News Archive - June 2005 Return to: Current News Archive Index Thursday, June 30, 2005 Ricoh Japan updates the Caplio R2 13:33 EDT - A press release distributed by office automation / consumer electronics company Ricoh Co. Ltd. of Japan announces that it has released an updated version of its Caplio R2 digital camera in that market. The Ricoh Caplio R2, announced four months ago, offered a 28 - 135mm zoom range coupled with a five megapixel CCD image sensor and 2.5" LCD display (but no optical viewfinder). The new Ricoh Caplio... (More) Olympus: New Zuiko fisheye lens 10:57 EDT - A press release from Olympus Imaging America Inc. today announces an addition to the company's lineup of Zuiko lenses designed for Four Thirds system digital SLRs. The Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F3.5 Full Frame Fisheye Lens weighs 16 ounces and has a diameter of 3.1 inches coupled with a length of three inches. It features a design that includes 10 elements in... (More) Wednesday, June 29, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Fujifilm Announces Nextel Photoshare 15:33 EDT - User-Friendly Mobile Phone Application Offers Web-Based Albums, Convenient Retail Printing VALHALLA, NY, June 28, 2005 - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. and Summus, Inc. announced today that Nextel Communications is adding easy, convenient and fun-to-use photo management that allows customers to store, share and print photos from their multimedia-messaging-enabled Nextel phones and other digital cameras.... (More) Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Taiwanese manufacturers ramp up high-res digicam output 11:17 EDT - A news item today from EMSNow, a site covering news in the electronic manufacturing services industry, reports on annual shareholder's meetings for two Taiwanese digicam manufacturers. According to the article, Premier Image Technology is expecting to ship a whopping 800,000 digital cameras this month. For the remainder of the year, the company plans to sell around a million units per... (More) Monday, June 27, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Capture One 3.7.1 welcomes Epson into the family. Chat with Phase One's R&D team. Joint promotion with iView. 11:22 EDT - June 24, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark: Phase One, the world leader in professional digital imaging camera backs and software, announces new camera support in the upcoming Capture One RAW workflow maintenance release. Phase One will, from July 2005, initiate post release chat rooms at http://forum.phaseone.com/ , where the Capture One users can chat with the Phase One's R&D team. In July Phase One and... (More) Saturday, June 25, 2005 Article: Digital SLR or All-in-one Digicam? 12:37 EDT - With the price of digital SLRs finally within reach, should you stick with the All-in-one digicam or move up to an SLR? The digital camera market has changed in the last three years. Quality digital cameras that used to cost $500 are now available for between $200 and $300. Digital SLRs that used to cost well above $2,000... (More) Friday, June 24, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: The Plugin Site Released Version 1.04 of its Sharpening Plugin FocalBlade 13:52 EDT - June 23, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) released Version 1.04 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 results even... (More) DxO releases Optics Pro v3.0 02:41 EDT - A press release from French software company DxO Labs has announced that it has now released a new version of its DxO Optics Pro software. DxO Optics Pro v3.0, which entered beta testing early last month, adds support for the Nikon D70s and Nikon D2X digital SLRs. It also adds a new noise reduction function that the company claims to offer... (More) Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Photo Talk Radio: All-In-One vs. SLR 19:21 EDT - Imaging Resource Founder and Publisher Dave Etchells will soon be making another appearance on Photo Talk Radio, this time to discuss the relative merits of all-in-one cameras versus digital SLRs. The show will be broadcast live from 11AM - Noon Eastern Time this Saturday, June 25th, and Dave will be the first guest. You'll need Windows Media Player 9 or 10 installed on your computer to listen to... (More) PictoColor releases iCorrect Portrait 19:13 EDT - PictoColor Corp. has announced the release of a new color correction plugin for use with Adobe Photoshop Elements / Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0 - 8.x / Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9 / Ulead Photo Impact XL on the Windows platform, or Adobe Photoshop 6.0 - CS2 / Adobe Photoshop Elements on MacOS. PictoColor iCorrect Portrait is intended for use by Portrait, Wedding, School, Sport, and Event photographers, and allows you to