News Archive - January 2002 Return to: Current News Archive Index Thursday, January 31, 2002 Digital Outback hits their 500,000th visitor! 17:24 EST - Its time to pop the champagne corks for our outdoor digital photographer friends... It seems like only yesterday (actually, it was about six months ago!) that we were congratulating our friends at Digital Outback Photo for surpassing their 250,000th visitor - and now Uwe Steinmueller... (More) In-depth CP5000 / PowerShot G2 user comparison! 16:30 EST - Pat Yuen posts the results of a mammoth undertaking - an in-depth "shooutout" between Nikon's Coolpix 5000 and Canon's PowerShot G2... We received an email last night from IR reader Pat Yuen, to let us know of a comparison "shootout" he's posted placing Nikon's Coolpix 5000 digital camera head-to-head with the Canon PowerShot G2. The... (More) Idruna: new handheld photojournalism solution! (UPDATED) 15:32 EST - Pocket Phojo allows for preview, editing, captioning, transfer and more - all from the palm of your hand... A new software package for the Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 operating system (an offshoot of Windows CE) from Idruna Software Inc. promises to make it easier for photojournalists to view, edit, and caption... (More) Short Course for the Camedia E-20! 13:26 EST - Dennis Curtin guides users of Olympus' 5 megapixel prosumer SLR-style digicam towards better photos... Regular readers will be well familiar with the 'Short Courses' series of books from Dennis Curtin, one of the few products we can wholeheartedly endorse as a must-have for any digicam owner. Dennis' books... (More) PhotoPoint: A chance to restore photos coming? 00:08 EST - Online photofinisher which vanished so suddenly may give subscribers a chance to download their missing images... A few weeks ago (back on January 8th) we told you that online photofinisher PhotoPoint.com, the site run by Pantellic Software Inc. which vanished without warning in early December, had finally admitted... (More) Wednesday, January 30, 2002 D1x review updated to include Fred Miranda "ISOR" action! 3:08 EST - I first became aware of Fred Miranda's "ISOR" noise-reduction actions for Photoshop when I wrote my Coolpix 5000 review. If you haven't seen them in action, they're truly amazing, do an absolutely incredible job of removing image noise without disturbing the underlying detail or blurring everything out to a soft mush. Really incredible! Fred's now done an action that's customized for the Nikon D1x,... (More) Tuesday, January 29, 2002 Sony cuts Memory Stick pricing! 10:20 EST - Second price reduction in six months brings Sony's memory format down to as little as 70¢/MB... Sony Corp. has announced a price cut of 17 - 40% across its lineup of Memory Stick flash memory cards, Reuters reports. The price adjustment (Sony's second in six months) brings Memory Stick pricing down... (More) Monday, January 28, 2002 Steve plugs into BUSlink, Dazzle multi-readers! 14:34 EST - New reviews look at two very different 6-in-1 flash card readers... Our friends at Steve's Digicams have posted two new reviews of flash card readers that will be of great interest to people owning multiple digital cameras with different media types. Both the BUSlink... (More) Sunday, January 27, 2002 Prints for Pros Without the Pain 23:24 EST - (And how an amateur can "turn Pro" with minimum investment!) In late 2001, I reported in our Newsletter about a slick online service offered by Printroom.com that handles all the backend hassle of print order fulfilment for practicing pros or anyone else who needs... (More) The Great Imaging Resource Battery Shootout! 23:20 EST - Which batteries will give your digicam the most shooting time? Dave rolls up his sleeves and dives in for the usual hyper-detailed article in our Great Battery Shootout... Right after the camera itself, and having a large enough flash card, batteries are probably the most important element of your digicam "kit". In the AA-powered world, there's been a flood of different... (More) Friday, January 25, 2002 Iomega discontinues PocketZip? 16:11 EST - Rumors on the net suggest the company's portable storage format has reached the end of the road... An article on the Enquirer website pointed out to us by IR reader Charles Chen suggests that Iomega has quietly canned its PocketZip storage format along with a range of devices which support the media.... (More) Full review of Epson 2000P archival inkjet printer posted! 