What's New And Notable In
Photography And Computing
5-MEGAPIXEL
Digital Camera
Want to shoot digital with the handling of your trusty
35mm rangefinder camera? Along with its modern autofocus
and auto-exposure systems, Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LC1
features a traditional shutter-speed dial on top of the
camera, as well as aperture and focus rings around the
lens barrel. The 5-megapixel camera boasts a Leica 28-90mm
(35mm equivalent) ƒ/2-2.4 DC Vario-Summicron lens
and a full-information EVF that can display a magnified
image for accurate manual focus. List Price: $1,599.95
Contact: Panasonic, (800) 211-PANA, www.panasonic.com.
Burn Your Images Onto
CDs
Transfer your pictures from your memory cards to CDs
quickly without a computer using Kanguru’s new
FC-RW card reader/CD burner. The 36X-speed burner accepts
seven different types of memory cards, including CompactFlash,
SecureDigital, Memory Stick, MultiMedia, Memory Stick
Pro, IBM Microdrive and SmartMedia. The FC-RW functions
as both a card reader and CD-RW when connected to a
computer via USB 2.0. List Price: $199.95. Contact:
Kanguru Solutions, (888) KANGURU, www.kanguru.com.
Photo Album Software
Find your images quickly with Jasc’s Paint Shop
Photo Album 5. The software can organize all your images,
including those on CD, and allows you to adjust their
color, contrast and brightness. Photo Album 5 will stitch
your images into panoramas and help you share your images
creatively in prints, slideshows or on the Web. List
Price: $49.99. Contact: Jasc Software, (800) 622-2793,
www.jasc.com.
Digital Accessory Kits
Take care of all the little details in digital photography
with one of OSN’s Digital Kits/Accessories. Available
in 11 different versions so you can choose the components
that are best for you, the kits offer cases for memory,
tabletop tripods, cleaning cloths for your lenses and
LCD screens, and more. List Price: $7.99 to $49.99.
Contact: OSN, (678) 344-2989, www.osnusa.com.
Large Eight-Color Inkjet
Printer
Make big, vibrant prints with the Canon i9900 13x19
color printer. The printer’s new red and green
inks work with its traditional six-color ink system
to extend the range of printable hues, especially in
orange, red and green. It supports fast, borderless
printing in 4x6, 5x7, 8.5x11 and 13x19 sizes, producing
photo-quality 13x19-inch prints in less than three minutes.
List Price: $499.99. Contact: Canon, (800) OK-CANON,
www.usa.canon.com.
High-Speed Flash Cards
Get double the performance of current 40X CompactFlash
cards with Lexar’s new 80X Professional Series
CF cards. Ranging from 256 MB to 4 GB capacities, the
cards greatly accelerate the writing of data from your
camera’s memory buffer, clearing the way to shoot
more images sooner. The cards include Lexar’s Image
Rescue 2.0 software. List Price: $99.99 to $1,499.99.
Contact: Lexar Media, (510) 413-1200, www.lexarmedia.com.
Photos With Sound
Send your family and friends JPEG images with sound
clips inside them using SoundPix Plus 2.0. The software
records your greetings or imports a sound file that
becomes part of your JPEG photo, which you then can
e-mail with a mouse-click. SoundPix Plus 2.0 also performs
basic image editing, like rotating and cropping. List
Price: $39.95. Contact: SoundPix, (775) 201-0292, www.soundpix.com.
Lightweight Carbon-Fiber
Tripod
Lighten your load with Velbon’s new EL CARMAGNE
530 carbon-fiber tripod. Carbon fiber is much lighter
than aluminum and provides greater rigidity. Together
with the tripod’s included magnesium three-way
head, it weighs just 3.8 pounds. List Price: $449.95.
Contact: Hakuba Velbon, a division of ToCAD America
Inc., (800) 886-2236, www.hakubavelbon.com.
Dye-Sub
Printer
Make 6x8, 5x7 or 4x6 continuous-tone prints with Hi-Touch’s
Photo Printer 730PS. The larger printer uses dye-sublimation
technology to lay down solid layers of color for vibrant,
fade-resistant, waterproof prints. It connects to your
computer via USB 2.0, or skip the computer and insert
your memory card directly into the 730PS’ handheld,
color LCD-equipped controller. List Price: $399. Contact:
Hi-Touch Imaging Technologies, (909) 974-0099, www.hitouchimaging.com.
Sling
Bag
Take along your compact digital camera in Kata’s
ergonomic S-312 sling bag. Designed to fit comfortably
over your shoulder, the bag’s interior also will
house your media cards, batteries, a flash unit or PDA,
and other accessories. The bag’s Thermo Shield Technology
protects your gear from shock and inclement weather. List
Price: $43.95. Contact: Bogen Imaging Inc., (201) 818-9500,
www.bogenimaging.us.