quickly set black and white points, adjust brightness and contrast, automatically... (More) Samsung: Yet another new digicam; new specs, photos 19:01 EDT - We've told readers several times recently about a raft of digital camera announcements from Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung. We've now entered specifications for most of these cameras into our database, and also unearthed yet another upcoming announcement in the form of the Digimax i50 MP3. Based on the new Digimax i5 model,... (More) Canon firmware coming for 1D Mk II / 1Ds Mk II 12:06 EDT - We've received contact today from Canon U.S.A. Inc. to let us know that parent company Canon Inc. will shortly issue updates firmware for its EOS 1D Mark II and EOS 1Ds Mark II professional digital SLRs. Canon USA has issued a statement as follows: "We have discovered that, when using the firmware released in May to address the image-loss issue, in extremely rare cases, the display screen may exhibit abnormal... (More) Canon PowerShot SD400 review posted 10:35 EDT - Canon's ELPH line of digital cameras has consistently offered good image quality, user-friendly design, and excellent build quality, and the new Canon PowerShot SD400 is no exception. When it comes to picture taking, while actual exposure control remains automatic, the ability to adjust ISO, White Balance, and access longer shutter times significantly increases the camera's shooting... (More) Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Samsung reveals US digicam pricing 12:17 EDT - Samsung USA has now officially announced US pricing for two of the digital camera models it unveiled in Europe and Asia some weeks ago, and confirmed that a number of the other cameras will also be shipping stateside. We told you about the new models at that time, and are currently in the process of updating our database with full specifications. We'll update this item shortly with spec tables in our standard format.... (More) Monday, June 20, 2005 Nikon Releases Coolpix 8800, 8400 Firmware Update 16:30 EDT - Self-timer improvements and support for 6-MB Microdrives lead the list of improvements. Nikon (http://www.nikonusa.com) today released two Coolpix firmware updates. Version 1.7 for the Coolpix 8800 and version 15 for the Coolpix 8400 both provide self-timer improvements and support for 6-MB... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Wacom Updates OS X Tablet Drivers 11:41 EDT - Wacom Technology Corp. has posted a new driver for professional pen tablets running on Mac OS X v.10.2.6 & later. This driver works in both the native and classic environment of OS X. For this driver release, Wacom added support for the Intuos and Intuos2 tablets and the older Cintiq models to the existing driver for Intuos3 and Cintiq. The driver supports the USB versions of all Intuos3 (PTZ), Intuos2... (More) PictureSync Updated for Tiger 11:35 EDT - The Macintosh image uploader adds a number of new features with this Tiger-compatible update. Holocore (http://www.holocore.com) has updated PictureSync, its $14 Macintosh utility to simplifiy batch uploading of photos and video clips to online services. The new version adds Tiger compatibility... (More) Friday, June 17, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Outdoor Photographer and PCPhoto to Host Outdoor & Digital Photo Seminars 19:41 EDT - Outdoor Photographer and PCPhoto magazines will be hosting a series of Outdoor & Digital Photo Seminars. Featuring professional photographers Jim Brandenburg, Rick Sammon, Steve McCurry, Bruce Dale, Daniel J. Cox and David Stoecklein, these nationwide seminars promise to be both inspiring and instructive. Each seminar weekend is divided into two sessions. Attend one or attend both. Saturday: Learn... (More) Phanfare Updates Phanfare Photo 12:22 EDT - The file size limit for images has been bumped up, you can swap album links with your cohorts, straighten a horizon, get site traffic reports and grab the first frame of a QuickTime movie for the album preview. Phanfare CEO Andrew Erlichson announced that the company has updated Phanfare Photo, the image organizer front-end to its online sharing service. Members are automatically updated to the new version when... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Lexar Announces Picture Perfect Pets Online Photo Contest 11:43 EDT - Fremont, CA, June 16, 2005 -- Is Fido ready for his close-up? Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a leader in advanced digital media and accessories, today announced the start of its online Picture Perfect Pets amateur digital photography contest, in conjunction with its sponsorship of the upcoming publication of "DOGS 24/7" and "CATS 24/7," by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen, follow-on books to the... (More) Johnston Publishes 'Lenses & the Light-Tight Box' 11:00 EDT - Michael Johnston has published Lenses and the Light-Tight Box: Cameras and Camera Lenses, his latest book on photography. The collection of 21 articles, essays and reviews of cameras, camera optics, marques, formats and photographic craft was originally published in a variety of photography magazines in the United States and England. It's available now for $12.99 from Bearpaw Booksellers. Johnston's... (More) NTI Updates Dragon Burn 10:50 EDT - The new release adds support for DVD-R DL media and fixes a number of bugs. New Tech Infosystems has updated Dragon Burn, its Mac OS X utility for burning CDs and DVDs. Version 4.1.20 adds support for DVD-R DL media and updates the database of supported CD/DVD writers. Bug fixes... (More) Thursday, June 16, 2005 Sony DSC-H1 Review Posted 14:17 EDT - While Sony has made long-zoom, image-stabilized cameras in the past (starting with the original FD91 back in 2000), we haven't heard from them in this area for quite some time. Now, the new Sony DSC-H1 makes an impressive return to the category, apparently employing updated anti-shake technology. (The H1's lens assembly is much less bulky than that of the earlier image-stabilized models.) The Sony H1 provides more manual exposure control than many other long zoom digital cameras, yet is easy to use in full-auto mode, and its seven preprogrammed scene modes help with tricky subjects. The... (More) PRESS RELEASE: SanDisk's Extreme III Flash Memory Cards Win Major TIPA Digital Imaging Award -- Best 2005 Imaging Storage Product 14:06 EDT - TIPA Award Is Europe's Highest Prize For Best Photo Products COLOGNE, GERMANY, June 16, 2005 - SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), an organization of 30 top photography publications from across Europe, has given its Best Imaging Storage Media Award For 2005 to the SanDisk Extreme™ III line of high-speed storage cards. SanDisk... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Samsung Makes Bold Entry Into The Competitive Photo Printer Market 13:55 EDT - Two New Photo Printers Produce Striking Fade-Resistant 4" x 6" Prints At A Fast 60-Second Print Speed that Lessens the Gap from Snap to Fridge IRVINE, CA -- Samsung, the world's second largest laser engine manufacturer, bursts onto the photo printer scene with a pair of compact, high quality dye-sublimation photo printers -- the SPP-2020 and the deluxe SPP-2040 -- that allow users to print perfect... (More) Rhapsoft Debuts LiveQuartz Image Editor 13:20 EDT - The free beta taps into Mac OS X Tiger's CoreImage filters -- and it's a Universal Binary application to boot! Rhapsoft has released a free beta version of its LiveQuartz image editor based on layers and Mac OS X 10.4's CoreImage filters. The software, which expires Aug. 26, requires Mac OS X, but will run on a... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Fujifilm Unveils the First Products in Its New Line of Universal Digital Camera Accessories 12:34 EDT - 'Digital Accents by Fujifilm' Offer a Range of Accessory Options for Digital Photographers VALHALLA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2005--As digital camera penetration increases, amateur photographers are looking to accessory products like camera bags, tripods and media wallets to accent their digital imaging experience. Research shows that almost half of all consumers are likely to purchase related... (More) Kodak to End B&W Paper Production 12:25 EDT - With publications turning to color digital imaging and amateurs to their inkjets and image editing software, sales of black and white photo paper have been steadily declining. The Associated Press has reported that Eastman Kodak Co. will discontinue production of black and white photo paper by the end of the year. The move follows bankruptcies by Britain's Ilford, the largest... (More) Wednesday, June 15, 2005 Fujifilm FinePix F10 Review Posted 20:31 EDT - When I reviewed the Fujifilm FinePix E550 in September of 2004, I called it one of their best digital cameras to date. With the release of the FinePix F10 though, Fujifilm has clearly outdone all their earlier efforts, the E550 included. Much of the improvement in the F10 has to do with how it handles light: It's much more sensitive and has much lower image noise than previous FinePix models, has good color and white balance performance,... (More) Microsoft's RAW powertoy now available 14:23 EDT - Microsoft yesterday posted their "Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP," a 47MB download that integrates RAW capability into Windows Explorer. The download process asks users to authenticate their copy of Windows XP before the download button becomes available. After installation, a process that takes a few minutes, viewing RAW files as thumbnails... (More) Extensis Updates Creative Tools for Tiger 11:17 EDT - While the new releases provide compatibility with OS X 10.4 Tiger and Adobe Creative Suite 2, conspicuously missing from the list is asset manager Portfolio 7. Extensis today released updates to four of its five Creative Tools, providing compatibility with OS X 10.4 Tiger and Adobe Creative Suite 2. The updated software includes Mask Pro 3.0.2, PhotoFrame 2.5.2,... (More) DataRescue Updates PhotoRescue 02:58 EDT - The new version adds support for the Nikon 2DX, Canon 350D and other new digicams. It also fixes a bugs related to large memory cards and previews. DataRescue has updated PhotoRescue, its image recovery software, to version 2.1 (build 676). Company President Pierre Vandevenne said, "We've added support for the Nikon 2DX and the Canon 350D as well... (More) Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Nikon Coolpix S1 Review posted 18:46 EDT - Nikon's Coolpix line of consumer digicams has always been well-received, appreciated for their image quality and ease of use. The Nikon Coolpix S1 starts a new design trend for the company, packing a lot of features, a 5.1-megapixel CCD with 3x zoom lens, and a surprisingly large 2.5-inch LCD into a very small, attractive package.... (More) Kodak Z700 review posted 18:43 EDT - I've just finished and posted my review of the Kodak EasyShare Z700. This is a companion model to the Kodak Z740 that I reviewed a month or so back, with virtually identical features and controls, but a 4 megapixel CCD vs the 5 megapixels of the Z740, and a 5x zoom lens... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo Opens Its Tech Expo To Public Offering "Free" Passes 18:26 EDT - Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo - Tampa, FL - Jun. 21-23, 2005 Tampa, FL - June 13, 2005 - The Mac Design Conference & Digital Photography Expo, the summers hottest event for Designers, Digital Photographers, Illustrators and Video Editors, is opening it's Tech Expo to the public for one day only on Wednesday, June 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mac Design Conference & Digital... (More) PRESS RELEASE: StudioLine Photo 2 Raises Bar of Digital Image Management With Convenient Online Services for Pros and Amateurs 18:13 EDT - H&M Systems Software, Inc.'s Alliances With SmileShot.Com, EveryoneSmile.Com, and SimplePhoto Offer eCommerce Integration UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- H&M Systems Software, Inc. today announced alliances that integrate its award-winning StudioLine Photo 2 digital imaging software with SmileShot.com, EveryoneSmile.com and SimplePhoto. The integration raises the bar on imaging... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Epson Announces Settlement Of Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Large Manufacturer Of Off-Brand Ink Cartridges 16:33 EDT - Epson and the Multi-Union Trading Company, dba PrintRite, Entered a Settlement and Permanent Injunction that Bars the Sale of Infringing Cartridges LONG BEACH, Calif. - June 13, 2005 - Epson has settled two patent infringement lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., against Multi-Union Trading Company Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company that is one of the world's largest manufacturers... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D Wins Camera Grand Prix 2005 13:28 EDT - Mahwah, NJ (June 14, 2005) - Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A., Inc. announces that the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D - the world's first*1 digital Single Lens-Reflex (SLR) camera with body-integral CCD-shift Anti-Shake technology - was chosen to receive the "Camera Grand Prix 2005" award by the Camera Press Club. The Camera Grand Prix is one the most prestigious awards that can be presented to a camera... (More) Monday, June 13, 2005 Sony DSC-W5 review posted 15:37 EDT - As the lower-resolution sibling of the Sony DSC-W7, which we also reviewed recently, the Sony DSC-W5 offers all the same features, but with a 5.1 megapixel CCD (vs 7.0) and at a list price that's $100 lower. As such, I'm a bit more enthusiastic about it than the more expensive W7, feeling that some of its minor shortcomings are easier to accept at the lower price point. Like the W7, the Sony W5 provides more... (More) Nikon D2x In-Depth Image Analysis added 15:29 EDT - A reader alerted me to the fact that our current Nikon D2x review was missing its Imatest-generated quantitative data. It turned out I'd had some of this up there early on, before the main review was published, but then it got lost in the shuffle of posting the full review. I've gone back and updated my earlier comments,... (More) PRESS RELEASE: nik Sharpener Pro™ 2.0 Software Now Available 14:50 EDT - Plug-in software features technology to easily sharpen digital images San Diego, CA - June 13, 2005 - nik