Jaroslav Kopecny - Black & White Fine Art Photography
NEWS
20 May 2008
International Photographer Gathering "The Amber Breeze 2008"
Gathering dates:
On the 7-10th of July in 2008
Location:
In Roja on the Baltic sea shore, complex of sport and rest "Dzintarkrasts" (127 km from Riga), Latvia.
Roja – the port of dreams!
Every place has its own special colors and fragrances, even winds. Roja is characterized by navy blue, sand and white, and pine dark green tones. There is always something felt from the primordial freedom, freshness of water, and smell of dried fish in the air of the town, but the wind, making its way by the stony pier into the narrow little streets, is joyful and ready to greet every newcomer.
The heaven, stony piers, quiet sandy beaches and seashores, rare species of birds, as well as the special aura of shipbuilding and fishing, which is felt almost everywhere – these are the values that help to distinguish Roja on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Discover Roja, if you…
…want to enjoy original nature
…desire new knowledge and impressions
Gathering Goals:
To promote intercultural cooperation in the sphere of photography and establish contacts among photographers, magazines, advertising and photo agencies
The Program Includes:
- The masterclasses: Svetlana Pozharskaya (Russia), Alexander Yefremov (Russia)
- Discussion of photos-works of participants.
- Individual and team - work with models.
- The location shooting.
- Contest of photographic works. Special nominations and awards from magazines, advertising/photo agencies.
- Evening entertainment programs.
Nominations:
- Prize from "SONY" representative office in Baltic states: Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR-A700), Zoom lens (SAL-1680Z), Soft carry case (LCS-SC5).
- Prize from Russian magazine "Russian ZOOM": "The Debut" nomination is - portfolio publication 2 pages (for amateur photographers); portfolio publication 4-6 pages – for professional photographers.
- Prize from Italian magazin "ZOOM".
- Prize from Ukrainian magazin "Digital Photographer".
- Prize from Russian magazine "PHOTO Travel" - photo publication in the magazin.
- Prize from Byelorussian magazine "Foto Magiya".
Project Participants are:
Professional and amateur photographers, stylists, representatives of magazines, advertising and photo agencies.
More info:
tel.: +371 7212211, +371 29191976, +371 22320071
fax: +371 7212210
e-mail: anna-maria-art@inbox.lv
e-mail: info@anna-maria.lv
The source: Anna-Maria Art
1 May 2008
Photographer Yuri Bonder died
On 1st May died photographer Yuri Bonder. He was born on 1st May 1967 in Russian Chelyabinsk, later lived in Tel Aviv (Israel). He was the owner of PhotoDom.com website.
Yuri Bonder funeral will be held in Russian Chelyabinsk at Tsinkovoe cemetery on Thursday, May 8, 2008. Farewell ceremony will begin at 12:00 at The Memorial Hall.
10 August 2006
New Canon DSLRs: EOS 3000D, 370D, 50D and 6D
Canon is preparing new models for the market:
- Canon EOS3000D ... $500
- Canon EOS 370D ... $800
- Canon EOS 50D ... $1300
- Canon EOS 6D ... $2500
The table to download in PDF: Canon EOS DSLR 1998-2007 Timeline
The source: www.dialogen.no
7 July 2006
Nikon Capture NX trial available for download
Nikon USA has today announced that its forthcoming Capture NX program is now available to download in trial form.
Nikon Capture NX trial to download.
The whole story you can find at www.imaging-resource.com
5 July 2006
Canon EOS 5D + EOS-1D II N firmware 1.1.0
Canon has today released new firmware for the EOS 5D and EOS-1D Mark II N digital SLRs.
