News Archive - November 2003 Return to: Current News Archive Index Thursday, November 27, 2003 Happy Thanksgiving! 13:21 EST - As Americans all over the world take a moment to reflect on their blessings, we want to wish all of our readers a Happy Thanksgiving. We here at Imaging Resource are all certainly grateful for each one of you! Wednesday, November 26, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Fujifilm's FinePix F610: The Only Way Is Upright 11:15 EST - World's first compact digital camera to boast 6 million effective pixels Fujifilm today launches the FinePix F610, the first compact digital camera to offer 6 million effective pixels. Not satisfied with this outstanding resolution, Fujifilm has added its 4th Generation Super CCD HR sensor to the F610, allowing it to achieve a recorded output of 12 million pixels - meaning users can enlarge to unprecedented... (More) Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Ofoto Discontinues OfotoNow for Macintosh 11:17 EST - Site suggests using parent company Kodak's free Easyshare, but Easyshare 3.0 is not compatible with Panther. In a footnote on Web pages for downloading OfotoNow software, Ofoto notes, "* OfotoNow for the Macintosh has been discontinued. Please use Kodak's free EasyShare software instead. Download EasyShare here."... (More) Leica to Announce Digilux 2? (UPDATED) 11:06 EST - Comparable to the M6, it will ship with a 7-22.5mm zoom (28-90 35mm equivalent) and a 5-megapixel sensor, according to our friend Max Penson. Max Penson, editor and owner of www.d-spot.co.il, tipped us off to a new Leica: Leica is about to announce the Leica Digilux 2, which is going to have the same characteristics as its analog camera,... (More) Monday, November 24, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: PentaSuite Adds Digicam, DVD Capabilities 16:17 EST - PentaSuite 7.0 Simplifies Storing, Viewing and Sending of Files PORTSMOUTH, NH -- (November 24, 2003) - PentaWare, Inc., today announced the release of PentaSuite 7.0, its new end-to-end file management program. PentaSuite supplies users with a means to open, compress, encrypt, view, upload or download, store and send files. The program seamlessly integrates with email and anti-virus software and... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Desktop Designs Releases SlideShow Desktop 12:59 EST - View full screen photo slide shows on your Windows Desktop Solihull, UK (November 17, 2003) - Desktop Designs announces the release of SlideShow Desktop 2.8. If you have a digital camera packed full of photos you can't wait to share with your friends, or a collection of photos and wallpaper images on your computer, SlideShow Desktop will show your photos at their best. Creating a slide show is as... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Vicman Software Releases Red Eye Remover 12:57 EST - A Powerful, Handy Photo-Correction Program Red Eye Remover is a Windows program that can remove a common "red-eye" effect from your images in an almost automatic mode. Using advanced science-intensive technology, Red Eye Remover program is able to detect a red pupil from the rectangular area which you specify. The pupil is instantly corrected. So, all you need to do is simply specify a rectangular... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Xequte Improves Smart Pix's Archiving, Digicam Support 12:55 EST - Wellington, NZ - 24 November 2003 - Xequte announced today the release of Smart Pix Manager v7.0, a major update of their popular image management and viewing solution. Xequte's flagship product, Smart Pix Manager, enables organizations and end-users to manage their image, multimedia and document collections with an efficient database solution incorporating keyword, description and content searching... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New Titles Published by Digital Outback Photo 12:48 EST - Uwe Steinmueller at Digital Outback Photo has published ebooklets on Photoshop CS and the Canon Digital Rebel. Photoshop CS Workflow DOP1009: for all users of Photoshop CS. Topics cover Layer based workflow, Using Camera Raw 2.0 and the download includes Capture One DSLR (C1), Shadow/Highlight tool, Pure B&W based workflow with Camera Raw 2.0 and C1. If you use Photoshop 7, buy DOP1006 or DOP1007.... (More) PRESS RELEASE: MultimediaPhoto Adds Alignment Feature to Photomatix 12:33 EST - Montpellier, France, November 17, 2003 -- MultimediaPhoto has released Photomatix 1.3 for the Windows platform. The new version adds an alignment feature that registers images prior to blending. This feature is particularly useful when processing bracketed images shot without the aid of a tripod. Additionally, you can now use Photomatix to retrieve highlights and shadows details from one single 48-bit... (More) Saturday, November 22, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: FixerLabs Releases TrueBlur Plug-in 12:11 EST - Following the huge success of FocusFixer, the plug-in that corrects focus blur, FixerLabs have turned their skills to the reverse problem. Previously Photoshop users have had to rely on