. It is this concept of ‘Commercial’ that is causing many of the problems and I think it is time that the industry redefined this term for Governments to understand more fully.

Apostles - a permit for nature photography in Victoria costs either AUD275 for a year or AUD88 per day. This permit is only valid in Victora, you need another one in NSW and another one in Queensland etc etc…..”

Do you agree with Nick? Is something similar happening in your part of the World? Post a comment and let everyone know…

Website: The Erosion of Photographer’s Rights

Photoxels has posted a review of the Fuji FinePix S5000, a mid-range digital camera looks like a traditional SLR (but isn’t) and has a 10X optical zoom that is equivalent to equivalent to 37-370mm on a 35mm camera.

“Most people considering the Fujifilm FinePix S5000 are probably attracted to its 10x optical zoom. The reach of that long zoom is just incredible and, once you use it, you might find it quite hard to go back to regular 3x or 4x zoom. A tripod (or monopod) is recommended over 6x zoom.”

Website: Photoxels - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

Award-winning photographer Scott Bourne has posted his mini-review of Photoshop CS.

“PHOTO FILTERS is proof of Adobe?s newfound awareness that photographers are using Photoshop. It?s a new Adjustment Layer that emulates the old screw-on filters like the 81A and 81B. If you want to quickly correct for light induced colorcasts, you are going to love this new feature.”

Website: Scott Bourne - Photoshop CS Review

Imaging Resource have just posted a Quick Review of the 5 megapixel Kodak EasyShare DX4530. This new digicam retails for ?399 in the UK.

“The Kodak EasyShare DX4530 is very much a pure “point and shoot” camera, as it offers the user very little in the way of exposure adjustments or flexibility, but manages to capture surprisingly good images under a variety of conditions. Besides being easy to use to take photos with, the Kodak 4530 also mates with their optional 4000-series “dock,” for easy downloading of images to your computer, and built-in charging of NiMH batteries.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Kodak EasyShare DX4530 Review

Konica Minolta Press Release 16/10/03

Langenhagen, October 16th, 2003

Minolta’s digital cameras already support the Epson USB DP and PIM II standards* to connect the camera directly with the printer. Now the DiMAGE Z1 and DiMAGE E323 digital cameras are also incorporate the new industry standard PictBridge for direct printing. Both 3.2 megapixel cameras were introduced in August 2003.

PictBridge is a new industry standard for direct printing of images and allows a user to print directly from a PictBridge compatible digital camera connected via a cable to a PictBridge compatible printer without the use of a PC.

“PictBridge support provides consumers with more options for sharing their digital photos than ever before,” says Hidenori Toyoda, General Manager Photo Division, Minolta Europe. “We are delighted that users of our new DiMAGE Z1 and DiMAGE E323 cameras will now benefit from easily sharing prints of their digital images without using a computer.”

Overview compatibility*:
DiMAGE A1 (PIM II, Epson USB DP)
DiMAGE Z1 (PictBridge, PIM II, Epson USB DP)
DiMAGE Xt (PIM II, Epson USB DP)
DiMAGE X20 (PIM II, Epson USB DP)
DiMAGE E323 (PictBridge, PIM II)

Website: http://www.minoltaeurope.com/