News Archive - July 2004 Return to: Current News Archive Index Thursday, July 29, 2004 Kodak announces DIGITAL GEM Professional plugin 17:25 EDT - Eastman Kodak Co.'s Austin Development Center has announced a new plugin for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and PhotoDeluxe, as well as JASC's Paint Shop Pro, that aims to help users control image noise and grain in their digital images. Available for both Windows and Macintosh systems, the Kodak DIGITAL GEM Professional plugin is fairly simple to use, and offers quite good results given that fact. Two operating modes are available (Noise... (More) PRESS RELEASE: New Quantaray Ballistic SLR bag from Ritz Camera 16:09 EDT - BELTSVILLE, Md. - July 29, 2004 - Ritz Camera Centers introduced their new Quantaray Ballistic Two-Toned SLR bag this summer. The bag can hold a complete SLR system of camera, lens, flash, and filters and comes in either black and grey or black and tan. The SLR bags are constructed with a Ballistic Nylon material that is a heavy-duty and water resistant fabric. Rugged and maintenance-free, the Nylon... (More) PRESS RELEASE: NYTimes.Com, Canon U.S.A. And Kaidan Team Up To Provide 360-Degree Images Of 2004 Political Conventions 14:34 EDT - EventCam(TM) to Use Ten Canon PowerShot S60 Digital Cameras to Capture High Resolution Interactive Panoramic Convention Images at One Point in Time NEW YORK, Jul 29, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NYTimes.com, Canon U.S.A., Inc. and Kaidan, Inc. today announced that they are using Kaidan's EventCam(TM) and Immersive Imaging solutions to capture and publish 360-degree interactive panoramic images from this... (More) Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Fujifilm updates FinePix S3000, S5000 01:05 EDT - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. has today announced replacements for two of its existing digital camera models, in the form of the new S3100 and S5100 models. Visually very similar to the previous FinePix S3000 and FinePix S5000 which were both three megapixel cameras, the new models both share four megapixel conventional CCD imagers, as well as improved image... (More) Fujifilm S3 Pro availability, specs announced 00:24 EDT - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. has today announced availability and further specifications for its FinePix S3 Pro digital camera. First announced in the runup to this year's PMA Spring show in Las Vegas, the camera was further detailed a couple of weeks later at the show (where a mockup was displayed), and further specifications... (More) Fujifilm announces three FinePix E-series digicams 00:20 EDT - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc. has today announced three new digital camera models that make up a new E-series lineup targetted at photographers who want point-and-shoot simplicity, with the ability to take a little more control of things from time to time (or as they grow their photography skills). The FinePix E500 is a 4.1 megapixel model using a 1/2.5" traditional CCD sensor, for a resolution of 2304 x 1728 pixels. The camera also features a 3.2x optical zoom lens equivalent to 28 - 91mm on a... (More) Tuesday, July 27, 2004 DxO Optics Pro updated for EOS-1Ds 17:36 EDT - French software company DO Labs has announced new updates for its DxO Optics Pro software that add support for Canon's EOS-1Ds digital SLR, aim to correct vignetting in images, and more. For readers not familiar with DxO Optics Pro, you might want to read our in-depth coverage from shortly after it was announced at this year's PMA show in Las Vegas. In brief, though, DxO Optics Pro relies... (More) Software Review: Optipix 3 15:01 EDT - They brought 16-bit channels to the ordinary digicam, then beat Adobe to 16-bit editing tools in Photoshop. Now Reindeer Graphics has released the third version of its little image engine that could with four exciting new tools. Harnessed in Photoshop actions they're one great way to run a railroad. We resize an image using the new Interactive Interpolation plug-in that let's you see the effect of your settings before you resize. Then we deblur an image taken in low light using the new Hubble-powered... (More) Monday, July 26, 2004 Review posted for Pentax Optio 43WR 15:01 EDT - It's sadly often the case that the vacation moments you most want to preserve in photos are the very moments when you leave your camera home, fearing the digicam-deadly effects of water, mud, or dust. The Pentax Optio 43WR breaks free of conventional digicam limitations though, with a rugged, resilient case and water resistance to a depth of 1 meter. That's more than enough to withstand vigorous splashing... (More) Friday, July 23, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: OnTheGoSoft Updates Photo Backup 19:34 EDT - OnTheGoSoft has updated Photo Backup to version 2.1.2, improving useability. The simple-to-use and powerful Windows digital photo organizer and backup program is designed for professional photographers and home users alike. Photo Backup can be used by itself or along with digital editing programs to handle photos from digital cameras. It allows users to organize photos in virtual albums, archive to... (More) 93 Photo Street Illustrates Maps With Photos 11:51 EDT - Download free U.S. maps, pinpoint locations, link your images to them and roll your own HTML illustrated map with this new tool. SAN FRANCISCO -- Available for both Mac OS X and Windows, Transmutable Software has released the first version of Trevor F. Smith's 93 Photo Street. The program arranges your