The EOS 5D firmware addresses three issues:
- correction of communication errors between the 5D and EOS Capture after a certain number of shots
- use of E-TTL flash metering mode using the ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter in conjunction with the 580EX Speedlite
- the "enhancement" of direct printing to two Canon PIXMA Pro printers
The EOS-1D Mark II N firmware update includes only the direct printing improvement with no other bug fixes.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N firmware
The source: www.dpreview.com
19 June 2006
DALSA Semiconductor Delivers World's First 100+ Million Pixel CCD Image Sensor Chip to Semiconductor Technologies Associates (STA)
Press Release:
DALSA Semiconductor Delivers World's First 100+ Million Pixel CCD Image Sensor Chip to Semiconductor Technologies Associates (STA)
ALSA Semiconductor, a division of DALSA Corporation (TSX:DSA), an international high performance semiconductor and electronics company, announced today that it has successfully fabricated and delivered the world's highest resolution image sensor chip to its customer, Semiconductor Technology Associates ("STA") of San Juan Capistrano, California. The CCD device, which measures approximately four inches by four inches, has a total resolution of over 111 million pixels (10,560 pixels x 10,560 pixels at 9 micro meters). It is the world's first imager to break the 100 million pixel barrier.
STA developed the record-breaking chip for the Astrometry Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory ("USNO"), funded by the Navy's Small Business Innovation Research Program. The device will assist USNO in the determination of the positions and motions of stars, solar system objects and the establishment of celestial reference frames. DALSA Semiconductor manufactured the device for STA at its wafer fabrication facility in Bromont, Quebec.
"As with past custom image sensor projects, I'm very satisfied with the versatility and capability of DALSA Semiconductor's foundry to collaborate on new process enhancements and to manufacture challenging custom CCD image sensor products such as this," commented STA President, Richard Bredthauer.
"I'm very pleased that we were able to deliver, ahead of schedule, this custom CCD image sensor to our long time DALSA foundry customer, STA," added Ralf Brooks, President of DALSA Semiconductor. "Completing this challenging, yet successful, project once again illustrates our strong process technology portfolio and our ability to work closely with our customers to create truly unique products."
The source: www.dpreview.com
14 June 2006
International Photographer Gathering "Naked World 2006"
Theme:Naked model in the wildlife
Gathering Dates:July 10-13th, 2006
Location:Latvia, Tuya (72 km from Riga), on the coast of Riga Gulf
The place is known by its specific, not typical for the Latvian nature peculiarity - big stones are scattered along the sand beach within a few kilometers of the coast. The participants will also enjoy the opportunity of shooting in the fields, caves, fishing settlements, on the cliffs and etc.
Gathering Goals:- to promote intercultural cooperation in the sphere of photography and establish contacts among photographers, magazines, advertising and photo agencies
- to give the opportunity for professional photographers to share their experience
- to give the chance for amateur photographers to gain additional knowledge and skills
- individual and team - work with models and given properties
- the masterclass of famous photographers
- contest of photographic works among professionals and amateurs. Special nominations and awards from magazines, advertising/photo agencies
- evening entertainment programs
Professional and amateur photographers, stylists, representatives of magazines, advertising and photo agencies.
The ceiling amount of participants: 120
All the details you ca find at www.anna-maria.lv
12 June 2006
Sigma to launch the new APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG MACRO HSM lens
Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG MACRO HSM lens. This large aperture telephoto zoom lens has a minimum focusing distance of 100cm (39.4") throughout the entire zoom range. It is very convenient for close-up photography. This lens uses two ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glasses and two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glasses for utmost correction against chromatic aberrations. This lens' super multi layer lens coating reduce flare and ghost, which is a common problem with digital cameras. This lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which ensures a quiet and high-speed AF. The lens design incorporates an inner focusing and inner zooming systems. The overall length of the lens does not change during focusing and zooming, ensuring convenient handling. When this lens is used with the 1.4x EX DG APO or 2x EX DG APO Tele Converters (optional), it becomes a 98-280mm F4 AF telephoto zoom lens or a 140-400mm F5.6 AF telephoto zoom lens respectively.
