News Archive - November 2005 Return to: Current News Archive Index Wednesday, November 30, 2005 Sony: DSC-R1 firmware update 23:00 EST - Sony USA has today released a firmware update for its DSC-R1 digital camera that prevents potential defects in recorded images. The new firmware version 2 is applicable to cameras with serial numbers in one of four ranges, as follows: 3,500,001 through 3,501,390; 3,501,531 through 3,501,650; 3,501,791 through 3,501,840; 4,400,001... (More) Tuesday, November 29, 2005 Iomega: Terabyte storage device unveiled 09:47 EST - A press release from Iomega Corp. yesterday announced its new "Desktop Hard Drive XL", a hard disk-based storage device offering one terabyte capacity and multiple high-speed connectivity options. The Hard Drive XL measures 6.4" x 8.0" x 12.5", and includes four 7200rpm 250GB SATA hard disk drives with 8MB cache, for a total of one terabyte of storage. The device supports RAID 0, which offers... (More) PRESS RELEASE: DivX Technology Adopted by Pentax to Create Industry's First DivX Certified(R) Digital Camera; Optio S6 Allows Users to Natively Create Video in the Popular DivX Format 09:04 EST - SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2005--DivX, Inc. announced today that the first DivX(R) Certified digital still camera, the Pentax Optio S6, is now available for sale in retail stores in Europe, Japan and North America. The Optio S6 represents a breakthrough device by allowing digital camera users to natively capture videos in the extremely popular DivX format for the first time. As a fully... (More) Monday, November 28, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Olympus Introduces High Speed xD-Picture Card™: A New Type H-series 16:49 EST - High-Speed, High-Capacity 512 MB Compact Memory Media for Digital Cameras Melville, New York, November 28, 2005 - Olympus Imaging America Inc. proudly introduces the new H512 MB Type H-Series xD-Picture Card™, an advanced memory media designed for ultra-compact digital cameras. The H512 MB card has the highest speed performance in the xD-Picture Card™ series of media cards, and is scheduled... (More) Samsung dominates Korean digicam market 13:28 EST - A news item published by Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online notes that a division of Korean consumer electronic giant Samsung has jumped to the top of digicam sales charts in its home market. According to the item, Japan's Olympus Corp. fell from first to fourth place market share in the first half of this year, deposed by Samsung Techwin Co. with a 25% market share. Sony Corp. followed in... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Agilent Technologies Announces Innovative Image Pipe for Camera Phones; Processor Enables Digital-Camera-Like Image Quality for Cell-Phone Cameras in All Lighting Conditions 11:33 EST - PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 2005--Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced an innovative image pipe processor that allows mobile phone and computing devices to take lifelike, rich color photos in all lighting conditions. The image pipe is integrated in Agilent's new family of system-on-chip (SOC) sensors, which feature the enhanced-performance (EP) pixel architecture. What... (More) Thursday, November 24, 2005 Kodak EasyShare P880 review posted 12:31 EST - Kodak's EasyShare line of digital cameras has long been a favorite among a wide range of consumers, as the cameras typically live up to their name. While a considerably more advanced offering than the typical EasyShare model, the expanded exposure and creative control of the new Kodak EasyShare P880 doesn't compromise usability in its Auto or Scene... (More) Wednesday, November 23, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Digital Foci Introduces Media Buddy 15:11 EST - Media Buddy Digital Photo Storage Securely Saves Photos on the Road on 30GB to 80GB Portable Hard Drives - Lower Cost Alternative to Digital Foci Picture Porter Los Angeles, California, November 18, 2005 -- Digital Foci, Inc. (http://www.digitalfoci.com ) introduced today Media Buddy portable digital photo storage with hard drive and card reader that lets you instantly and securely save digital photos... