Vincent at photo-i.co.uk has completed his review of Canon’s new flagship flatbed scanner, the 9900F. Find out if it has what it takes to beat Epson’s Perfection 3200…

Website: photo-i

No sooner have Pentax announced their new DSLR, the curiously named *ist D, than Canon announce their new DSLR, the EOS 10D.

“Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is pleased to announce the launch of the EOS 10D, a 6.3 million pixel Canon digital SLR with a seven point wide area autofocus system, fast three frames per second burst rate and an ergonomic super-tough magnesium alloy body shell. Launched as the successor to the award winning EOS D60, the EOS 10D builds on the strengths of this highly popular model with a range of improvements to both the camera’s design and its specification.”

Read the full press release

The 10D boasts a lot of noteable improvements over the D60, including a magnesium alloy body, extended ISO range (100-3200), 7-point autofocus and 35 zone evaluative metering system system.

Initial reaction to the new camera on the Web seems to be very positive and at a suggested RRP of ?1499 / $1999, the EOS 10D is definitely going to turn the heat up on the likes of Nikon, Fuji, Pentax and even Sigma. Why would you buy a Sigma SD9 now, or Pentax’s *ist D (even if you could pronounce it)?! The 10D may also threaten advanced digital compact cameras like the Minolta 7Hi and the Nikon 5700. Maybe there will be a big price ripple throughout the industry? Even better, the 10D will be available from March, hopefully in sufficient numbers, so we may see some price decreases very soon.

DPReview and Steve’s Digicams both have extensive first looks at the camera, whilst Imaging Resource wins the prize for the first full Review and some excellent sample pictures.

Website: Imaging Resource - Canon 10D Review

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon 10D First Look

Website: DPReview - Canon 10D Preview

Canon themselves have a Flash-based presentation and 2 sample images on their website. You can also read the Canon Press Release which contains all of today’s product announcements.

At the same time as the EOS 10D, Canon are also announcing no fewer than 5 other digital cameras! I’ll try to get pictures as soon as possible…

Canon PowerShot S50

“Canon has launched a high specification 5 megapixel camera to head the ?S? range of PowerShot models - the new PowerShot S50. Fitted with a 3x f/2.8-4.9 optical zoom, covering focal lengths of 35-105mm, the S50 offers a wide range of photographic controls, presented in an easy access format, that will meet the needs of even experienced photographers.”
The PowerShot S50 will be available from 3 March 2003 for around ?549 RRP inc VAT.

Digital IXUS 400

“Canon is pleased to introduce its new flagship Digital IXUS camera, the Digital IXUS 400. The smallest 4 Megapixel 3x zoom compact in Canon’s range, this model continues the IXUS tradition of stunning design and outstanding build quality.”
The Digital IXUS 400 will be available from March 2003 for around ?449 RRP inc VAT.

Canon PowerShot A60 and PowerShot A70

“Canon is pleased to announce the launch of two new PowerShot digital cameras that offer users an advanced level of control over their photography. The 2.0 megapixel Canon PowerShot A60 and the 3.2 megapixel PowerShot A70 are ideal for home and family users who expect versatility, excellent image quality and high-specification from their digital camera at an affordable price.  The new models will replace the Canon PowerShot A30 and A40 in the PowerShot line-up.”
The PowerShot A60 and A70 will be available from March 2003 for around ?229 and ?299 RRP inc VAT, respectively.

Canon PowerShot A300

“Canon is pleased to announce the launch of the PowerShot A300 - an entry-level, digital compact camera that offers high resolution and advanced features to the first time digital camera buyer.”
The PowerShot A300 will be available from March 2003 for around ?199 RRP inc VAT.

Well, I take a day off from everything to celebrate my birthday, and look what happens! Pentax have announced a new digital SLR camera, the Pentax *ist D, and a new wide angle lens, the smc PENTAX-FA J Zoom 18-35mm F4-5.6 AL. Pentax has also been developing lenses compatible with the new digital SLR camera. Pentax aims to launch these in Fall 2003.

See all 6 views of the Pentax *ist D and read the Press Release

“The lens-interchangeable *ist D digital SLR camera.  With the clarity of 6.1 effective megapixels, a pentaprism viewfinder, and a 1.8 inch LCD monitor,  the *ist D will feature one of the world?s smallest, lightest camera bodies in the digital SLR category. The *ist D will officially launch in July 2003.”

