Steves Digicams have reviewed the Casio EX-Z80, a new 8 megapixel digital camera that’s designed to be “easier” and “more fun”.

“Most of the exposures outdoors were good, however, as we have seen in our Sample Pics taken with both the S10 and the Z80 the sky in the sample shots of the canon the clouds seem to be slightly overexposed. This is a problem as it causes the area to lose detail otherwise the colors look vivid and lifelike. The 3x optical zoom, with a 35mm equivalent of 38-114mm, it is very good for landscapes and portrait photography. The zoom is great for framing or singling out an individual from a group but is not enough to bring a distant object much closer. At the wide end of the zoom you will see some barrel distortion and slight edge softness as well as some chromatic aberrations throughout.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Casio EX-Z80 Review

The UK’s Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has given the go-ahead for photography to be restricted in the UK. In a very worrying sign of the times, Smith wrote in a letter to the National Union of Journalists that “Decisions may be made locally to restrict or monitor photography in reasonable circumstances. That is an operational decision for the officers involved based on the individual circumstances of each situation.” No clarification was given of what might constitute “reasonable circumstances”. The Home Secretary went on to say “‘It is for the local Chief Constable, in the case of your letter the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force, to decide how his or her Officers and employees should best balance the rights to freedom of the press, freedom of expression and the need for public protection.” Considering that the Metropolitan Police force have already targeted photographers in a prominent poster campaign earlier this year, this isn’t particularly good news…

Website: BJP - Home Secretary green lights restrictions on photography

Repeat digital camera buyers are driving the digital camera market, according to a new report by Infotrends. In 2007, 3 out of 4 digital camera buyers purchased a replacement or additional camera, and in 2008 almost 9 out of 10 digital camera buyers are expected to fall into that category. Repeat buyers also spend more, because they are likely to be hobbyists that own multiple cameras, and their purchases are triggered by new technology or simply the desire to own a new camera.

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Field Guide is a full-color portable guide to the Sony Alpha A700 digital SLR camera. This new book guides you through the essential controls, features, and functions of the Sony A700 using step-by-step instructions and full-color images of each menu screen. The Sony Alpha DSLR A700 Digital Field Guide also goes beyond camera settings to offer you a refresher guide to the principles of digital photography. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Field Guide is available now for 16.00 EUR.

Ricoh have released a new firmware update for the Ricoh R8, a 10 megapixel digital camera with a 7.1 wide-angle zoom lens. The new firmware update, version 1.22, improves the accuracy of the white balance.

Website: Ricoh R8 Firmware Update 1.22

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Olympus E-420, a compact new entry-level 10 megapixel DSLR camera.

“There’s very little to criticise the overall specification and performance of the E-420. I like it’s size - it’s ideal for travelling and is reminiscent of my old OM4 in some aspects of its handling. Images are generally good too, with excellent sharpness and detail. Colour is crisp and hough exposures are slightly underexposed to my taste, they do maintain good tonality throughout the range.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Olympus E-420 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-420 Review

Leica are offering up to $800 off the price of a Leica M8 digital camera. From July 1, 2008 to September 30, 2008, customers can save $500 with the purchase of a brand new LEICA M8 or $800 for a brand new LEICA M8 and a new and current M lens. This promotion is valid for residents of the US, Canada, Central and South America. The mail-in rebate is not applicable to special edition lenses and cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.

Nikon UK is offering up to £90 off a D60 kit and £60 off a D40 kit. From the 1st July, customers will be to claim up to £60 cashback for a twin lens D40 kit and £90 cash back on the D60 kit, which has now been extended to include the SB-400 and SB-600 flashguns. Full terms and conditions and information about how to claim the cashback can be found at http://www.nikon.co.uk/cashback . This promotion ends on 31st August 2008, and all claims have to be made by 30th September 2008.

Nikon have released a new firmware update, version 2.00, for the D3 DSLR camera. The most notable changes are improvements to the autofocus and auto white balance performance, and the resolution of an issue that caused the battery indicator to blink, regardless of the actual battery charge.

Nikon have released a firmware update, v1.03, for the D300 DSLR camera. This firmware update resolves an issue which, in rare cases, causes the battery indicator to blink whilst shooting regardless of the level of charge in the battery.

Sydney Opera House and HP are running a global photography competition called House in Focus. The lucky winner will have their best shot exhibited at Sydney Opera House, where thousands of visitors will see it every week, and also win a HP TouchSmart PC. Two runners up will each receive a large scale canvas of their image, a roof tile from Sydney Opera House (collected during the original construction) and a book, Building a masterpiece: the Sydney Opera House. You just need to upload your image of Sydney Opera House to enter the contest. Voting of the images is open to the public who can vote until midnight on July 30, when three winners will be selected by the judging panel.