25 May 2006
Canon considers halt to film camera development
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Canon Inc. said on Thursday that it would consider halting development of new film cameras as it focuses resources on digital models, the latest sign of the rapidly fading role of film in photography.
A spokesman at Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, said it would consider whether it needs to continue developing both compact and single lens reflex (SLR) film models because the markets for both are shrinking.
Canon said it would continue to produce and sell existing models and make a final judgment on the business in the future while monitoring market demand.
Canon's statement follows an announcement earlier this year by rival Nikon Corp. that it would stop producing most of its film cameras, expect for a few professional products.
Konica Minolta Holdings Inc., meanwhile, has said it would exit the camera and photo film markets, where it has been losing money amid stiff competition and weak demand.
The photographic film and film camera markets have been shrinking rapidly in the past few years due to the rising popularity of digital cameras, which can take and store photos without the need for film.
The source: Reuters
16 May 2006
Luminous Landscape with big megapixels
The Luminous Landscape has published an article titled "Measuring Megabytes" which compares a range of high end digital SLRs, medium format backs and 4x5 medium format film drum scanned. The medium format backs range from 22 to 39 megapixels, digital SLRs are represented by the 16.6 megapixel Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, 12.7 megapixel Canon EOS 5D and the 11 megapixel Canon EOS 1Ds. If you want the ultimate resolution and money is no object there will be plenty of interest here.
The whole story Measuring Megabytes you can find at www.luminous-landscape.com.
4 April 2006
Canon EOS 30D review (by Phil Askey)
... you can find at www.dpreview.com29 March 2006
New firmware for Canon EOS 30D, 5D and 1D Mark II N
Canon has today released firmware updates for three of its newest digital SLR's. The EOS 30D gets firmware update 1.0.4 which fixes some Chinese language display problems, the EOS 5D gets update 1.0.5 which fixes a monochrome image bug and a problem with a combination of the EF 85 F1.2L and Speedlite 580EX, finally the EOS-1D Mark II N gets update 1.0.4 which also fixes a monochrome image bug and also an over-exposure problem when using Focusing Screen Ec-S.
Canon EOS 30D Firmware Update page
Canon EOS 5D Firmware Update page
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N Firmware Update page
The source: www.dpreview.com
27 January 2006
Commitment to technology innovation secures Canon No.2 position in US patents Top 10
Press Release:
LONDON, January 13, 2006 - Canon has reinforced its position as a leading innovator in imaging technology solutions by surging ahead to the No.2 position for patents registered in the US in 2005 - second only to IBM and up from its No.3 ranking in 2004.
Canon has reappeared in the No.2 slot in the US Patents Office preliminary top 10 listing of patent recipients, moving up one position from its third-place finish in 2004, following the registration of 1,828 patents in 2005.
The achievement marks the 14th consecutive year that Canon has ranked among the top 3 US patent recipients. Canon's commitment to technological advancement has ensured the company's continued presence in the US rankings for almost 20 years, appearing in the top 10 every year since 1984 and the top 5 every year since 1992. Since 1995, Canon has filed more than 17,000 patents in the US.
James Leipnik, Chief of Communication and Corporate Relations, Canon Europe, said: "Canon has a long history of patenting its technologies and regaining the No.2 position is a positive achievement for the company. As a technology innovator Canon is committed to ensuring technological advancement. By investing in R&D we can evolve our products and solutions to sustain or attain the leadership position in our core markets. In 2006 our R&D investment will be used to pursue new ways to develop and commercialise our proprietary imaging technologies to generate new business opportunities for the future."
In 2005, Canon invested 8% of sales on research and development worldwide.
The source: www.canon.co.uk
26 January 2006
The exhibition "The Best of Jan Saudek"
From Sept 21, 2005 to June 30, 2006 daily from 10 am to 8 pm a big retrospective exhibition of Jan Saudek's photos can be seen in Dum U bileho jednorozce (The White Unicorn House), Staromestske Square, Praha 1.
