Training DVD Offers View Of Photography Through The Eyes Of A Pro

Few aspiring photographers get to sit in on a commercial shoot, but thanks to a new DVD series from Blue Crane Digital, anyone can watch a professional in action. “Through the Eyes of a Pro: Advanced Techniques for DSLR Cameras” offers an opportunity to peer over the shoulder of famed commercial photographer, Tim Mantoani, as he works with light and lenses.

Although the two-volume set focuses on developing the photographer rather than teaching camera-specific skills, Blue Crane Digital produced separate titles for Nikon and Canon users.

Through the Eyes of a Pro: Advanced Techniques for Canon DSLR Cameras Volumes 1 & 2

Through the Eyes of a Pro: Advanced Techniques for Nikon DSLR Cameras Volumes 1 & 2

The separate titles offer some of Mantoani’s insights into using Canon and Nikon gear, and highlight how he uses these products for professional and personal shoots.

Mantoani is not only a great photographer, but also a talented teacher. With nearly 20 years of experience creating cover shots, portraits, and sports images, Mantoani understands how to get amazing results on a consistent basis. “Through the Eyes of a Pro” is designed not only to educate, but to inspire viewers to try new techniques and shoot more photographs. Mantoani reveals his approach to creating a great image, and offers photo assignments designed to help viewers develop their photographic style. Blue Crane Digital has been filming sequences and editing footage for the DVDs for the past several months.

In Volume 1, Mantoani explains the building blocks for making great photographs. These fundamentals are repeated throughout the DVD set to demonstrate how specific elements contribute to making an image. Viewers will follow Mantoani through an outdoor portrait session, and to a sports shoot. They will also learn how to select equipment, and more importantly, where to spend and where to save. Volume 2 follows Mantoani through a professional stock photography shoot. With video cameras recording over his shoulder, Mantoani explains how he brings the light, setting, and story together to create a salable image. Viewers will also learn what it takes to make that leap from amateur to professional photographer, and, once there, how to make their business grow. Through the Eyes of a Pro”, Volumes 1 & 2, will be available for $24.99, at photo specialty and on-line retailers nationwide.

Through the Eyes of a Pro”, Volumes 1 & 2 and all Blue Crane Digital DVDs are distributed by OmegaSatter, based outside of Baltimore, MD.

Visit www.omegasatter.com
Provided by Shutterbug.com

Kelby Training Provides New Online Training Service

Kelbytraining.com has recently launched a new training model, the new Kelby Training subscription service. Previously, you took classes on an 'a la carte' basis - paying for the individual classes that you wanted. Now they’ve wrapped all of those classes up into one product and made it available as either a monthly or yearly service!

Classes include Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, Dreamweaver, Camera RAW, etc. For $19.99 a month ($17.99 if you are a NAPP member) or $199 a year ($179 for NAPP), you can take classes with the best instructors in the industry - all under one roof. These include the following:

· Katrin Eismann
· Bert Monroy
· Dan Margulis
· Dave Cross
· Ben Willmore
· Matt Kloskowski
· Eddie Tapp
· John Paul Caponigro
· Terry White
· Moose Peterson
· Joe McNally
· Rich Harrington
· David Ziser
· Fay Sirkis
· Corey Barker
· Vincent Versace

Click here to go to the site now.

FujiFilm Announces Wide Format InkJet Printing Now Available At Sam’s Club Locations

Sam’s Club Members Can Now Print Poster-Sized Images On-Demand, in Minutes, Hours or Days

“We are always looking for ways to improve services and bring new revenue opportunities to our customers, and we’re especially excited to be working with Sam’s Club on rolling this out to their stores across the country,” said Thomas Curley, director of marketing for lab solutions, Imaging Division, FUJIFILM U.S.A. “The posters can be produced in a variety of sizes on the same day, at reasonable cost, and represent additional revenue for the photofinishing side of their business.”

Poster printing and signage services are now available at more than 580 Sam’s Club locations throughout the United States. The solution combines an EPSON/FUJIFILM Stylus Pro 7800 wide format inkjet printer, provided by Fujifilm Hunt Chemicals for Fujifilm Frontier Systems, with the Frontier Photo Controller (PIC) Version 3, and Fujifilm’s Image IntelligenceTM for enhanced color management.

