Nik has announced a new version of its sharpening plug-in for Adobe Photoshop (Mac&Windows) and Apple Aperture (Mac). With this new version, Sharpener Pro 3.0 adds improved sharpening algorithms, U Point-based selective sharpening and a "soft proof" feature. You can purchase Sharpener Pro 3.0 for US$199.95 or upgrade from any previous version for US$99.95 when purchased direct from the company.

To purchase the Nik Sharpener Pro 3.0 or download a free 15-day fully functional trial version, please visit www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro

Canon US has added a new teaser to their website where a silhouette of a DSLR camera (which I think looks very similar to the current 5D) with the words 'Destined Evolution' are seen. That may be the official sign of an upcoming replacement for the EOS 5D. It is hard to guess how soon the new camera will be launched, it can even be a diversion to prevent people who has been waiting for the 5D replacement for a long time to switch to Nikon D700 or Sony A900.

On the other hand, Canon Europe added another banner saying: "The EOS Story Continues.. See the Future of Photography... Stay Tuned.." Things are getting really mysterious...

I agree with Canon; Stay Tuned...

National Geographic magazine published an advertisement of the upcoming Sony flagship fullframe DSLR, A900. As you may have already know, Sony has introduced this camera almost a year ago. It is almost certain that the official announcement of the Sony A900 will be done on September 10th and hit the stores at the end of this month. The price is speculated to be around $3.000 which is almost $5K cheaper then the 21 MP Canon 1Ds Mark III. If this price level is true, A900 will surely become very popular amongst studio shooters and landscape photographers and very serious competitor against Nikon D700, Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 5D and longwaited Canon 5D Mark II / 7D.

Below are the Specifications of the Sony A900:

- 24.6mp Full Frame CMOS sensor (will be the highest resolution sensor of any DSLR in the market)

- Dual Bionz Image Processing Engine (2 processors seems to be required to deal with such big file sizes at 5 fps)

- SteadyShot INSIDE (Sensor Based Sensor Stabilization - why not 'Super Steady Shot' as in other Sony Alpha Cameras? Hope this is not a crippled version)
- 5fps burst mode (very good, same as the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III)

- 3" hybrid LCD with 921K dots (usual these days)

- 100% OVF with .74x magnification ( pro level, better then Nikon D3, slighly smaller then the Canon 1Ds Mark III)

- 9pt center dual-cross with f2.8 + 10pt line type AF (we need more details about the AF sensor, but it sounds promising so far)

- Intelligent Preview (not sure what this means. It seems A900 doesn't feature Live View but some kind of a simplified version of it)


Keep watching us for the latest news about the Sony A900...

Adobe will unveil Creative Suite 4, including Photoshop CS4, in a series of webcasts starting on September 23. This is expected to be the largest product launch in Adobe's history.

The Flash-based webcasts will be run on the following schedule:

• Europe: 11:00AM CET (September 23, 2008)
• North America: 9:00AM Eastern (September 23, 2008)
• North America: 9:00AM Pacific (September 23, 2008)
• Australia: 4:00PM AET (September 24, 2008)
• Singapore/Hong Kong: 2:00PM (September 24, 2008)
• India: 11:30AM IST (September 24, 2008)

You can register for the webcasts here.

Canon has posted a firmware update for its popular entry level DSLR, the EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi. Firmware Version 1.0.9 incorporates the following fixes:

• Fixes a phenomenon in which AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) shooting does not operate normally under specific conditions.
• Fixes a phenomenon in which the Live View exposure simulation warning indication does not properly display during Live View shooting.

• Fixes a phenomenon in which images cannot be played back after continuous shooting when a printer is connected to the camera or a video output terminal is used.

Click here to download the Firmware Version 1.0.9 and read Installing Instructions

Tamron has announced a new version of its SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 with an autofocus motor specially for Nikon D40, D40x and D60 cameras which lacks in-body autofocus motor and therefore have to be used with lenses with built-in AF motors in order to AF. The lens will be available from the late September in Japan with other markets following.

TAMRON SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 Specifications:

Tamron has announced the availability of the SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) lens for Canon and Nikon APS-C DSLR mounts. SP AF 10-24mm is featuring an 2.4X zoom (35mm equivalent of 16mm ultra wide-angle to 37mm semi-wide-angle), which makes it the only ultra-wide angle zoom lens to offer such a zoom ratio.

The lens will be available later this month in Japan. Pentax and Sony versions will follow at an unspecified date.

TAMRON SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Specifications:

Short after the announcement of Micro Four-Thitrds system by Olympus and Panasonic, Samsung revealed their plans to launch a brand new camera system that’s a cross between a DSLR and a compact digital camera. Samsung Hybrid cameras will feature an APS-C sized sensor, removable lenses that are smaller than current DSLR lenses, and a framing combination of electronic viewfinder and rear LCD screen.

Although there is no further detail about the specification and the release date of the hybrid models, the first hybrid camera by Samsung is expected to have the 14 MP Samsung sensor that is used in Samsung GX-20 and Pentax K20D DSLRs and be launched in Spring 2010. The success of the micro four thirds system cameras that will be released in 2009 will probably be a decisive factor for Samsung while determining the specs of the final model.

Minox will launch the MINOX DSC, a new digital spy camera at this years Photokina in September 2008. Wetzlar who is specialized at miniature optic production has involved in design process of this new Minox DSC digital camera that continues the Minox tradition of being the "dream tool of secret agents". There is no price and availability infor for the Minox DSC yet.

MINOX Press Release:

Olympus has announced SP-565UZ, a 10 megapixel digital camera featuring a 20x zoom lens (26-520mm equivalent). Olympus defines SP-565UZ an extreme makeover version of the already popular SP-570UZ (the first digital camera to sport a 20x optical zoom). SP-565UZ is a smaller and lighter version of SP-570UZ , with easier-to-use controls offering the ease, being more portable at the same time.

The 565UZ will be available in October with an estimated price of $399.99 (U.S.). You can pre-order the SP-565UZ from Amazon.com.

Olympus SP-565UZ Specifications and Press Release: