As if there weren't enough photo-sharing sites, Nikon's Picturetown is up an running for folks in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. This is in addition to a bunch of European countries.

Basically, if you've got a Nikon camera with WiFi you can point, click, upload and share, all from the camera without a PC.

Seems interesting enough but it's hard to see why Nikon would go into the web site business when services like Flickr, .Mac and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace already make image sharing so easy.

 Nikon • Photo-sharing • Picturetown

From Techblog a few weeks ago:

The "Focus" has been designed by Manuael Prada as a concept camera. Is this the most significant potential change in SLR camera design of the last 30 years?

 dSLR • Focus • Prada

I've not used Photoshop Express or Flickr but I know that many people have an interest in these services. They've been integrated so that you can store and edit images in Photoshop Express and then send images directly to Flickr for sharing.

I must admit that I was a little surprised when, a couple of weeks ago, Adobe announced that Creative Suite 3 Design Premium applications could be used on a subscription basis rather that the traditional purchase model. So far, Australia is the only market where this offered. It's worth noting that many software vendors use Australia as a test market (we were lucky enough to be the first market to get product activation from Microsoft).

“Available only in Australia, the Creative Suite 3 Design Premium Subscription Edition allows communications professionals and designers to have access to the latest version of the industry’s leading design suite in a new flexible payment method,” said Peter McAlpine, Australia and New Zealand country manager at Adobe. “We are excited to offer the subscription Edition to our customers in Australia first and look forward to their feedback before we consider extending it to other parts of the world.”

I resisted the urge to post on this impulsively as there was already plenty of coverage (and I'm not a fan of "me to" blogging). What I've been thinking about is whether subscription software is a good thing at all.

When I need a piece of software I walk into a shop (or browse to one), make a decision, hand over some cash or plastic and collect a box/DVD/array of strategic placed ones and zeroes. I understand that I can use it for as long as I like without having to spend any more. Subscription is different - you're effectively renting the software.

The estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium Subscription Edition is AU$129 per month for a 12 month contract and AU$199 per month with no contract (month-by-month payment). That's compared with a street price of about AU$2500 for purchase. We've done some further checking and learned the folowing.

The purchase price for customers converting from subscription to perpetual license will be discounted at a rate yet to be confirmed.

Why go to a subscription? For some businesses it makes sense as a way to charge customers. If you need to use a specific application for a job, you can charge the customer for that application in a quite granular way rather than having to offset a software purchase over a long period of time. On the other hand, if the client comes back in six months, you'll need to resubscribe, even if it's only for a 10-minute job. That means you'll either have to wear the subscription cost for that time or charge the customer a higher-than-normal price.

I'm wondering what the real motivation from Adobe is. Are they trying to take away the incentive to pirate their software? Is this a way to convert occasional users that would "borrow" the software into paying users? In my view, if Adobe allows "renters" to offset the purchase cost with the rental they've paid then this is a good idea.

Personally, I doubt that I'd ever rent. I prefer to pay for my software and use it when and where I want. However, I can see where this might benefit a small group of users and help Adobe with revenue protection.

It's been a while since I've run a competition but after having a product briefing with the folks from Sandisk, I've got one. Here's what you need to do.

Most of us have super-powerful mobile phones with so many functions that we scarcely even know what they can do. Sandisk have been running a promotion recently called Wake Up Your Phone!. The aim is to get people using more of the features they've paid for on their phone.

I've got an 8GB microSDHC card that comes with a MobileMate Micro Reader to give to a mobile phone photographer. This is brand new, never used and very cool!

Here's the prize, shot with my Nokia N95 in the corner of the hotel I'm staying at tonight.

All you need to do is

1. Shoot a photo with your mobile phone of someone or something you love


2. Tell me, in 25 words or less, what makes that person or object so special to you

How easy is that?

To enter you need to email me the photo and the explanation. It must be shot with a mobile phone and not touched up or enhanced with Photoshop or any other image enhancement software. In other words, it needs to be an image straight from the phone.

The address for entries is

competitions@pocketmojo.net

The final decision of the recipient of this fine prize will be mine. Questions can be sent to the same address. The winner will be notified by email and their entry will posted - image and words - to this site. The prize includes shipping.

Entries close at 1:00AM on 2 May 2008. That's local Melbourne, Australia time (GMT +10:00)

 Competition • Sandisk

There's a great post over at The Nokia Blog about how to send photos from your N Series phone straight to Flickr.

Definitely worth a look!

 Flickr • Nokia N-Series

A couple of weeks ago I went to a media briefing for the launch of the new Sony alpha digital cameras and was talking to another journalist. I asked him why consumers would consider Aperture when iPhoto well and truly passes the "good enough" test. When I went to Apple's Aperture roadshow (see this report) I saw that software do some amazing things at the hands of one of Apple's product specialists.

One of the Aperture's main advantages is its handling of RAW files - the format that dSLR shooters use. RAW isn't an image format per se - it's the data that comes off the camera's sensor. Aperture lets you do some sensational transformations to RAW images. What I discovered tonight, when I imported some images from my Nikon D80 using iPhoto, was that iPhoto can handle RAW files. Now, if you use Photoshop for tweaking your images, it's hard to see why you'd need Aperture.

As an aside, the ability for Macs to use RAW files isn't built into applications - it's in the operating system That means RAW files should look the same in all programs.

Now, iPhoto can't do everything Aperture can. However, I'd venture that most serious photographers would have a copy of Photoshop and the combination of iPhoto and Photoshop might just be enough for many photographers. That said, I can see the attraction of Aperture 2. It's clean interface isn't as glitzy as iPhoto but it has all the tools a photographer needs close at hand. Whereas iPhoto is focussed on organisation and showing photos off, Aperture is about tweaking and workflow.

Many of the differences between iPhoto and Aperture might only be superficial but they are all about their target audiences.

 Aperture • iPhoto • Photography

I love learning new stuff. HDR, or High Dynamic Range imaging, is a photography technique that overlays a number of identical images shot at different exposure levels. There's a nice tutorial over at The Nokia Blog on how to shoot images and then apply this technique.

You need equipment beyond your camera phone. A tripod and keyboard are necessary so that your images have as little change as possible. The tripod keeps your camera in one place. The keyboard prevents you from touching your phone and causing any disturbances.

Great stuff!

 HDR • N-Series • photography

OK - I've had a very quiet day as far as posting has gone as I've been really busy working. However, just because I've not been posting doesn't mean the world's stopped spinning. Nikon has announced some new cameras today.

Firstly, there's these three new Coolpix models from Nikon.

COOLPIX P80 - RRP $599.00
COOLPIX S52 - RRP $399.00
COOLPIX S52c -RRP $449.00

All prices are in Australian dollars and they're expected to hit the shelves in May 2008.

Also, if you're running a Nikon D40, there's a new firmware update that resolves issues where shooting times aren't always accurately recorded.

 Nikon • Nikon Coolpix • Nikon D40

Over at Digital Photography School there's a good post offering advice on wehat to do when you see the dreaded "Card Corrupt" or "Meeory Card Not Formatted" message n your camera's screen.

Definitely worth reading and bookmarking for future reference.

Remember folks - there are tow type of memory cards: those that have failed and those that are about to fail.