11:43 EST - The first true "archival inkjet" goes under the Imaging Resource microscope... Phew! This was one of those printer reviews that just seemed to stretch on and on. I wanted to be sure to cover everything though, and there was a lot that needed exploring. More than virtually any other... (More) Thursday, January 24, 2002 Fuji previews third-gen SuperCCD camera! 10:12 EST - Japanese camera manufacturer opens the pre-PMA announcements with a teaser for its latest SuperCCD-based digicam model... Fuji Japan has today lifted the curtains just slightly for a peek at its latest digital camera, based on a new third-generation SuperCCD imager. A teaser on its Japanese-language FinePix.com website discloses... (More) Mike's back, almost fresh and rested! 09:18 EST - Returned from a whirlwind vacation in San Francisco, your humble news editor is back in the saddle... After a brief vacation in San Francisco (perhaps one of the most photogenic cities I've visited), I'm now back home and catching up on the news kindly covered by my colleagues Mike Pasini and William Bailey... (More) Wednesday, January 23, 2002 More Photoshop Brushes from Sapphire 12:51 EST - It's never a slow news day with Sapphire... Sapphire Innovations has released the $21 Sapphire Brushes Vol 11 [MW] with 450 random, grainy, smeared brushes for Photoshop-compatible image editors. (More) ImageViewer Updated to Version 6.0.1 12:44 EST - A minor update to this QuickTime-based program with extensive slide show transitions... Plato Grande Software has updated its $30 ImageViewer [M] to version 6.0.1. The OS X and Classic cataloging, browsing, and image editing software automatically builds local or Web-ready HTML contact sheets.... (More) GraphicConverter 4.2.1 Released 12:28 EST - Venerable $35 Mac image editor updated... Lemke Software has released GraphicConverter 4.2.1 [M] with support for zoom depth to 1,000%, lossless JPEG rotation with correct Exif entries, FTP uploads and a few bug fixes. (More) Carry Your Photos on a FireWire Keychain 12:21 EST - CompactFlash with tiny FireWire interface WiebeTech has announced its $99.95 FireWire Keychain, a keychain-sized, FireWire/IEEE-1394 device for CompactFlash cards, will ship in March.�The product "was designed to provide nonvolatile storage to... (More) Tuesday, January 22, 2002 Reviewed: Wacom Intuos2 15:11 EST - We discover you don't have to be an artist to profit from a graphic tablet... Wacom recently reinvented its popular pressure-sensitive graphics tablet, revealing the Intuos2 at Seybold San Francisco in September. We've had a chance to get intimately acquainted with the 6x8 tablet... (More) iView MediaPro Updated to Version 4.1 14:36 EST - Mac OS 9 and OS X image organizer updated... iView MediaPro [M] has been updated to version 4.1. The new release of the Mac OS image organizer includes backup features, JPEG lossless rotation, mouse wheel support, OS X thumbnails (and improved performance),... (More) Pentax Optio 430 Review Posted! 14:20 EST - A 4-megapixel sister to the 330... The Pentax Optio 430 is the sister product to the Pentax Optio 330 camera we reviewed a few days ago. The physical design is identical, the only differences being internally, with the 430 having a full... (More) PowerRetouche Speeds SharpnessEditor 13:42 EST - PowerRetouche gets faster sharpening... Jan Esmann has updated his PowerRetouche SharpnessEditor [W], which speeds sharpening 50-MB at blurwidth 2 to about a minute. Version 4.0 also supports CMYK, multilayer mode and�duotones (bi, tri and quad).... (More) Canon PowerShot Firmware Updates 10:33 EST - New firmware updates for the Canon PowerShot G1, PowerShot G2 and PowerShot Pro90 IS. Canon Japan has released firmware updates for the Canon PowerShot G1, PowerShot G2 and PowerShot Pro90 IS. To download the new firmware, which corrects issues associated with battery pack discharge, visit... (More) Digital Photography Review's Nikon Coolpix 5000 Review 10:19 EST - Phil Askey reviews a production model of the Nikon Coolpix 5000. Our friends at the Digital Photography Review Web site have now posted their full review of a production model