September 2001 news and reviews

Approximately three hours ago the results from our current poll "Which D-SLR for you?" had received some 2600 votes and indicated interesting results, a three-way split between the Nikon D1x, Canon EOS-D30 and Canon EOS-1D (each with almost 30%). However, thanks to the childish behaviour of two users we have had to pull the poll. Scanning our log files it turns out that two users decided to 'fix' the results of the poll by registering 700 votes for the D1H and 400 votes for the EOS-1D. Very clever. Read more...

Pentax has today announced a four megapixel version of its pocket sized Optio 330. This camera is essentially identical to the 330 appart from its 4 megapixel CCD sensor (and, lets hope improved AF ability). "The Optio 430 measures just 3.6" (92mm) wide, 2.3'' (59mm) high, and 1.2" (31mm) deep and weighs only 7.2 ounces (205g). Precise imaging is achieved with the powerful 4.13 megapixel (total pixels) primary color filter CCD and a superior PENTAX 3X zoom lens (equivalent to 37.5-112.5mm in 35mm format) which provides high-resolution images and low image distortion."

13:00 JST / 04:00 GMT: Canon has today announced its EOS-1V based digital SLR, the EOS-1D. It features a 1.3x focal length multiplier, 4.48 megapixel CCD producing a 4.06 megapixel (2464 x 1648) image. The EOS-1D is capable of shooting continuously at an amazing 8 frames per second for up to 21 JPEG images (or 16 RAW images). Other features include a fully environmentally sealed magnesium body, Canon's excellent 45-point AF, 1/16,000 max shutter speed, 1/500 sec flash X-sync, Firewire (IEEE 1394) connectivity, JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG saving modes, 21 custom and 25 personal functions, selectable colour matrixes (sRGB, Adobe RGB) and a super-fast 87 ms viewfinder blackout. The EOS-1D is expected to go on sale in at the end of December at a an expected street price of US$ 7000. We have an exclusive, detailed eight page hands-on preview with the EOS-1D available now.

Canon has also today announced two new lenses. The EF 16 - 35 mm F2.8L USM is a new wider version of the 17 - 35 mm, matched up to the new EOS-1D SLR it can provide a field of view equivelant to a 21 mm lens on a 35 mm film camera. The 400 mm F4 DO IS USM is a lens we first saw at Photokina last year. It features a unique multi-layer diffractive optical element which has allowed the designers to make the new 400 mm DO 1 KG lighter and 84 mm (3.3 in) shorter than the old 400 mm F4.

Mike Chaney, author of QImage Pro has just launched the first version of Profile Prism. This unique product allows you to generate your own ICC profiles for digital cameras or scanners. "Profile Prism is software that allows the digital photographer to quickly and easily create ICC profiles for their digital cameras and scanners using the included 753 patch color target. Since digital cameras can often be more difficult to profile due to lens distortions, lighting, exposure, and other factors, Profile Prism offers several industry firsts that assist in developing digital camera profiles that work under both general lighting and specific lighting conditions."

We've just posted our full in-depth review of a production Minolta DiMAGE 5. The DiMAGE 5 is the three megapixel 'cousin' to the five megapixel DiMAGE 7. It features the same 7x optical zoom lens which, because of the slightly smaller sensor size produce an equiv. focal length range of 35 - 250 mm. The camera weighs in with a list price of $999, although can be found around the web at approximately $900. Come in and see how it did in our tests.

Rob Galbraith has just posted an excellent head-to-head of the Nikon D1H and Kodak DCS 720x in use at high sensitivities. Titled "ISO 1600 and beyond with the Nikon D1H and Kodak DCS 720X" the article covers the basic functionality of both cameras, a description and examination of noise and some excellent head-to-head sports photography shots from both cameras at ISO 1600, 3200 and 6400. To quote Rob, "...it's clear to me that either the DCS 720X or D1H is suitable for sports photography up to ISO 1600.", "ISO 3200 is another story. A properly-exposed DCS 720X image like the one at left, once filtered with Quantum Mechanic Pro, is unbeatable."

A week after the announcement of the E-20P in Europe, Olympus US has announced the E-20N. Identical to the E-20P other than its NTSC video output and name. There's no official word on why Olympus has decided to release the same camera with only a very slightly different name, however we could guess that it could be an attempt to discourage grey imports. US list price for the E-20N will be $1999 (which is too high IMHO). UPDATE: High resolution product images available.

0600 EST: 0600 UTC: Nikon has today announced the Coolpix 5000. This all new five megapixel, three times optical zoom (28 - 85 mm equiv.) digital camera marks the new prestige in the Nikon line. There are many noticeable specifications: all metal case, flash hotshoe, new flip-out and twist LCD, record/play instant switch, rear status LCD, AE-L / AF-L button and dual speed continuous shooting plus all of the major features of the Coolpix 995. This article (part one of two) we'll examine the cameras specifications in detail as well as the full press release. Price: $1099.

We've just posted our full review of Nikon's fast shooting D1H digital SLR. The D1H is based on the sucessful D1 but adds the features and user interface seen on the D1x as well as a faster 5 fps shooting rate, 40 image continuous shooting buffer and improved high ISO performance. As a part of the review I took the D1H to the Silverstone race track for rounds 21 and 22 of the British Touring Car Championship. Catch some of the action and see how the D1H stands in our extensive review.

Sanyo Japan has today announced its IDS-M1 portable storage device. This unit is capable of transferring the contents of Compact Flash (Type I or II) or SmartMedia cards onto 730 MB iD PHOTO Magneto-Optical storage discs (or visa versa). It has both USB (1.1) and Firewire (IEEE 1394) connectivity for computer transfer of data. Expected price is 55,000 YEN (approx. $500) and it should be available on October 19th (Japan).

