ILFORD offers photographers even greater flexibility with pre-mounted GALERIE boards
High quality, cost effective, inkjet printing solutions for the professional imaging market and digital artist

Marly, Switzerland- Following an increase in demand from creative photographers, design houses, advertising agencies and exhibition stand producers, ILFORD is pleased to re-introduce GALERIE pre-mounted boards in Smooth Pearl and Gloss surfaces.
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Much more than just a point-and-shoot digital camera, the 8-megapixel Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd has features similar to an entry-level DSLR: image stabilization, a powerful 18x wide-angle zoom (27mm-486mm equivalent), Face Detection and auto red-eye removal. All these features are packed into a compact SLR-style superzoom digital camera body.

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Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd Studio Test Images
	ISO 64 Sample >> ISO 100 Sample >> ISO 200 Sample >> ISO 400 Sample >> ISO 800 Sample >> ISO 1600 Sample >> ISO 3200 Sample >> ISO 6400 Sample >>

Pros Compact size Large LCD Comfortable, intuitive control layout Multiple shooting modes Dual IS image stabilization High-speed shooting Uses easy to find AA batteries	Cons Cumbersome shutter and aperture controls Small memory card door Noticeable shutter-lag Small viewfinder Lens cap falls off easily Battery life is on the short side

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Official Pentax Optio W60 Press Release

Looks like I’m going to have to update the Outdoor and Waterproof Digital Camera Guide I wrote a few weeks ago. Today, Pentax announced a new entry in the waterproof / outdoor digital camera category. The new Pentax Optio W60 has a 10-megapixel sensor and can submerged up to 13 feet for as long as 2 hours. The 5x internal zoom lens has a 28mm (35mm equivalent) wide end and the camera can also be used at temperatures below freezing. Among other improvements, the new Optio W60 also has Face Detection and sensitivity up to ISO 6400. Looks like Pentax has been paying attention to the competition. These are significant improvements over the Optio W30 we reviewed last year and I look forward to testing the new Optio W60.
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Will Increased Film Cost Make Holdouts Switch To Digital?

Yesterday, Fujifilm announced they would be raising the prices of all photographic film and paper products as much as 20%. The higher pricing us attributed to the rising cost of raw materials and as well as oil, which affects shipping costs. PhotographyREVIEW.com has actually seen an increase in the popularity of film photography in the past year. In fact, there are community members who are switching from digital to film because they like the process and quality of film photography. But you have to wonder if the higher cost of photographic media will make them think twice about film. Especially at a time when digital camera manufacturers are having to compete harder and the price of digital SLRs is so low. When a digital SLR can be had for well under $1000 (US), paying $8 to $12 for a roll of film and then paying for processing will likely make digital look even better.
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New Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC (IF) MACRO Lens Press Release >>
New Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO Lens Press Release >>

With the introduction of two new internal motor lenses last week, Tamron now offers 7 lenses for Nikon digital SLRs that were designed to only use AF-S Nikon lenses. The new Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO and the new internal motor version of the popular SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO were announced last Friday. Tamron’s Nikon mount built-in motor lens lineup now covers a range from 17mm to 300mm and the new AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC lens includes Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) system. The seven Tamron lenses give Nikon owners a nice range of alternatives to Nikkor AF-S glass.

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Lowepro Unveils the Next Generation of the Nova AW Series of Shoulder Bags
Lowepro Unveils the Next Generation of the Nova AW Series of Shoulder Bags

Sebastopol, CA, May 15, 2008 – Lowepro, the worldwide leading provider of protective cases and backpacks for imaging and technology products, today announced the launch of the next generation models of their popular Nova AW series of shoulder bags, designed to carry and protect a digital SLR and accessories in the most rigorous of weather conditions. The new models of Nova AW bags are available in six sizes and feature a patented 360° All Weather Cover which provides complete protection from the elements while still allowing photographers to access equipment.

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Intuitive Design Removes Upper-Body Strain and Makes the Lowepro Inverse the Ideal Beltpack Carrying Solution for Serious Shooters
Intuitive Design Removes Upper-Body Strain and Makes the Lowepro Inverse the Ideal Beltpack Carrying Solution for Serious Shooters

Sebastopol, CA. – May 15, 2008 – Lowepro, the worldwide leading provider of protective cases and backpacks for imaging and technology products, today announced the Inverse AW series of beltpacks designed for the digital photographer. The Inverse can be utilized in two distinct carrying modes: worn around the waist by snapping on the contoured mesh lumbar belt or carried as a shoulder bag with the detachable 360° swivel padded shoulder harness. The quick-access lid opens 180 degrees making loading and retrieving gear from the padded and customizable main compartment simple. In addition to the water-resistant exterior materials, the Inverse AW also features a built in Lowepro All Weather Cover™ to protect the contents from rain, sleet and snow. Available in two sizes, the Inverse 100 AW and 200 AW, the series has the carrying capacity for a pro-style digital SLR with attached lens as well as extra lenses, flash units and accessories.