Gaussian blur when trying to integrate blur back into images. TrueBlur now produces more realistic results than has previously been possible due to the unique LensFIT technology. TrueBlur, designed by the award winning... (More) Friday, November 21, 2003 Full review posted for Olympus C-5060 Wide Zoom! 19:34 EST - Even while their C-5050 model is still widespread in the market, Olympus has released its successor, the C-5060 Wide Zoom. The "Wide" part refers to the fact that the 4x zoom lens reaches the widest angle (AFAIK) of any prosumer model currently on the market, at a 35mm equivalent focal length of only 27mm. (The title of "widest"... (More) Digital Domain Releases Qimage v2004.100 19:26 EST - A new cropping tool, new batch filter window, higher-res thumbnails and a print size "suggestor" highlight the new version. Digital Domain Inc. has announced the release of Qimage v2004.100 for Windows. The new version, based largely on user feedback and suggestions, includes a new print cropping tool, a new easier-to-use batch... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Kyocera Japan Introduces Finecam S3R 11:45 EST - (This document was translated from the Japanese press release.) November 19, 2003 Kyocera Corporation (President: Yasuo Nishiguchi) has announced that the Kyocera Finecam S3R compact digital camera with 3.17 million effective pixels is to be released on December 2, 2003. The camera provides high-speed, full-memory consecutive shooting at approximately 3.1 frames per second, and features high image... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Kepmad Systems Releases ImageBuddy 2.9.0 11:07 EST - November 21,2003 -- Kepmad Systems today released ImageBuddy v2.9.0, adding support for transparent image backgrounds on contact sheets and improved water mark placement. This new feature allows the production of stunning contact sheets in just a few simple clicks. Imagebuddy is a digital image layout program designed especially for the Macintosh that is quick and easy to use. This new version continues... (More) Thursday, November 20, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Runelindman.com Releases QPict 5.2.8 19:40 EST - Sweden, November 21, 2003 -- The latest release of QPict maks the asset manager software compatible with Panther and includes a few bug fixes, too. QPict is a fully featured, easy-to-use media asset manager for all kinds of multimedia files including images, movies, fonts and sounds. QPict offers a very attractive and inexpensive way to view, organize, search and batch process media files. QPict supports... (More) Quiet Price Change on Sony F828 18:46 EST - It must be Christmas (soon), if Sony's $200 price drop is any indication. Without any fanfare, Sony has dropped the manufacturer's suggested retail price of its Cyber-shot DSC-F828 from $1,200 to $999.95. PriceGrabber shows one listing as low as $919 for the 8-megapixel digicam.... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Bluebox GmbH Releases Image Info Toolkit 1.5 13:40 EST - Add Copyright Information to Your Digital Images Bluebox GmbH has released Image Info Toolkit v. 1.5, a powerful Windows and Macintosh application that makes it easy to include text information within JPEG and TIFF image files. Photographers, journalists, publishers, and archivists can easily add caption, copyright, date, and many other fields to images. Image Info Toolkit adds text to pictures without... (More) Stick Software Releases PhotoReviewer 1.1 12:32 EST - Macintosh OS X does a lot of things well, but one thing we miss is a simple slide show program (like Big Picture) that can be pointed to any folder so we can review images. This may be the ticket (and, at $10, it's priced like a ticket, too). Stick Software explained the problem, "In our experience, there is no tool really well-suited to taking a large collection of images, reviewing them, and culling the bad ones and keeping the good ones."... (More) Wednesday, November 19, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: O'Reilly Publishes Digital Photography Pocket Guide, Second Edition 21:25 EST - O'Reilly Publishes "Digital Photography Pocket Guide, Second Edition" Who's Really in Charge -- Your Digital Camera or You? Sebastopol, CA--The nature of your relationship with your digital camera is determined early on in your association, and it all comes down to a question of which of the two of you is going to be in charge. According to Derrick Story, author of the newly released second edition... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Phase One Release C1 Pro for OS X 21:19 EST - New C1 PRO RAW Workflow software for Mac adds Canon 10D and 300D Rebel support, Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) compatibility and major feature enhancements November 18, 2003, Northport, New York -- Phase One, the world leader in professional digital imaging camera backs and software, is pleased to announce the official release of their C1 PRO v 1.2 RAW Workflow software for Mac OS X .This latest version... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Kodak Delivers Firmware Upgrade for DCS Pro 14n 21:15 EST - Enhanced Imaging Software Refinements to Software Offer Ease-of-Use, Greater Control for Pro Photographers ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 19 -- Kodak recently posted on its website v4.4.3 of its firmware for the DCS Pro 14n Digital SLR Camera, which provides a host of image quality and performance enhancements. In addition, Photo Desk v3.2 software compatible with all DCS cameras, a new DCS File Format Module... (More) Rob Galbraith posts Nikon D2H samples 14:39 EST - Our good friend Rob Galbraith, a professional photojournalist and proprietor of the Rob Galbraith Online website, has posted an interesting preview of a production-level Nikon D2H digital camera (including samples, commentary and a direct comparison with the Canon EOS-1D and Nikon D1H / D1X). Rob cautions that he's only had three days shooting with the camera and so can't make any final judgements as yet - but he's certainly got plenty to go on (and his background as a photojournalist definitely... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Duracell announces first digital cameras powered by disposable Thin Prismatic Battery 13:44 EST - New Lithium Primary Prismatic Battery Provides "Always Ready" Power in Cutting-Edge Nikon and Samsung Digital Cameras BETHEL, CT, November 19, 2003 -Duracell today announced the compatibility of its new Duracell® CP1 lithium primary prismatic battery with the Nikon® Coolpix® 3700 and the Samsung Digimax U-CA 3. Boasting advanced digital imaging functions, both digital cameras have sleek... (More) Sigma announces updated 17-35mm lens 13:38 EST - Sigma Corp. has announced an updated version of its 17-35mm F2.8 - 4 zoom lens with a revised optical and mechanical design. The Sigma 17-35mm F2.8-4 EX DG ASPHERICAL HSM zoom lens weighs 560 grams, and has a diameter of 83.5mm with a length of 86.2mm. It will be available in Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Minolta and Pentax mounts,... (More) Tuesday, November 18, 2003 RoadStor Review Updated 22:13 EST - After a few reader questions, we've updated the review with a few answers. In response to reader questions, we've added information to the Unique?, Backup and Playback sections. Specs for the Nixvue Vizor now provide information for all three reader/CD portables we know about.... (More) Phase One C1 Pro upgrade for Mac 18:43 EST - Phase One A/S, the Danish company behind the "Capture One" (or C1, for short) raw file conversion program has released a new version for Macintosh users. "C1 PRO V1.2 for Mac" supports the Canon EOS 1D, 1Ds, 10D, D30, D60 and Digital Rebel, and has a number of updates over the previous version: Support for Mac OS X (Panther); Individual noise reduction... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Digital Photography, Imaging, and Printing Workshop Cruise re-scheduled for March sailing 15:41 EST - An 8-day Digital Photography & Imaging Cruise to the Southern Caribbean previously planned for January has been re-scheduled to embark from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on March 28, 2004, to take advantage of smoother seas and longer hours of daylight. The instruction schedule features digital photography lectures and demonstrations, Photoshop lessons, and picture critiquing of work shot both onboard... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Olympus named title sponsor of New York Fashion Week 15:26 EST - Leading Camera Brand Makes Design Statement with Sponsorship of Bi-Annual Event New York, NY November 18, 2003 - 7th on Sixth, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Olympus, a leading camera brand, under which Olympus will be the title sponsor of New York's bi-annual fashion week in Bryant Park. Beginning with the Fall 2004 Collections, scheduled for... (More) Monday, November 17, 2003 BenQ 5mpix DC-C50: Specs, sample images 17:22 EST - Taiwanese company BenQ (formerly known as Acer Communications and Multimedia), probably best known as the world's second-largest LCD display manufacturer, has announced a new digital camera in Europe and Taiwan - but not yet in the USA. The BenQ DC-C50 is a five megapixel compact camera with a 3x optical zoom lens and four-mode flash, which may look familiar to readers. Compare it to cameras from other manufacturers, and you'll find... (More) Review posted for Fuji FinePix A310! 14:38 EST - The Fuji FinePix line of digicams has always been marked by good image quality and color, and the A310 for the most part continues this tradition. The qualification in that statement is because I found the A310's image noise to be enough higher than average that I think it might constitute a drawback for some users. Also, the A310 has a bit of trouble... (More) Updated: Sigma SD10 review update: Detailed review of Sigma Photo Pro software! 