This retrospective exhibition, which includes 50 years of Jan's photo work, is unique by its range and the choice of works exhibited. It shows more than 150 pictures; either elephant size or published for the first time.
Together with this exhibition a big exquisitely staged memoirs Saudek (Slovart publishing house) and also catalogue "The best of Jan Saudek" is issued.
The exhibition is organized by Saudek.com company (e-mail: sarah@saudek.com) as a present for Jan's birthday.
Billboard to download in PDF format.
Citylight to download in PDF format.
19 January 2006
Canon's 30 millionth EF lens
Canon today celebrates the cumulative production milestone of 30 million interchangeable EF lenses, in less than twenty years since the launch of Canon's EOS camera system and the EF lens mount.
Press Release:
Canon's 30 millionth EF lens
Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 19 January, 2006: Canon today celebrates the cumulative production milestone of 30 million interchangeable EF lenses, in less than twenty years since the launch of Canon's EOS camera system and the EF lens mount. Indicative of the accelerating popularity of SLR photography, 10 million EF lenses have been produced in the last five years.
The EF lens mount revolutionised SLR photography in 1987 by replacing mechanical links between camera and lens with electronic contacts and providing for an internal auto focus motor. Even with continued development and evolution of focus systems, Image Stabilizer technologies, lens element materials science, weather sealing and design, the EF mount remains consistent. Every EF lens is compatible with every EOS camera ever produced, including all new digital EOS cameras.
"This milestone is symbolic of our strength in lens research, design and manufacture. These are core competencies for Canon," remarked Mogens Jensen, head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "Lens expertise gives us a strategic advantage in almost every field in which we compete and is fundamental to our current success in the digital SLR market."
Unequalled range
There are more than 50 current model EF lenses, with focal lengths ranging from 14mm to 600mm and a range of specialist macro, tilt/shift, fisheye and Image Stabilizer models. Professional photographers are catered for with 22 current model L series EF lenses. With special optical elements, build quality and weather sealing, the L series represents the pinnacle of Canon's lens operability, imaging performance and weather resistance. More than 70% of registered professional photographers at the Athens Olympics shot on EOS.
Heritage of precision optics
The 30 million EF lens milestone adds to the millions of FD lenses produced prior to 1987, replaced with the EF mount introduction. It complements the tens of millions of Canon compact camera and camcorder lenses, and wide range of Canon broadcast lenses favoured for their image fidelity by the film and television industries.
World firsts:
- The history of Canon lens development is described by a string of world-first technologies. These include:First commercialisation in 1987 of the Ultrasonic Motor (USM) for use in interchangeable SLR camera lenses. Now employed in the majority of EF lenses, USM provides high-speed, near-silent auto focus with good holding torque for accurate, rapid-response stopping with no overshoot.
- First appearance of an aspherical lens element in an interchangeable SLR lens, introduced to eliminate the spherical aberrations that soften the image quality of conventional lenses.
- First introduction of fluorite, UD (Ultra-dispersion) and Super UD lens elements in interchangeable SLR lenses in order to correct chromatic aberrations.
- First interchangeable lens to incorporate an Image Stabilizer (IS). Converted into shutter speed, the effect of Canon's latest IS is to allow for handheld photography at about three stops less, with no perceptible increase in image blur. IS is now incorporated into twelve current model EF lenses.
- First and still the only company in the world to incorporate a diffractive optical (DO) element into an interchangeable SLR lens. Using diffraction rather than refraction as the primary means of focusing light, Canon's EF400mm f/4 DO IS USM and EF70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lenses produce outstanding image quality, yet are significantly lighter and smaller than similarly specified conventional lenses.
- First 10x zoom (EF35-350mm f/3.5-5.6L USM).
- Longest focal length at largest aperture (EF1200mm f/5.6L USM).
The EF lens evolution
Matching advances in camera technology, EF lenses continue to evolve. Lens element shaping and Super Spectra coatings are employed to suppress and prevent the effect of reflections off digital camera sensors. The EF-S lens mount has been developed to take advantage of the compact sensor size of cameras such as the EOS 350D and EOS 20D, paving the way for a new range of compact, lightweight and high image quality lenses.
