Digital Camera News and Reviews

Corel Digital Studio 2010

Corel has announced Corel Digital Studio 2010 software for editing of images and videos. The special thing about this piece of software is that you can use touch operations (if you got hardware support) to edit the digital files.

Corel Digital Studio 2010 lets you organize and edit photos and videos, and even upload them to the net. You can also create slideshows and make homevideos with soundtracks and voice over.

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is available now for download and cost $99.99 USD or £59 GBP.
Press release:
Introducing Corel® Digital StudioTM 2010

Finally, Photo and Video Come Together in an All-New Creative
Experience on the PC

London, UK – 2 September 2009 – Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL) (TSX:CRE) today introduced its all-new photo and video product Corel® Digital Studio 2010. Now TM it is simple, fast and fun for everyone to enjoy and share their favourite photos and videos all within one integrated and engaging environment.
Offering an elegant design and intuitive tools, Corel Digital Studio inspires creativity and confidence by making it easy for anyone to create beautiful photo and video projects with no previous experience
required.

While the average family takes hundreds of digital photos and video clips each year, various research indicates that less than half edit their photos and fewer still edit their videos. As a result, digital memories sit dormant on family computers without ever being enjoyed or shared. Why? Because most people just haven’t found photo editing and video editing on the PC to be the simple and rewarding experience they’re looking for. Corel Digital Studio 2010 responds to this need by bringing together photo, video, DVD burning and playback, all within one easy, fun and engaging environment.

With Corel Digital Studio 2010, all your photos and videos come together in one simple creative experience. Whether you are making one-click fixes to your photos and videos, creating a photo book, making slideshows or home movies complete with your own soundtrack, or burning high-definition DVDs, you’ll enjoy the same elegant look and feel across the Studio. In this integrated and intuitive environment, once you learn how to do one task, you’ll quickly know how to do them all.

“With Corel Digital Studio, PC users finally have a simple, fast and fun way to enjoy their photos and videos, and create something amazing that they can share with others,” said Daniel Weisbeck, Corel’s Vice President, Global Product Marketing. “With its simple, elegant design and intuitive, all-in-one approach, Corel Digital Studio removes barriers, inspires creativity and gives everyone the ability to create and share something memorable in just minutes.”

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is designed to take advantage of the latest Microsoft® Windows® 7 advances including the natural, hands-on experience offered by Windows Touch. The product also offers a great creative environment for customers using Windows® XP or Windows Vista®. Corel Digital Studio 2010 is just one example of the design innovation that resulted in Microsoft naming Corel its Global ISV Consumer Partner of the Year in June 2009.

“There is no other creative software application on the market that offers consumers new and unique ways to experience creative multi-touch features complementing Windows 7 in the way that Corel Digital Studio 2010 does. Windows 7 & Corel make new things possible” Christian Georgeson, Windows Consumer Product Manager at Microsoft.

Corel Digital Studio 2010: Create Amazing Photo and Video Projects in Minutes
You don’t have to master overly complex software programs or spend hours working on your projects. Corel Digital Studio is designed specifically for users who value simplicity and want results fast.

Movie Making Made Easy: Finally, movie making is something everyone can enjoy. With its simple interface and intuitive controls, Corel Digital Studio offers a groundbreaking, visual approach to video projects that makes it easy for anyone to enhance and share favorite video memories — even in HD.
Creative Photo Projects: Thrill friends and family with beautiful photo books and calendars that you can create in just minutes from within Corel Digital Studio. There’s no lengthy online uploading process to slow you down when you want to get creative. Instead, you can focus on your memories, create your project and when you’re done, print at home or have your creation professionally printed using Corel’s online service.*
All Your Media in One Place: The Media Organizer brings all your photos and videos together so you can more easily search, find and organize your favorite memories. You can also access your music library to add your own personal soundtrack to slideshows and home movies. The Media Organizer is the starting point for all your projects, making it easy to move from one task to another.
Online Sharing Has Never Been Easier: Share your files and projects any way you choose. Use email, Flickr , Facebook and YouTube , or send to your TM TM TM mobile device. With Corel Digital Studio, connecting with friends and family is just a few clicks away.
Simple Backup and Burn: Backup and protect your photo and video memories, burn a professional looking DVD complete with Hollywood-style menus, or create audio CDs and MP3 discs by simply dragging and dropping. It’s never been this easy.
Pricing and Availability
Corel Digital Studio 2010 is now available globally in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Chinese Traditional as an electronic software download (ESD) at a SRP of £59 incl. VAT. Corel Digital Studio 2010 will also be available at leading retailers around the world starting in mid-September 2009. For more information, to purchase an ESD or download a free, fully featured 30-day trial, please visit www.corel.com. The individual photo and video components of Corel Digital Studio 2010 can also be purchased as standalone products. Corel® PaintShop Photo Express 2010 is available TM at a SRP of £29 incl. VAT and Corel® VideoStudio® Express 2010 £39 incl. VAT.

*Online printing services available starting mid-September 2009 in the US, Canada, UK,Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Online printing services to follow in other regions.

DxO Optics Pro

DxoMark has released a new version of their DxO Optics Pro software. The new version is called DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 and adds support for seven new cameras. The new supported cameras are
Canon 500D, Fujifilm S100FS, Nikon D5000, Pentax K200 and K-m, Sony A200 and A300.
The new software also future 155 new DxO Optics Correction Modules and it now supports more than 1400 camera body/lens combinations.

Press release:
New DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 adds support for 7 new cameras including Nikon D5000 and Canon 500D along with 155 new DxO Optics Correction Modules

This new release coincides with the publication of data and rankings for Nikon D5000 and Canon 500D on http://www.dxomark.com.