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Why Shooting RAW files RAWks (or Realize Your Camera’s Potential with RAW Capture)

by Jim Talkington / prophotolife.com

Camera manufacturers continue to boost the megapixel output of their digital SLRs, enabling them to capture more information and more detail with every new model release. It only makes sense then that you would want to preserve all of that information and detail, right? If you always shoot JPEG files instead of RAW then you may not be realizing your camera’s true potential.

JPEG images emerge from a camera considerably smaller in file size than RAW captures. For many uses JPEGs are convenient and offer fine quality. RAW files are larger and must be processed in software before they can be utilized and shared. So why shoot RAW and have to deal with an extra step when the JPEGs may look just fine? There are a few good reasons that professionals and serious amateurs choose RAW.
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KODAK Gallery Now Offering KODAK Digital Picture Frames and KODAK Picture Cards Preloaded With Your Favorite Gallery Photos
Sharing pictures has never been easier—open the box, plug it in and enjoy the show!

EMERYVILLE, California, May 13 — KODAK Gallery, a leading online photo service with 70 million members worldwide, today announced that members can now purchase KODAK Digital Picture Frames preloaded with up to 100 of their favorite Gallery photos. It only takes a few clicks online to choose the frame you want, select your pictures and Gallery will load the pictures on the frame and ship the package directly to you or your friends and family members.

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onOne Software Announces Availability of Essentials 2 Imaging Software for iPhoto
iPhoto version features four easy-to-use tools for color correction, creative image blurring, frame and border effects and resizing for high quality large prints

Portland, OR - May 12, 2008 - onOne Software, Inc., announces today the availability of Essentials 2 software for iPhoto users. Essentials 2 for iPhoto is a collection of four easy-to-use software tools to help correct color, creatively blur a photo for dramatic visual impact, add creative borders and resize digital images for high quality large prints. The software tools included within Essentials 2 for iPhoto are based on technology used in the professional level onOne Software Photoshop plug-ins PhotoTune 2.2, FocalPoint 1.0, PhotoFrame 3.1 and Genuine Fractals 5.

The Essentials 2 for iPhoto software suite provides users of the popular iPhoto image editing and organizing software with four important plug-in solutions to solve common digital imaging problems. With Essentials for iPhoto, users can easily correct the color of their photos using technology from PhotoTune, simulate the effect of selective focus or tilt-shift lenses, helping photographers selectively blur and/or vignette an image to focus the viewers attention using technology from FocalPoint 1.0, add unique borders and edges around their photos using technology from PhotoFrame and increase the size and resolution of their photos to get larger print sizes by using technology from Genuine Fractals, the industry standard for resizing digital photos.

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onOne Software’s New FocalPoint Software Plug-in is Now Available
Easy to use plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements helps photographers selectively blur and/or vignette areas of an image

Portland, OR (May 8, 2008) – onOne Software, Inc., announces today that its new software plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements – FocalPoint 1.0 – is now available for immediate download. onOne Software’s FocalPoint is a selective focus and vignetting plug-in designed to help photographers easily blur and/or vignette areas of an image.

Popular among professional wedding, portrait and commercial photographers, the soft defocused look typically produced in camera by using special selective focus or tilt-shift lenses, filters or vignetting hoods can now be created quickly within Photoshop using onOne Software’s new FocalPoint. This new plug-in provides both professional and advanced amateur photographers with additional creative options when editing their images in Photoshop.

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Official Olympus E-520 Press Release >>
Olympus E-520 Beta Sample Photos >>

Olympus was kind enough to send me a pre-production E-520 and I’ve been playing with it for a few days now. Since it’s a pre-production camera and the firmware isn’t final yet, I can’t really evaluate the camera’s performance or image quality. However, it does have all the best characteristics of its predecessor, the E-510 - and then some. I liked the E-510 because of the compact size of the body, the built-in image stabilization, and the 2x crop factor of the Four-Thirds lenses. This combination of features made the E-510 - as well as other Olympus digital SLRs - great for travel and outdoor photography, where minimal weight and size make a real difference.

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