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Olympus Digital Reflex Cameras Will Go To Sea On Digital Photography & Imaging Workshop Cruise 13:13 EST - Workshop Participants Will Be Able To Shoot Unique Images with the Olympus E-300 Single Lens Reflex Camera Melville, New York, November 21, 2005 - Olympus E-300 digital single reflex cameras will be available for attendees to use on an upcoming 8-day Digital Photography & Imaging Cruise that features workshops for beginning and intermediate photographers. The cruise will embark from Ft. Lauderdale,... (More) Sigma: Two new lenses 13:06 EST - Press releases over the last week or so from the headquarters of optics company Sigma Corporation in Japan have announced two new lens releases. First, the company has announced a Konica Minolta mount version of its 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC lens, which was first announced back at the PMA show last spring, and has been shipping in Canon, Nikon, Pentax... (More) Canon PowerShot SD450 review posted 00:35 EST - Widely available for under $300, the Canon PowerShot SD450 is an excellent little pocket camera, with a full feature set, super build quality, great image quality, and the flexibility to bring back good-looking pictures from a wide range of shooting situations. The Canon SD450's case is sleek and sophisticated, and travels easily, although we do recommend a small hard case for it, to avoid damage if you bump against something with the camera in your pocket. When... (More) Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Konica Minolta: New A-series firmware 23:52 EST - Konica Minolta USA has released new firmware updates for its DiMAGE A1 and A2 digital cameras in the last few days. Available on its support website, firmware versions 1.13u for the DiMAGE A1 and 1.14u for the DiMAGE A2 both list the same changes. The firmware is said to offer improved memory card write speed, as well... (More) PRESS RELEASE: FotoNation Ireland Ltd Opens Tokyo Office 16:49 EST - Announces Appointment Of Japan-based Business Development Manager Tokyo, Japan, November 21, 2005-- FotoNation Ireland Ltd, a subsidiary of FotoNation Inc. (www.fotonation.com), one of the world's leading imaging and connectivity solutions companies for the digital photography industry, announced today the opening of their office in Tokyo, Japan. Focusing on customer relations, sales and support,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Safesnaps.com makes safe photo storage a snap 16:22 EST - Digital archive service gives users sense of security, easy access London, England (Nov. 22, 2005) - Unix kernel veterans recently launched a new digital photo archive service for individuals who need to know their snapshots are secure. Safe Snaps (www.safesnaps.com) stores pictures, allows for easy retrieval by subscribers and can backup work on demand. Off-site photo backup is the gold standard... (More) Kodak EasyShare-One Diary 15:47 EST - Add Kodak's new WiFi digicam to the EasyShare experience and you have to keep a diary to reveal all! Which is just what we did when we got our hands on Kodak's EasyShare-One WiFi wonder. We also left the building, wandering around town taking pictures, printing them and even emailing them from the sidewalk.... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Corel Adds Support for Digital Camera Raw in Corel(R) Photo Album(TM) 6.0; Consumers Can Now Manage Digital Camera Raw Files with the Software They Love 11:22 EST - OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 22, 2005--Corel Corporation today announced a major enhancement to its popular photo management system, Corel(R) Photo Album(TM) 6, that will enable consumers to easily work with digital camera raw file formats. With support for more than 40 digital camera raw file formats, Corel Photo Album 6 enables photographers to easily open, enhance, process and convert images into... (More) Monday, November 21, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Lexar LockTight Security Technology Now Supported by the Nikon D200 Digital SLR Camera 12:31 EST - A Perfect Combination for Security-Conscious Organizations Requiring the Flexibility of a Mid-Range, Feature-Rich Digital SLR Camera FREMONT, Ca., November 21, 2005 - Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a world leader in advanced digital media technologies today announced that its LockTight™ technology will be supported in the Nikon D200 creating an ideal solution for photographers who want to... (More) Sunday, November 20, 2005 Sony DSC-R1 updated to full production status, with sample images 16:55 EST - The Sony DSC-R1 stakes out a unique territory in the digital camera arena, offering a sensor nearly as large as those of most digital SLRs and an absolutely superb lens in a convenient all-in-one package. You can buy a digital SLR kit (including lens) for less, but our lens tests reveal that you'd have to spend two or three times as much to get a lens of equal quality on that same budget d-SLR. Faced with... (More) DxO ships Optics Pro v3.5 14:48 EST - A press release from DxO Labs has announced the release of an update to its DxO Optics Pro software. DxO Optics Pro v3.5, adds the support for Canon's EOS 5D digital SLR that the company promised last August. The new version also supports multiple processors (allowing processing speeds up to twice as... (More) Samsung plans TV-capable digicams 11:32 EST - A news item from the website of the Korea Times newspaper reports that local digicam manufacturer Samsung Techwin will begin shipping digital cameras with the ability to receive digital video and audio signals early next year. Designed for use in its home market, the cameras will offer screens as large as three inches, coupled with battery life of up to three hours. They will be compatible with the Korean terrestrial digital... (More) Friday, November 18, 2005 Review posted for Konica Minolta DiMAGE X1 9:12 EST - The Konica Minolta DiMAGE X1 is an unusual digital camera, packing an 8 megapixel sensor, a 3x zoom lens, a 2.5 inch screen, and anti-shake technology into a compact, stylish case. Its image quality is good, with a much better than average lens for a subcompact camera, very accurate color, and loads of resolution. Packing all those pixels into a tiny sensor does make for higher image noise, and the... (More) Review posted for Canon PowerShot A410 09:04 EST - Featuring a 3.2-megapixel CCD, automatic exposure control with a wide range of preset shooting modes, and a real bargain price, the Canon PowerShot A410 does a great job of holding up that company's sterling reputation at the low end of their line. Built on the same long-tested design as many A-series predecessors, the Canon A410 delivers a lot of features, great image quality, and tremendous value in a compact package designed for novices. We'd... (More) Thursday, November 17, 2005 Kingston USB card reader takes compatibility to the max 16:06 EST - A press release today from Kingston Technology Co. Inc. announces the release of a new high-speed USB flash card reader that aims to solve the problem faced by many of us these days - the vast number of different flash card formats used by our various digital devices. The new reader supports no less than an impressive 15 card formats, including most of those most commonly used by digital cameras. Compatibility includes, amongst others, both CompactFlash Type-I and... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Next Generation DALSA Chips Power New Digital Camera Backs 10:08 EST - WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 17, 2005) - DALSA Corporation (TSX:DSA), an international high performance semiconductor and electronics company, today announced that its next generation 33 mega-pixel and 28 mega-pixel CCD image sensors chips have been designed into new digital camera backs. The new Leaf Aptus 75 medium and large format digital camera back, which was recently launched at the... (More) Monday, November 14, 2005 Qimage updated to v2006.200 12:34 EST - Mike Chaney, author of popular Windows imaging utility Qimage, just emailed us to let us know he's released a new version (v2006.200) with a range of new features and bug fixes. If you're not already familiar with Qimage, we've said it before and we'll say it again. We rate it as one of the most consistently useful (and frequently improved) shareware imaging programs we've come... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New Book Released! Advanced Photoshop CS2 Trickery & FX 12:15 EST - Turns digital photographs into enchanting and delightful creations Hingham, MA, November 2005: Charles River Media announces Advanced Photoshop CS2 Trickery & FX. This beautifully illustrated book takes digital artists to the next level of creativity by teaching them how to blend their artistic talent seamlessly with the powerful tools of Photoshop CS2. The book assumes a fundamental level of skill... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Portable Power Source That Delivers Power and Recharges Digital Mobile Devices Designed to Last Up to Five Years 09:39 EST - HARBOR, Ore., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Does your household own a portable music player, portable gaming device, digital camera, cell phone, video recorder, PDA, and/or GPS device? Did you know that the lithium-ion batteries powering these devices degrade over time? How do you recharge all these devices when you are on-the-go or have run out of convenient places to plug in? Big Wave Power Incorporated... (More) Sunday, November 13, 2005 Dave Etchells appears on Shutterbug Radio 16:30 EST - Imaging Resource Founder and Publisher Dave Etchells recently made an appearance on the Shutterbug Magazine Radio Show, where he talked about how our site came about, and discussed some of our top digital camera picks for the rapidly approaching holiday season in the $199 - $999 segment. We missed posting a note before the show, which was broadcast last Friday afternoon - but it can be found in the Shutterbug Radio archives for listeners to enjoy at their leisure. Dave was joined by Shutterbug... (More) Friday, November 11, 2005 Frame Explorer preview your presentation options 14:02 EST - A press release from Cambridge, MA-based Digital Light and Color Inc. announces the release of a new piece of software intended to make it easier to choose suitable frames for your digital photos. Frame Explorer, which accepts images in JPEG and TIFF file formats, lets you select a size, style and color of frame, as well as of three layers of matting. You can also select the color of the wall on... (More) Canon PowerShot SD30 review posted 11:37 EST - Canon's ELPH line of digital cameras have consistently offered good image quality, user-friendly design, and excellent build quality, and the new Canon PowerShot SD30 is no exception. An upgrade to last year's SD20 model, the SD30 adds a zoom lens (a particularly welcome addition), and makes noticeable strides in shooting performance, with a faster shutter response, and significantly... (More) Samsung Digimax i5 review posted 11:26 EST - The Samsung Digimax i5 digital camera is that company's first venture into the world of subcompact digicams, and it's a surprisingly impressive first showing. It will certainly turn more than a few heads with its good looks and small size, and its 2.5-inch color LCD monitor adds to its allure. Though aimed at the point-and-shoot-oriented consumer interested... (More) Thursday, November 10, 2005 Pentax announces Optio 50L 14:17 EST - Pentax Europe has announced a new digital camera model that is closely based on the existing Optio50 model. The Pentax Optio 50L shares the same lens, imager, and most other functionality of the previous model, but with the optical viewfinder removed in favour of a larger (but slightly lower resolution) LCD... (More) Zigview digital viewfinder updated 10:24 EST - Seoul, Korea-based Seculine Co. Ltd. has released an updated version of its oddly-named "Zigview" digital viewfinder, according to the company's website. The SC-V100R "Zigview R" digital viewfinder has been upgraded to allow it to function as a remote shutter release for a range of digital SLR cameras, including Canon's EOS Digital Rebel and Rebel XT, EOS... (More) PRESS RELEASE: The Plugin Site Released Version 1.01 of LightMachine 08:18 EST - November 8, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) just released Version 1.01 of LightMachine, a Photoshop-compatible plugin for performing all kinds of light adjustments in photos. It combines shadow/highlight, virtual lighting and color-based correction tools for performing sophisticated corrections without the need for time-consuming selections and layer stacks. LightMachine lets you selectively... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Digital Outback Photo released: DOP3002RSP The Art of RAW Conversion using RawShooter Premium 2006 07:44 EST - Optimal image quality from RawShooter Premium 2006 and Photoshop CS2 about 200 pages downloadable PDF at $29.95 http://www.outbackphoto.com/booklets/booklets.html Digital Outback Photo just released a new e-book: "The Art of RAW Conversion using RawShooter Premium 2006, Optimal image quality from RawShooter Premium 2006 and Photoshop CS2". This book covers all angles of RAW conversion based on a... (More) Wednesday, November 9, 2005 Tough times at Olympus prompt SLR focus 09:32 EST - Japan's Olympus Corp. has released its financial results for the half year ending September 30th 2005. Net income for the company as a whole was reported as ¥2.2 billion, a whopping 67.7% below figures for the same period last year. The fall was attributed to operating losses for the company's Imaging... (More) Tuesday, November 8, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Intemos launch DigiCamClean 13:00 EST - 8th November 2005 - Intemos, the same company that make DSLRClean, the revolutionary