14:36 EST - While I wasn't thrilled with the original Sigma SD9 (I'm much more impressed with the SD10), I've always been a fan of the excellent Sigma Photo Pro (SPP for short) software application. News editor Mike Tomkins had an opportunity to work with version 2.0 of SPP pretty extensively while preparing the "gallery" photos he shot to accompany our review of the SD10 camera, and liked it every... (More) Saturday, November 15, 2003 Nikon denies plans to drop compact film cameras 00:12 EST - An article published by Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun has suggested that Nikon Corp. is planning to discontinue its 35mm compact film cameras in favour of digital models. Nikon Japan quickly issued a denial, but the article does raise a relevant point. As digital cameras rapidly replace the traditional film camera market, it makes sense that camera manufacturers will reduce... (More) Friday, November 14, 2003 Digicam for $11? - Ritz Dakota hacked (UPDATED) 16:08 EST - News comes to us from Slashdot.org, the self-billed "place to get nerd-oriented news", of an interesting development that threatens to damage the business model of a US camera chain - and potentially to open a can of worms regarding the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Back in July, we first told readers about the Ritz Dakota Digital camera - billed as a "single use" camera because it is designed to be offloaded by Ritz and then rented to another customer. Since then,... (More) Thursday, November 13, 2003 Review posted for RoadStor! 18:01 EST - Micro Solutions RoadStor is a CD-RW/DVD-ROM mated to a card reader with video out ports. The size of two DVD cases, you can pack it along to copy (and backup) images from your card to CDs. And watch slide shows. And play DVDs. And MP3s. So who needs a computer any more? We've spent a couple of weeks with this versatile device. And we're still in love. Pop your storage card into one of the reader ports and press one button twice to copy the images to a CD. Change the... (More) Wednesday, November 12, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Nabocorp. Releases Latest Version Of Its Award Winning Digital Imaging Software - cam2pc 4.0 21:24 EST - Nice, France (October 6, 2003) - nabocorp. softwares is pleased to announce the release of the new version of its award winning digital imaging solution for consumers and prosumers. The first version of cam2pc was made available on the Internet 2 years ago and has gained more and more success during these years. cam2pc is known for its speed, ease-of-use and complete set of features to dowload, organize,... (More) Nikon, rivals look to Taiwan for low-price digicams 21:15 EST - According to an article from DigiTimes.com, Japanese camera giant Nikon is looking to introduce low-priced digital still cameras next year that may be outsourced from Taiwanese manufacturers. The article, spotted by our friends at the Digital Photography Review, states that an unidentified source at Taiwanese camera manufacturer Primax Electronics has acknowledged having talks with Nikon. The... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Exciting New Digital Photo Copy Cruiser(tm) from Alera Technologies 03:40 EST - A Compact and Transportable 8-in-1 Digital Photo Card to CD Copier CHATSWORTH, Calif., Nov. 10, 2003 -- Alera Technologies, developer and manufacturer of Advanced DVD and CD Recording Solutions proudly debuts its new Digital Photo Copy Cruiser that copies digital photos directly from camera memory cards to CD without a computer. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser is compact and transportable, so you can... (More) Tuesday, November 11, 2003 Panasonic Japan: DMC-FZ1 upgrade 17:31 EST - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., the company behind the Panasonic brandname, has announced an upgrade for its Lumix DMC-FZ1 digital camera that will bring new features for Japanese users. The DMW-VUZ1 upgrade kit, which will go on sale at a price of ¥6000 (roughly equivalent to US$55 / €48 / CAD$72 / £33 ignoring exchange rate fluctuations, taxes and duties) incorporates... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New Iomega Super DVD QuikTouch Video Burner Makes Saving and Preserving Video Memories a Breeze 15:18 EST - One Touch Means Easy-To-Use Video Archiving to Any Industry Standard DVD or CD Format SAN DIEGO, November 11, 2003 - Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in data storage, today introduced the Iomega® Super DVD QuikTouch™ Video Burner, an all-format USB 2.0 external drive for Windows® PCs. Featuring an integrated video capture card and one-button video transfer to any industry... (More) Minolta DiMAGE A1 review updated to full production-level status! 