The source: www.dpreview.com
19 January 2006
Konica Minolta Announces Withdrawal Plan for Camera Business and Photo Business
This has to be the biggest and most shocking news before the upcoming PMA show, Konica Minolta has today announced that it is withdrawing from the camera and photo business. They will be transferring assets related to their camera business to Sony who will continue to develop digital SLR's based around the Konica Minolta lens mount. Konica Minolta it appears will continue to work with Sony (a relationship announced last year) in the development of digital SLR's and lenses but they will not be branded as or be sold by Konica Minolta. Full announcement and details of the Sony asset transfer inside.
The source: www.dpreview.com
The official press release (English).
12 January 2006
Nikon to focus on digital
Nikon prepares to strengthen digital line-up for 2006
Wednesday January 11, 2006
Following the success of our digital line-up over the last seven years, which has resulted in more than 95% of Nikon's UK business being within the digital area, Nikon Corporation has made the decision to focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film cameras. This decision will allow Nikon to continue to develop products that match the demands of an increasingly competitive market place.
Despite this growing competition Nikon Corporation has continued to outperform the market, and has recently reported positive financial results which saw group net profit climb by 20% in the fiscal first half which ended in September. Group sales also increased by 9.8% to 342.85 billion yen in the same period. Sales of high end digital SLR cameras and the success of products like the D70s and D50 have helped contribute to these positive figures.
As the film camera market shrinks and the popularity of compact digital cameras increases, demand for products that offer advanced features and extra value is continuing to grow. High performance digital SLR cameras are performing well as users shift from film-based SLR cameras or upgrade from compact digital cameras to digital SLR cameras.
As a result of the new strategy Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer 2006.
In recognition of Nikon's commitment to professional photographers we will continue to manufacturer and sell the F6, our flagship film model, as well as a number of manual interchangeable lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe.
9 January 2006
Hasselblad proudly presents 39Mpix camera
Hasselblad launchs the world's first 39 megapixel DSLR camera and comprehensive line of 39 megapixel camera backs.
The official press release (English).
8 January 2006
New logo for Kodak
CES 2006: As part of a wide ranging speech at CES by Kodak Chairman and CEO Antonio Perez it was revealed that Kodak will be saying goodbye to their famous yellow-box logo in favour of a simpiler more contemporary design. The new logo also features a new typeface with more rounded letters. According to Perez, "This introduction is the latest step in the company's broad brand transformation effort, which reflects the multi-industry, digital imaging leader Kodak has become."
Old vs. new Kodak logo:
21 December 2005
PF 2006
16 December 2005
Baptism of the new Czech magazine PhotoArt and the press conference
Yesterday was a ceremonious baptism of the new Czech magazine PhotoArt - on the photo from the lef side: Pavel Libora (editor in chief), Frantisek Malik (business director), Garik Avanesian (publisher):
Press conference:
The presentation at Centrum FotoSkoda:
15 December 2005
New magazine at the Czech market - PhotoArt
Just today the new item of PhotoArt magazine is coming out. Grand introduction will be held at two places in Prague in Czech Republic - the biggest store for photographers in Czech Republic Centrum FotoSkoda and also at the exhibition Czech Press Photo.
Internet website of the magazine you can find on www.photoart.cz.
12 December 2005
Breakthrough chip delivers better digital pictures for less power
Press Release:Tiny cameras could run for years
The next advance in cameras is becoming a reality at the University of Rochester. Imaging chips revolutionized the photography industry, and now the chips themselves are being revolutionized. A pair of newly patented technologies may soon enable power-hungry imaging chips to use just a fraction of the energy used today and capture better images to boot - all the while enabling cameras to shrink to the size of a shirt button and run for years on a single battery. Placed in a home, they could wirelessly provide images to a security company when an alarm is tripped, or even allow mapping software like Google's to zoom in to real-time images at street level. The enormous reduction in power consumption and increase in computing power can also bring cell-phone video calls closer to fruition.