Digital SLR Sensor cleaning kit, have launched DigiCamClean - the only cleaning system specifically designed to clean small lenses such as those found in mobile phone cameras and digicams. DigiCamClean can be used to clean small lenses, viewfinders and any other small or hard to access optical surface. "It started... (More) Nikon: partial recall of EN-EL3 battery packs 08:41 EST - Announcements on the websites of Nikon Corp. around the world are today detailing a recall of some of the batteries used in the company's SLR digital cameras. The recall affects EN-EL3 batteries manufactured with one of over a hundred different lot numbers, which can be found as a four-digit alphanumeric code printed on the side of the battery. It should be... (More) Nikon updates D2Hs, D2X firmware (UPDATED) 07:19 EST - Nikon Corp. has today released updated firmware for the D2Hs and D2X digital SLRs. Available for download from the Nikon Asia and Nikon Europe websites (the latter of which requires you to have a free account and be logged in to be able to see the updates), the firmware fixes a number... (More) Review posted for the (WiFi-equipped) Nikon Coolpix P1 06:46 EST - Will WiFi-connected cameras be the next big wave in the digital camera market? Perhaps... and perhaps not. Regardless of whether they'll ever achieve dominance though, it's clear that we're going to see more of them cropping up over the next year or two. The Nikon Coolpix P1 is that company's first effort at... (More) Monday, November 7, 2005 Cypress: 9mpix APS-C image sensor 14:16 EST - A press release published today by Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announces that the company is now offering samples of a nine megapixel CMOS image sensor with dimensions near to the size of an APS-C film frame. Cypress Semiconductor completed acquisition of Belgian sensor company FillFactory NV in August 2004. FillFactory was the supplier of full-frame image sensors for Kodak Professional's DCS Pro 14n, SLR/n... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Microsoft and Pinnacle Systems Unveil Ultimate Holiday Gift for Digital Photo and Video Fans 10:55 EST - New software package, Digital Image Suite PLUS, addresses rising consumer trend in editing, organizing and sharing digital photos and videos. REDMOND, Wash., and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Nov. 1, 2005 - Microsoft Corp. and Pinnacle Systems Inc. today introduced Microsoft® Digital Image Suite PLUS, a complete set of intuitive digital photo- and video-organization and editing tools that combines Digital... (More) October POTD Winners Chosen! 10:31 EST - "Ambuscade," "Lanterns," and "Afternoon Tea Party" were chosen as this month's winners. Congratulations to Bojan Bonifacic, Ken Deitcher, and Robin Eckermann! Another month, another great batch of photos in our ongoing Photo of the Day contest. As is often the case, the first place winner this time really stood out to us, but the large number of excellent photos... (More) PRESS RELEASE: theimagingfactory has just released NoiseReduction Pro v3 for Mac OS X. 09:40 EST - NoiseReduction Pro is a Photoshop plugin for reducing several types of luminance and color noise in digital images. Based on an extremely fast, split 5 level redundant wavelet algorithm, this plugin is without a doubt the quickest offering of its kind. Incorporating a resizable, live preview window and interactive controls, the plugin allows for easy determination of the optimal parameters. Features... (More) Konica Minolta cuts jobs, forecasts losses 09:02 EST - Financial news service Bloomberg is reporting on a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange by Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. late last week, which predicts difficult times for the company over the coming year. According to the article, Konica Minolta has slashed its 2005 forecasts by ¥70 billion, from a forecast net profit of ¥23 billion last August, to its current forecast of a ¥47 billion net loss... (More) Friday, November 4, 2005 Review posted for Nikon Coolpix S4 02:56 EST - Nikon's Coolpix line of consumer digital cameras has always been well-received and greatly appreciated for its overall image quality and ease of use. The Nikon Coolpix S4 packs a lot of features, including a 6.0-megapixel CCD with 10x zoom lens, and a surprisingly large 2.5-inch LCD into a fairly compact package. For the average consumer willing to... (More) Full review posted for Konica Minolta 5D SLR 02:52 EST - The earlier Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D