The price of the 5 megapixel Minolta DiMAGE A1 digital camera has been drastically reduced by some retailers in the UK and USA. The UK photography website digitalfirst.co.uk is now selling the A1, which improves upon the DiMAGE 7 series of digital cameras, for ?638.49 including VAT - that’s over ?150 less than the camera was originally selling for when it was launched a few weeks ago. The A1 has also had its price slashed by $200 in the USA. The Canon EOS 300D has a lot to answer for!

Website: digitalfirst.co.uk

Website: DPReview Forums - USA Price Reduction

This isn’t directly related to photography, but it will interest everyone who has a DVD rewriter…

Philips will demonstrate its new dual-layer DVD recordable technology at the DVD+RW Alliance booth at the CEATEC* JAPAN 2003 exhibition in Makuhari (Chiba, Japan) from October 7 to 11. Developed by Philips Research in cooperation with MKM (Mitsubishi Kagaku Media)/Verbatim, the technology virtually doubles data storage capacity on DVD recordable discs from 4.7 Gbyte to 8.5 Gbyte while remaining compatible with existing DVD Video players and DVD-ROM drives.

Both Philips and MKM regard the introduction of dual-layer DVD+R technology as the next important milestone in the drive to continually improve and expand the optical data storage options available to consumers. Users will benefit from the additional storage capacity of the DVD+R disc as it will enable them to record 4 hours of DVD-quality video or 16 hours of VHS-quality video, without the need to turn over the disc. PC users will be able to archive up to 8.5 Gbytes of computer files on a single disc, which almost doubles the storage capacity compared with the 4.7Gbytes for the single-layer DVD+R discs currently available.

Website: DVD+RW Alliance

Konica Minolta Press Release 14/10/03

Konica Minolta Introduces Stylish New DiMAGE G400
Easy to use 4.0 megapixel camera features fully automatic operation as well as creative capabilities for enhanced picture taking

Mahwah, NJ (October 14, 2003) ? Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A., Inc., announces today the new high-performance compact DiMAGE G400 4.0 megapixel digital camera.  The ergonomically designed Konica Minolta DiMAGE G400 creates beautiful images at the touch of a button. Featuring a built-in 3x optical zoom lens, sleek metal exterior with an impressive 0.7-second startup time, autofocusing, autoexposure, auto white-balance, and other creative capabilities this new compact camera is ready to go at a moment?s notice.

?It?s appropriate that this fashionable and easy-to-use DiMAGE G400 digital camera is the first to be introduced by our newly formed company,? said Jon Sienkiewicz, vice president of marketing, Konica Minolta?s Camera Division. ?The new fully-featured DiMAGE G400 is the perfect companion for any photo enthusiast.?

The DiMAGE G400 features a 4.2 megapixel CCD for sharp, clear pictures as well as a 3x GT Hexanon optical zoom lens incorporating seven elements in six groups to provide sharp, high-contrast images. The lens is designed to minimize flare and unwanted aberrations so that the tonal range and detail in the scene are apparent in the final image.

A newly designed signal-processing engine makes this compact camera twice as fast as the DiMAGE G500. In fact, the Konica Minolta DiMAGE G400?s rapid startup (0.7 seconds) and fully-automatic picture taking and shut down cycles in only 1.5 seconds. This allows users to take a properly exposed and in focus picture in the blink of an eye.

The German website digitalkamera.de has reviewed the full version of Jasc’s Paint Shop Pro Photo Album 4, which allows you to get your photos from camera to computer and then enhance, organize, and share them with Photo Album’s fast and easy-to-use tools. In other words it’s a direct competitor to Adobe Photoshop Album.

Website: digitalkamera.de - Paint Shop Pro Photo Album 4 Review

You wait a while for one Steve’s Digicams review, then three come along at once!

Steve’s first review is of the Toshiba PDR-5300, which has a 5 megapixel CCD sensor, 3X optical zoom lens (equivalent to a 35mm to 105mm 35mm zoom lens) and a stainless-steel body. The PDR-5300 has an RRP of $399.

Website: Steve’s Digicams- Toshiba PDR-5300 Review

Next up is the Pentax Optio 33WR, a compact 3-megapixel camera with a 2.8x optical zoom and a weather resistant case.

