Eye-Fi has introduced an SD card with built-in wireless connectivity that allows it to automatically transfer images to a computer or online destination when in range of a WiFi network. The 2GB Eye-Fi Card stores photos just like any other SD card used in a compatible camera, but can also be set up to send the stored images via WiFi to a PC, a Mac, or many online gallery, blogging, and social networking sites such as Kodak Gallery, Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket and more.
Sony has introduced the 80GB HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album that organizes and displays up to 50,000 high resolution images. The digital photo album can display images on high definition televisions and, using the included Sony software, create slide shows and scrapbook pages. Available this month, it will retail for approximately $400 and be sold on Sony’s website and in stores.
LetsGoDigital.com provides a hands-on review of the new Sony Alpha 700 digital SLR. I’ve been looking forward to hearing about this camera and actual user opinions. As a current Sony A100 DSLR user, the A700 may be my next acquisition or I may wait until Sony releases their anticipated ‘pro’ model to make a decision. Here is an excerpt from the review.
Matt Kloskowski of at Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips has posted an informative video covering the backup process for Lightroom. With version 1.1 and 1.2 you can now save the Lightroom database as an entire catalog or individual catalogs. The original image files can even be copied to the backup location as well, or transferred to other computers. Watch the video on the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips blog.
Popphoto.com has a conversation with photographer with Adam Bartos.
Sony has introduced a new 8-megapixel point-and-shoot with 4GB internal memory and advanced photo-organizing functions for sorting and viewing shots that are stored on the device. The ultracompact Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is equipped with a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot touchscreen LCD and an f/3.5-4.3, 38-114mm 3x zoom lens, and will be available in December for about $350.
SlideShowPro has announced a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. SlideShowPro lets users create Flash slideshows that can be placed on Web sites, providing numerous options for customizing parameters such as background color, layout, and transitions between images, along with audio track and support for video clips. The plug-in will integrate into Lightroom's Web Module workspace, allowing users to publish slideshows directly from the software to the Web.
As someone who enjoys using the Holga, an all-plastic medium-format camera made in China that provides some interesting 'low-tech' results, I was intrigued to discover that the Lomographic Society has revived the Diana, an all-plastic medium-format camera that had its heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s, and inspired the Holga while achieving legendary status among many creative photographers for the atmospheric images it captured. The new Diana Plus is a faithful recreation of the original, with the addition of just a few features. Its boxy black and light-blue body backs up a plastic, single-element 75mm lens and a non-TTL optical viewfinder.
Olympus has introduced three new Zuiko lenses that implement its Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD). According to the company, when used with the E-3 SLR, also announced today, the lenses will offer extremely fast and quiet autofocus, with the new 12-60mm optic providing the fastest autofocus performance in the world. The three compact, weatherproof lenses have Four-Thirds standard mounts, and are designed for use with digital SLRs only. Olympus has also introduced a new teleconverter for use with its Four-Thirds lenses, the Zuiko Digital EC-20 2x Teleconverter.
Olympus has announced the long-awaited successor to its E-1 camera. The new flagship model of the company's line of digital SLRs, the 10.1-megapixel E-3, promises to outdo its predecessor with significantly faster autofocus performance, a larger viewfinder, and live LCD viewing, while retaining the Four-Thirds format that makes it compatible with existing lenses from Olympus and other Four-Thirds optics makers. Equipped with an articulating 230,000-dot, 2.5-inch Live View LCD with a 170-degree viewing angle, the E-3 also offers a pentaprism eyepiece viewfinder that shows 100 percent of the image frame at 1.15x magnification. The LCD has a dedicated luminance sensor that allows it to automatically adjust the screen brightness in response to ambient light changes. The E-3 offers dual CompactFlash and xD-Picture Card slots, with support for fast UDMA CF cards.
