New Sigma 50 - 500mm f4-6.3 EX DG/HSM lens

Sigma has announced the ultra-telephoto 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX DG/HSM lens, which is also optimized for digital SLRs. It has a new lens coating which reduces flare and ghost and also creates an optimum color balance. It also features HSM *Hyper Sonic Motor*which provides a quiet high speed AF function, a zoom lock switch and has four pieces of SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass for correcting color aberration. It costs £899 and will fit SLRs with Sigma, Canon, Konica Minolta, Pentax and Nikon-D mounts.

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Leica Digital-Modul-R - delayed

Despite expectations that the 10 megapixel digital back would be available in the next few days, an official letter from Leica confirms that the Digital-Modul-R is to be delayed, .

Although they do not impair the basic function of the module, they have to be remedied before it is fully ready for production. Many people have already placed orders for the module, which was scheduled for release this month. Leica urges customers not to overreact and says that it will be worth the wait.

In addition, Leica says it is 'working hard to resolve a few last software problems.

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Pentax Optio SVi

Pentax has today announced another addition to the Optio range with the five megapixel SVi. An update to the SV, it also has a 5x optical zoom, 1.8-inch LCD, impressive 3cm macro function and 320x240 movie mode. The only difference appears to the be the fact that the aluminum alloy-bodied camera has an 'enhanced' grip achieved by placing a resin element on the front right hand side. A battery stand which charges the batteries in camera, plus an additional set is also available. The Pentax Optio SVi will be available in June 2005 priced £249.

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Adobe Camera RAW v3.1 and DNG Converter v3.1

Adobe has today announced version 3.1 of Camera RAW, which now supports the Canon EOS Rebel XT (EOS 350D/EOS Kiss Digital N), Nikon D2X, Olympus EVOLT E-300 and the Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom. This new version of the Camera RAW plug-in replaces the original plug-in that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Photoshop Elements 3.0 software. Adobe has also announced version 3.1 of its DNG Converter. DNG is a open standard that allows photographers to archive RAW files in a single format for easy cataloging and access in the future

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Three new Kodak EasyShare cameras

Kodak has quietly introduced three new C series cameras today. The EasyShare C360, C330 and C310 will join the C340 and C300 models, launched at PMA, to be sold as a package with the Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Series 3. The C360, which tops the range, offers five megapixels, while the C330 and C310 both have a resolution of four million pixels. The C360 and C330 also boast 3x optical zooms and will retail for US$279 and US$179 respectively. The lower end C310 is priced US$139. Packages will range from US$239 to US$379.

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Shutters down on Nikon

Nikon's decision to encrypt photographs created with its digital cameras calls into question the ownership of the "digital negative", says the creator of the Photoshop image editing software.
"Copyrighted information inside the file belongs to the photographer, not Nikon, but Nikon apparently thinks they own the information," Thomas Knoll wrote in Adobe's online forum.
Adobe Systems, which bought Macromedia last month, discovered while updating its Photoshop software that Nikon encrypted the white balance data of its raw format picture files in its latest professional digital cameras.
Australian professional photographer Adam Watson says the copyright of any product created with a piece of software or hardware should rest with the creator and not the manufacturer.
"Anything that you can manipulate in (a) camera should be entirely yours to do with as you please," Watson says.
"This sounds very restrictive and very much against the photographer."
AdvertisementAdvertisement
It is speculated that Nikon is trying to spur sales of its Nikon Capture software.
Nikon says its cameras and software are a "tightly knit system". Companies such as Apple and Microsoft have made similar claims to justify tying applications to their proprietary systems. But Thomas Knoll says this is just a way to lock in users.
Nikon says: "Securing this structure is intended for the photographer's benefit." It says the encrypted data format is available to legitimate software developers through Nikon's software developer kit, but they must get Nikon's permission first.
"Nikon clearly does not want third-party raw converters reading their files," Knoll says. "They would much rather sell you a copy of Nikon Capture."
Photographers at the user forum nikondigital.org threaten to revolt. "When Nikon sells me the camera, I expect the files to work completely with whatever processors I desire; Nikon can take this game forward at their peril," one wrote.

www.infodigitalcamera.com

Canon sales up by 5.7%

Canon has reported first quarter consolidated net sales of 2005 are up by 5.7% due to net sales of US$7.8 bn (¥843.4 bn) compared to last year, reports Photo Marketing Newsline. Toshizo Tanaka, senior managing director and group executive for Finance and Accounting attributes the increase to strong sales of digital cameras especially the Digital Rebel XT (EOS 350D/Kiss N) and the subsequent sales of lenses plus several new compacts in the PowerShot range. Color copiers, inkjet and laser printers, and digital video camcorders have all added to the increase.

www.infodigitalcamera.com