Articles from November 2003

Just posted! Our full in-depth review of Olympus's first lens interchangeable digital SLR, the new E-1. The E-1 marks the first digital SLR of the Olympus 'E system' and is also the first digital SLR compatible with the 4/3 imaging standard and helps to launch a whole new lens mount and sensor size. The E-1 has a five megapixel Kodak CCD sensor, a full magnesium alloy body and is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery. See how the E-1 performed in our tests and my opinion of it. UPDATED 30/Nov - Added RAW conversion comparison with Adobe Photoshop CS.

Konica Minolta Europe has recently posted a firmware update for the DiMAGE A1. This firmware upgrade, version 101e, resolves a problem when using DiMAGE Capture, the camera stops while interval recording, and when using a 2GB or larger storage media, the camera cannot record movies. As usual please read carefully the firmware installation information before installing the DiMAGE A1 firmware!

Quiksilver, the clothing and accessories brand, has launched a limited edition version of Sonys' Cyber-shot(R) DSC-U60 digital camera. The 150 limited-edition, Quiksilver-designed pieces feature original artwork on the camera, and are packaged in a specially designed custom box. "Quiksilver's lifestyle brand captures the imagination of consumers around the globe and it is exciting to bring these action sports enthusiasts to Sony's Cybershot product," said Matt Jacobson, Vice President of Quiksilver Entertainment. The camera will be available for purchase at Quiksilver Boardrider's Clubs in New York, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Honolulu and Maui at a suggested retail price of $300.

Nikon has today issued a warning to their customers about the use of imitation Nikon Li-Ion batteries for their digital cameras. The products are branded as Nikon products but are not genuine Nikon products and therefore are counterfeit. Some of the imitation batteries are not equipped with a safety feature required for rechargeable batteries.

Archos has today announced the AVCam 300, a digital still camera and camcorder attachment for their AV300 series portable audio and video players. The AVCam has a 3.3 megapixel CCD, plus a 3x Ricoh optical zoom. The AVCam can store up to 40,000 3.3-megapixel photos and record up to 80 hours of MPEG-4 video when used with the AV380. The AVCam is available on November 27th for $199.95.

Kyocera Japan has announced the new Finecam S3R. This is a 3 megapixel version of the S5R launched in August. As with the S5R it contains the image processor dubbed 'RTUNE' which allows the S3R to shoot at 3 frames per second until the SD card is full. This does however require a high speed SD card capable of 10 MB/sec or more. The S3R comes in 3 colours, silver, red and blue and will be available in December.

According to a study by the research group InfoTrends worldwide digital camera sales should reach nearly 53 million units sold in 2004. In addition to this digital camera sales are expected to continue to grow and a compound rate of 15% over the following four years reaching an incredible 82 million units sold in 2008. According to InfoTrends the market leaders in 2003 are expected to be Canon, Sony, Olympus, Fujifilm and Kodak with a combined market share of three quarters (75%).

Site contributor Vincent Bockaert has today announced the latest version of his excellent 'The 123 of digital imaging Interactive e-book'. The new e-book appears to be far more than a simple upgrade, the e-book now covers even more software including Adobe Photoshop CS and Photoshop Album 2.0 (as well as keeping content for Photoshop 7 and Album 1.0). The layout and control of the e-book has also been improved as a result of user feedback. Building on the previous version this e-book is probably the most comprehensive guide you'll ever need for the most in-depth knowledge of digital imaging and digital photography. Available as a download or packaged CD-ROM.

BenQ Europe have today announced the C50 digital camera. The C50 features a 5.0 megapixel CCD, 3X optical zoom and PASM mode (Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, Manual), offering advanced features and options for aspiring photographers. "With the C50, we've developed a feature-packed product that is both portable and fun," expressed William Wang, BenQ Vice President and General Manager of Imaging Network Business Group.

Sigma Japan has today made Photo Pro 2.0 available for download (for both Windows and Macintosh). This will be great news for owners of the Sigma SD9 digital SLR as Photo Pro 2.0 can be used with RAW (.X3F) files from this camera as well as the new Sigma SD10 digital SLR. Our experience of Photo Pro 2.0 was very positive, image processing is improved, especially the handling of clipped color near highlights. In addition Photo Pro 2.0 has new features including the storage of processing parameters on a per image basis as well as the new X3 Fill Light.

