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.