What's New And Notable In
Photography And Computing
Fujifilm
D-SLR Capture improved highlight and shadow detail in your
digital photos with the Fujifilm S3 Pro. The camera
uses a new CCD design with two sensors at each pixel location,
each with a different sensitivity, for improved dynamic range.
The S3 features a vertical grip with shutter release, D-TTL
flash control and an improved two-inch, 235,000-pixel LCD monitor.
The camera accepts Nikon F-mount lenses. List Price: Not yet
available. Contact: Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., (800) 800-FUJI,
www.fujifilm.com.
Rolling
Camera Case
Protect your cameras and your laptop with a padded, rolling
gear bag from Porter Case. Its Rolling Softie Case
160 features a retractable 41-inch handle and low-friction
wheels. Small enough to use as carry-on baggage,
the case will hold an SLR, several lenses and a flash. List
Price: $169. Contact: Porter Case, (800) 356-8348, www.portercase.com.
Nikon Film Scanner Scan your 35mm film at 4000 dpi in 14-bit-per-channel
color with Nikon’s Coolscan V ED scanner. Featuring
Nikon ED lenses, 4.2 maximum optical density and an LED light
source for consistent color, the scanner will help your images
look their best. The scanner comes with Digital ICE4 Advanced
software to fix up faded color, dirt, scratches and contrast
problems in your originals. List Price: $599. Contact: Nikon,
(800) NIKON-UX, www.nikonusa.com.
Canon
Digital Camcorder Canon’s new ZR-90 Mini-DV camcorder offers high-end
performance at a surprisingly low price. With its
ƒ/1.6-3.6, 22x power zoom (equivalent to roughly 54-1888mm
in 35mm), included 0.6X wide-angle adapter and macro focus
down to 3⁄8 of an inch, the ZR-90 will widen your video
horizons. The 2.5-inch LCD monitor and selectable three-point
autofocus system will help you put the optical system to good
use. List Price: $599. Contact: Canon USA, (800) OK-CANON,
www.usa.canon.com.
Online Photo Printing Service
Print your digital images on real photographic paper without
going to the lab. E-mail your pictures to dotPhoto’s
online service, and your guests can see your image albums
online and order prints from 3x5 to 12x18 (or a sheet of four
wallet-sized prints). Pro photographers can list
their own prices for their images and dotPhoto will send them
the profits. List Price: $0.29 (3x5-inches) to $9.99 (12x18-inches).
Contact: dotPhoto, (609) 434-0340, www.dotphoto.com.
Digital
Image Viewer Review the images you’ve just shot on a 3.8-inch
LCD screen, and store thousands of them on a 10 GB hard drive
with Epson’s P-1000 digital image viewer. The
P-1000 can connect to a TV or a computer, as well as Epson
printers. Estimated Street Price: $599. Contact: Epson, (800)
GO-EPSON, www.epson.com.
Shift-And-Gain Plug-In Precisely control specific hues, saturation and brightness
levels with Asiva’s Shift+Gain plug-in for Photoshop.
The software allows you to use Curves to select the exact
colors you want to modify. According to the shape of your
curve, you can affect shades similar to your target color
or leave them untouched. Compatible with Photoshop 5.5 and
higher, Windows 2000 or XP, and Mac OS 9.2.2 and OS X. Price:
$69 (download only, Mac and PC formats). Contact: Asiva, (512)
732-2886, www.asiva.com.
Photo Album With Printable Pages Create custom, archival-quality albums with Stone
Editions’ Stonehinge album system. The pre-hinged,
photo-quality paper, now available in a variety of finishes,
allows you to print directly on its surface and comes ready
to bind into Stonehinge album covers. Optional translucent
interleave pages offer a professional look. List Price: Varies
with size (and surface, with printing paper). Contact: Stone
Editions, (888) 640-0033, www.stoneeditions.com.
Compact 5 MP Casio Featuring a large two-inch LCD display, Casio’s
aluminum-bodied QV-R51 packs a 5-megapixel punch in a handy
little package. The camera houses a 39-117mm (35mm
equivalent) zoom lens, and shoots hundreds of images on just
two AA batteries. List Price: $399.99. Contact: Casio, (800)
706-2534, www.casio.com.
Fast Film Scanner Get fast, 3200 dpi, 16-bit-per-channel scans with
Konica Minolta’s new DiMAGE Scan Dual IV. The
new scanner boasts a DMax of 4.8 and scans in as little as
20 seconds. It includes software that fixes flaws in the image,
hides film grain and dust, and controls contrast. List Price:
Under $350. Contact: Konica Minolta, (201) 825-4000, www.konicaminolta.us.
Hard Copy
Real World Digital Photography, 2nd Edition
by Katrin Eismann, Sean Duggan and Tim
Grey (Peachpit Press, 2004, ISBN: 0-321-22372-1). Master
digital photography with this thorough reference guide
that includes how to buy digital cameras, capture great
images, and manage and organize your image files.
The Complete Guide to Digital Video by
Ed Gaskell (Muska & Lipman, 2003, ISBN: 1-59200-103-3).
Whether you’re a beginner or an ex-pert, this
manual provides essential information about building
a video studio and using the latest cameras, hardware
and software.
Learning to See Creatively, Revised Edition:
Design, Color & Composition in Photography by
Bryan Peterson (Amphoto Books, 2003, ISBN: 0-8174-4181-6).
