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The Goods

A photo printer/scanner that lets you dump the computer, a photo vest that's more sleek than geek, and other stuff you're gonna love.
- By Popphoto Staff on December 16, 2008
Second Coming
Epson's new Stylus Photo RX680 printer/scanner has all the features that made the earlier RX580 great, plus a few more. Hot: For just $200 (direct), it spits out 4x6 photos in 11 seconds, prints onto CDs and DVDs, and puts images and text on both sides of the paper. Image-editing tools let you do basic fixes without a computer. Not: No fax or built-in Wi-Fi (Bluetooth optional). (www.epson.com)
Dress Code
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Software Review: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Corel's latest version is a powerful image editor for lighthearted photographers.
- By Debbie Grossman on December 16, 2008
Hard as it may be to fathom in our Adobe-stocked world, there are other software companies with high-quality image-editors that could make any dedicated photographer productive and satisfied.
One such company is Corel, which, since its purchase of Jasc three years ago, has been steadily improving its photo editor, fixer, and organizer, Paint Shop Pro Photo, now in version X2 ($99 download, $59 upgrade).
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The Photographer's Guide to Media Servers

Sometimes merely storing your digital photos isn't enough. These four servers let you share your photos, videos, and music on a home network -- or even online.
- By Michael J. Mcnamara on December 16, 2008
Do you have a backup plan? You should! With digital image and video files growing in size and number, it's crazy to expect your computer's hard drive to last forever. (Ask anyone who's had a hard drive fail.)
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Digital Toolbox: Super Photoshop Secrets

Hint: None of them are in the CS3 program you thought you bought.
- By Debbie Grossman on December 16, 2008
Once upon a time -- okay, last year -- Adobe Bridge was just a glorified file browser and Camera Raw a neat alternative to the RAW processing software that came with your camera. But if you have Photoshop CS3 and you don't delve into these programs' newly added and extremely useful features, you're wasting your top-dollar investment. Here are five of my favorites, some so good that you may not even need to open Photoshop. Some of this great stuff wasn't here when CS3 first launched, so before you start, go to Help > Updates to ensure you have the latest versions.
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Software Spotlight: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Corel's new Paint Shop Pro X2 software is both an easy tool for fixing dynamic range and a powerful Tonemapper for the serious HDR enthusiast.
- By Jack Howard on December 16, 2008
In our article Easy Steps to Better Vacation Photos, we showed the High Dynamic Range (HDR) newbie how to use Corel's Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 to easily improve vacation photos. In the slideshow tutorial, you'll notice a couple of things missing, such as a HDR save option, and a Tonemapper that seems somehow lacking in a ton of sliders. Compared to Dynamic Photo HDR, with its amazing set of HDR adjustment tools, can the experienced HDR imager be happy with two simple sliders and no 32-bit save?
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Filter Factor

Polarizing filters aren't just for your lens -- bring 'em inside and put one on your light!
- By Peter Kolonia on December 16, 2008
Do you own a polarizing filter? If so, I bet you use it almost exclusively outdoors. Polarizers juice up landscapes with richer greens, make blue skies even bluer, eliminate color-muting reflections from water, and more.
But guess what? Polarizers can be just as useful indoors. In the portrait studio, for example, they can reduce or eliminate reflections from eyeglasses and tone down facial sheen caused by skin oils or lotions. In fact, for some portrait subjects, I find the best results come from using not one, but two polarizing filters.
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The Goods

A do-it-all compact, fit-it-all camera bag, hold-it-all tripod, and other now-we've-seen-it-all stuff.
- By Popphoto Staff on December 16, 2008
THE FIX IS IN
Samsung's ultracompact, new, 8-megapixel L83T ($280, estimated street) has more going for it than its small size and fast shutter speed (to 1/2000 sec). The camera's "E" button lets you adjust contrast, sharpness, and saturation; zap redeye; and convert to black-and-white. The image-editing extras don't stop there, though -- a "Fun" feature lets you create a composite by saving up to four images as one, change color, add frames and even text bubbles, all in-camera. Who needs software now? (www.samsungcamerausa.com)
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Five Must-Have Software Programs

These programs do everything from eradicate noise to mask backgrounds to recover the files you thought you'd lost.
- By Popphoto Staff on December 16, 2008
SEE OUR HIGH 5 ARCHIVE OF OVER 40 MUST-HAVE PRODUCTS!
1. DxO Optics Pro 4.5
Most serious photographers scorn automatic corrections, but this program is different: It fixes problems inherent to your specific lens/camera combination, lets you do quick and accurate color correction, optimizes dynamic range, and helps zap noise. DxO's latest update ($80-$300, direct, depending on version; free upgrade from versions 4.0, 4.1, and 4.2) can be integrated with Adobe's Lightroom software and includes a library of pro-designed presets. (www.dxo.com)
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Extreme Depth of Field with Helicon Focus

New software lets you to create images that are tack sharp from right in front of the camera to infinity -- even with macros and telephotos!
- By David Fitzsimmons on December 16, 2008
Extreme depth of field used to be the province of pinhole shooters and pricey view cameras, but now anyone with a manually-focusing camera, a tripod, a computer, and $30 can create images that are tack sharp from right in front of the camera to infinity -- even with macros and telephotos!
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New Printers from Epson

New models include the professional quality Epson Stylus Pro 11880, the large-format Stylus Pro 4880, 7880, and 9880, and four new C-series devices that use Epson's Durabrite ink set.
- By Aimee Baldridge on December 16, 2008
Epson has added a new printer and three all-in-ones to its line of inkjet devices that use Durabrite Ultra pigment-based inks. The printers use three individual color ink cartridges in addition to black ink, and are designed to produce high-quality images on both photo and plain paper. The all-in-one devices also offer functions such as copying, scanning, and faxing.
The 8.6-pound C120 printer uses dual black ink cartridges to achieve fast printing speeds, and offers a Quiet Print Mode to keep printer noise to a minimum. The C120 outputs photos at sizes up to 8x10.
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