Website: Steve’s Digicams- Pentax Optio 33WR Review

Finally, Steve has reviewed the Casio EXILIM EX-S20, a 2-megapixel digital camera with a 1.6-inch color LCD monitor squeezed into a 0.44-inch thin body. The EX-S20 retails for $279.99.

Website: Steve’s Digicams- Casio EXILIM EX-S20 Review

Profesional photographer Michael Reichmann, who runs the popular website Luminous Landscape, has just returned from a trip to the Canadian Rockies. Michael used the Contax 645 and 16 Megapixel Kodak DCS Pro Back combination exclusively throughout the trip, and he’s published 2 articles that reveal what a pro photographer thinks of his surroundings and his equipment.

Website: The Rockies - 7 National Parks in 7 Days

Website: Medium Format Digital In The Field

The Norwegian photography website digit.no has spotted a new digital camera from Minolta. The Minolta G400 is now featured on the Konica Minolta Japan website (which is thankfully available in an English version). The G400 is a 4 megapixel camera with an F2.8-4.9 3x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 34-101mm on a 35mm camera). The G400 is very thin, 23mm to be precise, and weighs just 145g. Konica Minolta have already posted 5 sample images for you to judge the image quality for yourself.

Website: Konica Minolta Japan - G400

Website: Konica Minolta Japan - G400 Sample Images

The German photography website digitalkamera.de has just reviewed the ColorVision Spyder. This is is an all-digital, seven-filter colorimeter that works with both CRT and LCD monitors. Working together with the wizard-based PhotoCAL software, the Spyder calibrates your monitor to a universal standard for color and automatically creates a correct monitor profile. The end result ? a monitor that displays accurate color and lets you trust what you see on your screen. The Spyder currently costs 169 Euros.

Find out if what digitalkamera.de thought in their review:

Website: digitalkamera.de - ColorVision Spyder Review

Website: ColorVision Europe

CNET has posted its 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.

“If you’re looking for a megazoom digicam, Fujifilm’s 3-megapixel FinePix S5000 seems like an enticing proposition at first. It combines a 10X zoom lens with a compact body, decent overall performance, plenty of advanced features, and an affordable price. When you dig under the surface, however, you find some design drawbacks and disappointing image quality. In the end, the S5000 isn’t so attractive.”

Website: CNET - Fuji FinePix S5000 Review

Olympus UK Press Release 13/10/03

The first Olympus E-1 digital SLR in Europe goes to David Bailey

The Olympus E-1 digital SLR system hits the UK market this month and first on the list of expectant customers was none other than David Bailey. The world-famous photographer was presented with an Olympus E-1 by Graeme Chapman, President of Imaging Systems, Olympus Europa.

David Bailey, who has been an Olympus user for more than 20 years, was delighted with the new camera; “I am thrilled to be the first to get my hands on the camera. As a professional photographer the technology meets my needs for the highest quality and flexibility; this new system demonstrates huge advances in photography”.

Graeme Chapman comments, “We are delighted to present David with an E-1 and very much look forward to seeing the results. Our relationship with David extends back many years; his enthusiasm towards the camera is a fantastic endorsement as we enter the Digital SLR arena”.

Olympus has stuck to its promise to deliver the first Four Thirds product by the Autumn of this year, following its launch only 12 months ago at Photokina in September 2002. However, this is just the start; many more products are already in development, to be expected in 2004.

Website: Olympus UK

Nikon UK Press Release 13/10/03

D100 and Coolpix 5400 reduced in price

Nikon have just announced some good news for consumers - the D100 digital SLR and the Coolpix 5400 prosumer digital compact have both been reduced in price.

Recommended retail price for the D100 is now ?1499.99 down from ?1699.99 and the Coolpix 5400 price has been lowered by ?50 to ?599.99.

Website: Nikon.co.uk

The Olympus IS-500 is an all-in-one SLR camera with a recommended price of ?219.99. It looks and acts like a traditional 35mm SLR, but the lens is built-in and cannot be detached, which for some people may be more convenient than carrying around a bag full of lenses. So can the IS-500 offer the best of both worlds - convenience and quality? Read my review to find out.

Website: Olympus IS-500 Review

Photoxels have reviewed one of the more popular consumer digicams, the 4-megapixel Canon PowerShot A80, which sells for around $399.

