Dptips :. Digital Photography Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

In its second US announcement of the day, Casio has described its plans for the EXILIM EX-Z850 model. The Z850 was announced in Europe and Asia on February 21st, and the camera will ship in the USA by mid April, priced at $399.99. The Z850 is an eight megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom lens, 2.5" LCD display, USB 2.0 High-Speed and NTSC/PAL video connectivity. It stores images on SD / MMC cards and 8MB of built-in memory, offers crea…

Our first floor report from Orlando was delayed by an Internet outage and broken door handle, but we persisted. Snow, sleet or rain would could have handled. But despite the delay, our coverage of PMA Sneak Peak, a Sony Shoot at Universal Studios and Pepcom’s DigitalFocus has finally been posted. The trade show floor opens in just a few minutes, so we’re going to make ourselves presentable and wander over there to see what all the fuss is …

In its second announcement of the day, Sigma Corp. has released details of five new lenses for the Four Thirds system, as used in digital SLRs from Olympus (and soon Panasonic, as well). The newly announced lenses include two DC models (the 30mm F1.4 EX DC HSM and 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC), and three DG types (the MACRO 105mm F2.8 EX DG, APO MACRO 150mm F2.8 EX DG HSM, and APO 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX DG HSM). The five vary in weight from a low of 410 gra…

As the Photo Marketing Association tradeshow has officially begun, we’ve just added some interesting new material to our PMA report. Most significantly, we’ve published a video covering Panasonic’s just-announced Lumix DMC-L1 digital SLR. You’ll really get a feel for the size and ergonomics of the DMC-L1 as you watch our publisher, Dave Etchells, get hands on with a prototype camera. Dave also chats with Suguru Takamatsu of Panasonic’s Optica…

February 26, 2006 - 18.45 GMT Panasonic announces their first digital SLR camera, the LUMIX DMC-L1. The DMC-L1 is an entirely new kind of digital SLR camera. It is operated much like a traditional film camera but provides a variety of innovative features that increase the fun of shooting photos. While the DMC-L1 is digital, it has a classic design that will remind users of traditional analogue cameras…

Panasonic announces their first digital SLR camera, the LUMIX DMC-L1. The DMC-L1 is an entirely new kind of digital SLR camera. It is operated much like a traditional film camera but provides a variety of innovative features that increase the fun of shooting photos. While the DMC-L1 is digital, it has a classic design that will remind users of traditional analogue cameras…

PMA 2006: SanDisk today announced some new higher capacity cards to add to its Extreme III line of flash cards. They include an 8MB CompactFlash, 2GB SD card and a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. The CF and SD cards have a minimum read/write speed of 20MB/sec and the Memory Stick PRO Duo 18MB/sec.

PMA 2006: Doubling the capacity of the Ultra II SD Plus card, SanDisk introduces today its 2GB version. The Ultra II SD Plus folds in half to reveal a high-speed USB 2.0 connector. The new 2GB card will be available from June.

PMA 2006: Today SanDisk announced the 4GB Ultra II Memory Stick PRO Duo card. The Ultra II card features a minimum write speed of 9MB/sec and a minimum read speed of 10MB/sec, available from March 2006.

PMA 2006: Sigma has announced five new EX lenses with Four-Thirds mounts for users of Olympus’ E-system SLRs. The lenses include three primes (30mm F1.4, 105mm F2.8 Macro, 150mm F2.8 Macro), a fast standard zoom (18-50mm F2.8) and a long telephoto zoom (50-500mm F4-6.3).

PMA 2006: Sigma has introduced its new APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM lens. The lens offers a minimum focusing distance of 100cm and HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) for fast, quiet AF. It also contains two ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glasses and two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glasses for better correction against chromatic aberrations. The multi layer lens coating also reduces flare and ghost.

ORLANDO, Fla.–Feb. 26, 2006–SanDisk(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced the addition of new card capacities to its Extreme III line of flash cards for professional digital cameras that are double the highest capacity points currently available. The new cards include the 8-gigabyte (GB)(1) CompactFlash(R), 2GB SD(TM) and 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo(TM) digital film cards. The announcement was made at the Photo Marketing Association trade show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in booth #2741.

