| Revised Telefinder Server pricing announced |
| Headgap Systems, the main reseller of Telefinder, has released new, lower pricing for the Telefinder BBS Server, upgrades and additional nodes. Note that if you run a Telefinder server now and have a Server BBS version older than 5.6, you will notice an improvement when transmitting over bad phone lines... |
February 21, 2000 | FULL STORY  |
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| AP Newslynx user responses |
| I've received several thoughtful responses to the February 10 posting on AP's Newslynx software and OS 9. They include: |
| February 20, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Rob's DigiNews on auto-pilot until March |
| I'm on the road until well into next month, which leaves me little time to devote to this site until then. Over the weekend I'll compile and post the helpful responses to the AP Newslynx/OS 9 problem mentioned here February 10th; otherwise, this site will be running mostly unattended until... |
| February 18, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| FotoStation 4 Build 80 posted |
| The latest build of the US$145 FotoStation 4 for Mac and Windows, Build 80, adds keyboard shortcuts for thumbnail rotation among many improvements. D1 discussion list members should note that if you received Build 80 via email last week from Fotoware directly, the Build 80 available from the website fixes a crashing problem on startup and modifies the thumbnail reading logic in the Mac version. |
| February 18, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Photo Mechanic 1.3r4 posted |
| Camera Bits has posted v1.3r4 of Photo Mechanic for Mac, fixing the serious bugs mentioned here February 13. If you're running v1.3r3, be sure to expunge it from your drive as soon as possible, and upgrade to v1.3r4. The AP Viewer version of Photo Mechanic 1.3r4 is also available.... |
| February 18, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Apple releases FireWire Powerbooks |
| Apple this week released two new Powerbooks with built-in FireWire ports. For more information, see Apple's website, as well as the continuing coverage on Macintouch, MacNN, PowerPage and the Powerbook Zone.... |
| February 18, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Photo Mechanic 1.3r3 pulled |
| Camera Bits has pulled v1.3r3 of Photo Mechanic/AP Viewer for Mac after serious bugs were reported. Version 1.3r4 will be posted shortly. It will include the Auto lighting choice for v3.x firmware Kodak cameras, saving and loading of IPTC data and a copyright field in the IPTC information.... |
| February 13, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| DigiCam Pal 0.60 posted |
| Jeff Lee continues to develop DigiCam Pal, a Windows-only program that clears up much of the banding apparent in high-ISO, dark scene content D1 photos. |
| February 10, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| OS 9 and AP NewsLynx incompatible |
| San Antonio Express-News Systems Editor Joe Abell reports a conflict between Mac OS 9 on the paper's new G4 towers and AP NewsLynx: |
| February 10, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| European dealers for The Digital Photojournalist's Guide |
| I'm pleased to announce that two more dealers have signed on as resellers of my book, The Digital Photojournalist's Guide. Both are in Europe: Teleadapt is based in London, while Photo AV is in Copenhagen. See the dealer list in The Digital Photojournalist's Guide FAQ for contact information.... |
| February 9, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Fuji Super CCD and resolution |
| John Van Beekum reminded me that the Fuji Super CCD in the S1 Pro is not an actual 6 megapixel CCD, it's a 3.something megapixel CCD that uses octagonal pixels and some clever math to deliver 6 million square pixels. Fuji claims that their honeycomb pixel design delivers the equivalent of 6 million pixels worth of fine detail, which may or may not be true. |
| February 8, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Telefinder sales resume |
| Bob Nunn at Headgap Systems has taken over sales of Telefinder BBS. A page on the Headgap website indicates that a price reduction for the server package is forthcoming, with pricing details to be announced at week's end.... |
| February 7, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Photo Mechanic 1.3r3 posted |
| Version 1.3r3 of Photo Mechanic/AP Viewer for Mac is compatible with Kodak/Canon pro digicams running v3.x firmware.... |
| February 7, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Canon posts EOS/D acquire software v2.1 |
| Most users of the Canon D2000 probably use Kodak's acquire software or a third party application like Photo Mechanic to browse, edit and acquire photos from that camera. Since1998, however, Canon has offered its own acquire software, simply called, EOS/D. EOS/D has recently been updated to v2.1, bringing compatibility with... |
| February 7, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Fuji S1 Pro: a good choice for photojournalism? |
| At certain points, the Fuji booth at PMA was absolutely jam-packed with photographers struggling to get a glimpse of Fuji's upcoming entry into the pro digital SLR arena, the S1 Pro. |
| February 7, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| DigiCam Pal 0.47 fixes bug, adds Nikon RAW format support |
| DigiCam Pal 0.47, which knocks down banding in high-ISO D1 images, fixes a bug and adds support for the Nikon RAW format. Note that QImage Pro's D1 ISO filter is much more effective overall at cleaning up high-ISO frames, though DigiCam Pal will do a decent job on images in... |
| February 6, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak posts Anti-Aliasing Filter technical document |
| John Cowley notes that Kodak has posted a page describing the Anti-Aliasing Filter. Cowley has updated his own web site as well, adding information to his informative lens multiplier and pro digital camera pages.... |
| February 6, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| LowePro shows Stealth shoulder bag duo at PMA |
| LowePro unveiled additions to their Stealth line of digital camera/laptop packs at PMA last week, showing off two sizes of shoulder bags (below). |
| February 6, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| "D1 ISO" filter improved in QImage Pro 7.45 |