Paris, France – June 10, 2009 – DxO Labs is pleased to announce the release of its new DxO Optics Pro version 5.3.4, which supports the two latest models from Canon and Nikon — the EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i or Kiss Digital X3) and the D5000, respectively. These two new cameras have generated a lot of attention among photo enthusiasts.

Along with the new Nikon and Canon cameras, DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 supports five additional models among the ones most frequently asked about by our customers — the Fuji S100FS, Pentax K-m, and Pentax K200, Sony A200 and Sony A300.

With these seven new models DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 adds 155 new DxO Optics Correction Modules and now supports more than 1,400 camera body/lens combinations!

The release of DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 is accompanied by the publication of RAW sensor data and DxOMark Sensor rankings for the Canon EOS 500D and the Nikon D5000 on the dxomark.com website, along with reviews for both.

As a bonus, an in-depth “Insight” article is also available online that analyzes the RAW sensor data for these two cameras as an example of how to use the dxomark.com database to make comparisons between sensor models.

“This new release of DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 reflects our determination to provide the highest-quality RAW image processing support for new camera models just as soon as we possibly can, as well as our desire to listen to our customers about the cameras and lenses they want us to support,” said Cyrille de La Chesnais, Director Sales & Marketing, DxO Labs Consumer Business. “As a further demonstration of this commitment, our imaging scientists have gone the ‘extra mile’ to give the photographic community timely and in-depth RAW sensor data for these two cameras that have just appeared on the market,” he added.

DxO Optics Pro prices and availability

* DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 Standard: $169 / 124 € ex VAT and sales taxes
* DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 Elite: $299 / 249 € ex VAT and sales taxes

All customers who bought DxO Optics Pro since 1st August 2007 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 5.3.4.
For other users:

* Upgrade to DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 Standard: $95 / 69 € excl. VAT and sales taxes
* Upgrade to DxO Optics Pro 5.3.4 Elite: $125 / 89 € excl. VAT and sales taxes

Each DxO Optics Pro license includes a stand-alone application, an Adobe Photoshop plug-in and an Adobe Lightroom plug-in, and allows installation on two computers.

For more information, visit DxO Labs website at http://www.dxo.com

Sharpening in Lightroom can be a bit of a struggle so it is nice to see a plug-in that give you good sharpening techniques. The plug-in comes from a company called Nik Software that has developed their Sharpener Pro 3.0 plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher.

The program costs about $200, but the plug-in is free for existing registered users and can be downloaded from their website.

Press release:
Nik Software Announces Sharpener Pro™ 3.0 Update for
Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2

San Diego, CA (May, 2009) – Nik Software announces today that Sharpener Pro 3.0, its popular digital photographic plug-in offering the most advanced and powerful sharpening solution for photographers, is now available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher. Sharpener Pro 3.0 eliminates the guesswork typically required for achieving superior and consistent selective sharpening results. The update is available now as a free download to current owners at www.niksoftware.com/lightroom.

“Sharpener Pro 3.0 now joins Viveza, Color Efex Pro 3.0 and Silver Efex Pro for Lightroom, enabling photographers to incorporate the leading sharpening solution into their Lightroom workflow,” said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software. “Sharpener Pro has been one of the most anticipated additions for Lightroom compatibility and we are pleased to announce that it is available. This update, like previous Lightroom compatibility releases, is offered to Sharpener Pro 3.0 users at no additional cost.”

Sharpener Pro 3.0 installs as a plug-in for Lightroom 2.3, itself a free update from earlier versions and available for download at Adobe. Once installed, Sharpener Pro 3.0 is accessible via the Lightroom Photo>Edit In… menu. Edits made using the plug-in within Lightroom are non-destructive in nature, with edits applied automatically to a newly generated TIFF file and not the original. Sharpener Pro 3.0 also takes advantage of Lightroom’s efficiencies for everyday tasks, including the ability to edit multiple images in one session, increasing productivity for photographers.

About Sharpener Pro 3.0
Featuring Nik Software’s patented U Point technology, Sharpener Pro 3.0 enables photographers to selectively sharpen objects within their images. U Point-powered Control Points are easy to use and offer precise control over sharpening intensity without the need to create complicated selections and layer masks.

Additional key features of Sharpener Pro 3.0 include:

* Output Sharpening—Provides the ultimate control to create perfectly sharpened images on all devices and media types such as display, inkjet, continuous tone, half tone, and hybrid tone
* Creative Sharpening—Enhances fine details and textures with new structure, focus, and local contrast tools for drawing attention to desired areas within the image
* Industry-First Sharpening Soft Proof—Allows detailed inspection of sharpening results on screen before printing, eliminating costly test prints
* Output Presets—Enables custom settings to be saved for consistent, professional results
* RAW Presharpener—Retains and enhances sharp details within images without amplifying noise and other artifacts
* Multi-Image Support (Aperture & Lightroom)—Provides compatibility with multi-image support in Aperture and Lightroom, allowing photographers to easily copy and paste settings between images to maintain consistency
* Powerful Selective Tool (Photoshop only)—Enables the use of Photoshop’s brush tools to paint in sharpening selectively
* Smart Filter Support (Photoshop only)—Provides compatibility with Adobe Photoshop’s Smart Objects enabling adjustments to sharpening after Sharpener Pro has been applied

Pricing and Availability
The fully compatible Sharpener Pro 3.0 product, offering support for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, is available immediately for electronic delivery directly from Nik Software or through specialty camera retailers. Current owners of Sharpener Pro 3.0 may download a free update.

The suggested retail price of Sharpener Pro 3.0 is $199.95. Upgrades from any previous version are available for $99.95. Sharpener Pro 3.0 installs as a plug-in for either Adobe Photoshop, Apple Aperture 2.1, or Lightroom and is available for Windows and Macintosh operating systems, including Vista and Leopard.