PMA 2006: Panasonic has today announced the fruits of its new relationship with Olympus, the DMC-L1 Four Thirds System Digital SLR. Todays news is really just a ‘development announcement’ so doesn’t have any detailed specifications, however reading through what has been revealed so far this camera does appear to share quite a bit with the Olympus E-330 EVOLT. Another interesting revelation in this release is the confirmation that Panasonic developed the 7.5 MP Live MOS sensor (the same we assume as in the E-330). Other features incldue a shutter speed dial on the top of the camera, full-time live view (same as E-330), Secure Digital storage and a 2.5″ LCD monitor.

PMA 2006: Leica and Panasonic have today announced the first Leica Four Thirds System lens, which also becomes the first Leica Interchangeable Lens with Optical Image Stabilization. The Leica D Vario-Elmarit 14-50 mm F2.8-F3.5 ASPH lens provides an equivelant field of view of 28-100 mm on a 35 mm camera with a maximum aperture of F2.8 at wide angle and F3.5 at telephoto. It also features Optical Image Stabilization (a first on a Four Thirds System lens) and a mechanical aperture ring (another first). Overall this looks to be a very impressive high quality lens which will match the newly announced Panasonic DMC-L1 digital SLR very nicely.

PMA 2006: Olympus and Panasonic have been working together on the development of cameras utilising the Four Thirds System standard for interchangeable-lens DSLRs, and are showcasing the first fruits of the joint venture today at PMA. Olympus will show the recently announced E-330 camera which incorporates the jointly developed technology and Panasonic will show a prototype of the DMC-L1, its first DSLR camera. UPDATED: Press conference images added.

Our video coverage of the PMA 2006 trade show is continuing, with two new videos posted today. In the first video, Dave Etchells takes a look at the Kodak V570 camera - a great example of out-of-the-box thinking, as the first two-lens / two-sensor consumer digital camera. Dave takes you through the camera’s workings, including its amazingly effective in-camera panorama…

February 26, 2006 - 09.30 GMT Sony announces the new HDPS-L1 photo storage unit with high-definition output. Featuring eight slideshow styles with image transitions synchronized to pre-installed background music and high-definition video output, the new HDPS-L1 hard drive photo storage unit offers an interactive way to view and share high-resolution photos on a home theatre system. The HDPS-L1 eliminates the effort required to organize printed photos, as it automatically sorts picture files by their creation date. The Sony HDPS-L1 photo storage device will be available in May for about $300…

February 26, 2006 - 09.30 GMT Sony launches its latest digital dye sublimation 8 x 10-inch digital photo printer for the professional photography market, the UP-D75. Unlike other digital photo printers, the UP-D75 uses a unique lamination process to create the Sony Pro Matte finish for professional, portrait-photo applications. The printer’s refined printing sequence and longer life print head, as compared to its predecessor, allows 8 x 10-inch, 300 dpi photos to print in 80 seconds. The Sony UP-D75 photo printer has a suggested list price of $2,995…

February 26, 2006 - 09.30 GMT Sony is expanding its high-zoom digital still camera line with two new Cyber-shot models. The new DSC-H5 has a 7.2-megapixel CCD imager and extra-large, three-inch LCD screen. It also shimmers in silver along with the stage-worthy DSC-H2, which has a six-megapixel imager and two-inch LCD. Both cameras flaunt Carl Zeiss 12x optical zoom lenses and focal length ranges of 36 to 432 millimeters. The DSC-H5 will be available in May for $500, the DSC-H2 ships in April for $400…

February 26, 2006 - 09.30 GMT Sony rounds out its new W-series line of digital still cameras. The DSC-W100 model packs an eight-megapixel sensor, and has a compact metal body. The DSC-W70 model has a maximum ISO setting of 1000, while the DSC-W100 model extends to IS0 1250. The DSC-W100 ships in April for about $350, and the DSC-W70 will also be available in April for about $300. Both models are available in black and silver…