The US magazine Professional Photographer has just announced its Hot One Awards for 2007. For the 2007 Hot One Awards, a team of 15 judges were asked to vote only on categories that fit within their areas of expertise. Among the winners were Think Tank Photo’s rotation360° backpack (pictured), Digital Foci’s “Image Moments” digital frame, and REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited.

Think Tank Photo Press Release

THINK TANK PHOTO’s rotation360° AWARDED PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S “HOT ONE AWARD” AS BEST NEW CAMERA BAG

SANTA ROSA, CALIF – Think Tank Photo’s breakthrough rotating camera backpack, the rotation360°, was today awarded Professional Photographer’s “Hot One Award” as the industry’s best new camera bag for professional application.  With the rotation360°, in seconds a beltpack can be rotated from inside of the backpack to the front of the body, allowing photographers to access their gear stored inside without having to take it off or swivel the entire backpack.

For the 2007 Hot One Awards, a team of 15 judges—all of whom are practicing professional photographers—were asked to vote only on categories that fit within their areas of expertise. By conducting the judging in this manner, Professional Photographer was able to provide a premium level of expertise for the judging of each category.

“The 2007 Hot One Award winners represent an interesting combination of advanced technology and superior usability,” said Jeff Kent, Hot One Editor, Professional Photographer magazine.  “Looking over the winning products, we noticed a concerted effort by manufacturers to create high-tech, high-quality items that have the working habits of contemporary professional photographers in mind. Our team of judges chose this year’s crop of winners based on quality, usability, innovation and, in many cases, value for price.  These judges are all working professional photographers, and their endorsement of these products indicates that the items work not only on the conceptual level, but on the practical level as well. The 2007 Hot One Award winners can be proud to call themselves the best the business has to offer.”

“We’re honored that Professional Photographer magazine chose to name the rotation360° the best new product in the camera bag category,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank Photo founder and lead designer.  “Our business is based on listening to the needs of professional and serious photographers and creating innovative gear that serve their needs.  The rotation360° breaks the barrier about which photographers in the field constantly complain:  that they have to remove their backpack in order to access the contents inside.”

Seeing Is Believing
To aid photographers in visualizing this new concept, Think Tank Photo has posted videos of the backpack in action and detailed product specifications at www.rotation360.com.

Among the features demonstrated there are the rotation360°’s breakthrough method for mounting one or two SLRs on the front of the shoulder straps, which takes all of the stress normally associated with cameras and camera straps and transfers the weight directly to the backpack’s padded shoulder straps. A special camera strap is included with the bag which prevents stress to the neck or shoulders and prevents it from falling off. 

With this revolutionary product photographers’ hands are completely free to rotate the beltpack to the front of the body, change lenses and accessories at a moment’s notice, and then rotate it back again into the backpack.

About Think Tank Photo
Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, Think Tank Photo (www.thinktankphoto.com) is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work and developing inventive new carrying solutions that meet their needs. They are dedicated to using only the highest quality materials and design principles, and employing materials that are environmentally benign.

Digital Foci Press Release

DIGITAL FOCI “IMAGE MOMENTS” WINS 2007 HOT ONE AWARD

“Image Moments” Digital Frame Honored by Professional Photographer magazine for Advanced Technology, Innovation & Superior Usability

January 15, 2007, Los Angeles, CA – Digital Foci, Inc. (www.digitalfoci.com) announced today that it has won The Professional Photographer 2007 Hot One Awards for their “Image Moments” digital photo frame.  “Image Moments” (Model IMT-081) lets you display and share photos directly from digital camera memory cards at home or at the office on a selection of beautiful interchangeable picture frames.  “Image Moments,” also featured in Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” December 25, 2006 - January 1, 2007 issue (http://www.thomas-pr.com/136/photos/digitalfociintimemagazine2.html), lets photographers and consumers alike insert any digital camera card into the frame’s sharp, vibrant color big 8-inch high-resolution digital LCD screen to bring memories instantly to life. 

“Our team of judges chose this year’s crop of winners based on quality, usability, innovation and, in many cases, value for price.  These judges are all working professional photographers, and their endorsement of these products indicates that the items work not only on the conceptual level, but on the practical level as well. The 2007 Hot One Award winners can be proud to call themselves the best the business has to offer,” said Jeff Kent, Hot One Editor, Professional Photographer magazine. 

The prestigious Hot One Award honors the photography industry’s best new products for professional application. The mission of the award is to provide Professional Photographer magazine’s readership with a compendium of the newest, hottest, most innovative products available.  Each year, Professional Photographer editors oversee a submission and judging process that calls on companies in all subfields of the photography industry. This year, more than 125 companies competed in just shy of 50 product categories. There were well over 200 total products entered in the contest.

