Nikon DSLRs and Canon Compacts Sell Over Black Friday Weekend

by Karen M. Cheung
November 28, 2006 – Notoriously known as the busiest shopping days of the year between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, brick-and-mortar and online retailers alike cut prices and eliminated shipping charges sending consumers to the malls and to their computers in droves.  Among some of the best sellers this weekend were Nikon DSLRs and Canon point-and-shoots, according to retailers. 

With over 140 million shoppers hitting the stores on the Black Friday weekend and another 61 million customers shopping online on Monday, according to the National Retail Federation, consumers spent on average $360.15 this past weekend. 

Digital SLRs showed strong sales this holiday shopping weekend, said Ritz Camera Centers Inc. chairman David Ritz to Photo Marketing Association.  According to the company website, DSLRs made up three of the top ten best sellers at Ritz, including the Nikon D200, Nikon D40, and Sony A100.  The Nikon Coolpix S9 point-and-shoot was also popular.  “The biggest things are the new 10-megapixel models, at affordable price points,” said Ritz.

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Digital Cameras Gift Guide 2006

If you are looking for the gift that lasts a lifetime in memories, Photoxels has a digital camera gift guide up, just in time for Christmas.  They have divided their list into three categories.

Point and Shoot (P&S)

As their name implies, these digital cameras are Point-and-Shoot simple to use. They have AUTO mode for general shooting, plus many Scene Modes to tackle special shooting situations.

Serious

When you are ready to go past point-and-shoot and want to learn more about how to use your digital camera to take great pictures, you need a digital camera that provides exposure flexibility and allows you to experiment.

Digital SLRs

For the best image quality and fast response times, nothing beats a digital SLR. Choose carefully and you can find one that will suit your specialized photographic needs -- especially with the addition of interchangeable lenses, filters, external flash units and other accessories you may never see offered for a non-DSLR camera.

You'll find the guide here.

ACDSee 9 photo Editing Software

ACD Systems is taking aim at the consumer market with a suite of offerings perfect for the hobbyist or novice photographer. They are currently highlighting two software programs directed at the everyday photographer, including ACDSee 9 Photo Manager, the company's updated digital photo management system for enthusiasts. ACDSee 9 photo editing software offers new, simplified resources for taking control of growing photo collections. The company also is introducing ACDSee Photo Editor, a new photo-editing tool that provides intuitive editing capabilities.

ACDSee photo editor software
"We've taken some of the best features that we've created for the professional photographer and have made them more accessible for anyone who needs better solutions to manage, organize and enhance their photo collections," said James Latham, vice president of marketing for ACDSee Systems. "With the popularity of digital photography, people are really starting to discover the creative possibilities and want more features and functionality than ever, but not that long learning curve." ACDSee Photo Editor has unique advantages for photographers of any skill level to not only correct and enhance, but also to get creative with their photos. Simple step-by-step instructions for basic to more advanced photo editing projects. Repair blemishes, spots and scratches quickly and easily. One-click auto adjustments include color balance and levels, sharpen and contrast.

ACDSee photo editor - Photo layouts
Single image repair and refinement along with multi-image composition capabilities typically found in more technical photo editing software systems. Helpful on-screen instructions and creative hints walk the user through the tasks and projects that they want to accomplish. Includes tools for scrapbooking and collage creation, along with the ability to make personalized cards, frames, stationary and even customized wine labels. Photo layouts with multiple photos, text, lines, shapes and special effects are also possible. ACDSee Photo Editor is the only software system that offers a vignette feature - perfect for creating portrait-style shots.

ACDSee 9 photo editing software - Photo viewing
ACDSee 9 minimizes the time it takes to load and view photo collections. Even large photo files can be displayed instantaneously. This makes opening digital photo files faster and easier than ever. Photo collections can now be showcased right on your desktop. Photos no longer have to stay buried away in the recesses of hard drives. This feature automatically plays a file of selected photo collections in a sleek slide show format. This option automatically organizes photos based on the dates they were taken. Protects personal photos in a password-secured area so that only the user can view them. Takes the work out of photo organization by automatically storing photos by convenient categories including personal photo favorites (based on a one-to- five rating system), file properties, etc.

ACDSee editing software - Photo collections
For ACDSee, the expansion from the professional to the mainstream photography market makes sense as the digital photography industry nears maturation. Research shows that nearly 80 percent of U.S. camera owners have gone digital, and more than 40 percent are now on their second or third digital camera. According to Latham, that means today's typical photographer has become much more savvy and needs greater capabilities when it comes to organizing, managing and editing personal photo collections.

