Is your Firefox Colorblind

- As great as Firefox is as a browser, it has always lacked one critical feature for anyone that likes to look at images online, color management. That has now changed with the beta release of Firefox 3. Fotohacker has the skinny on where to download the beta and how to activate the color management. Click here for the details.

- The folks at Nikon have released a new version of ViewNX, a file browser which ensures quick access to images for instant viewing. Version 1.0.3 of Nikon ViewNX adds a long list of new features and enhancements, including thumbnails and playback of movie files from Nikon cameras and a fix for IPTC information that has been embedded using a third-party application. Click continue to view full details and download links.

Download Nikon ViewNX 1.0.3 (Windows)
Download Nikon ViewNX 1.0.3 (MAC)

- Are you still sitting on the fence between Nikon and Canon? If so, check out this article and poll over at c|net news.

- Adobe has followed up their Camera Raw 4.3 with a 4.3.1 release to fix a couple of bugs in the last release. The new fix adresses problems with D11 compressed raw files and file support for the Olympus E-3 (download for Mac, Win).

- Flickr announced a partnership with Picnik.com, a groundbreaking online photo-editing application, to fully-integrate Picnik's comprehensive photo-editing tools within Flickr. Flickr members will now have access to Picnik's extensive editing features such as resize, crop, change exposure, and red-eye removal, along with Picnik's special effects such as color boost, black and white, sepia, frames, shapes, text and soften, all within the Flickr site.

- Do you have a budding Photoshop user on your Christmas list? Calumet has come out with a new DVD workshop that is geared towards the absolute beginner. The Photoshop Basics: I Can Do That! Video Tutorials with David Rowley is the second DVD in the Calumet Imagemaker Series. The DVD contains 24 lessons with over 5 hours of video content. To order your copy, click here.

- Advanced Media, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of the popular Ridata brand of recordable DVD, flash media, electronic storage products and digital accessories, today announced the availability of its ultra fast, new 266X Series of 2-16 GB capacity Compact Flash memory cards. Depending on the device used, the card virtually eliminates data lag time. Ritek is committed to provide a comprehensive line of Ridata brand storage solutions for all mobile device users. Our new 266X Series of 2GB to 16GB* cards offer dependable, fast, storage for todays demanding consumers, Harvey Liu, president of Advanced Media Inc., commented. We are pleased to offer the ideal combination of ultimate performance, cutting-edge technology and strong consumer value for photographers or mobile device users. To find out more about this and other Advanced Media products, click here.

Late Monday News

It isn't late breaking news, just late posting, but still Monday nonetheless. So let's get to it.

- With the Nikon D300 now shipping as well as the 40D, many first time camera purchasers are asking themselves which camera is right for them. If you are in this group, here is a discussion over at ARS-Technica that covers much of this debate.

- Professional photographers can now upload their entries to the 2008 World Press Photo contest online. Photographers can register until 4 January to access the site. The deadline for uploading entries is 10 January 2008. Single pictures as well as photo stories/portfolios are accepted in ten categories. The first prize winners in each category will receive a cash prize of 1,500 Euro, the premier award, the World Press Photo of the Year, carries a cash prize of 10,000 Euro. For more information head on over the the main World Press Photo site.

- Noise Buster 5 reduces both luminance and color noise on digital images without spoiling other aspects of the photo. The new version of AKVIS Noise Buster offers an advanced algorithm of noise removal which suppresses visible noise without blurring the edges of objects. The plug-in version of Noise Buster offers a batch mode that improves a series of photos automatically. AKVIS Noise Buster 5 sells for $49 USD. To find out more about this and other Akvis software tools, check here.

- Uploading from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to photosharing sites is anything but seamless, that is until now. Included in Adobe's last Lightroom update was an SDK that developers could use to hook Lightroom's export functions into their tools and services. Developer Jeffrey Friedl has developed a plug-in using the SDK to upload images directly to Flickr, SmugMug, and Zenfolio. To find out more information and downloads the plug-in, click here.

- Rumors abound over what the next generation of Canon 5D will be. Will it be the 5D Mark II, or perhaps the 6D? Chances are that whatever Canon has up it's sleeve won't come out until PMA rolls around. If you would like to read more about what is rumored, check out this story over at Photography Bay.

Friday Artist of the Week

This weeks artist is Jay Patel. Jay is a landscape photographer who hails from Ohio. His use of composition and color have led to the creation of beautiful images from some of the most fantastic terrain across the United States. Check out his work right here.

Thursday News Roundup

- Bowens has launched a new ringflash system that will bring affordable ring lighting solutions to photographers in an affordable solution. To see more information, check out the story over at Digital Photography Now.

- The folks over at DxO are looking to make your cellphone camera images better. DxO Labs have announced three new products which help overcome the limitations of ever shrinking pixels used in high resolution, small form factor camera modules. DxO’s technologies offer enhanced depth of field or EDoF, with industry-best image processing technology, including anti-aliasing demosaicing, sensor and pixel level noise compensation and DSC-class auto exposure and auto white balance. The solutions are available for immediate integration into customer chip designs. More information on the solutions can be found at http://www.dxo.com/intl/embedded_imaging.