Other notable features include a 16-segment metering system which achieves more accurate exposure, 11-point AF sensor, fast 1/4000 sec. shutter speed and high-speed flash sync at 1/150 sec and continuous shooting at approx. 2.7 fps.

Photo-i.co.uk are reporting the release of Canon’s new consumer A3 printer, the i9100. Note that this is not, unfortunately, an A3 version of Canon’s exciting new A4 printer, the i950. Instead the i9100 is a slightly revamped version of the popular S9000. I’m not sure if the two printers will co-exist, or if the S9000 will be dropped from Canon’s printer line-up. The suggested RRP for the i9100 is ?420 and it will be available in May.

Website: Canon i9100 Details

Just to let you all know that Ryan is the 50th person to sign-up as a member of PhotographyBLOG! (if you don’t count me…)

I’m not sure how I missed this story yesterday, but Sony have announced no less than 9 new additions to its digital camera range. There are 6 new Cyber-shots, ranging from the DSC-P32 ($230), DSC-P52 ($280), DSC-P72 ($330), DSC-P92 ($500), the DSC-P8 ($400) and the DSC-P10 ($600). There are 2 new CD-based Mavica cameras, the MVC-CD350 ($500) and the MVC-CD500 ($700).

The most interesting new model is the Cyber-shot DSC-V1, which seems to be a direct replacement for the S85.

“Available in May for about $700, and barely larger than a deck and a half of cards, the Cyber-shot V1 camera will offer a 5-megapixel imager and a Carl Zeiss? Vario-Sonnar? lens with 4x optical zoom sharpness and color accuracy. It will also feature a hot shoe and accessory terminal. Plus, there are several Sony-only features, including a rechargeable Infolithium? battery system, with to-the-minute awareness of remaining battery life, along with Nightshot? and NightFraming features for taking crisp pictures in no or low-light conditions. “

Website: Sony Press Releases

Steves Digicams have a already posted a First Look at the Cyber-shot DSC-V1, which you can read here.

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Canon i950 printer, which is surely going to be one of the most popular printers of 2003. As with most other reviews that I’ve seen, Steve only has good things to say about the i950. And for all you A3 fans out there, Steve reveals that the i950’s bigger brother will be unveiled at PMA.

Here’s a small extract from the review to whet your appetite…

“The i950’s print quality is the equal of anything that I’ve ever had printed by pro color labs in my film days…”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon i950 Printer Review

More completely unofficial information about Canon’s new digital DSLR are emerging. Nicholas J on the DPReview forums managed to prise the following information out of the Canon representative at Focus-on-Imaging, a UK imaging trade show.

1. The 10D has the same 6mp CMOS chip as the D60.
2. It has 7 focus points.
3. AF considerably faster than D60.
4. Low light focus performance much better than D60.
5. Write speeds to disk much faster than D60.
6. Response time when switching camera on is almost instant as well as response time when using “play” menu button.

“The 10D will be the ONLY new DSLR by Canon this year. There are no plans for a EOS 3 based DSLR or anything else. He also said the 1D (not 1Ds) will be around for about another year before they replace it with something new.”

In the second ever PhotographyBLOG review, I take a look at Pictureflow’s archiving software, Archive Creator. If you regularly copy data and photographs to CDs, Archive Creator will make your life a whole lot easier. If you don’t create backups of your files, then you should start immediately before something inevitably goes wrong; use Archive Creator before it’s too late…

Archive Creator Review

Yes, it seems that the new Canon DSLR that nearly everyone has been waiting for has appeared in Athens, Greece. “geonahta”, a member of the DPReview forums, took the photos of the new Canon 10D at the Expo Photo 2003 photography trade show and posted them on pBase. There are 17 photos of the new camera here:

Website: Photos of the Canon 10D

And if you want to read the reactions to the new 10D, then the DPReview Canon SLR forum is the best place to start.

In the mainly digital madness that is the run-up to PMA, its refreshing to read a review of an old-fashioned but still-sought-after medium format camera. Tom at the excellent weblog bbCity.co.uk has purchased and reviewed the Bronica ERTS. I briefly used a Bronica ERTSi (not sure what the “i” stands for?) a couple of weeks ago at my City and Guilds photography class, and although looking through a waist-level viewfinder was a little disconcerting to say the least, the quality of the negatives and prints was impressive.

Website: bbCity.co.uk - Bronica ERTS Review

Steve’s DigiCams have posted their initial impressions of Nikon’s new square digital camera, the Coolpix SQ. As with all First Looks at this site, there is no actual conclusion or any sample pictures at the moment.

