Digital Camera News: Konica Minolta rebates, Pentax giveaway, Olympus E-VOLT E300 firmware

Rebates from Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta has announced three rebates, good until June 30, 2005.

$50 rebate when you buy a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 or Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.

$100 rebate when you buy a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 or Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 and a qualifying Epson printer.

$200 rebatewhen youbuythe Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D.

For additional details, check out: www.kmpi.konicaminolta.us

Pentax and ACD Systems Gear Giveaway

Pentax and ACD Systems have teamed up to giveaway some nice gear. The giveaway is open only to residents of the US and Canada and they are accepting entries until April 15, 2005. They are giving away a Pentax *ist DS, Optio X, Optio 750Z, Optio S5i, Optio SV, Optio S50, Optio WP, ACD software, and Wacom Graphire3 tablets.

You can enter by signing up for an e-mail newsletter or downloading a trial version of ACDSee 7 or ACDSee 7 Powerpack.

http://www.acdsystems.com/nr/lp/sweepstakes/index.asp

Firmware update for Olympus E-VOLT E300

Olympus has released version 1.2 of the firmware for the E-VOLT E-300. The firmware upgrade adds some additional user controls:

• Shading Compensation Control - The original default setting for shading was always "on" with the older version of the firmware. Version 1.2 allows the user to turn on or off this setting that assists with the even dispersion of light to the edges of a captured image.
• Anti-Shock Function - This new feature allows the user to lock the mirror into place when they are concerned about the vibration caused by the movement of the mirror prior to exposure.
• Focus/Shutter Release Priority Menu selection for both Single Auto Focus Mode and Continuous-AF mode - This selectable option will allow users to control the shutter so that shots can be taken without waiting for the camera to confirm focus for faster shooting.

The firmware update is easily accessible from the Help menu of the Olympus Master Software that ships with the camera.

Hardware Calibration Device Overview

The folks at Digital Outback photo have posted a nice overview of several hardware calibration devices. These devices are used to calibrate the color settings of CRT and LCD computer monitors for more accurated representation of colors in images.

Read more here.

 

At the PMA we saw several of those calibration devices. For an average, or below-average photo afficionado like me, I thought it was a little over the top, but the value is certainly there. I just didn't realize how large of a market it really is.