Acdsee 9 Photo Manager Mini Box

About ACD Systems
Headquartered in British Columbia since 1993, ACD Systems International Inc. is one of the world's leading developers and marketers of digital imaging software, including the renowned ACDSee image management tool and Canvas, an advanced cross-platform technical illustration and graphics program. ACD has delivered value to a global marketplace through Internet distribution and partnerships with manufacturers and developers. ACD has millions of consumer and business users, and over 33,000 corporate customers and many Fortune 500 companies.

Portable Camera Companion

The new Creative ZEN Vision W portable video, photo and MP3 player features a high resolution, 4.3-inch, 16:9 format, colour widescreen TFT display for viewing up to 240 hours of video, tens of thousands of photos, and it can carry up to 15,000 songs.

According to Creative , the ZEN Vision W is the ideal as a portable camera companion. Featuring a built-in Compact Flash slot, users can now easily import photos directly from a digital camera without a PC.

“The Creative Zen Vision W is the ultimate travel accessory. It has been designed for versatility with both 30GB and 60GB models available, and support for a large selection of video and image formats,” said Vaiju Deb Senior Product and Marketing Executive Creative Labs Australia.

Digital Video

The Creative ZEN Vision W supports a wide selection of video formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4-SP, MJPEG and XviD, for playback of video clips and movies downloaded from the Internet. The Creative ZEN Vision W also supports digitised home movies transferred from the PC. The removable rechargeable battery provides up to 4.5 hours of video playback.

Digital Photos

The Creative ZEN Vision W can carry tens of thousands of photos, making it the perfect destination for offloading photos to free up space on your digital camera’s storage card.

The convenient Plug&View™ slot on the side of the player supports both Compact Flash Type I and Type II media. An optional Compact Flash Adapter plugs directly into the Compact Flash slot to accept other popular memory card types including SmartMedia, MultiMedia Card and Secure Digital.

For sharing photos with family and friends, a convenient composite AV-out connection enables stunning full colour, 720 x 480 image output on any size NTSC TV screen, or 720 x 576 image output on any size PAL TV screen. Users can watch slide shows set to favourite music, which can be played through headphones, the built-in speaker on the face of the player, or by connecting speakers such as a Creative I-Trigue® 2.1 system.

Additional Features

The 4.3-inch colour widescreen on the Creative ZEN Vision W displays the patented ZEN user interface to access music, photos and video.

It also includes:

• Built-in microphone - Volume levels displayed on screen for optimum recording quality



• Organizer - Provides calendar, tasks and contact lists, and synchronises with Microsoft Outlook



• Extras - Enables setting of Date & Time, plus allocation of Removable Disk space for dedicated storage clock - A clock with wake-to-any-music alarm, colour themes and different languages for further customisation



• The Creative ZEN Vision W connects to the PC via USB 2.0 for fast, easy transfer of content. Other optional accessories, include a Compact Flash Adapter, screen protector, standing case, travel charger, wired remote and IR remote.

Creative Zen Vision W 30 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player

Halloween Photo Tips

October is a great month to take pictures. The humid hazy days of summer have given way to crisp cool days with clear air and bright blue skies. The perfect combination for sparkling photographs! The sun is lower in the sky, providing wonderful long shadows in early morning and late afternoon. So conditions are perfect for photographers — amateur or professional — to get out there and take great pictures.

Photojojo has a piece up currently titled Our Ghoulish Guide to Scary Snaps, a guide to help you get great photos on our favorite holiday.

How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way

Over on Photojojo website they remind us about Photo-a-day projects, or Project365.  Starting a project wherein you take at least one photo a day for a full year is a great way to improve your photography skills.  I did it once for a year solid and it really helped me force myself to look at the world in a more creative and analytical way.  Don't get discouraged if every photo you take isn't a prize winner.  It's about you and your growth

My PAD (photo-a-day) galleries are here.  I host my galleries on PBase who has a special place for photographers doing photo-a-day projects and people from all over the world share and compare their works. 

I highly recommend this type of project if you are a budding photographer!

Zingfu - Photo Fun for Everyone

Ever wanted to see yourself up on a giant screen in Times Square? On the cover of Rolling Stone? Ever wondered what you’d look like in a plane full of snakes, or as George Costanza in his infamous semi-nude portrait?

Introducing Zingfu.

A simple site, with a simple goal: to let you make campy compositions with your photos. There’s nearly 100 different templates (anti-motivational posters, celebrities, magazines, embarrassing situations of all kinds) and they don’t charge a nickel.