DIGITAL BOTTLE POD
Use your soda bottle as more than just a thirst-quencher by making it show some support for your camera. The Digital Camera Pod from One Source Network is a bottle-top and window-mount pan head that turns your average-sized jug into a multi-purpose camera support system. The pod attaches to most 20-ouncers. Just don’t dump the soda because it works as a counterweight to the camera. The device can also attach to a car window. List Price: $9. Contact: One Source Network, www.osnusa.com.

HARD DRIVE
With JVC’s Everio GZ-MG77 camcorder, you can directly download video to a computer. The camcorder records up to seven hours of high-quality (8.5Mbps, 720x480/60i in Ultra mode) video onto a built-in 30 GB hard drive. You can also create DVDs without a PC using a USB connection. The camera, which weighs less than a pound, lets you access your recordings in any order, rearrange playback sequences and delete unwanted material. Other features include a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD and ƒ/1.2 lens. The camera measures 2.68x2.76x4.29 inches. List Price: $900. Contact: JVC, (800) 882-2345, www.jvc.com.

A HYBRID HEAD
Whether you’re shooting stills or video, having a versatile, compact tripod at your fingertips is a must. Manfrotto’s Modo tripods are designed to help ease the switch between equipment. Built with a hybrid head and quick-release plate, the tripod lets you go from camera to camcorder (or vice versa) by just pressing the safety button. When folded, the compact pod is 14 inches and extended reaches a maximum of 45 inches. “Quick flip” locks allow you to easily open, close and adjust the legs. Estimated Street Price: $79. Contact: Bogen Imaging, (201) 818-9500, www.bogenimaging.us.

COLOR MATTERS
What you see through the lens isn’t always what you get on screen. So do some color-correcting with Datacolor ColorVision’s Spyder2express for Mac and Windows, a program for monitor calibration for CRT, LCD and laptop monitors. In three easy steps, you can achieve consistent, accurate and reliable color on your monitor (the software’s advanced algorithms do their work behind the scenes for you). The latest version of the software comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition at no extra charge. Together, the programs fix common problems like red eye and perform tasks like cropping images or quickly finding and sharing photos. List Price: $89. Contact: Datacolor ColorVision, (800) 554-8688, www.colorvision.com.

LIGHT-SAVER
Make the light just right for those jewelry close-ups. OmegaSatter’s Phoenix DRLLED Digital Ringlight has 12 LED lights, giving continuous, shadow-free lighting. Once the light’s built-in battery is charged, you have 45 minutes of constant shooting. The Ringlight works with any system, digital or film, and attaches to lenses with filter diameters up to 62mm. The light is 3.5x4.5x0.75 inches and weighs 3.25 ounces. List Price: $149. Contact: OmegaSatter, (410) 374-3250, www.omegasatter.com.

BIG ZOOM, LITTLE CAMERA
Finding room in your suitcase for Kodak’s EasyShare Z612 shouldn’t be too challenging. The camera measures 4.1x2.9x2.7 inches and weighs 10.6 ounces, but don’t let the small body fool you. With a 35-420mm (35mm equivalent) 12x optical zoom lens, you can get close shots wherever you roam and not feel weighed down. The 6.1-megapixel camera has a 2.5-inch LCD screen, and image-stabilization technology helps reduce any unwanted camera movement. List Price: $399. Contact: Kodak, (800) 235-6325, www.kodak.com.

NOISE CONTROL
The latest digital cameras do an amazing job controlling noise, but it still can be a problem from underexposure and high ISO settings or if your camera is older. Imagenomic’s Noiseware 4 processes photos faster to remove noise while easing your post-processing workflow. The software automatically calibrates a precision noise file from your pictures and chooses a noise removal setting. Every time an image is filtered, Noiseware learns more about the camera, thus creating a noise reduction profile. List Price: Various editions up to $79. Contact: Imagenomic, www.imagenomic.com.

DUAL DIRECTIONS
With an expanded capacity to 2 GB, SanDisk’s upgraded Ultra II SD Plus Card stores images at a 9 MB/sec. write speed and 10 MB/sec. read speed. When you’re done shooting, remove the card and fold it in half to access a built-in, high-speed USB 2.0 connector so you can transfer photos to your computer quickly without a separate card reader. List Price: $135 (2 GB); $90 (1 GB); $70 (512 MB). Contact: SanDisk, (866) SANDISK, www.sandisk.com.

SMOOTH MOVES
Watching shaky video footage will make your audience feel slightly nauseous, so the next time you shoot, do it with the Steadicam Merlin. The ultralight, compact camera stabilizer keeps the camera steady while you move around. The Steadicam can support camcorders from 0.5 to five pounds and has a “Folding-Caliper” hinge that allows the lower spar to instantly fold up alongside the camera. Merlin weighs 12.8 ounces and, when folded, measures 3.5x2x11 inches. List Price: $799. Contact: Tiffen, (800) 645-2522, www.tiffen.com.