Easy, Accurate White Balance
Get accurate color in difficult lighting conditions with
the ExpoDisc. The device fits over your camera’s
lens, allowing your camera to directly measure the color
of the light falling on your subject. This white-balance
method provides precision similar to that of pre-balancing
off a white or gray card. List Price: $79.95 to $159.95
(49mm to 82mm). Contact: ExpoDisc, (800) 446-5086, www.expodisc.com.
Protect Your Memory Cards
Keep your memory cards organized and safe with Gepe’s
Card Safe Extreme memory card vault. The waterproof, floatable
and crush-proof container features anti-static material
to protect your CompactFlash, MMC/SD, Memory Stick and
SmartMedia cards from the forces of nature—or your
swimming pool. Clear windows allow you to view the four
compartments, each of which can hold more than one type
of memory card at once. List Price: $19.95. Contact: HP
Marketing Corp., (800) 735-4373, www.hpmarketingcorp.com.
Photo Backpack
Take a lot of gear on the trail with the Brian’s
Hot Tub backpack from Crumpler Bags. The pack features
a waterproof ripstop lining and removable, padded laptop
sleeve. Brian’s Hot Tub will swallow two camera bodies,
up to seven lenses and a laptop. List Price: $219.95.
Contact: JOBO Fototechnic, (734) 677-6989, www.crumplerusa.com.
Learn Color Printing Online
Get the most out of your inkjet printer and imaging software
with Epson’s Print Academy (Online Experience). Pro
printmakers and photographers show you how in five-minute
videos presented five days a week for 12 weeks. Go through
the lessons at your own pace and review previous material
at will. Requires a broadband connection (cable modem,
DSL) and Windows 98SE or later; a Mac version is on the
way. List Price: $29.95. Contact: Epson, (800) GO-EPSON,
www.epson.com.
Wide-Angle Zoom For D-SLRs
Widen your view with Tamron’s new SP AF 17-35mm ƒ/2.8-4
Di zoom lens. The lens is optimized for both digital and
film performance, providing a 35mm-equivalent focal-length
range of about 25-50mm when used on an average D-SLR.
Featuring aspherical lens elements and LD glass, the lens
is available in mounts for Canon AF, Nikon AF-D, Pentax
AF and Minolta AF-D. List Price: $817.95. Contact: Tamron
USA, (631) 858-8400, www.tamron.com.
Lightweight
Camera Bag
Protect your compact digital camera with Tamrac’s
lightweight, padded camera bag. The Superlight 5494 provides
a place for your memory cards and lens tissue while protecting
your gear from the elements. List Price: $19.95. Contact:
Tamrac, (818) 407-9500, www.tamrac.com.
Keep Track Of Your Images
Organize your digital photos, including RAW files, with
Extensis Portfolio 7. The software keeps track of all
your images, allowing you to browse them at will. Portfolio
7 monitors changes you make to your files’ locations
even when you’re not using the software, and features
a pop-up browser window that you can access in any program.
List Price: $199.95. Contact: Extensis, (800) 796-9798,
www.extensis.com.
Hard Copy
Color Correction and Enhancement
With Adobe Photoshop by Michelle Perkins (Amherst Media,
2004, ISBN: 1-58428-123-5). Learn to use Levels, Curves and
other tools in Photoshop to address any color-related issues
in your photos.
Digital Family Photography:
A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Perfect Photos
by Michael Wright (Muska & Lipman, 2003, ISBN: 1-59200-108-4).
The subjects in this book range from creating an effective
portrait to getting the right exposure, cropping, dodging
and burning and retouching.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 HOT
(Hands-On Training) by Shane Rebenschied (Lynda.com/books,
2004, ISBN: 0-321-20300-3). Step-by-step tutorials teach the
reader how to import images, edit them, use layers, print
and more with Adobe’s popular image-editing program.
A CD-ROM with exercises is included.
Digital Photography Expert:
Light and Lighting by Michael Freeman (Lark Books,
2004, ISBN: 1-57990-526-9). Inside you’ll find tips on
how to add detail, texture and drama to photographs using
both natural and artificial light sources.
Still/Movie
Camera
Shoot high-quality still images and video with Pentax’s
OptioMX palm-sized digital still/movie camera. The flip-out
handgrip and articulated LCD monitor will help you aim the camera’s
10X optical zoom with ease. The OptioMX features 3.2-megapixel
still resolution and VGA MPEG-4 movies. List Price: $399.95.
Contact: Pentax, (800) 877-0155, www.pentaxdigital.com.
Professional DVD Authoring Software
Use Ulead’s DVD Workshop 2 to create sophisticated DVDs
from your video and still images. Add audio tracks and interactive
features to spice things up. The software’s guided workflow
will ease you through the process and help you get more refined
results. List Price: $495. Contact: Ulead, (800) 85-ULEAD, www.ulead.com.