multimedia, Inc. today announces nik Sharpener Pro™ 2.0 is now available through the nik multimedia retail Web site (www.nikmultimedia.com) and specialty camera stores. nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 provides the easiest way for photographers and digital artists to optimally sharpen their digital... (More) Friday, June 10, 2005 Review posted for Sony DSC-S90 16:02 EDT - The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S90 is an easy-to-use but very capable offering from Sony, the first of the new S-series that we've looked at. It offers a 4.1-megapixel CCD, 32 megabytes of internal memory, and a nice range of exposure options. The Sony S90 provides more manual exposure control than most compact entry-level models permit, yet... (More) PRESS RELEASE: PhoTags Inc. Demonstrates Active Images™, The JPEG Multimedia Messaging System at Future Image Mobile Imaging Summit 13:32 EDT - AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - June 7 , 2005 - PhoTags Inc., The Portable Infoimaging Company, today demonstrated its new patent-pending Active Images™ technology. Active Images turns any JPEG file into a self-contained multimedia messaging system, allowing users to send text messages, music, sound files, forms and more - all on a single JPEG file. The demonstration is taking place at the Future Image... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New KODAK EASYSHARE Software Version 5.0 Makes Organizing, Editing, Sharing and Printing Digital Pictures Simpler Than Ever 13:00 EDT - Compatible with all Popular Digital Camera Brands; Download Full Version for Free at http://www.kodak.com/go/easysharesw/ ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 9 -- Eastman Kodak Company today introduced KODAK EASYSHARE Software Version 5.0 - free, simple-to-use software that helps people effortlessly organize, edit, share and print their digital pictures. Packed with innovative new features, version 5.0 makes it... (More) Casio: new ultracompact, sample photos 01:18 EDT - Casio has announced a new digital camera model in most markets that offers a high five megapixel resolution and a 3x optical zoom lens in a very compact package. The Casio EXILIM CARD EX-S500 offers quite a range of features for such a compact model. Most interestingly, the camera apparently duplicates functionality first seen in Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-M1 that... (More) Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Notice: You're on our new server 11:35 EDT - The Imaging Resource has now moved to a new server as part of our ongoing plan to ensure the site remains responsive for visitors. The move happened this morning, June 9 slightly later than our scheduled window of 5AM to 7AM Eastern time, and readers may have experienced some intermittent (but hopefully brief) downtime as the DNS... (More) Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Exclusive! Further details on Microsoft's RAW File Support! 12:36 EDT - Following up on our story from last Wednesday about Microsoft's announced plans to support a variety of RAW file formats in their upcoming Longhorn operating system, we spoke with Josh Weisberg, Group Product Manager for Windows Digital Media at Microsoft. Microsoft's announcement last Wednesday of forthcoming support for RAW-format files from digital cameras stirred up quite a bit of interest, but left a number of questions. To get a better picture of... (More) CVS offers "disposable" camcorder 11:43 EDT - Pharmacy / retailer CVS Corp. has distributed a press release announcing a new "one-time use" product that follows in the footsteps of its existing one-time use digital camera. As with that product, the new one-time use digital video camcorder is based on San Francisco company Pure Digital Technologies Inc.'s platform, and is essentially rented by the consumer at a cost of $29.99.... (More) Multi Union settles with Epson 09:52 EDT - A press release distributed today by Hong Kong-based Multi Union Trading Co. Ltd. announces a settlement with Seiko Epson Corp. in two patent infringement lawsuit filed by the latter since 2001. Multi Union's press release suggests that the settlements put the company "back on track for our business goals" - but it is clear that this is a victory for Epson, with the settlement prohibiting the... (More) Monday, June 6, 2005 Full review completed for Canon Digital Rebel XT 19:07 EDT - We've finally posted our full review of the Canon Digital Rebel XT, based on a full production model. The good news for those of you who've been waiting to place their orders is that this is one fine little camera! (Although its tiny handgrip still leaves me infuriated every time I pick it up.) In terms... (More) Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 review posted 14:34 EDT - The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 