images by location on a map... (More) Thursday, July 22, 2004 Idea of the Month: Bottle Cap Tripod 11:06 EDT - It was the screwiest idea we'd ever heard, but once we thought about it, we came around. This morning's newsletter email contained an item so compelling, we didn't even scratch our heads. Jack Ludington of Ludington Media sent us a link to an inexpensive bottle cap that doubles as a tripod.... (More) Wednesday, July 21, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Prosoft Updates Picture Rescue for Mac OS X 14:12 EDT - Pleasanton, CA -- Prosoft Engineeringhas updated Picture Rescue for Mac OS X, its utility to recover deleted pictures that was introduced at MacWorld Boston. The update fixes a problem with FAT processing. "It is clear that for the immediate future and beyond, digital photography is indeed becoming the de facto standard for both professional level studios as well as the traveling tourist," said Greg... (More) Sony announces 7mpix P-series Cyber-shot 00:00 EDT - Sony USA has today announced a new model for its Cyber-shot DSC-P series of digital still cameras that takes the line to a new resolution high of seven megapixels. The Cyber-shot DSC-P150 updates the existing DSC-P100 model, with which it shares the same body and 3x optical zoom lens,but adds a new seven megapixel CCD imager - making it the first compact camera... (More) Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Panasonic: Three new 12x stabilized zoom digicams (UPDATED) 23:18 EDT - Panasonic USA has today announced three new digital cameras with differing sensors, but similarly styled bodies and 12x zoom MEGA Optical Image Stabilisation lenses. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3, DMC-FZ15 and DMC-FZ20 are billed by the company as "the first digital cameras to combine 12x optical zoom with an optical image stabilizer" - a rather odd claim, since Panasonic's... (More) Panasonic announces DMC-FX7 digicam 22:30 EDT - Panasonic USA has today announced the new Lumix DMC-FX7 digital camera, an ultracompact model noteable for its inclusion of the company's MEGA Optical Image Stabilisation (MEGA OIS) technology. The five megapixel DMC-FX7, which has been announced alongside the almost identical four megapixel DMC-FX2 in Europe (see our friends at the Digital Photography Review for info on that model) is almost... (More) Panasonic announces Lumix DMC-LC80 22:25 EDT - Panasonic USA has today announced a new five megapixel, 3x optical zoom digital camera. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC80, which will ship this August at a price of $349.95 in the USA, features a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels, effective focal range of 35 - 105mm, ISO ratings from 80... (More) PRESS RELEASE: How2Share Updates PiXPO Sharing Software 15:56 EDT - New version offers instant photo sharing with no uploading, no resizing and no waiting Victoria, British Columbia - July 20, 2004 �How2Share Technologies Inc. announced today the release of the PiXPO™ 1.5. PiXPO combines photo album management, secure photo sharing, and instant messaging to enable fast photo sharing without delays. With PiXPO 1.5 users can now send web hosted invites by e-mail... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Photomatix Pro Updated to Version 2.0 15:48 EDT - MultimediaPhoto has released version 2.0 of its dynamic range increase software Photomatix Pro for the Mac OS X platform. The new version adds the creation of a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image from bracketed shots, an HDR viewer and a Tone Mapping tool. Photomatix Pro is a stand-alone application that expands the dynamic range of digital photographs or scanned films. It offers 6 methods of exposure... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Cronkhite Updates ZeboPhoto 15:45 EDT - SACRAMENTO -- Bobby Cronkhite Software has released ZeboPhoto 1.5.1, an update to its versatile image viewing and editing solution for the Mac. ZeboPhoto is made with REALbasic from REAL Software, Inc. Featured in the 1.5.1 release: - Changes made to an image during a slide show can now be saved. - Browser window now remembers the location of the directory where it was last set when working with... (More) Nikon: Major updates in new D2H firmware 15:30 EDT - Nikon USA has today released a new version of firmware for its D2H professional digital SLR that the company says offers improved performance, with a whopping list of some 20 changes from the previous version. The Nikon D2H Firmware Update 2.0.0, already covered in an in-depth review by our good friend Rob Galbraith on his Digital Photography Insights website, includes the following changes (items which we consider... (More) Canon announces PowerShot A85 04:41 EDT - Canon Europe and Japan have today announced a new digital camera model that updates its existing PowerShot A70. The Canon PowerShot A85 steps up from the three megapixel imager of its predecessor to a 4 megapixel imager, and retains the same 3x optical zoom lens as before. The LCD has been increased from a 1.5-inch... (More) Monday, July 19, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Sigma New Product Information: 18 - 50mm F2.8 EX DC 21:26 EDT - EX series, large aperture zoom lens designed specifically for use with digital SLR cameras. EX lens series denotes excellence of engineering and new technology. Compact and lightweight zoom despite large F2.8 aperture. Excellent correction for various types of aberration provided by one SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element and two aspherical lenses. Super Multi Layer (SML) coating reduces flare... (More) Saturday, July 17, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Photoflex Debuts Octodome Nxt™ Softbox WithSilver Interior for Wraparound, Continuous Lighting 20:39 EDT - Watsonville, Calif.