Taken from the official Nikon press release:
Eastman Kodak Co. has announced that it will end its long-standing sponsorship of the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing Games end next August. Kodak has been involved with the Olympics for more than 100 years and has been one of 12 "top tier" sponsors for more than two decades, but now they say the company's long-term market strategy is moving away from film products to digital products.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, has announced the development of two all-new telephoto lenses for use with its EOS SLR cameras: the EF200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM. The Company will exhibit prototypes of the new lenses at PhotoPlus Expo (booth #318), taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 18 to 20.
With the summer sizzle finally ending here in the Sonoran Desert, I can go outside without the fear of spontaneous combustion. I ventured out to a nearby park and found this little guy also enjoying the cooler weather. Image was taken with the Sony A100 DSLR and the classic Minolta Maxxum 70-210mm f4 “beer can” with a setting of f16@1/160. Focal length was 210mm with the camera set to ISO 400. 
Sharpcast has released a mobile component of its photo sharing service for devices running Windows Mobile 5.0. Sharpcast provides photo gallery and sharing tools that automatically synchronize photos between a user's computer desktop, online gallery, and designated friends. The mobile component integrates into the system to automatically synchronize photos taken by a Windows Mobile 5.0 camera phone, and to make the user's collection of photos available on the device.
Digital picture frame maker PhotoVu keeps expending its horizongs—literally. Today, the company announced the availability of its PV2265w 22-inch widescreen digital picture frame. The LCD display sports a 1,680 by 1,050 pixel 16:10 widescreen resolution, and offers a customizable picture frame and matboard to complement your images, your decor, or both. The 22-inch model follows on the 19-inch photo frame the company launched last July.
Digital Foci Inc this week announced the Pocket Album, a digital keychain that displays images on a 1.5-inch LCD color screen. Priced at $39.95, the Digital Foci Pocket Album has 8 MB of internal memory for storing up to 74 pictures, according to a recent press release.
Best known as Star Trek’s Mr Spock, Leonard Nimoy is carving a reputation as a controversial photographer. He tells Simon Round why he has taken pictures of naked, obese women.
If you're still shooting black and white file, you'll be pleased to discover that Kodak has announced an improved version of its Professional T-Max 400 film. The new ISO 400 film offers finer grain and greater image sharpness. According to the company, the emulsion has been altered to further minimize light scatter, which can reduce image sharpness. A UV barrier layer has been added to the back of the film in medium-format and 35mm rolls to prevent accidental exposure to static inside the camera. (Large-format sheets, which might be used for contact printing on UV-sensitive materials, do not have the UV layer.)
Bestselling author Barbara Brundage, whose day job is playing the harp, didn't plan on becoming an authority on Elements, one of the world's most popular photo-editing programs. Yet her newest publication Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly, $39.99) clearly secures Barbara's position as the premier Elements' expert.
Photoshop Product Manager John Nack posted an entry on his blog acknowledging that "many people have been unhappy with printing from Photoshop CS3 (overwhelmingly on Windows), and we've been working on changes that will make things work better."
Matt Kloskowski of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips blog was apparently in Page, Arizona this week for a workshop. Veteran Arizona photographer Leroy DeJolie was also present. Matt provides a few entries on his blog covering the workshop at Glenn Canyon and Lightroom Tips.
Summer is finally over here in the valley of the sunstroke. As we say goodbye to 100+ degree afternoons youth sports have kicked off. Although the first youth soccer game I captured back in September took place under a 105 degree, cloudless sky. I have to give those kids credit for giving 100 percent on the field under those conditions, and still managing to have fun. Luckily the following weekend was significantly cooler.
Here are a couple of images taken from recent youth soccer and flag football games. My standard equipment is the Sony Alpha 100 with the classic Minolta Maxxum 70-210mm f4 lens, also known as the ‘beer can.’ The camera is usually set to ISO 400 and focus mode at Continuous Focus.