is a pretty unique digital camera, there really isn't anything else like it on the market from any of the other manufacturers. It packs a 6x zoom lens into a surprisingly compact body, and throws in Panasonic's excellent MegaOIS Optical Image Stabilization technology for good measure. Image stabilization is becoming more of a... (More) Nikon Coolpix 4600 review posted 14:11 EDT - This one is a near twin of the Nikon Coolpix 5600 that we reviewed just a few days ago. As I always do with very similar cameras like this though, we went ahead and ran the full range of our tests on both models, rather than just combining them into a single review. As a result, we found... (More) Olympus to cut digicam production costs 10:13 EDT - An article from Bloomberg.com predicts that Olympus Corp. will cut digital camera production costs by almost one third this year in an effort to return to profitability. The company posted its first ever annual loss last year, and unveiled a $121 million cost-cutting plan including heavy job cuts at its camera unit, with most of the cuts expected in China. The company... (More) Samsung Europe: Seven new digicams 00:22 EDT - Korean consumer electronics company Samsung has unveiled seven digital camera models at a press conference in Europe, according to various websites. The most notable model is Samsung's Pro815, a model we've mentioned several times on this news page of late. As we confirmed last month, the camera has an 8 megapixel imager and Schneider Kreuznach 15x... (More) Sunday, June 5, 2005 HP UK announces new digicams 16:37 EDT - Hewlett Packard UK has announced two new digital camera models for the company's Photosmart series, the near-identical Photosmart R817 and R818. As far as we can see from looking at the specifications, the only difference between the two models is the body color - silver for the R817, and grey for the R818. Both camera designs feature a five megapixel... (More) Friday, June 3, 2005 PRESS RELEASE: Overwhelmed by too many Digital pictures? VSO-Software: New PhotoDVD Version 2.0 09:52 EDT - This week VSO Software is releasing a new version of its DVD slideshow generator : PhotoDVD 2.0. Hot new features include DVD subtitles for adding comments, multiple audio tracks per slideshow to fit the mood of various audiences, and focus points to each picture. VSO PhotoDVD takes your digital pictures and animates them to create a compatible DVD movie. This software is one of the simplest of its... (More) Wednesday, June 1, 2005 Lexar Customer Advisory - Firmware upgrade for 80x cards 18:08 EDT - We reported a week or two back on a customer advisory from Lexar and Canon relating to data loss when Lexar 80x CompactFlash cards were used in certain Canon SLRs. Lexar has now announced a firmware upgrade to address the problem. Details of the firmware upgrade program are below. This is an upgrade to the memory card's firmware, not your camera firmware. Note too, that this is not an upgrade that can be performed by the user,... (More) Pentax announces *ist DL SLR (UPDATED) 18:00 EDT - Pentax USA has today announced its new *ist DL digital SLR (pronounced ist-dee-ell), closely based on the existing consumer-oriented *ist DS model. The *ist DL shares the same lens mount and what looks to be the same sensor as the *ist DS, but with a few changes that look designed to keep costs down. Specifically, the viewfinder has been changed... (More) May 2005 POTD winners announced! 16:35 EDT - Another month, another batch of great photos in the IR Photo of the Day (POTD) contest! Turning over a figurative new leaf and battling their way through the worst efforts of the Distract-O-Tron (the device here at IR that sends us all scrambling, just as we think we're about to get a handle... (More) Canon EOS 20Da coming, but not for infrared (UPDATED) 13:48 EDT - Canon Europe has announced that the Canon EOS 20Da, released in the Japanese market earlier this year, will soon be available to the rest of the world. Canon USA is expected to make the same announcement soon. The camera is a special release intended for use by astronomers, including a modified filter and a special "live view" mode via the LCD, an unusual feature in a digital SLR. There is some confusion, however,... (More) Microsoft promises RAW Support in Windows, details sketchy (UPDATED) 12:19 EDT - A lot will depend on the details of the eventual implementation, but Microsoft today announced that the next generation of Windows (codenamed "Longhorn") will deliver native support for a variety of digital camera RAW files. In what looks to be a major victory for better accessibility of RAW files, Microsoft has announced that the next generation of its Windows operating system ("Longhorn") will support RAW files from cameras... (More) Return to: Current News Archive Index