The team of Mark Bocko, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Zeljko Ignjatovic, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has designed a prototype chip that can digitize an image right at each pixel, and they are working now to incorporate a second technology that will compress the image with far fewer computations than the best current compression techniques.
"These two technologies may work together or separately to greatly reduce the energy cost of capturing a digital image," says Bocko. "One is evolutionary in that it pushes current technology further. The second may prove to be revolutionary because it's an entirely new way of thinking about capturing an image in the first place."
The first technology being developed integrates an oversampling "sigma-delta" analog-to-digital converter at each pixel location in a CMOS sensor. "CMOS" is a common semiconductor fabrication process used in most chips manufactured today. Previous attempts to do this on-pixel conversion have required far too many transistors, leaving too little area to collect light. The new designs use as few as three transistors per pixel, reserving nearly half of the pixel area for light collection. First tests on the chip show that at video rates of 30 frames per second it uses just 0.88 nanowatts per pixel--50 times less than the industry's previous best. It also trounces conventional chips in dynamic range, which is the difference between the dimmest and brightest light it can record. Existing CMOS sensors can record light 1,000 times brighter than their dimmest detectable light, a dynamic range of 1:1,000, while the Rochester technology already demonstrates a dynamic range of 1:100,000.
Traditional image sensors use an array of light-sensitive diodes to detect incoming light, and transistors located at each photodiode to amplify and transmit the signal to an analog-to-digital converter located outside of the photodiode array. Other designs can convert the signal to digital at the pixel site, but require high precision transistors, which take up considerable chip space at each pixel and reduce the amount of surface area on the chip devoted to receiving light. The new design not only uses smaller transistors at each pixel, and thus can allow more light to be detected, but the transistors can be scaled down in size without diminishing the sensor performance as advances in semiconductor fabrication technologies allow the size of transistors to shrink. This means that much denser, higher-resolution chips can be developed without the prohibitive problems of the existing sensor designs. When transistors are reduced in size, they also become faster, allowing incoming light to be sampled more frequently and accurately.
What makes Bocko and Ignjatovic's method work so elegantly is its feedback design. Traditional CMOS image detectors apply a voltage to charge up a photodiode, and incoming light triggers a release of some of that charge. An amplifying transistor then checks the remaining voltage on the diode, and the diode is recharged again. Bocko and Ignjatovic's design also begins with a charged photodiode that discharges when light reaches it, but the discharge is then measured against a one/zero threshold and the resulting bit is delivered off the chip. If the result of a measurement is a one, then a packet of charge is fed back to the diode, effectively recharging it. The design also uses significantly less power than existing sensor designs, which is especially important in smaller devices like cell phones and digital cameras where battery size is restricted.
The second advance has taken many researchers by surprise. Called "Focal Plane Image Compression," Bocko and Ignjatovic have figured out a way to arrange photodiodes on an imaging chip so that compressing the resulting image demands as little as 1 percent of the computing power usually needed.
Normally, the light-detecting diodes on a chip are arranged in a regular grid--say 1,000 pixels by 1,000 pixels. A picture is snapped and each diode records the light hitting it. A computer in the camera then runs complex computations to compress the image so that instead of taking up 10 hefty megabytes, it might only take up 100 kilobytes. The common picture type "JPEG," used on the Web and on many cameras and phones, is an example of this. This compression, unfortunately, takes a tremendous amount of computing power, and hence battery power.
Ignjatovic and Bocko of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, came up with a way to make the physical layout of the light-sensitive diodes simplify the computation. The normal way to perform compression includes a computation called the discrete cosine transform, which checks how much a segment of an image resembles a series of cosine waves. Both the image and the cosine waves are sampled at regular intervals and the transform requires that the image and cosine wave samples be multiplied together and added. Since the cosine wave samples can have a value anywhere between -1and +1, the computation requires multiplication by non-integers, which demands the bulk of the computing power.