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Nikon Coolpix SQ First Look

To complete the First Looks at the new Nikon cameras, Imaging Resource have released initial reports on the Nikon Coolpix 3100 and 2100.

Website: Imaging Resource - Nikon Coolpix 3100 and 2100 First Looks

In August 2003 I was fortunate enough to go on a 3-week tour of Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. I’ve only just started to sort through and pick out the best of the 1000+ images that I took. As the trip began in the noisy, dirty but at the same time intriguing city of Bangkok, here are 3 photos from Thailand’s capital.

Bangkok #1	Bangkok #2	Bangkok #3

You can now receive the latest news and content from PhotographyBLOG every day, straight into your email inbox! Stay completely up-to-date with everything that’s happening in the world of photography. Simply enter your email address in the “Daily Updates” box (underneath the Calendar) to subscribe.

This completely free service is provided by Bloglet, on behalf of PhotographyBLOG. Bloglet enables you to stay up-to-date with all your favorite weblogs via a single email.

DPReview have exclusively posted 3 comparison photos between the Fuji FinePix F601 and the new Fuji FinePix F700, which demonstrate the increased dynamic range of the SuperCCD SR sensor used in the F700. The third image in particular shows just what the new camera is capable of, compared to the older F601. These photos were supplied to DPReview By Fuji.

Website: DPReview - FinePix F700 Photos

Fuji have also released some sample images from both the F700 and F410 on their website:

Website: FinePix F700 Photos

Website: FinePix F410 Photos

Here are a couple of photography websites that are well worth adding to your Favourites list. I just need to find out how to translate the Finnish site digicamera.net; any ideas, anyone?

Website: Photoxels

Website: digicamera.net

UPDATE: 17:00 PM It looks like Walmart have pulled the plug on their Canon A70/S50 pages, as these links no longer work! Did they post these cameras without Canon’s permission? Will the A70/S50 ever see the light of day? Was it complete hoax?

Could this be the first wave of a flood of new products from Canon? The US retailer Walmart is currently listing 2 new digital Canon Powershots (currently “out of stock”).

The S50 is a 5 megapixel compact, featuring a 3x optical zoom lens, movie recording capability, 12 shooting modes including aperture or shutter speed priority, night scene and movie, and 9-point auto focus.

The listed RRP at Walmart is $597.67.

Website: Canon Powershot S50

The A70 is a 3.2 megapixel compact, featuring a 3x optical zoom lens, movie recording capability, 12 shooting modes including aperture or shutter speed priority, night scene and movie, and 5-point auto focus.

The listed RRP at Walmart is $298.46.

Website: Canon Powershot A70

Vincent at photo-i has completed his 13-page detailed review of the Epson Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner. Find out why this scanner could be the perfect all-in-one solution for scanning documents and your negative/slide collection.

Website: photo-i

“Flatbed scanners have matured, they have become a viable alternative to the dedicated film scanner and at a fraction of the cost. Many photographers are moving into digital capture, but there are a lot of people out there still shooting film. These people also want the ability to scan and manipulate their pictures without breaking the bank. This flatbed scanner with its high quality film scanning capability might just be the answer.”

Buried deep down in yesterday’s FujiFilm press release (below the blurb about Fujicolor QuickSnap one-time-use cameras) is the news that Fuji are introducing a ISO 100 speed version of it’s amazingly popular Velvia color transparency film. I regularly use the ISO 50 version of this slide film; it produces breath-takingly saturated colours and is perfect for landscapes. Hopefully the ISO 100 version will retain the same characteristics. Maybe I could even hand-hold the camera with the faster Velvia?!

Website: Fuji Velvia 100

“Today, Fujifilm once again redefines the color reproduction palette for professional photographers, with the introduction of FUJICHROME Velvia 100F Professional. This new color transparency film brings the ultra-high-saturated color of Fujifilm’s renowned Velvia to the ISO 100 speed class. Employing the industry’s first Multi-Color-Correction Layer technology in a color reversal film, as well as new coupler and emulsion technologies, FUJICHROME Velvia 100F Professional delivers world-class color fidelity, reproducing the finest nuances of hues that test the limitations of conventional films, along with ultra-fine granularity (RMS** granularity of 8***). “

FujiFilm also announced a second new film, Astia 100F Professional, “a new color transparency film offering strikingly improved reproduction of skin tone and texture, which will change the face of the fashion, portrait and commercial photography market segments.”