Digital Cameras

Olympus E-500 DSLR

September 13, 2005

Olympus has bested their own popular Olympus E-300 digital SLR by putting out the Olympus E-500. The two cameras have similar specs, including 8.1 megapixels, however there are some design changes in the E-500. The E-500 sports a a 2.5-inch LCD, USB 2.0, storage via xD and CF, and can be powered by six standard AA batteries (the E-300 used proprietary batteries). The E-500 is shipping.

Posted in Digital Cameras, Gadgets

Buy the Software, Get the Digital Camera Kit Free

November 21, 2005

In an innovative tie-in to its consumer customer base, Corel® is giving away a digital camera kit with its new Paint Shop Pro® X photo editing software while supplies last through November 30. Software includes Photo Album 6 Standard Edition ($29 value) free. The Digital Camera Kit includes a leather Targus carrying case, mini tripod, a Targus AA battery charger and even batteries.

Nice holiday gift; maybe next year the camera will come with it!

Price: $99 boxed, $89 download (regularly $129) at www.corel.com

Posted in Digital Cameras

Digital Camera Shopping Tip: Go with the Leaders

November 23, 2005

With Friday marking the official start of the holiday shopping season (all those 5:00 AM store openings and early bird specials!), digital cameras still look to be a very popular item on many gift lists.� With that in mind, it’s a good idea to take a look at the leading digital camera companies in the U.S. market.

For the fourth straight quarter, Kodak has maintained its lead over Canon and Sony (both tied for second place) as its market share rose to 21.3% from 19.8%.� Canon and Sony had a 17.7% market share (Sony losing share and Canon gaining.)

Fuji� rose to fourth place from seventh (8.6% market share), while Olympus fell to a tie with Nikon for fifth place.� HP was next with 6.7% percent.

Posted in Digital Cameras

Another One Bites the Dust: Nikon Moving Away from Film Cameras

January 13, 2006

Kodak, Canon and now Nikon have decided that producing conventional film cameras just doesn't make sense in this age of digital imaging -- just seems a bit sad when one of the great names in photography (often the gold standard for professionals and amateurs alike) makes a move like this. Of course, Nikon digital cameras share a similar status.

Of course it's all about economics, so with film camera bodies accounted for less than 5% of Nikon sales, it couldn't have been a hard decision. Nikon will also stop making lenses for those film camera bodies, too.

Posted in Digital Cameras

Paint Shop Pro Keeps Getting Better and Better

January 25, 2006

While I've always been a fan of Adobe's PhotoShop, it just seems that I've been using Paint Shop Pro more and more to edit, enhance and repair my digital photos.

With Paint Shop Pro 9 (a newer version -- X --� is out now), you can cover up elements -- even backgrounds -- you don't want in your photos (perfect when you don't have time to make sure you see the full frame when you need to get a fast shot off), eliminate the colored glow that can appear in high contrast areas, correct dark shadows and bright backlight as well as add cool effects, like vignettes or halftones, to photos. This has all been pretty easy with 9, but apparently X makes it even easier.

Corel is now offering a special offer with orders for Paint Shop Pro X -- a free copy of Paint Shop Xtras — Creative Editions.� This package extends the creative power of Paint Shop Pro with more than� 600 artistic resources to choose from you, including 250� Picture Tubes and Frames.

Posted in Digital Cameras

Getting the (Mobile) Edge for Your Digital Photos

January 31, 2006

If you’re like me, you’ve got digital photos stored on all sorts of media – Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital and Smart Media. Getting all of those out of a digital camera and onto a PC just isn’t that easy.

Now, with Mobile Edge’s 12-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader/Writer, you can read and write to 12 different media – all of those I’ve already mentioned as well as Multi-Media and IBM Micro Drive.

Posted in Digital Cameras

Epson StoryTeller: Picture Perfect Photo Books

February 1, 2006

So many photos!� In shoe boxes, cigar boxes, you name it. What to do?

Now, Epson (better known for its fine printers) has come out with its StoryTeller Photo Book Creator, everything you need to make your own photo book! (And I’m talking hard cover, bound 8” x 10” book with up to 20 glossy pages.)

Posted in Digital Cameras

A Gadget Makes the Perfect Valentine's Day Gift

February 14, 2006

Seems like gadgets aren't such a strange Valentine's Day gift after all. According to an article in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, chocolates and roses are moving out of the way this year to make room for a more gadget-centric V Day.

In fact, pink and red seem to be the hot colors this year -- and I'm talking cell phones, digital cameras and the like. Apparently, a pink Motorola Razr mobile phone, for example, has been flying off of the shelves at Cingular Wireless.

Of course, these aren't the only popular colors -- black and silver do quite nicely too. Don't forget a Hallmark card to make the day complete.

Looking for some real-life stories here ...

Posted in Digital Cameras, Mobile Phones

A Really Useful Digital Camera Evaluation Guide

March 1, 2006

With the annual shindig for camera dealers, Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show, wrapping up� in Orlando today, what could be more fitting than a really useful guide to evaluating digital cameras?

When I worked on Fujifilm's digital cameras� (and Ricoh and Sony earlier), pixel count was king -- the more megapixels the better.� It was sort of an arms race, but with a much less world-threatening outcome. Another rating system was the tried-and-true star system -- you know, five is great, one is awful, in between is in between ...

Can' t we do any better and get some kind of guide that would be much more detailed so that camera buyers would know what they're getting for the money?

Posted in Digital Cameras

Sony offers Camcorder Trade-Up Program

April 12, 2006

Sony announced a camcorder trade-up program. According to Sony, "You can trade in that old camcorder, help the environment, and receive Sony credit. Use the credit for a brand new Sony camcorder purchased online at SonyStyle.com. They have an online estimator to get your estimated trade-up value.

Posted in Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment

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