But Ignjatovic and Bocko have laid out the pixels to lie at the peaks of cosine waves resulting in a non-uniformly distributed array, instead of an evenly spaced one. By using this trick, the amount of computation required to compress the image is slashed by nearly five-fold. Since each pixel is positioned exactly where each cosine wave has a peak where the cosine value is "one," multiplying by one is unnecessary. With no multiplication and only a little addition, the processor uses less power.
The team members are now looking to build a prototype chip that incorporates both technologies into a single unit to see how much real-world processing power the designs will save. They plan to integrate the technology into wireless security cameras at first.
"Wireless security cameras offer the perfect proving ground for these technologies," says Bocko. "These cameras need to capture, compress, and transmit high quality images as quickly as they can without consuming precious battery power. As we develop the chips further, we'll look more into consumer cameras and cell phones to see how much battery and processing power we can save them as well."
12 November 2005
Canon EOS 5D Review
... the whole review you can read on www.dpreview.com21 October 2005
Agfa near the end
Germany photographic company AgfaPhoto is likely to close down by the end of the year, making around 1700 of its workforce redundant, reports DW-World.de. Talks with UK company Photo-Me International about a possible takeover were rejected by the creditors because the offer "contained too many points that were unacceptable". AgfaPhoto has been operating under bankruptcy protection since May, when it filed for insolvency. The company will end operations at the end of the year, after all its stock has been used.
13 October 2005
Canon Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3 Updater for Windows and Mac OS X (Press release)
Outline of the software
Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3 is software exclusively for editing and converting RAW images shot by EOS Digital cameras. Users of EOS Digital cameras can install Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3 by downloading Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3 Updater for Windows or Mac OS X.
Important
- This software is exclusively for Windows XP and Windows 2000 or Mac OS X (10.2 - 10.4).
- Please make sure that at least one of the following applications is installed in your computer before downloading Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3 Updater for Windows or Mac OS X:
- File Viewer Utility 1.1 - 1.3
- EOS Viewer Utility 1.0 - 1.2
- Digital Photo Professional 1.0/1.1/1.5/1.6.0/1.6.1/2.0.1
- RAW Image Task 1.2/2.0/2.2
- Please note that if none of the above applications has been activated and Security Updates have been applied to your operating system, it may not be possible to install Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3, depending on the version of the Security Update.
- Please note that to use the remote shooting function in Digital Photo Professional 2.0.3, EOS Capture 1.5 or later needs to be installed in your computer. (EOS Capture 1.5 can be downloaded from Canon's Web site.)
Changes from Digital Photo Professional 2.0.1
- In Picture Style, some of the setting item names were incorrect. Those names have been fixed as the following chart shows. Incorrect : B&W Correct: Monochrome
- In images taken with EOS 5D or EOS-1D, some of the color tones would be missing. This problem has been fixed.
5 October 2005
New Sigma DG tele-converters (Press Release)
APO TELE CONVERTER 1.4x EX DG
APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG
Digitally optimized tele-converters, exclusive to Sigma's telephoto and telephoto zoom lenses.
- New multi layer lens coating and lens design reduce flare and ghosting.
- The high image quality of the master lens will not be compromised thanks to this new design concept.
- High-speed Auto Focus is retained even when these tele-converters are utilized.
The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new APO TELE CONVERTER 1.4x EX DG and APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG
These dedicated APO tele-converters are mounted between specific lenses and the camera body to increase the focal length by the power of 1.4 or 2.
These digitally optimized tele-converters employ the latest lens coating technology to reduce both flare and ghosting. A combination of these dedicated tele-converters and specific DG lenses ensure the best possible performance. The new special design maintains the master lens' high-level of performance while extending its focal length.