-OctoDome nxt™ has been introduced by Photoflex Inc. as the next generation of its popular OctoDome softbox, created for photographers and videographers who want the advantages of a continuous light source with a soft, wraparound light, President Sharon Reeves announced today. OctoDome nxt will debut at the Professional Photographers of America's Imaging USA convention in... (More) Thursday, July 15, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Cerebrosoft Releases Multi-Platform Image Publishing Software 17:52 EDT - Cerebrosoft has released B*Gallery v. 2.2, a Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OS X application that makes it easy to create HTML image galleries that can be updated, extended, and shared. Unlike most thumbnail programs that create simple, static clickable galleries, B*Gallery makes it simple to add, update, customize, and connect image pages into meaningful online catalogs, sales presentations, reference... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Open Door Networks Ships Envision 12:24 EDT - ASHLAND OR -- Open Door Networks has announced it is shipping Envision 1.0 for Mac OS X. Previously available as a public beta, the shipping version adds a number of user-requested features to the cutting-edge Web viewing product, including the ability to automatically set Web images as the Mac's desktop picture and screen saver. Envision lets Macintosh users experience the Web's increasingly visual... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Reindeer Graphics, Inc. Releases Optipix 3.0 12:16 EDT - Optipix, a suite of Photoshop compatible plug-ins for Macintosh OS 9.x, Macintosh OS X 10.1+, and Windows 9x/NT/2K/XP, includes tools for correcting common problems in digital images. The Optipix package works on both 8 and 16 bit images and includes tools for automatically improving contrast, removing blur, image averaging, blending bracketed exposures, enlarging images,and color-safe sharpening.... (More) Wednesday, July 14, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Hamrick Software updates VueScan to 8.0.9 21:28 EDT - Phoenix, AZ July 14, 2004 -- Hamrick Software, a leading developer of scanning software for consumers and professionals, has released VueScan 8.0.9, of its award-winning program that enables users to easily produce better looking digital images from color snapshots, negatives, slides and documents. The update includes added support for a number of scanners including several PIE-based scanners, and... (More) PRESS RELEASE: dotPhoto introduces museum-quality poster prints & wall coverings 19:05 EDT - West Trenton, NJ - July 14, 2004 - dotPhoto, Inc. www.dotphoto.com, a leading award-winning photo-sharing and digital photography web site, announced today the ability for consumers to print poster-sized prints and wall coverings online from digital and scanned photos. Available now at www.dotphoto.com (after joining with a free membership), everyone can create beautiful posters of their photographic... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Google Acquires Picasa 13:34 EDT - MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google Inc. has announced it acquired Picasa, Inc., a Pasadena, Calif.-based digital photo management company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Picasa enables users to easily manage and share digital photographs, and its technologies complement Google's ongoing mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said... (More) PRESS RELEASE: No Starch Press Releases 'The Book of Nero 6 Ultra Edition' 13:31 EDT - SAN FRANCISCO -- With over 120 million users, Ahead Software's Nero Ultra 6 may be the most popular and powerful CD and DVD burning program in the world, but it can be tricky to master. "The Book of Nero 6 Ultra Edition" (No Starch Press, July 04, $19.95), by best-selling author Wallace Wang, is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide to getting the most out of Nero, developed with the help and support... (More) Tuesday, July 13, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Human Software Releases AutoSmooth Plug-In 13:42 EDT - Wilmington, NC -- Adding to its line of filter plug-ins, Human Software is announcing AutoSmooth version 1 for Mac OS X or Windows® NT/Me/2000/XP. Basic Principles AutoSmooth gives users a quick and powerful way of smoothing skin and other surfaces without blurring or affecting other details or faces characteristic AutoSmooth enables users to automatically achieve meticulous airbrush and retouching... (More) Saturday, July 10, 2004 Outback Photo e-book - summer sale 15:27 EDT - Our good friend Uwe Steinmueller of the Digital Outback Photo website dropped us a line to let us know that his most popular e-book is now available at a reduced price through to the end of August. Entitled the "Digital Photography Workflow Handbook - using Photoshop CS and Raw Converters for the Digital Photography Workflow", the e-book is a 360 page printable PDF file. The full contents table can... (More) Thursday, July 8, 2004 New on the Site: Fast Newsletter Search Tool 14:02 EDT - Tap into the wealth of knowledge, fun and history archived in over 125 issues of our own Digital Photography Newsletter with a new, fast, powerful search tool that shows results in context! We've been busy