Fujifilm have unveiled 3 fashionable, fitted cases for the Z-series compact digital camera range. “We’ve found that today’s stylish camera owners in tune with our Z-Series lineup want their cameras to be as fashionably dressed as they are,” said Melanie McNichol, product manager, Electronic Imaging Division, Fujifilm U.S.A., Inc. “With these new cases, Fujifilm customers will be able to accessorize and protect their camera according to their own personal style.” The Z camera cases will retail for $14.99 each and be available in August 2008.

UK-based Experience Seminars are offering Canon digital SLR training packages for £99. The program, promoted by Canon, covers the Canon digital EOS system in depth along with how to get the very best out of your camera for specific photographic subjects. Experience Seminars have just moved into a new enlarged training centre at Wennington near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. The company has over 600 events covering 32 different seminars and training courses scheduled for 2008.

Get £400 off the new Spyder3Elite / Spyder3Studio when you trade-in your old calibration device. Between 1st July and 1st September 2008, simply hand in your old calibration device to your dealer or send it to Datacolor along with a completed order form to obtain the discount. All monitor calibration devices, including all previous Datacolor Spyder models (and ColorPlus) as well as units from other manufacturers, are valid.

The Transcend T.photo 720 is a new 7-inch digital photo frame with 2GB of internal memory. Featuring a refreshingly modern design, the T.photo 720 offers 800x480 pixel resolution and also functions as a full-featured MP3 player and an FM radio. The T.photo 720 is also equipped with a special new MobileCard slot for direct input of microSD and M2 cards. Transcend’s T.photo 720 digital photo frame is now available in either black or white.

Buy-n-Shoot have reviewed the 10 megapixel Olympus E-3 DSLR camera.

“A personal favourite feature is the 270-degree swivel screen. All DSLRs should have them in my opinion. It expands the user’s shooting possibilities by providing the option to shoot above your head, at your hip or by your feet - which you can do with any camera - but with the E-3 swivel screen you can correctly compose; there’s no guesswork involved. It also gives you the option to turn the screen toward your subject so they can see the shots as they are taken and is a great feature too to help protect your screen from scratches as it can be ‘closed’ to face in towards the camera body and out of harm’s way.”

Website: Buy-n-Shoot - Olympus E-3 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-3 Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the Fujifilm Finepix J50, an 8 megapixel entry-level compact digital camera.

“The J50’s biggest let-down is its image quality, which I can only describe as terrible. It’s a pity, because the lens actually performs very well, with virtually no distortion at either end of the zoom range, and good edge-to-edge sharpness, but it is let down by the lousy sensor. Even at the lowest ISO setting there are problems with image noise, and despite only having a maximum setting of 800 ISO, images at this setting are unusable. The combination of image noise and massive over-compression robs the images of any fine detail. File sizes at the highest quality setting average under 2MB, which is very small for an 8MP camera.”

Website: TrustedReviews - Fujifilm Finepix J50 Review

Website: Read our Fujifilm Finepix J50 Review

The 3 lucky winners of our fantastic June 2008 Newsletter contest have been randomly selected from the PhotographyBLOG Newsletter subscriber list.

Eyal Zarrad, R Bambrook and Chris Tank each win a Manfrotto Modo 785B Tripod and 785 Bag, worth a total of £110 / $150.

The winners of the June 2008 PhotographyBLOG Competition have been selected. The theme for June was “Emptiness” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Emptiness by Amandart

Prize: CanvasRus 40 x 30” Canvas Print
Kindly donated by CanvasRus
http://www.canvasrus.co.uk

The new Nikon D700 is the second full-frame, FX-series DSLR camera from Nikon. Using the same 36x24mm, full frame, 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor as the more expensive D3 model, the D700 also offers exactly the same extensive ISO range of 100 - 25,600. “The D700 excels in the extreme low-light and high-contrast conditions under which today’s cameras are judged and affirms Nikon’s ongoing commitment to meeting tomorrow’s imaging needs.” commented Robert Cristina, Manager Professional Products and NPS at Nikon Europe. The high-speed, 12-channel readout enables the D700 to achieve a fast continuous shooting speed of 5fps, or 8 fps with the Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 fitted. The Nikon D700 has a more compact design than the D3, and also features the same integrated dust reduction system as the D300 model. The Nikon D700 will cost £1999.99 / €2599.00 / $2999.95 and be available from July 2008. Nikon have released a 24-page D700 brochure and 10 D700 photos.

We’ve got some real-life shots and comparison pictures of the D700 and the Canon EOS 5D - just click the link below to see them.