- From John Nack on Adobe: folks printing from Photoshop on the Mac: Epson has posted an FAQ and schedule for compatibility with Mac OS X Leopard. As always, it's a great idea to make sure you're using the latest driver for your hardware/OS combo.

- If you have been waiting for the new Canon Mark III, wait no longer. Canon is scheduled to start shipping the new Eos 1Ds to the United States starting this week. All shipping 1Ds Mark III bodies are supposed to contain the redesigned sub-mirror mechanism already announced for the Eos 1D Mark III. Canon has also released a new firmware update for the Eos 1D Mark III. The update takes care of the following issues: Increases transmission speed when using high-speed SD cards, fixes a phenomenon involving not being able to release the shutter, improves AF tracking in specific conditions, and corrects errors in the Spanish and Korean menu screens. The update is available here.

Tuesday News Bytes

- The fine folks over at Lastolite have introduced a new All in One Umbrella Kit. The kit can be used as a silver or white bounce, a silver and white bounce or shoot through. The kit is available in two sizes featuring either an 80cm (34”) or 100cm (40”) Lastolite All in One Umbrella for $185 and $205 respectively. This is accompanied with a 4 section stand, hotshoe flash tilthead and a padded shoulder bag for quick and simple transportation.

- China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are expected to produce over 80 million digital still cameras in 2007 - up 27 percent year-on-year. Greater China accounted for more than 73 percent of global shipments in 2006. “Greater China manufacturers...are increasingly targeting mid- to higher-end markets with feature-rich products and competitive pricing. This trend has weeded out many entry-level companies, leaving a more robust manufacturing base.” commented Mark A. Saunderson, President of Global Sources’ Electronics Business Unit. Recently Fujifilm announced that they were moving production of their entire digital camera range to China.

- From DSLR dad, Moose Peterson, wildlife and landscape photographer extraordinaire, has launched a new section of his site devoted to the Nikon D3. As a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens, he has had the opportunity to shoot extensively with the D3 over the last month.
I really enjoyed shooting with the D3, know you will as well! This is just a user report based on my first month of shooting with the D3. It’s nowhere near complete, I have more I want to add, this is just a start. We have more to post but that won’t happen until we simply have more free time to get the writing done and videos edited. You can visit the D3 site here.

Monday news that has nothing to do with Black Friday

- The one thing that film has had over digital media is the ability to not lose images. If there is one thing that has frustrated more digital photographers it is that moment when they go to download their images, only to find that they have mysteriously disappeared. Especially after having just reviewed them on the camera LCD screen. If this has happened to you, then you know how important it is to have image recovery software. PhotoRestorer 2.2 will allow you to recover jpeg images from any media source and can be downloaded here. Another downloadable solution is DeleteFIX Photo which can recover numerous photo formats from your camera or you memory cards. It is available here. Other software includes: MediaRECOVER, Digital Photo Recovery, and many more. For a larger list, check out this link to c|net Downloads.

- Here's one from the Big Brother files. Researchers at the University of California -San Diego have developed software that will allow a digital camera to TAG a persons facial features in an image, very much like facial recognition. This tagging will allow a person to search image files for all photos of an individual later on. So say you are taking pictures of your child and have identified them as a tagged subject. You could then take numerous photos of other people and be able to search later by your child's tags to find images that contain their face. Say Cheese! Read the whole story over at gadgetell.com.

- The Nikon D300 has begun shipping from Amazon and B&H Photo. Both Amazon and B&H are currently out of stock; however, there are still a few D300’s available through Amazon via third party sellers.

- Nikon has released an update to their Nikon CaptureNX software for both Mac and Windows. The update is only for existing versions of CaptureNX. If you want to test run the software, you will need to download version 1.2. To start your downloads, go here.

- If you are in the market for a larger (over 40") inkjet printer, you might want to consider the following. Epson has rolled out its latest world-class wide format printer, the Epson Stylus Pro 9880 Printer. Continuing the evolution of the Stylus Pro series, the 44-inch printer uses Epson’s proprietary UltraChrome K3™ Ink Technology with Vivid Magenta for astonishing results. Its Eight-Channel MicroPiezo® AMC™ Print Head with Ink Repelling Coating manages 180 nozzles per channel, produces black density up to 2.55 with an L value of 2.9.

"This latest generation of Epson Stylus Pro printers, represent a level of technology never before seen in this market," said Mark Radogna, group product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America. "By collaborating with the world's greatest creative professionals, we've been able to advance the state of photographic printing to unprecedented levels." The printer was made available in October, with an estimated cost of $4,995 and one special edition of the printer, Epson Stylus Pro 9880 ColorBurst Edition will be launched around December at the cost of $5,995. For more 9880 info, click here.

Friday Artist of the Week

© Lasting Light

For a little inspiration, turn your browser towards the images over at Lasting Light. Beautiful imagery from the British countryside.