“One of the most popular cameras of 2003 has been the Canon PowerShot A70 (see our review). It’s received positive reviews from camera review sites (like this one) and users alike. Due to its popularity, finding an A70 proved difficult for many consumers, who would show up at Best Buy to find them out of stock. What made the A70 so desirable? In my opinion, it’s because Canon “gets it”. They created a lower cost camera which not only took good quality pictures, but also offered full manual controls, support for add-on lenses, and an AF-assist lamp—items rarely found on cameras in that class.”

Website: DCResource - Canon Powershot A80 Review

Mike Johnston’s weekly column considers a question asked by one of Mike’s readers; Do you feel that your photography (the “art” part, not the “gearhead” part) is better using your Sony 707 (digital camera) or using Contax and film?

“A great deal of the technology in modern cameras exists to enable amateur and occasional photographers to do automatically ? without knowledge or practice ? what dedicated photographers have been learning to do, and training themselves to do, and doing, for more than a century.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: The Gestalt of 35mm Tri-X vs. Digital

The Slovenian website e-FotoPortal have published the third part of their review of the Canon EOS 300D. e-FotoPortal is currently putting the 300D through its paces in a number of testing environments; this time they have tested the camera in a sudio environment.

Website: e-FotoPortal - Canon EOS 300D Studio Report

The October issue of Nature Photographers Online Magazine has been posted and features some new articles that will appeal to nature and non-nature photographers alike. “Shooting Vertical Panoramics” by UK photographer Guy Edwardes, “Photo Contest Tips” by Brian Small and “The Erosion of Photographer’s Rights ? A Very Worrying Trend” by Nick Rains are all excellent articles worthy of your time.

Website: Nature Photographers Online Magazine - October Issue

ATP Electronics Inc Press Release 06/10/03

SAN FRANCISCO , Calif./Oct 5, 2003—- ATP Electronics Inc, an independent leader in memory products, today announced its first to market 1GB MultiMediaCard.

The new 1GB card was first introduced at a press conference at the 2003 Computex Taipei in September.

An actual device utilizing ATP’s 1GB MultiMediaCard can be viewed at http://flash.atpinc.com/mmcdemo.jpg

ATP MultiMediaCards are targeted mainly at the fast growing demand for memory in digital cameras, digital video camcorders, audio players, new multi-function 2.5G/3G cell phones and other portable devices.

Kent Eisenberg, ATP Product Marketing Manager, said, ‘We are proud to announce the first available 1GB MultiMediaCard. We believe this high capacity card will provide open system application makers the ability to develop an increasingly exciting multimedia experience. The new markets demand high capacity storage in ever-shrinking portable digital devices. ATP’s 1GB MultiMediaCards have been designed to meet these demands.’

With an ATP 1GB MultiMediaCard, consumers can store up to 30 hours of digitally compressed music, more than 320 minutes of MPEG-4 compressed video or more than 1000 high-resolution digital images. Consumers will no longer feel forced to choose between picture/video quality and memory space.

Eisenberg continued, ‘Our new 1GB MultiMediaCards will give digital devices much more storage capacity combined with very low power consumption. In addition, MultiMediaCards offer a much more attractive price point than SD cards since there are no licensing fees.’

DPReview have published an interesting snippet of Olympus E-1 news in the form of a timeline for the release of new lenses for the E-1. According to Olympus Japan, there will be 5 new lenses in 2004 and 7 in 2005. DPReview has all the details…

Website: DPReview - Olympus E-1 Lens Timeline

DPReview contributor Les Freed has reviewed the Olympus Studio software package, which is an optional extra for the Olympus E-1 DSLR, costing $150.

“This review, prepared by Les Freed examines the Studio software in some detail. Studio provides facilities for image transfer, browsing, viewing, editting, printing, RAW conversion and tethered camera operation. Overall Les was impressed (especially with the RAW conversion speed) but would have liked to have seen Studio making up a standard part of the E-1 Kit.”

Website: DPReview - Olympus Studio Software Review

The UK digital photography website, DP-Now, have just announced the 2nd round of their new photography competition, staged in conjunction with Olympus UK. There is ?8,000 worth of prizes up for grabs; 12 monthly prizes of ?500 to spend on Olympus products, and a ?2,000 holiday for two in Greece for the overall winner. The competition is based loosely on the theme of each of the twelve Olympian gods, in turn, one for each month. Check out the DP-Now website below for the full details.

Website: DP-Now Competition