Panasonic Workshops Complement Digital Camera Line for 2007

Panasonic LUMIX will launch the Digital Photo Academy, a new site and workshop series that will be held in 20 cities around the U.S., beginning in May 2007. The courses will be taught by photographers and experts in their local area, and will primarily focus on teaching owners of digital cameras how to take advantage of all their available features. The goal is to maximize students' creativity, make photography more enjoyable, and -- with additional knowledge and control of their photographic tools -- bring the quality of their digital images to a new level.

The digital photography workshops will offer three levels of courses:

• Beginner - 3-hour course that covers red-eye reduction, creating scrapbooks and other basic digital photography skills useful even to those who own point-and-shoot digital cameras
• Intermediate - 4-hour course that emphasizes the accuracy and flexibility of digital SLRs
• Advanced - 2-day course that covers more advanced, "professional-level" photography skills

Even though the series is sponsored by Panasonic Lumix, attendees do not have to own a Panasonic camera to attend; students are welcome to bring any brand of digital camera to the workshops.

Panasonic Lumix has teamed up with R2Rainmaker Marketing to create the workshop series and to recruit the professional photographers and other photography experts that will serve as instuctors.

The Digital Photo Academy web site is currently under construction, but should be active by late-April 2007. It will allow visitors to view the workshop schedule, access class materials and read profiles of the instructors.

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Panasonic Lumix has also been busy on the product side of the house, announcing a long list of new Panasonic Lumix cameras earlier this year.

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Typical of the high value in the new line is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8K. This camera offers a 7.2-megapixel CCD, Intelligent Image Stabilization, 11-point autofocus, and other features that are usually found in a much more expensive digital SLR. In addition, the camera has a 12x optical zoom Leica lens, which gives the equivalent of a 36mm to 432mm zoom lens in a 35mm film camera. In the DSLR world, a lens with this range will cost several hundred dollars on its own, yet Panasonic is offering the DMC-FZ8K for less than $350.00.

With its new line of Lumix cameras and new workshop series, there can be no doubt that Panasonic is committed to digital photography as an important part of its consumer electronics offerings.

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Tags: Digital Cameras, Panasonic Digital Cameras,Panasonic Lumix Digital Cameras, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, digital photography workshops, photography classes, photography lessons, Panasonic Cameras

Photography School Is In Session

Starting next month and running through the first half of 2007, the Nikon School of Photography will be coming to a town near you. Well, the two-day courses are being held from Washington to southern California to Florida to Massachusetts, so hopefully they are being held somewhere within a reasonable drive.

The first day of the course is entitled "Introduction to Digital SLR Photography," with the second named "Next Steps in Digital." (You don't have to register for both days; individual course registrations are welcome.) Obviously the courses will be focused on digital photography. The first course is aimed at beginning digital photographers or those who are still contemplating the purchase of their first digital SLR. The "Next Steps" course is for photographers with some experience (or those who have just attended the first day), and want to take their knowledge to a higher level.

You can find more information about the 2006-2007 photography courses offered by Nikon at http://www.nikonschool.com/.

By the way, Nikon also offers courses in underwater photography using both Coolpix cameras as well as the high-end Nikon digital SLRs. (Use of the equipment is included in the price of the course.) If you are an experienced diver -- this is not a diving course -- and would like to learn about underwater photography, this course may be a great way to improve yourself and treat yourself to a Caribbean vacation at the same time. You can find more information at http://www.nikonschool.com/underwater.html.

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Tags: Digital Cameras, Photography Courses, Underwater Photography, Nikon Cameras, Digital Photography