of the Nikon Coolpix 5000. Phil ends his conclusion with: "If you're looking for a compact... (More) Monday, January 21, 2002 MyDigitalDarkroom Publishes 10-Step Buying Guide 12:04 EST - Aimed at beginners who are waltzing off to buy a digicam... MyDigitalDarkroom.com covers the basics of buying a digicam in the first in a series of similar "beginner guide" articles. "In the future, we will cover the rest of the other factors like acquiring the... (More) Curtin Publishes Nikon CP 5000 eBook 11:13 EST - A "ShortCourse" eBook for the Nikon Coolpix 5000... Regular readers familiar with Dennis Curtin's excellent "ShortCourses" books on digital photography know we recommend them wholeheartedly for anyone wanting to get more out of their digital camera. Denny... (More) Lexar Contest Winners to Go 30 Laps With Richard Petty 10:43 EST - Enter Lexar Media's "Need Speed?" sweepstakes and Richard Petty could be chasing you around the track in June... Lexar Media has announced the "Need Speed?" sweepstakes, a new in-store promotion to demonstrate the advantages of using Lexar Media speed-rated CompactFlash memory cards. Two grand prize "Richard Petty... (More) Friday, January 18, 2002 Dave's Gone Too! 18:20 EST - I'm going to be off all next week on a family vacation, hold the emails... It's rare that Mike Tomkins (your peripatetic news editor) and I are both out of town at the same time, but this is one of those times. Newsletter Editor Mike Pasini and all-around helpmate William Bailey... (More) *Slick* online system for Pros manages rights, licensing & client access! 18:16 EST - IR reader and working pro Tim Barnett has developed a super-slick site (http://www.digitalphotosonline.com) to let pros manage their photos online, give clients real-time access! I got an email the other day from reader and working pro Tim Barnett. In the best entrepreneurial "necessity is the mother of invention" fashion, he's developed a really comprehensive online solution for... (More) Olympus ends OM series of 35mm cameras. 16:50 EST - After a 30 year run, Olympus is ending production of their famous OM series of 35mm cameras. As if we needed any further indication of the ascendancy of digital technology in photography, Olympus has today announced that they're ending production of their famous OM series of film cameras that... (More) Wednesday, January 16, 2002 Mike's away, hold the email! 19:30 EST - It's time for a brief vacation for Mike (which will probably be needed, before the PMA rush begins!), so for the next week please address all urgent emails to [email protected] instead of my own email address... Non-urgent mail can still be sent to me, but I'll probably be flooded with work on my return so it may take a little while to get back to you. I'll be back in the office on January 24th, and we'll have the rest of the Imaging Resource team keeping up the fort in the meantime with the usual flow of news and reviews. Thanks to Mike Pasini and William Bailey for offering to stand in for me... :) QFX 8 brings capable scripting to your digital images! (UPDATED) 16:29 EST - Newly released version looks like it could be a useful tool for photographers dealing with large quantities of images... Ron Scott, author of a Windows-only imaging program we'd not seen before called QFX, emailed today to let us know he's just released a new version with some pretty impressive features. QFX version 8 could... (More) Pentax Optio 330 short-form review posted! 11:00 EST - Dave examines Pentax' compact 3mpix digicam... After a long hiatus, Dave's back to some catch-up work in the review arena. Today it's the Pentax Optio 330, a very small 3 megapixel digicam with a full 3x optical zoom lens. Overall, a nice little camera,... (More) Tuesday, January 15, 2002 PEI announces Cool2 awards! 17:05 EST - PPA publication sums up its best products from 2001... A press release from PEI Magazine, a monthly publication of the Professional Photographers of America Inc., announces its selections in its annual Cool2 awards. The categories and their winners, announced... (More) ColorPlaza touts Windows XP presence! 16:33 EST - Swiss company partners with Microsoft to offer photofinishing services... A press release from ColorPlaza Ltd., based in Vevey, Switzerland, announces that its fastlab.com online photofinishing service is being featured amongst the selection of online photofinishers available... (More) Olympus E-10/20 go for a swim! 00:56 EST - Underwater housings now available for Olympus' prosumer SLR-style Camedia digicams... Light & Motion, a California-based manufacturer of underwater housings for cameras, along with related equipment, has announced a new housing designed for Olympus' SLR-style E-10 and E-20N digital cameras.... (More) Toshiba cuts pricing on PDR-M81! 00:50 EST - First 4mpix digicam to break the $500 price barrier... Toshiba USA has announced that it has cut the price of its PDR-M81 digital camera by some $100 from the current after-rebate price of $599. The move, which the company says makes its camera the lowest-priced... (More) Monday, January 14, 2002 Digiphoto 101 open for registration! 16:56 EST - First digital photography course of 2002 starting soon... We just received an email from Arthur Bleich, Feature Editor of Digital Camera Magazine, announcing that he is now accepting applications for his latest Digiphoto 101 Course which begins on February 4th.... (More) Thursday, January 10, 2002 Wednesday at Macworld Expo 02:29 EST - We wrap up our daily coverage of Macworld Expo with newsletter editor Mike Pasini's printer and scanner safari. But the big trophies this trip were software titles. Wednesday, January 9, 2002 SanDisk doubles SD storage! 15:10 EST - Maximum size of Secure Digital cards goes from 128MB to a roomy 256MB... SanDisk Corp. has announced that it is preparing to begin shipping Secure Digital cards in a new capacity of 256MB. Previously available with a maximum capacity only half this, the addition means SanDisk's... (More) SanDisk supplies flash for HP 812! 15:01 EST - Latest Photosmart opts for Secure Digital storage, and SanDisk provides the bundled cards... A press release from SanDisk Corp. today announces that it will be supplying Hewlett-Packard Co. with flash memory cards for its newly announced Photosmart 812 digital camera. The company's first 4 megapixel... (More) HP announces new 4mpix digicam! (UPDATED) 14:53 EST - Details are sketchy, but the PhotoSmart 812 continues the company's cooperation with Pentax... A press release distributed today by Hewlett-Packard Co. mentions the announcement of a new digital camera. We're currently awaiting contact from HP with more in-depth specs and product photos, but the... (More) Macworld Expo Doors Open! 01:57 EST - Newsletter editor Mike Pasini got his hands on some interesting stuff when the doors opened for the first day of Macworld Expo. Read all about it in today's report and cash in on some great show deals, too. Tuesday, January 8, 2002 Dimage X: Prototype reviewed! (UPDATED) 22:08 EST - To coincide with Minolta's official launch, we're proud to bring you a review of the company's tiny ultra-compact 3x optical zoom digicam... Over the last year, Minolta's really made some waves in the digicam world, starting with the first "prosumer" level 5 megapixel digicam, the Dimage 7, first announced last February. Now, they've pulled... (More) Minolta's X finally unveiled! 22:06 EST - New digicam brings a whole new meaning to the term 'ultracompact'... Minolta has today officially announced its new DiMAGE X digital camera, for which it has been running 'teasers' on its Japanese website for the last few weeks. At first glance, the camera's extremely thin... (More) Minolta announces DiMAGE S404! (UPDATED) 22:05 EST - New digicam updates existing S304 model to 4 megapixels... Minolta has today officially announced its new DiMAGE S404 digital camera, an update to the existing S304 model with a 1/1.8" 4.13 megapixel CCD image sensor. The new camera shares a near-identical body... (More) Sony announces two new FD Mavicas! (UPDATED) 5:00 EST - Sony America has announced two new FD Mavica digital cameras at the Consumer Electronics Show in a press release we received late yesterday evening. We haven't had time to enter the cameras into our database yet, but will have coverage shortly. (At 4AM, Mike just doesn't have the energy to complete our news coverage!) In the meantime, Sony's press release follows below... Stay tuned for more shortly!... (More) PhotoPoint: The end is nigh! 01:25 EST - Parent company Pantellic finally makes a public statement, admits that it has ceased operations... We've been updating members regularly over the last few weeks on the situation at online photo-sharing site PhotoPoint.com, and have been awaiting a promised response from Dale Gass, CEO of parent company... (More) Macworld Expo Keynote 00:04 EST - Catch our coverage of Apple's launch of iPhoto and the new iMac to run it on. Mike Pasini, editor or the Imaging Resource Digital Photography Newsletter, reports with complete photo coverage of the new hardware (plus close-ups of Apple's printed photo book) from the floor of Macworld Expo 2002 in San Francisco. Monday, January 7, 2002 Dave's off, hold the emails! 