Over the years, the British Journal of Photography has reviewed hundreds of cameras from the leading manufacturers. Here is a list of all digital SLRs and links to their BJP reviews (registration required).

It was the worst-kept secrets of the summer. Last Thursday, in an private briefing with BJP, under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, Canon was showing off its new EOS 50D digital SLR. And on Monday, Nikon was doing the same with its D90 camera featuring video capabilities.

However, these meetings just confirmed what many photographers knew for days if not weeks. The 50D had been the subject of numerous rumours and speculations, and even an official confirmation when Canon's Chinese website published the camera's full specifications ahead of its launch. The page was quickly pulled offline, but it was already too late: copies of the page reached forums and specialised websites, thanks in main part to Google's habit to host a cache of each page it indexes.

The same happened with Nikon, which saw the full specifications of its new DSLR published days before on websites such as Nikonrumors. In fact even Nikon UK's group marketing manager Jeremy Gilbert acknowledged the leak. 'I'm sure you've all gone to Nikonrumors, but this is the official announcement,' he told the many journalists attending the press briefing and hoping for some surprise announcement.

For full coverage of the new mid-range additions, check BJP's article on Canon EOS 50D and our preview of Nikon's D90. Our 03 September print issue will also feature extended coverage of the two new cameras.

Canon has uploaded a strange teaser on its website. Featuring a moon and the shadow of a digital SLR, the teaser hints at a "destined evolution".

It has photographers talking about the possible long-awaited announcement of the the 5D Mark II or 6D as some people label it. Maybe Canon's press conference at Photokina in two weeks will clear things up. To view the teaser page, click here.

When the first Canon 5D was released more than three years ago, photographers flocked to the camera en masse. The digital SLR had one thing going for it: it was the first digital model to bring a film-like quality to images. No one was able to explain why or how. Not the photographers, and not even Canon. And for the past three years, photographers have been asking for a Mark II model that would increase the 5D burst rate, its weather sealing and include a sensor cleaning device, while keeping the same sensor and pixel count (12.7 million).

Canon has finally announced its 5D Mark II. While the camera keeps the same body, the rest is very different. Now sporting a 21.1 million pixel resolution sensor, photographers are asking: will the Mark II model offer the same film-like quality? BJP asked the question to Mike Owen, Canon's team leader in the DSLR product planning division. His answer: 'We hope so. We haven't done detailed testing yet,' he said. 'The benchmark is the 1Ds Mark III and we feel that the 5D Mark II brings a similar level of image quality.'

I guess photographers will have to judge for themselves once the camera is released in November. In the meantime, you can read BJP's article about the release.

Laforet Visuals and Canon have released a HD video showing the capabilities of the latest pro camera the EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR.

The video by Vincent Laforet is available on the Canon Digital Learning Center or on Laforet's website.

It was shot with a pre-production 5D MkII, without any manipulation, and using these lenses:
FD 7.5mm f/5.6 (converted to EF mount), EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, EF 50mm f/1.2L USM, EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, EF 135mm f/2L USM, EF 200mm f/1.8L USM, EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, TS-E 24mm f/3.5L, TS-E 45mm f/2.8.

Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony have just announced in a joint conference at Photokina the publication of guidelines to standardise metadata in JPEG files.

BJP was there, and you can read a full report on our website. But we thought we would share a few interesting points made during the press conference.

We now know that the guidelines will help developers across the six companies to engineer common metadata fields allowing for all imaging information to be transfered any other application without losing any data. While common details such as the name of the photographer, camera used and lens information are covered, the consortium also said that the fields would also support GPS information for the location of the photographer AND of the subject taken.

Adobe also said that currently 'in cases when data can be stored in more than one place, we duplicate it everwhere,' it said at the conference. Also, the consortium is looking at expanding its work to video files, especially since Canon and Nikon have introduced video capabilities to their newest cameras.

Vincent Laforet and Dan Chung both shot new videos using Canon's EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR. It's the second time Laforet has shared a movie he made using the first DSLR that can shoot 1080 high-definition video.

See Laforet's movie below.

Dan Chung, a photographer with the Guardian newspaper, has shot a video using the latest Canon 5D Mark II camera, which has HD-video capabilities.

Here is the video:

Canon EOS5DmkII, One night in Beijing. from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

In out latest issue, award-winning photojournalist Edmond Terakopian tries out the Canon EOS 5D Mk II's video capabilities by shooting his very first film, Muse. He also shot footage during a news assignment covering Gaza protests in London earlier this month.

Read Edmond's review here (Part 1) and here (Part 2) (no registration needed).

Here are the videos:

MUSE by Edmond Terakopian

Muse from Edmond Terakopian on Vimeo.

News footage by Edmond Terakopian

To view either of these films at full 1080HD, please visit: http://terakopian.smugmug.com/

NB - With the latest Mac 10.5.6 OS update, occasionally Safari will not load the video page on the first attempt. Please either refresh the page twice, or temporarily use Firefox.

Truly, they do things differently in Japan. A directive by Keidanren, a sort of Confederation of Japanese Industry, asks its members – Canon et al – to send workers home early twice a week. Why? So that they can make babies, of which their appears to be a dearth in the Land of the Rising Sun. Apparently, the now near-normal 12 hour working day is to blame for the low (1.34 children per couple) birth-rate, hence the initiative. Mind you, sending the staff home ‘early’ means 5.30pm, so a similar move in this country might struggle to capture the public imagination.

Source: CNN.

The new Canon EOS 500D, which was unveiled this morning and will be released in early May, is now the cheapest digital SLR to offer a Full-HD video mode. Video was first introduced to DSLR by Nikon with the D90. However, it only offered 720p resolution. Canon also added video to one of its models in September last year with the Full-HD EOS 5D Mark II. Now, the 500D offers the same video features (albeit with a lower frame rate - 20fps for the 500D compared to 30fps for the 5D MkII) for £870. Now, let's see if and how Nikon will react... in the meantime, here are seven product shots of the 500D.

Six more after the jump.

Excitement hit the BJP offices recently with the arrival of Canon’s latest DSLR offering in the EOS 500D, as presented by the BJP here.

Provided below is a step-by-step photographic slide of the ‘Unboxing’ process, normally a sacred bond between camera and owner. The 15.1 million pixel camera sporting full high-definition video is due to be released on 01 May.

Photography by Tim Boddy

UPDATE: Canon has asked Vincent Laforet to remove his video. We will update this post once it is back online.

Vincent Laforet has been able to get his hands on a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV camera in the past few weeks and he (along with around 50 technicians) has worked on this short movie. 'Not a single external light source was used / added,' he says. 'The ISO stayed locked in the 6400 ASA range - with a very few shots hovering 1 stop above and one or two set to 3200 ASA because we had TOO MUCH depth of field…(on the bridge.)...' See for yourself:

Nocturne from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.