Compact and lightweight, these tele-converters are a convenient way of converting lenses into longer focal-length lenses, therefore ensuring that those unexpected opportunities are not missed.
The specifications (Based on Sigma Mount):
APO TELE CONVERTER 1.4x EX DG
Lens Construction: 3 Groups - 5 Elements
Focal Length: 1.4 times of master lens
Aperture Range: F2.8-32
Magnification: 1.4 times of master lens
Dimensions: 68.5mm x 19.5mm
Weight: 160g
APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG
Lens Construction: 5 Groups - 6 Elements
Focal Length: 2 times of master lens
Aperture Range: F2.8-32
Magnification: 2 times of master lens
Dimensions: 68.5mm x 52mm
Weight: 235g
25 August 2005
Canon EOS 5D Hands-on preview with samples
... the whole story from www.dpreview.com22 August 2005
Canon EOS 5D, full-frame 12.8 megapixel
... the whole story from www.dpreview.com22 August 2005
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N
... the whole story from www.dpreview.com27 May 2005
AgfaPhoto files for insolvency (Press release)
Agfa-Gevaert on the insolvency filing of AgfaPhoto GmbH
Mortsel/Belgium, May 27, 2005 - Agfa-Gevaert announced today that it was informed of the insolvency filing by AgfaPhoto GmbH. Agfa-Gevaert is fully prepared to co-operate with the insolvency receiver once appointed and all parties concerned.
Effective November 2, 2004, Agfa-Gevaert sold its consumer imaging business to a group of investors in a management buy out/in. Since then the consumer imaging business has been operated through a group of companies under the name of AgfaPhoto. The AgfaPhoto group is a private group of companies owned by management, NannO Beteiligungsholding and a small number of financial investors.
Agfa-Gevaert provides AgfaPhoto group companies with distribution, order fulfillment, after sales and other services until the end of 2005.
In addition, at the time of the management buy out/in on November 2, 2004, Agfa-Gevaert granted a secured vendor loan for the full purchase price. Based on Agfa Gevaert's audited financial statement, the purchase price was set at 112 million Euros, which is still subject to an audit of the closing financials by the purchaser. The vendor loan is fully secured by a lease portfolio held by AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH, the parent company of the AgfaPhoto group. AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH is not implicated in the insolvency filing of AgfaPhoto GmbH. Agfa-Gevaert therefore does not expect the insolvency filing by AgfaPhoto to have a material effect on Agfa-Gevaert.
Agfa-Gevaert regrets this development for AgfaPhoto GmbH but is hopeful, that in the interest of preserving the employment and the business operations of AgfaPhoto group, the current difficulties can be overcome and that AgfaPhoto GmbH recovers quickly.
22 April
New Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 II
The whole review you can read at www.photo-i.co.uk19 April 2005
Inter Photo Camp 2005
The 2nd International Photo Camp with Garik Avanesian will be held since 3 till 5 June 2005 in Dobrichovice near Prague in the Czech Republic.
The invitation in PDF.
12 April 2005
Contax brand comes to an end?
Press Release:CONTAX-Branded Camera Business
Kyocera Corporation (President: Yasuo Nishiguchi, hereafter called "Kyocera") has decided to terminate CONTAX-branded camera business.
Although Carl Zeiss and Kyocera have entered into a long term co-operation regarding the development, production and sale of CONTAX-branded cameras, Kyocera has decided to terminate such business due to difficulties in catching up with the recent rapid market changes.
Consequently, Kyocera will terminate the shipment of CONTAX-branded cameras, and the exclusive lenses and accessories in September, 2005, except for the CONTAX 645 camera system, the shipment of which to some markets will come to an end in December, 2005.
Kyocera will continue to provide after-sales services to its customers for their CONTAX-branded cameras, and the exclusive lenses and accessories over the maximum period of ten years within the specified time of each model.
6 April 2005
Canon EOS 350D preview (by Phil Askey)
... you can find at www.dpreview.com