See subjects from a new angle and learn visual habits
to create exciting and inventive images.
Making Family Websites: Fun & Easy Ways to Share
Memories by Jenni Bidner (Lark Books,
2003, ISBN: 1-57990-445-9). Learn to develop a well-designed
Website for exchanging family news, displaying photos
and organizing events with inexpensive and easy-to-use
software.
Big-Zoom
Olympus Shoot long telephoto images without a giant telephoto lens
with Olympus’ compact, easy-to-take-along Camedia 770 Ultra
Zoom camera. The 770’s fast 10x zoom lens gets you
from 42mm to a powerful 420mm (35mm equivalent) at the touch of
the power zoom button. The camera’s 4-megapixel resolution,
12 Scene modes and flash hot-shoe offer image quality and versatility.
List Price: Not yet available. Contact: Olympus, (888) 553-4448,
www.olympusamerica.com.
Flash Adapter For Digital Cameras Sunpak’s Digital Camera Flash Adapter allows you to
use a hot-shoe-mount flash with your compact digital camera.
Its built-in slave unit triggers your external flash when the camera’s
flash fires. Five different modes allow it to synchronize with a
variety of flash-sync settings, like red-eye reduction. The adapter
features an ergonomic grip and attaches to your camera’s tripod
socket. List Price: $49.95. Contact: ToCAD America, (973) 428-9800,
www.tocad.com.
Fish-Eye Auxiliary Lens
Don’t you love the circular fish-eye photos of the pros, with
their curving horizons and wide angle of view? Now you can
get the same effect with your digital camera and Pro Optic’s
0.25x Super Fish-eye Auxiliary Lens. It’s available
with filter threads from 37mm to 77mm to fit the front of your camera’s
lens. List Price: $79.95. Contact: Adorama, (800) 223-2500, www.adorama.com.
Zoom Lens For Olympus D-SLR Shoot wide-angle photos with your E-1 D-SLR using Olympus’
new Zuiko Digital Specific 11-22mm ƒ/2.8-3.5 lens.
Designed expressly for Olympus’ 4/3 digital imaging chip,
the lens offers a 35mm-equivalent focal length range of 22-44mm.
The zoom uses aspherical lens elements and a new multi-coating process
for maximum optical quality. List Price: $599. Contact: Olympus,
(888) 553-4448, www.olympusamerica.com.
Improved Lithium Batteries Take more pictures when powering your camera with Energizer’s
improved e2 Lithium AA batteries. The new lithium cells
outlast alkalines by up to seven times, especially in high-drain
devices like digital cameras or electronic flash units, and they
work over a wider range of temperatures. The batteries are much
lighter than alkalines, and hold their power for years. List Price:
$9.99 (four-pack). Contact: Energizer, (800) 383-7323, www.energizer.com.
Ulead Image-Editing Software Use PhotoImpact Pro 8.5 to improve your photos with
image-editing controls and special-effects filters.
An enhanced version of Ulead’s well-known PhotoImpact
XL, it includes Alien Skin’s Xenofex 2 filters, which
allow you to enhance your photos with simulated lightning
and clouds, or to transform your images into jigsaw puzzles
or intricate mosaics. The Pro 8.5 package includes a book
on digital photography. List Price: $99.95. Contact: Ulead,
(800) 85-ULEAD, www.ulead.com.
Image Compression Software Compress large image files for e-mail and maintain
your image quality with AMC’s eFotoXpress software.
The program’s new JPEG2000 compression system
avoids the blocky artifacts associated with the more familiar
JPEG standard, even at high levels of compression. A free,
downloadable reader enables recipients to save the files on
their end as high-quality TIFFs or conventional JPEGs. List
Price: $49.95. Contact: AMC Networks, (408) 730-8200, www.amux.com.
Jasc Image-Editing Suite Edit and organize your images with one complete software
collection using Jasc’s Paint Shop Power Suite. Jasc’s
Paint Shop Pro 8 offers precision tools to tweak your photos
while Paint Shop Photo Album 4 helps you acquire, archive
and then share them in slideshows, video CDs and more. Paint
Shop Xtras software helps you embellish your images, and included
tutorial materials encourage you to explore digital imaging’s
potential. List Price: $119 (boxed). Contact: Jasc Software,
(800) 622-2793, www.jasc.com.
Learn
Photoshop CS Let Photoshop guru Deke McClelland guide you through
the intricacies of Photoshop CS with Total Training for Adobe
Photoshop CS’ interactive materials. The seven
DVDs provide comprehensive instruction for beginners, and
useful tips and shortcuts for experienced users. Separate
image files provided on a CD allow you to work along with
the lessons on your own computer. List Price: $299. Contact:
Total Training, (888) 368-6825, www.totaltraining.com.
Video
Stabilizer Software
Even steady shooters’ handheld videos jiggle around, making
the audience seasick. Get rid of the wobbles in your home
videos with ArcSoft’s videoStabilizer software. The
application’s screen will show your movie in timeline form—just
select the section you want stabilized, and the software does the
rest. “Before” and “After” windows help
make sure you get the effect you want. List Price: $79.99. Contact:
ArcSoft, (510) 440-9901, www.arcsoft.com.
Fujifilm
D-SLR
Digital
Image Viewer
Learn
Photoshop CS
Video
Stabilizer Software