An article floating around several news sites including Pacific Business News is that Nikon are about to stop producion of their 35mm compact camera range and go all digital. The Tokyo-based Nihon Keizai Shimbun broke the story from company sources in its Thursday editions. Though the company said no decision has been made yet, the newspaper said production is being halted and shipments to stores will stop in a few months. UPDATE: Nikon Japan has posted a press release in English denying this rumour.

Nikon has today announced that one of the Nikkor lenses which was announced at the same time as the D2H, the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G, has been delayed until the spring of 2004. The AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G is a sophisticated 3.2 zoom ratio lens with fast f/2.8 aperture featuring a unique optical design tailored to the demands of high performance digital photography with all of Nikon’s DX format Digital SLR cameras, namely the Nikon D1X, D1H, D1, D100 and D2H. Nikon apologize for any inconvenience caused to customers.

An interesting article on DigiTimes.com has said that Nikon may be planning to outsource production of its low-end digital still cameras to Taiwan. A source at Taiwanese DSC maker Primax Electronics acknowledged that Nikon is looking for OEM suppliers in Taiwan but could not identify how many firms have been contacted by the Japanese firm. If finalized, it would take about nine to 12 months for Taiwan’s makers to begin delivering DSCs to Nikon, the source said.

Alera Technologies has today announced the Digital Photo Copy Cruiser which enables the copying of digital photos directly from camera memory cards to CD without a computer. Photos from memory cards can be added to the CD in multi-session format so the full capacity of the CD can be used, it can also be used as a USB 2.0 36x CD recorder when connected to a computer. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser supports the following Digital Memory Card formats: CF Type I and II, SD, MMC, SM, MS, MS Pro, and Micro Drive. The Digital Photo Copy Cruiser has an Estimated Street Price (ESP) of $229.

Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) has announced the launch of an industry-wide consumer and retailer education initiative designed to promote digital printing to consumers through an Internet Web site due to launch late November 2003 as well as national public relations, advertising and mass media outlets. One component of this initiative includes a Qualified Digital Processing Center program to ensure that consumers know where to go to get their prints made and retailers are prepared to handle the consumer demand for printing of their digital files.

Following the success of its popular Q1 film camera, Fujifilm has today announced an addition to the family: the Q1 Digital. This curvy, silver, compact digital camera is perfect for beginners, or for those looking for a second camera to keep in their pocket or bag at all times. Easy to operate, and very light in weight at just 108g, the Q1 Digital makes the ideal gift for anyone taking their first steps in photography ? adults and children included!. The Q1 Digital will be available in November 2003 at an expected approximate street price of £100 inc VAT.

Kodak has recently posted a firmware update for the DCS 14n. This firmware upgrade, version 4.4.3, resolves a fixed focal length being reported when using some zoom lenses, adjusted automatic lens type selection for some lenses, a minor issue with selecting Job Tracker files from memory, an SD/MMC card formatting issue and changed in camera Digital Exposure Correction range limit on JPEG images to +/– 1EV. New features also include a longer exposure feature, camera mirror Prerelease feature, Wedding and Event "Looks" and Korean language support.

SmartDisk has today introduced 40GB and 80GB models of its FlashTrax(TM) handheld portable multimedia device for offloading and storing digital images and music. FlashTrax stores images transferred from any flash memory card onto the built-in USB2.0 hard drive and displays them on a 3.5" LCD screen. "The Professional Photographers Association has just recognized FlashTrax as one of the hottest new imaging products of 2003," says Charles Klinker, Vice President-Marketing for SmartDisk.

We've just received our review Sigma SD10 (after a little mix-up with the courier) and I'm happy to report that resolution is identical to the SD9. I decided to test this immediately after we read reports elsewhere that resolution was significantly lower because of the use of microlenses. In our own shots of a standard ISO resolution chart we can measure absolutely no difference in resolution between the SD9 and SD10 using the same lens at (almost) the same aperture.