testing a new way to search the newsletter archives and we now you can enjoy it, too. Until now you could search the site by visiting: � The Archive, where the top three subjects in... (More) Wednesday, July 7, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: PhotoVu Adds iPhoto Support with Wireless Digital Picture Frame 13:36 EDT - July 6, 2004 - Boulder, CO - Today PhotoVu announced the availability of the all new PhotoVu PV1910 picture frame, which adds support for iPhoto, a redesigned and more refined look, up to 12 megapixel cameras, and a future upgrade path to enhanced wireless standards like Wireless-G. PhotoVu's 19" LCD digital picture frames wirelessly retrieve digital images from a computer's hard drive for easy and... (More) Konica Minolta: 4mpix, 12x zoom DiMAGE Z3 08:00 EDT - In its final new digicam announcement of the day, Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A. Inc. has unveiled its DiMAGE Z3 digital camera, which couples a high resolution image sensor with a powerful optical zoom lens and image stabilisation. The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3's 4 megapixel RGB CCD image sensor offers a maximum resolution of 2272 x 1704 pixels, which is capable of a swift 2.5 frames per second (depending on resolution, the burst... (More) Konica Minolta: 3mpix, 8x zoom DiMAGE Z10 08:00 EDT - In its second digicam announcement today, Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A. Inc. has taken the wraps off its DiMAGE Z10 digital camera, a model which looks quite similar to the higher-spec Z3 model it is announced alongside, but with a slightly reduced feature set aimed at bringing cost down and putting the camera within the reach of a wider market. The Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z10's 3.2 megapixel RGB CCD image sensor offers a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, which is capable of capturing 1.5 frames per second (depending on resolution, the... (More) Konica Minolta: 5mpix DiMAGE X-series camera 08:00 EDT - Konica Minolta Photo Imaging U.S.A. Inc. has today announced its new DiMAGE X50 digital camera, a five megapixel model that brings a new resolution high, and a sliding lens barrier to an X-series camera for the first time. The Konica Minolta DiMAGE X50 features a 2.8x optical zoom lens - which, unlike other cameras in the X-series, is mounted horizontally - featuring a prism to fold the optical path. The different orientation... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Konica Minolta's DiMAGE A2 Digital Camera Receives Top 2004 Honors 08:00 EDT - Mahwah, NJ (July 7, 2004) – Konica Minolta announces that the new Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 8 megapixel digital camera has won the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Award for “Best Digital Prosumer Camera” in Europe for the year 2004. In addition, the DiMAGE A2 has also received prestigious “Editor's Choice” awards from PC Magazine , CNET and American Photo. “These... (More) Tuesday, July 6, 2004 PRESS RELEASE: Ekholm Releases JAlbum 4.4 16:33 EDT - Free Java-based Web photo album generator supports movies and stills with drag and drop simplicity and custom skins -- and it runs on Mac OS X, Linux/Unix, Windows and other Java platforms. David Ekholm has released version 4.4 of JAlbum, his free Java-based Web Album generator. Available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other Java platforms running v1.3 of Suns Java runtime, it's also available in... (More) PRESS RELEASE: RL Development Introduces QPict 6.1 16:22 EDT - Over 40 New Features Added MALM�, Sweden--July 6, 2004--RL Development today announced immediate availability of QPict Media Asset Management 6.1. QPict 6.1 is a major update to the popular tool for viewing, organizing, searching and batch processing media files. Along with major improvements in RAW file support, QPict 6.1 includes more than 40 new features. "QPict offers a very attractive and inexpensive... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Cristalink Releases Firestreamer DV Backup Software 16:14 EDT - Like Coolatoola's DV Backup for the Mac, Firestreamer lets you back up your Windows system using a digital camcorder. New Zealand's Cristalink Limited has released Firestreamer, its $25 solution for backing up your Windows system using a digital camcorder. Firestreamer installs a driver and control panel to allow the built-in Windows utility Backup to read and write to a digital camcorder connected... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Coolatoola Releases DV Backup 1.3 16:05 EDT - With up to 16.5GB of storage on each low cost, high capacity 60 minute MiniDV (or Video8/Hi8) tape, a single one hour tape can store over than three times more data than a 4.7GB DVD-R disc. Coolatoola has updated DV Backup, their $50 Mac OS X backup software that relies a digital camcorder as the recording device. The product was recently reviewed by Imaging Resource. DV Backup 1.3 (Standard Edition)... (More) PRESS RELEASE: Phase One opts for www.raw-converter.com for German-speaking Capture 1 forum 15:17 EDT - After the blast-off last May www.raw-converter.com presents another highlight: The portal for professional editing of raw data is chosen by Danish company Phase One as the home for its Capture One forum. With the Capture One software the leading manufacturer of digital backs also provides a premium software tool to process image files from digital SLRs. Capture One enables photographers to achieve... 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