Irvine Sensors, a 51% share holder of Silicon Film, has today announced that it is suspending operations at Silicon Film. What started as a rumour, grew into vapour ware, became a product which was demonstrated at PMA 2001 but was simply never attractive and always crippled by storage, battery, environment and sensor size limitations has now turned into vaporized-ware. "The Silicon Film Board has retained special counsel in contemplation of liquidation through bankruptcy proceedings, if immediate financing alternatives are not secured."

Nikon Europe has today posted an update to Nikon Capture 2 (for D1 / D1x / D1H). v2.0.1 has two major fixes: (a) When multiple images are selected in the Thumbnails section of the
Camera Image Window, if Image Adjustment is pasted, White Balance and Adranced Raw settings will not be reflected. (b) Saving JPEG(JFIF or EXIF) images at the excellent quality (the lowest compression ratio) setting does not produce the expected results. The update requires an existing full install of Nikon Capture 2 and is available for both Windows and Mac OS platforms.

Olympus Japan has today announced two new waterproof casings, the PT-011 (for the C-2) and PT-012 (for the C-40Z). The PT-011 provides a waterproof casing for the new C-2 which is capable of depths of 30 m, the PT-012 which is designed for the new C-40Z goes even deeper with a maximum depth of 40 m. Both cases weigh approximately 350 g (12 oz). The PT-011 will go on sale in October (Japan) at 12,800 YEN (~US$ 100), the PT-012 will go on sale in Novemeber (Japan) at 25,000 YEN (~US$ 200).

Kodak has today announced an updated version of its medium format digital back the 'Pro Back' as the new 'Pro Back Plus'. The Pro Back Plus now has a shutter release port and electronic shutter cables to enable it to work with a wider range of medium format cameras. Support - medium format: Hasselblad 553 ELD, Hasselblad 503, Mechanical Hasselblads, Bronica, Fuji 680, Kapture Group True-Wide. Large format: Sinar, Horseman, Toyo, Arca Swiss, Cambo. Other cameras: Horseman DigiFlex, Silvestri.

Words fail me at this time, I have been watching CNN (and the BBC) since the original news broke and have seen these terrible events unfold, watching the second plane strike the WTC tower live then seeing each tower collapse was something which stuns the senses. Our thoughts go out to those individuals and families caught up in this terror. We will all remember where we were and what we were doing on this day.

Canon Europe has today announced it has acquired the UK photo-sharing service 'Fotango'. Fotango was founded in London in 1999 by a team of just five. Fotango make both traditional film photographs available as online albums as well as digital images. Alexis de Belloy, CEO of Fotango said: "The Canon deal provides both parties a strong foothold in the exploding digital imaging marketplace. Canon is a multi-national organisation that offers unrivalled expertise in digital imaging capture, while Fotango provides the means to manipulate and distribute pictures worldwide."

We don't often put these offers up as a news article, but this one is too good to miss. State Street Direct (our official affiliate) are offering a 320 MB Compact Flash card for just $99.95 with the purchase of any in-stock Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Minolta digital camera. Or, a 128MB Smartmedia Memory Card for only $34.95 with the purchase of any Fuji, or Olympus digital camera over $250. If you've read the reviews and made a decision then now could be a very good time to pick up the camera you want. All purchases help to support this site. Limited period only - valid from 09/07/01 - 09/09/01.

We've been contacted by Epson who've let us know that the article we ran below is slightly inaccurate (and that their own site isn't particularly helpful). Downloading and installing the PIM drivers for your printer won't on its own give you colour matching with images created by PIM cameras. You still need to use THEIR OWN proprietary application (which you have to order) before you can get PIM matched colour. Makes you wonder what ever was wrong with ICC, why do we need a new standard like PIM which just makes things more confusing, narrow and proprietary? Now everyone is relying on Epson (who themselves admit confusion).

Minolta Europe (and Japan) has announced the compact, DiMAGE E203. This 2 megapixel is a step up from the E201 as it adds a F2.8 - F4.6, 3x optical zoom lens. What's also significant about the E203 is its storage format. Unlike the E201 which has a Compact Flash slot, the E203 has an SD/MMC slot and is provided with an 8 MB SD card. Power comes from one CR-V3 Lithium or two AA batteries. As far as we know this camera will not be available in the US.

Another DiMAGE reviewed! Minolta's S304 was announced at the same time as the DiMAGE 5 and 7. Probably overshadowed by them at the time the S304 is a more than capable camera in its own right. With a 4x optical zoom lens and 3 megapixel CCD it offers a good range of both easy-to-use auto & scene modes as well as more creative manual settings and full control over internal processing algorithms. All this at a lower price point than its major competition, the Nikon Coolpix 995. See how it faired in our tests...

0000 GMT: Olympus has today announced the first pocket-sized four megapixel digital camera. The C-40Z features a 4 megapixel sensor and a 2.8x F2.8 - F4.8 optical zoom lens. It looks quite square from the front on with a sliding front cover which also acts as a power switch. Two things stand out about this compact, it's got six apertures for exposure (most compacts have only two) and it has virtually all the functionality of the C-4040Z. It weighs just 270 g (9.5 oz) with batteries and measures 87 x 69 x 44 mm (3.4 x 2.7 x 1.7 in). (Known as the D-40Z in US / Canada)

Just received this press release from Light & Motion about their new line of underwater digital photography cases. These Tetra housings support the Olympus C-2000 - 4000 series digital cameras (including the C-4040Z) as well as being able to support add-on wide-angle or macro lenses.