Hot One Award Judging Process
For the 2007 Hot One Awards, a team of 15 judges, all of whom are practicing professional photographers, voted on products that ranged from picture frames to posing tools. The judges were asked to vote only on categories that fit within their areas of expertise. For example, some judges voted on digital cameras, software and lighting equipment. Others voted on film, paper and presentation devices. By conducting the judging in this manner, Professional Photographer was able to provide a premium level of expertise for the judging of each category.

Winners were chosen by a plurality of votes in each category. The 2007 Hot One Award winners will be highlighted at Imaging USA in San Antonio, Texas, January 14-17, 2007. There will also be a special Hot One Awards magazine write-up appearing in the February issue of Professional Photographer. All winning products will be detailed in that article. Additional information on the Hot One Awards and the 2007 winners will appear on Professional Photographer’s website: www.ppmag.com.

For more information on Digital Foci, see the site: http://www.digitalfoci.com .

Realviz Press Release

REALVIZ® Stitcher® Unlimited Wins Professional Photographer Magazine’s 2007 ‘Hot One’ Award

Sophia Antipolis, France (January 15, 2007) - REALVIZ®, a leader in image processing software development, is pleased to announce that Professional Photographer, the official magazine of Professional Photographers of America, has named Stitcher® Unlimited as one of the recipients of their coveted 2007 Hot One Awards. The software beat intense competition to win the Image Editing category. The Professional Photographer Hot One Awards honor the photography industry’s best new products for professional application. The 2007 Hot One Award winners, including REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited, will be highlighted at Imaging USA in San Antonio, Texas, which takes place January 14-17, 2007.

The Professional Photographer Hot One Awards honor the photography industry’s best new products for professional application. The mission of the awards is to provide Professional Photographer magazine’s readership with a compendium of the newest, hottest, most innovative products available. Each year, Professional Photographer editors oversee a submission and judging process that calls on companies in all subfields of the photography industry. This year, more than 125 companies competed in just shy of 50 product categories, with well over 200 total products entered in the contest.

Widely regarded as “the world’s premier image-stitching program” (3D World Magazine, December 2006), Stitcher is a professional-level application, used by thousands of professional photographers, architects, multimedia and 3D artists worldwide, and enables the creation of superb wide-angle panoramas for the Web, film, print, and 3D. Stitcher is also used by post-production professionals for the creation of 3D environments, matte paintings, reflection maps and textures for film/television.

“The 2007 Hot One Award winners represent an interesting combination of advanced technology and superior usability,” explains Jeff Kent, Hot One Editor, Professional Photographer magazine. “Looking over the winning products, we noticed a concerted effort by manufacturers to create high-tech, high-quality items that have the working habits of contemporary professional photographers in mind. Our team of judges chose this year’s crop of winners based on quality, usability, innovation and, in many cases, value for price. These judges are all working professional photographers, and their endorsement of these products indicates that the items work not only on the conceptual level, but on the practical level as well. The 2007 Hot One Award winners can be proud to call themselves the best the business has to offer.”

“I think it’s pretty hard to beat REALVIZ Stitcher,” adds James Rigg, Founder & Developer - www.panoguide.com. “Once you try Stitcher and explore all of its features and capabilities, you won’t want to use anything else.”

The 2007 Hot One Award winners will be highlighted at Imaging USA in San Antonio, Texas, January 14-17, 2007. There will also be a special Hot One Awards magazine write-up appearing in the February issue of Professional Photographer. All winning products will be detailed in that article.

Additional information on the Hot One Awards and the 2007 winners will appear on Professional Photographer’s Web site. For additional information, visit www.ppmag.com or www.ppa.com.

For further details on REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited go to:
http://stitcher.realviz.com, or contact [email protected].

About REALVIZ
REALVIZ is a leading developer of image based creation software headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, France, with satellite sales offices in Los Angeles, London and Paris. REALVIZ develops a suite of image-based content creation solutions for the film, broadcast, gaming, digital imaging, architecture and Internet communities. Derived from years of research efforts at the renowned INRIA Lab in France, the company’s applications enable 2D and 3D artists to easily and cost-effectively tackle complex digital imaging projects. REALVIZ’ award-winning products are used by thousands of professional photographers, as well as leading production and effects houses, web design, game development and architectural companies worldwide, including Boeing, Daimler Chrysler, The Orphanage, Inc, Cinesite, Framestore CFC, Sony Imageworks, Warner Brothers Animation, Electronic Arts, Duran Duboi and many others. www.realviz.com

©2007 REALVIZ®. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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