14:21 EST - I was very impressed with Minolta's new DiMAGE A1 flagship digicam model back when I first looked at it back in August, and now that I've had the chance to put a production model through the wringer, I'm even more so: This is arguably the best digicam Minolta has made to date, and one of the best on the market, made by anybody. A continuation of the model line that first began a couple of years ago with the original DiMAGE 7, the A1 shows the benefit of years of refinement. Virtually all the issues seen in earlier models have... (More) Monday, November 10, 2003 DiMAGE Messenger 2.0 ships to retail 15:04 EST - Minolta USA has announced in a press release that version 2.0 of its DiMAGE Messenger software is now available in retail stores. First announced at the end of August, Messenger v2.0 has a number of changes: Image Linking - Link Images (not just words) to Image portions (You can still link text, too!) Audio File Linking - Link Audio... (More) European websites unveil DIWA awards 14:36 EST - Our friends from a number of European websites have announced that they have formed an alliance called the "Digital Imaging Websites Association". Aimed at "[identifying] excellence in digital imaging products, including cameras, photo printers, scanners, accessories and software", DIWA will give awards to products that member sites feel worthy of... (More) Thursday, November 6, 2003 PRESS RELEASE: Micro Research announces 3D-Album Commercial Suite 16:55 EST - 3D Presentations for Pro Photographers, Graphics Designers, Artists, & Sales Reps Includes Commercial License for Distribution and Sale of Personal CDs or DVDs NY, NY, November 5, 2003 - Micro Research II, the developer of the award-winning 3D-Album, announced today 3D-Album Commercial Suite for professional photographers, videographers, advertising & multimedia designers, and business professionals... (More) PRESS RELEASE: BenQ Teams with Ritz Camera Centers to Sell BenQ Digital Photo Frame LCD Monitors 15:55 EST - BenQ's FP591 and FP791 LCD Monitors to be in 68 Ritz Camera "Super Store" Locations Around the U.S. City of Industry, CA (Nov. 5, 2003) - BenQ, a leading manufacturer of digital lifestyle devices, today announced that Ritz Camera Centers, the largest camera store chain in the United States, will carry BenQ's Digital Photo Frame LCD monitors. Ritz Camera Centers intends to sell the BenQ FP591 and... (More) PRESS RELEASE: PMA Announces an Initiative to Promote Growth in the Digital Printing Market 15:44 EST - New "Print from Digital" campaign encourages consumers to make prints from their digital cameras at retail locations, online and at home Jackson, MI - Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) announces the launch of an industry-wide consumer and retailer education initiative designed to promote digital printing to consumers through an Internet Web site (www.prints-are-memories.com) due to launch... (More) Digital Outback reviews Adobe Camera Raw 2 13:11 EST - Our friend Uwe Steinmueller at the Digital Outback Photo website has posted a review of Adobe's Camera Raw 2.0, Adobe's plugin for converting raw files from a variety of digital camera manufacturers. The original Adobe Camera Raw was a plugin for Photoshop 7 that cost $99. Adobe Camera Raw 2.0 is bundled with the new Adobe Photoshop CS, and currently supports a whopping 34 digital cameras from 6 manufacturers... (More) Wednesday, November 5, 2003 Ricoh Caplio RR211 ships in Europe 14:36 EST - Ricoh Europe has today announced that it is shipping the Ricoh Caplio RR211 digital camera. First announced back in August, the Caplio RR211 has a 1.92 megapixel effective resolution coupled with a 49mm-equivalent fixed focal-length, fixed-focus lens, and also features an LCD display for image... (More) Tuesday, November 4, 2003 Full review posted for Olympus C-5000 Zoom! 13:27 EST - Olympus has for some time now split the high end of their line, producing both a "no holds barred" model as well as a slightly trimmed-down model aimed at a lower price point. Over the years, these "second tier" Olympus digicams have consistently been some of the best price/performance bargains in the digicam marketplace, and the new C-5000 Zoom is no exception. With a lower-ratio... (More) Monday, November 3, 2003 Microtek announces 'Take-It' TX1 digital camera 17:23 EST - A press release from Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Microtek International Inc. has announced a new addition to its digital still camera lineup. The Microtek 'Take-It' TX1 digital camera is a 3.34 megapixel 1/2.7"-type CCD-based unit with a 3x optical zoom lens with built-in lens cover. The TX1 delivers images at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: The Plugin Site Released Version 1.01 of its Sophisticated Sharpening Tool FocalBlade 10:53 EST - November 3, 2003 - The Plugin Site (http://www.thepluginsite.com) is proud to announce Version 1.01 of FocalBlade, a Photoshop-compatible plugin for sharpening your photos for screen display and printing as well as for producing great looking blur, soft focus and glow effects on 8bit and 16bit images. FocalBlade lets you sharpen photos without amplifying noise or artifacts and produces impressive sharpening... (More) Saturday, November 1, 2003 Full review posted for Fuji FinePix S5000! 23:01 EST - Long-zoom digicams have suddenly become a hot market segment, with virtually every major manufacturer offering a product in that area. Fujifilm's standard-bearer here is the S5000, something of a cross between last year's wildly successful S602 and the lower-end F3800. The new S5000 has a 10x zoom, a 3 megapixel SuperCCD, and a feature... (More) Return to: Current News Archive Index