ARTISTIC FREEDOM
Get creative without a computer with the Hewlett-Packard Photosmart M- and R-Series cameras. They feature HP Design Gallery, a technology that enhances colors, adds borders and applies effects to images, like kaleidoscope and retro, with one touch of a button. You select the Design Gallery menu when reviewing an image on camera and choose the effect you want to apply. The cameras also have bigger, brighter LCD screens and automatic in-camera red-eye removal. Screen sizes range from 1.8 to 3 inches and resolution from 5 to 8.2 megapixels. List Price: $119 to $139. Contact: Hewlett-Packard, (800) 752-0900, www.hp.com.

HOT LIGHT
Illuminate your stills with 300 watts of halogen power from Adorama’s Flashpoint Bright Beam 300. The head has a bayonet mounting system for quickly changing reflectors and accessories. An umbrella holder allows you to adjust the distance from umbrella to light source for even light distribution. The Bright Beam takes all of the Flashpoint II Monolights. List Price: $69 (with bulb). Contact: Adorama, (800) 223-2500, www.adorama.com.

A FOUR THIRDS FUTURE
Sigma is taking its lenses in another direction. Five more lenses are converted to the Four Thirds system, including the 30mm ƒ/1.4 EX DC HSM, 18-50mm ƒ/2.8 EX DC, 105mm ƒ/2.8 EX DG Macro, APO 150mm ƒ/2.8 EX DG HSM Macro and APO 50-500mm ƒ/4-6.3 EX DG HSM. The lenses are designed to maximize quality in a compact, lightweight body. Estimated Street Price: $429 (30mm); $409 (18-50mm); $399 (105mm); $599 (150mm); $999 (50-500mm). Contact: Sigma, (800) 896-6858, www.sigma-photo.com.

JUST THE RIGHT SIZE
Protect your camera out on a shoot in Op/Tech’s new and improved SoftPouch. The durable neoprene case fits snugly to protect the camera and lens from impact, dust and moisture whether they’re in use or in storage. Changes made to the pouch include a quick opening feature, giving you better access to the camera. List Price: Various sizes up to $35. Contact: Op/Tech USA, (800) 251-7815, www.optechusa.com.

MAKE YOUR OWN BOOK
Dust balls are forming on that pile of photos marked “Kids’ Soccer Games.” It’s time to do something about them. With Unibind’s PhotoBook Creator, a low-cost, do-it-yourself photo binding system, the effort is minimal. Just place your 81⁄2x11-inch photos in the PhotoBook hardcover album, put the album into the binding system and wait for the indicator light to turn green, signaling the job is done. Creator can bind albums of up to 220 pages. List Price: $99 (binding machine, one hardcover PhotoBook and software to lay out pages). Contact: Unibind, (800) 864-2463, www.unibind.com.

SMOOTH PAN
Keep your head on when panning across a scene with Velbon’s FHD-51Q Fluid Head. The adjustable head helps to dampen and smooth your camcorder’s movements, and the quick-release, 3.9x1.8-inch platform was built to fit a range of camcorders, cameras and optical devices. The FHD-51Q has a two-position panhandle, which can be mounted at the front or back. The head is 3.75 inches high with a base diameter of 1.8 inches and weighs 1.3 pounds with a load capacity of 5.5 pounds. List Price: Estimated Street Price: $159. Contact: Tocad, (800) 886-2236, www.tocad.com.

ROVING PROJECTOR
Taking up 9.2x7.4x2.6 inches and weighing 2.9 pounds, Panasonic’s PT-P1SD makes on-the-go digital slideshows doable. The built-in SD card slot lets you show your images without needing a computer. Pop a memory card into the projector and out come your photos. The projector can also connect to a TV, DVD player or laptop. The PT-P1SD’s resolution is 800x600 pixels and it shines at 1,500 lumens. Estimated Street Price: $1,282. Contact: Panasonic, (800) 211-PANA, www.panasonic.com.

DUST-BUSTER
Getting rid of dust in your camera can be a chore, especially in those hard-to-reach places. With a tilting nozzle that adjusts up to 60 degrees, Giottos Q-Ball was made for getting into difficult spots. A one-way valve at the bottom of the device prevents dust from being redistributed after the camera is clean. The Q-Ball is 5.5 inches high, with a 2.6-inch diameter and a nozzle that’s 2 inches long. List Price: $13. Contact: HP Marketing Corp., (800) 735-4373, www.hpmarketingcorp.com.