| The intriguing"D1 ISO" filter in QImage Pro has been tuned to be more effective on certain types of high-ISO scenes in v7.45 of the US$30 image viewing/browsing application for Windows. Mac users, take heart: it will run, at a leisurely pace, from within Virtual PC 3.0 (and perhaps other versions as well). Even on a fast Windows computer the filter takes about a minute to process one file; from within Virtual PC on a fast Mac, about 3-4 minutes. |
| February 6, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Selecting a CompactFlash card for a pro digital camera |
| Choosing the best card for your Nikon D1, Kodak DCS 520, Canon EOS D2000 or Kodak DCS 620 can be tricky, because there are so many options. The Rob's DigiNews Report Selecting a CompactFlash Card for a Professional Digital Camera, posted earlier this week, helps you make the right choice.... |
| February 6, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak introduces "Base Camera Kit" pricing for 520, 620 |
| In an effort to bring DCS 520 and DCS 620 pricing ever closer to that of the Nikon D1, Kodak has introduced a stripped down version of the package for each camera, called the Base Camera Kit. The Base Camera Kit includes a camera body, straps, Infrared Blocking Filter and... |
| February 4, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| EOS Digital SLR under glass at PMA |
| No, it's not a replacement for the Canon D2000, and no, it doesn't at a glance appear to be a pro-level digital SLR. But the display case in the centre of the digital area of Canon's sprawling booth at PMA did contain an Elan-like EOS digital SLR body, with the name plate obscured. Canon staff emphasized that the camera was targeted more at advanced amateurs and business types than pro photographers, but released no other real information. |
| February 4, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak announces "Premium Plus" battery for pro digicams |
| Kodak today announced the release of the Premium Plus battery pack for the DCS 5xx and 6xx cameras, including the DCS 520, 620 and Canon D2000. The Premium Plus version of the removable battery stick for Kodak/Canon pro digicams contains 1700 mAh NiMH cells in place of the 1100 mAh NiCad cells in current packs. I've used a Premium Plus prototype for six weeks and it's great. Expect battery life to be a minimum of double that of the NiCad version. The NiMH Premium Plus will be sold at the same price as the NiCad version is selling for now. Both versions will continue to be sold until all inventory of the NiCad version is gone. |
| February 4, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak shows off enhanced noise filtering |
| Slated for release in v5.9 of Kodak's acquire software, Kodak yesterday unveiled enhanced blue channel noise filtering for Kodak/Canon pro digicams, including the DCS 520 and 620. |
| February 4, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak demos wired, wireless transmitting from the camera |
| Kodak is nearing completion of a wireless transmitting setup for data-capable GSM and CDMA phones that will connect to Kodak/Canon pro digicams via the serial port near the cameras' two card slots. At PMA yesterday, Kodak demonstrated images being transmitted from the camera via both a Sprint PCS CDMA digital phone and a landline-connected modem. The horsepower necessary to make this work should be rolled into a v3.2 firmware update slated for release May 1. To enable the feature in the new firmware, however, will require the purchase of a "software key." No pricing has been set on the cost of the software key. |
| February 4, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Lexar Media announces 256MB CompactFlash Type II card |
| Scheduled to ship in Q2, Lexar Media today announced a 256MB CompactFlash Type II card with Lexar's 8X speed rating and USB Jumpshot compatibility. |
| February 3, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Canon unveils EOS1v pro film camera |
| On display at the PMA trade show later today, Canon's new flagship pro film camera, the EOS1v, sports a 10 fps motor drive (with a traditional reflex mirror design), 45 point autofocus, a total of 72 gaskets to seal out the elements, improved 21-zone Evaluative metering and a curvier design... |
| February 3, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Fun with FireWire |
| Nikon's Steve Heiner demonstrated yesterday, at a press event in Las Vegas, how to have fun with FireWire and a Nikon D1. |
| February 3, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Kodak offers first peek at Kodak Capture Studio |
| During a session on colour management at the DIMA conference in Las Vegas yesterday, Kodak's Chris Heinz offered a first look at Kodak Capture Studio. The software, which is not yet complete, will offer Kodak DCS 560 and 660 users a program similar to Nikon Capture. Aimed primarily at studio shooters, Capture Studio includes some interesting features: |
| February 3, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| CompactFlash card report updated |
| A helpful question from photographer Dale Taylor prompted me to add information on Flash RAM longevity to the report Selecting a CompactFlash Card for a Professional Digital Camera.... |
| February 3, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Selecting a CompactFlash card for a pro digital camera |
| Choosing the best card for your Nikon D1, Kodak DCS 520, Canon EOS D2000 or Kodak DCS 620 can be tricky, because there are so many options. A Rob's DigiNews Report, Selecting a CompactFlash Card for a Professional Digital Camera, sorts out the contenders and pretenders.... |
| February 2, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Nikon View DX updated for OS 9 |
| Nikon View DX 1.02 corrects a problem where a Mac running OS 9 would freeze when trying to access the D1 over a FireWire connection. Nikon View DX 1.0 must already be installed for the updater to run.... |
| February 2, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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| Qimage Pro 7.44 for Windows adds D1 image filter |
| The US$30 image viewing/printing application Qimage Pro 7.4.4 for Windows now includes what appears to be an effective filter for both high-ISO D1 banding and the luminance noise pattern that tends to accompany it, especially in images sharpened in the camera. Sample images demonstrate the filter's effect. A demo version... |
| February 2, 2000 | FULL STORY |
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