News

Microsoft Corp. has launched Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006, a package of
easy-to-use tools designed to help consumers organize, enhance and share their
rising number of digital memories. The new digital imaging software helps consumers,
from the novice to the sophisticated photographer, easily find their favorite
snapshots and video clips and do more with them in just a few clicks. Digital
Image Suite 2006 includes intuitive tools such as the Hierarchical Keywords and
Hover Thumbnail, offering a more personalized, easy way to manage photos and video.
In addition, the software includes filters and a tone adjuster in the Black &
White Effects feature.



Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 makes it easy to find, view and organize photos
and videos with the following new tools:

Hierarchical Keywords and Labels provide stacked tags that consumers can use to
organize, sort through and find their images in the way that best suits them.


Hover Thumbnail enlarges thumbnail images whenever a mouse hovers above them,
making it easy to view the image, along with details such as date taken, file
type and size, resolution, and assigned Labels.



Video support offers consumers the option to view and organize their videos in
the same place as their photos. They can easily assign a 5-Star Rating, add Keywords
and captions, or mark videos with customizable Flags representing a variety of
actions such as For Review or To Share.



RAW Support for Canon and Nikon cameras allows consumers to view and organize
images shot in RAW category of formats, a high-quality photo format captured by
many models of digital cameras. In addition, consumers can save the RAW format
as a JPEG or TIF file for easy editing of the image.



To help consumers explore their creative side and visually express themselves,
Microsoft Digital Image Suite offers new and enhanced tools, including:

Black & White Effects makes it easy to transform color photos into contrast-rich
black-and-white images by using a variety of preset filters, altering color tone
or manipulating each of the color channels.



Intuitive Crop intelligently analyzes the composition of a photo, such as faces
in portraits or family photos, when a consumer clicks on the Crop task and suggests
a way to crop the photo that will properly frame the subject(s) and create the
best possible image.


Photo Story 3.1 allows anyone to create a photo show with voice narration, customizable
pans and zooms, and music. This year Microsoft has added the ability to make quick
edits (red-eye removal, apply black-and-white filter), create an original soundtrack,
and burn a CD with high-resolution VCD files, perfect for playing back on a TV.




Sharing Disc allows consumers to easily burn photo CDs to share with friends and
family, without disrupting detailed photo archive settings.



Device Sync Support makes it easy to share photos and videos with mobile devices
such as the Portable Media Center, Pocket PCs and Smartphones through synching
with Windows Media Player. Consumers can simply flag the desired images, and the
next time the mobile device syncs with the PC, the photos will automatically transmit.



Microsoft's 2006 line of digital imaging products, including Digital Image
Suite 2006 and Digital Image Standard 2006, is available today. Microsoft Digital
Image Suite 2006 offers more robust organization and editing features for an estimated
retail price of $99.95 with a $30 mail-in rebate open to all consumers and an
additional $10 digital camera mail-in rebate (if consumers purchase any digital
camera within 30 days of acquiring the software). In addition, Digital Image Standard
2006, designed for first-time digital photographers, is available for an estimated
retail price of $49.95.



www.microsoft.com
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Schneider Optic’s renowned Classic Soft, HD Classic Soft, Black Frost, and Hollywood Black Magic diffusion filters are now available in popular round sizes specifically for today’s leading SLR, digital SLR and DV cameras.

...

Sigma
has announced a large aperture, standard prime lens with claimed superior peripheral
brightness and corrected sagittal coma flare, ideal for all digital SLR cameras.
The lens is perfectly suited for a wide range of subjects enabling outstanding,
sharply defined images against a nicely blurred background. The fast, F1.4 aperture
makes this lens desirable for use with Digital SLR cameras; it effectively becomes
an 80mm medium telephoto lens on digital cameras with APS-C size image sensors.
The optimum optical design and molded glass aspherical lens elements provide
excellent correction for all types of aberrations. The super multi-layer lens
coating reduces flare and ghosting. Superior optical performance is also ensured
throughout the focusing range. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of
45cm (17.7") and has maximum magnification of 1:7.4. It creates a very
attractive blur, even when a small aperture is used. It incorporates HSM (Hyper
Sonic Motor), which ensures a quiet and high-speed AF as well as full-time manual
focus override.



www.sigmaphoto.com

...

In a sad but not totally unexpected development, Konica Minolta has announced
its withdrawal from the camera business, effective March 31. Despite its long-time
expertise in optics and electronics, Konica Minolta did not develop its own
image sensor technologies--a fact that the company said made it increasingly
difficult to offer competitive photographic products in a digital age.

...

Lowepro and Polar Bears International (PBI), a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear, has launched a photo contest titled “My Favorite Things.” The Grand Prize winner will receive a Frontiers North’s Tundra Buggy Adventure for two to observe polar bears in their natural habitat in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada in November of 2010.

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The new Profoto Pro-B2 is a battery powered flash system designed for the location
photographer who demands more power and faster speeds out of a lighting system.

...

Ilford PHOTO has launched a new competition called White Light, White Heat,
which invites all amateur photographers to demonstrate their creative usage
of Ilford SFX 200 film. This unique ISO200 black-and-white film offers the creative
photographer opportunities not available with conventional monochrome films.
This is due to its advanced emulsion with extended red sensitivity, which allows
the use of filters ranging from yellow to deep red to create outstanding contrast
and textural effects.


Ilford SFX 200 has been reintroduced by Ilford PHOTO after an absence from the
company's film catalog, and is being launched with a special value promotional
pack of three rolls of 35mm ILFORD SFX 200 plus an ILFORD Cokin 'P' filter.




The Ilford SFX 200 competition offers a first prize of a professionally framed
print of the winning image plus $400 of Ilford Photo products. The second and
third place winners will receive $200 and $100 of Ilford Pnoto products respectively.




For more information on Ilford SFX 200 film, visit www.ilfordphoto.com
and for rules and entry form for the ILFORD SFX 200 competition, log onto www.ilfordphoto.com/sfx

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