was easily one of the most eagerly-awaited digital cameras in the last year or so, thanks to the legions of loyal Minolta shooters who've been so patiently waiting for a digital body. The only issues with the 7D were its size and price. With the Maxxum 5D, Konica Minolta addressed both issues without hobbling the 5D by removing features likely to be important to the advanced amateur.... (More) Wednesday, November 2, 2005 Olympus Stylus 800 Review Review posted 10:29 EST - As the latest in that company's "Stylus" line of compact digital cameras, the 8-megapixel, 3x-zoom Olympus Stylus 800 is to my mind the best Stylus Digital model to date. I said that about the 5-megapixel Stylus 500 that preceded it, and now Olympus has corrected many of the relatively minor limitations I found in that earlier model. Its body design is trim and compact,... (More) Forgent continues patent licensing, litigation 10:17 EST - Four press releases distributed by Austin TX-based Forgent Networks Inc. over the last month or so announce that the company has signed licensing agreements with four companies, including two that it had pending legal action against. Forgent, a previously little-known company, received much press in 2002 when it first began attempts to secure multi-million dollar licensing deals for US patent number 4,698,672. It obtained the patent... (More) CCD Failure: What to do if it happens to you 00:16 EST - Since we published our articles covering the announcement of potential problems with a variety of cameras featuring certain CCD image sensors, we've been receiving a lot of emails on the subject. Our coverage has been picked up by media around the world - including the Wall Street Journal, The Inquirer, Slashdot, DesignTechnica, and quite a few more besides. Readers have been emailing to give us... (More) Tuesday, November 1, 2005 54 more lenses posted on SLRgear.com 18:08 EST - The entire line of Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina SLR lenses currently available can now be found and reviewed on SLRgear.com. A total of 194 lenses and 12 cameras are now posted on the new site, as we continue to add content to keep it interesting. The current breakdown is 60 Canon lenses, 48 Nikons, 14 Olympus Digitals, 44 Sigmas, 18 Tamrons, and 10 Tokinas (AF only). Prices are shown for all available mounts on the third party lenses. Konica Minolta and Pentax are next on the list of fine lenses in our queue, so watch for our announcement when those go up. Meanwhile,... (More) Sony announces Cyber-shot DSC-T9 03:01 EST - Sony Electronics has today announced a new digital camera model that it says is the first to combine an optically stabilized, prism-folded lens with high ISO sensitivity. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T9 offers a CCD sensor resolution of 6.0 effective megapixels and ISO sensitivity from 64 to 640, coupled with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar branded 3x optical zoom lens - the first... (More) Nikon announces D200 digital SLR 01:00 EST - As some of our readers will doubtless have been expecting, after two leaks on the company's websites overseas in the last week, Nikon USA has today announced its new D200 digital SLR. A long-anticipated refresh to the original D100 model that was announced just a few months short of four years ago, the D200 looks set to offer strong competition to rival Canon's heretofore dominant... (More) Nikon announces 11.1x Zoom-Nikkor lens 01:00 EST - A press release from Nikon USA announces the launch of an impressive new zoom lens with a name that could tie your tongue in knots. The name basically sums up the features; the 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6g IF-ED AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor lens offers a zoom range from 18mm to 200mm (equivalent to 27 - 300mm on a Nikon DX sensor camera), with a... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Nikon's New R1C1 and R1 Wireless Close-Up Speedlight Systems Bring Simplicity and Automation to Close-Up Flash Photography 00:00 EST - Latest Additions to Nikon's i-TTL Wireless Creative Lighting System Simplify Lighting for Close-Up Photography and Prove Versatile for Much More MELVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikon Inc. (http://www.nikonusa.com) today introduced two new Wireless Close-Up Speedlight Systems -- the R1C1 and the R1 -- both designed to seamlessly fit within Nikon's i-TTL Wireless Creative Lighting System.... (More) Return to: Current News Archive Index