Parents are happy to have the kids outside, without bursting into flames, and the kids have been playing with unbridled enthusiasm. Hopefully I can capture some of these moments to ensure lasting memories of these brief events in their young lives. I think the hardest part of these types of shoots is to keep focused on the action through the lens and not get caught up in the game itself. Occasionally I find myself pulling away from the viewfinder to watch the action, or reaction, and might miss a good shot. Luckily this doesn’t happen very often.
I’m definitely looking forward to the upcoming new DSLR cameras from Sony. I will probably wait until the ‘pro’ model is released next year to decide to either invest in that model or the upcoming A700 ‘prosumer’ model. Once I get the chance to compare specs and prices. For now the A100 does everything I need it to do in these youth sports situations. 
Here is a very, very interesting story from the New York Times about a photographer who is facing years in prison after two recent arrests on relatively minor charges. The photographer, Jason Nicholas, shoots for the New York Post in the finest tabloid tradition, chasing down stories by listening to his police scanner, a la Weegee. Police have arrested him twice at crime scenes, once for "obstructing governmental administration". After one arrest his Nikons were confiscated. But prior to his photo career, Nicholas spent 13 years years in prison for manslaughter. His recent arrests could put him back behind bars for a long time. Nicholas may not have made himself popular with the cops, but the bottom line here is that he was doing his job. Opinions?
A document recently added to the Canon USA website reports a potential issue for the company's A650 IS digital camera.
On a completely non-photography note…GO DIAMONDBACKS!!!
Jim Reed's new book on extreme weather events looks to drive public awareness of the coming climate crisis. Tiffany Meyers at popphoto.com takes a closer look at this new book titled “STORM CHASER: A Photographer's Journey.” Here is a brief excerpt.
Sigma has released firmware v.1.05 for its SD14 digital SLR. The firmware includes ISO 50 for low sensitivity when using Extended mode.
New Surreal Edgy Effect provided by Matt Kloskowski on his Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips blog. I’ll be trying this myself later today. It looks promising.
Photographer Allan Tannenbaum's forthcoming book reveals intimate glimpses, many previously unseen, of a renowned couple at a pivotal time. American Photo online has a sitdown with the photographer. Here is a brief excerpt.
Canon recently released updated firmware for its consumer digital SLR, the EOS Digital Rebel XTi. Version 1.1.1 includes data for three new lenses and adds Polish to its list of supported languages. The Canon Digital Rebel XTi now has detailed information from three Canon lenses: EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, and EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM. “The Version 1.1.1 firmware being released this time is for cameras with firmware up to Version 1.1.0. If the camera's firmware is already Version 1.1.1, it is not necessary to update the firmware,” according to the Canon firmware website.Users are reminded to use a fully charged camera battery and refrain from shutting down during firmware uploading.
Hasselblad announced the follow-up to the H3D, a year ago declared the world’s first 48mm full frame digital SLR when the launch made waves at Photokina 2006. Titled the H3D-II, the updated medium format camera will be offered, like its predecessor, in three versions; 22-megapixel, 31-megapixel, and 39-megapixel editions. The H3D-II has a bigger LCD screen, improved color and detail, a heat cooling system, and a new embedded GPS system to record coordinates during capture. The H3D-II bodies will range in price from $25,000 to $34,000.
PENTAX Corporation is pleased to announce the marketing of the smc PENTAX-DA 18-250mm F3.5-6.3ED AL [IF] interchangeable zoom lens, designed for exclusive use with PENTAX digital SLR cameras. With its approximately 14-times zoom ratio covering from wide-angle to super-telephoto ranges, this versatile lens handles a great variety of applications without the need for lens changes.
Breeze Systems today announced availability of DSLR Remote Pro v1.5, adding support for Canon's EOS 40D and 1D Mark III. The software allows the live view feature of these cameras to be operated remotely including contrast-detection autofocus. This is currently a unique capability with interesting possibilities for many fields of photography. DSLR Remote Pro v1.5 is available now at a price of US $75 or $95 until the end of October for users of Breezebrowser Pro. A 15 day trial version is also available from Breeze Systems, link after the jump.