11:32 EST - I'm just about to jet off to CES for a couple of days, so won't be within email reach. (Mike T will, but he's swamped with news items.) This isn't a "newshound" trip, so there won't likely be any reportage from me, but I'll try to tip Mike if I happen to see anything particularly noteworthy (that I can talk about, at least). iNova releases high ISO noise filter! 18:42 EST - Freely downloadable PhotoShop 6 action for Mac and Windows promises to reduce high ISO noise to more acceptable levels... Peter iNova, the man behind the superb eBook 'Mastering Nikon Compact Digital Cameras', has emailed to tell us that he's now released a final version of his ISO noise reduction filter for PhotoShop 6 users.... (More) Profile Prism updated! 17:47 EST - Digital camera profiling software gets increased accuracy... Mike Chaney, author of Profile Prism (a utility for creating ICC profiles to increase the color accuracy of your digital images) and Qimage Pro (the ever-popular imaging utility for editing and printing... (More) MacWorld Expo: Jobs to announce iPhoto, new iMac! (UPDATED) 15:19 EST - Time magazine leaks info on Apple's latest hardware and software just as MacWorld 2002 opens... Numerous Apple sites around the web, such as Macintouch and SpyMac are reporting that Time Magazine in Canada has blown the doors off Apple's latest product announcement somewhat ahead of schedule. The... (More) PhotoCenter: Has the PhotoPoint link been cut? 14:21 EST - Epson's online photo-sharing site is back online ahead of schedule; reader email suggests it may still be hosted in the same place... IR reader Thomas C. Grozan dropped us an email over the weekend to note that Epson's PhotoCenter website, previously hosted by Pantellic Software in the same location as the now-defunct PhotoPoint website,... (More) Friday, January 4, 2002 EOS D30 - new firmware available! 13:41 EST - Update addresses problems with Canon's digital EOS digicam and RemoteCapture software... Canon USA Inc. has released a new version of firmware for the EOS D30 digital camera which corrects issues that model encountered with Canon's RemoteCapture program. Although not yet available on the official... (More) Thursday, January 3, 2002 Canon announces A3 photo printer! 23:40 EST - New S9000 inkjet features 2400 dpi resolution and fast print speeds... Canon UK has announced the latest addition to its inkjet printer lineup, the Bubble Jet S9000 printer, which has an optical resolution of 2400 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi) and prints on paper sizes up to... (More) Toshiba slashes digicam prices! 14:45 EST - Cheaper prices and better bundles should help the company attract new users to digital photography... Toshiba Imaging Systems has announced in a press release that it has updated pricing, rebates and bundles for several of its digital camera models, IR reader Charles Chen points out. The company's PDR-M21,... (More) Wednesday, January 2, 2002 Apologies for sluggishness, temporary server groaning! 16:43 EST - Our temporary server isn't quite up to today's onslaught... As noted back when we made the switchover, we're on a temporary server, with about 60% of the CPU resources of our main production box. This is a short-term measure, while we upgrade the operating system... (More) Minolta continues 'X' unveiling! 15:10 EST - Japanese manufacturer offers a peek behind the curtain at its upcoming digicam... Minolta Japan has updated the macromedia flash presentations on both its Japanese and English-language websites promoting the upcoming digital camera which it has referred to only as 'X'. We first told... (More) Return to: Current News Archive Index