Just Posted! Our review of the Sigma DP2. Sigma was the first company brave enough to put a large sensor in a compact body and its DP1 was an interesting, if flawed creation. The DP2 is its second attempt - featuring a 41mm equivalent F2.8 lens and a series of improvements derived from the company's experiences with the DP1. However, it is no longer the only compact camera claiming to offer 'the power of DSLR' so can the DP2 see off the interlopers and does its unique sensor design give it hidden depths? Category: Press
Just Posted! Our review of the Sigma DP2. Sigma was the first company brave enough to put a large sensor in a compact body and its DP1 was an interesting, if flawed creation. The DP2 is its second attempt - featuring a 41mm equivalent F2.8 lens and a series of improvements derived from the company's experiences with the DP1. However, it is no longer the only compact camera claiming to offer 'the power of DSLR' so can the DP2 see off the interlopers and does its unique sensor design give it hidden depths? 
Just Posted: Our preview sample gallery from the Canon PowerShot S90. We've just got hold of a production version of this latest photographers' compact, so, given the apparent level of interest, have put together a preview samples gallery. Canon made a big play of its 'high sensitivity' 10 megapixel sensor so we've made sure we've tried it at a range of ISO settings, and have included a couple of low-light portraits under challenging tungsten lighting. 
Panasonic has posted firmware updates for its DMC-GH1 and DMC-G1 Micro Four-Thirds cameras. Both updates improve autofocus performance in low contrast conditions and the stability of auto exposure (AE) for the recently released Panasonic Leica 45mm F2.8 Macro lens. The GH1 firmware v1.2 also decreases the AF operation sound of the 20mm F1.7 pancake lens for quieter video recording. 
Panasonic has released a firmware update for its Lumix G Vario 45-200mm F4.0-5.6 OIS Micro Four Thirds lens. Version 1.1 enhances several aspects of the lens's operation, including continuous autofocus while shooting stills, and autofocus and image stabilization performance in movie mode. Panasonic has released a firmware update for its Lumix G Vario 45-200mm F4.0-5.6 OIS Micro Four Thirds lens. Version 1.1 enhances several aspects of the lens's operation, including continuous autofocus while shooting stills, and autofocus and image stabilization performance in movie mode. 
Pentax has announced an upper-entry level DSLR, the K-x. Based on the K2000 (K-m) body, the K-x adds a number of features including a 12.4 Mp CMOS sensor, 11-point autofocus, Live View and HD video mode. It will be available in a choice of colors - black, white, and limited editions of red and navy - from October 2009 at a price of $649.95 with the 18-55mm DA-L kit lens. To accompany the K-x Pentax has also released a budget 'L' version of its 55-300mm F4-5.8 telephoto zoom lens. 
Swiss medium format manufacturer Sinar has been hived-off into two companies with its Swiss distributor Tekno AG taking over development, sales, service and support for the brand's products and manufacturing passed to Femron, a management buyout of its production facilities. A new company called Sinar Photography formed by Teckno will take over the relevant assets. Former owner Jenoptik withdrew from the medium format market in July 2009 following the collapse of its partner in the Hy6 system: Franke & Heidecke. 
Germano-Ukrainian specialist lens maker Hartblei has announced a medium format camera designed with a 35mm lens mount. The Hartblei CAM can mount any digital or film medium format back up to 4.5x6cm and will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F or Sony Alpha mounts. The company is working to develop the EF-mount version so that it can electronically control the apertures on Canon's latest 17mm and 24mm TS-E lenses. Mounting the Nikkor 14-24mm F2.8, either on the native Nikon version on the EF mount version with an adapter, gives a viewing angle of 135°. 
Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 2.5 and Camera Raw 5.5. These are final versions of updates which were originally posted as 'release candidates' on the Adobe Labs site, and are now available for immediate download. Both provide additional Raw support for Nikon D300S, Nikon D3000, Panasonic DMC-GF1 and Olympus E-P1. Although support is offered for Panasonic DMC-FZ35, it doesn't extend to the Japanese and European version of the camera (the FZ38). In addition, the ACR update also includes corrections for sensors with non-conventional color filter arrays (as introduced in the most recent DNG specification). Mitchell Krog from Living Canvas today launched his genre specific site on Fine Art Wildlife Photography.
The site can be found at http://www.wildlife-photography-south-africa.com/