Sam’s Club members can bring their images to any location, and print out images or signs in sizes ranging from 11”x14” to 20”x30”. In addition, this is one of the only on-demand solutions that will produce mounted poster prints, up to 20”x24”, in a matter of minutes. Fujifilm RC Semi-Gloss Boards fuse photo quality inkjet paper to museum class mount boards. The combination is fed directly into the printer, making it easy to go from printer to presentation.

With this offering, Sam’s Club members can create posters for student or office presentations, create signage for community group meetings and small businesses, as well as make creative decorations for parties and milestone celebrations.

“This is an exciting new addition to our capabilities at Sam’s Club Photo Centers and positions us to better help our members with both their business and personal graphic needs,” said Michael Chaney, merchandise director, Sam’s Club. “We believe our members will find this printing solution convenient and superior in quality to similar production techniques.”

New Firmware Update For Sony A-700 DSLR

Sony has released firmware version 3 for the DSLR-A700 digital SLR. Available now from the Sony support website. Addressed in the update:

- Resolves an issue where the Access Lamp remains lit and the camera stops responding when several pictures are taken in rapid succession.
- Resolves an issue where powering the camera off while in "MR" mode may cause some registered settings to carry over to other shooting modes.
- Sharper images for pictures taken under low contrast conditions.
- Reduced noise for pictures taken at ISO 3200.
- Improved flash control for objects closer than 1 meter with non ADI controlled lenses.

Visit the Sony A700 firmware download page to download update and read instructions.

Andy Summers Of The Police Releases Photo Book

After the sound checks, in between the room service and before the groupies attacked, Andy Summers, the guitarist of the Police, used to sneak off into deserted America with a black Leica tucked under his arm. He'd spend hours alone wandering through Seattle, Albuquerque, Fresno — hiding in the shadows of the scenery and snapping pictures to illustrate life during the frenzied early '80s, which marked the height of success for the rock supergroup.

"When you're traveling around in a large entourage and being in a group where you're supposed to share ideas, photography was a way for me to have autonomy over my own universe," Summers said, speaking by phone from his Los Angeles home, where he was packing as the band — Summers, Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland — prepared to hit the road again for its reunion tour.

"I'll Be Watching You: Inside the Police 1980-83," is the recently released work in which Summers compiled hundreds of his pictures with dated journal entries.

Read the entire article about the book from The Honolulu Advertiser.

Panasonic Releases DMC-L10 Firmware v1.1

Panasonic has released firmware v1.1 for its recent DMC-L10 digital SLR.

Update includes:
- Improved the performance of AF(Auto Focus) with Panasonic lenses. (Model Number L-ES014050,L-RS014150).
- Improved the performance of AE (An accuracy improvement of Auto Exposure at night scene).
- Improved the performance of AWB(Auto White Balance).
- Shortened the minimum shooting intervals on the single shooting mode.
- Enabled the Front/Rear dial operations in the fine white balance adjustment and the change of magnifying position on the MF Assist in Live View mode.

Download the v1.1 Firmware update for the DMC-L10.

Times-Picayune's McCusker Sentenced To 6 Months Probation

John McCusker, a staff photographer for the Times-Picayune, was placed on six months inactive probation and fined almost $900 as the result of a 2006 incident in which he pinned one police officer between the rear bumper of his car and a police cruiser and then drove away, starting a chase that ended with the photographer trying to goad police into shooting him to death.

A plea deal, which the Times-Picayune says was reached Thursday, gave McCusker, 44, probation instead of jail time and leaves open the possibility of the charges being eventually dismissed. He also agreed to take a weekly drug test for six consecutive weeks, the paper said, in an agreement with Judge Camille Buras that's commonly referred to in court as an "Alford plea," a deal that means McCusker doesn't admit any guilt but instead agrees with the court that it is in his best interest to stop fighting the charges.

When the incident happened in early August 2006, police said McCusker was depressed over learning that he didn't have enough insurance money to rebuild his home, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Police commander James Arey, of the New Orleans police department's SWAT and police negotiating team, said at the time that McCusker was "really fine professional who was so depressed that he set out today to commit suicide by cop. It was to the great credit of the police officers on this scene that they would not do what he wanted and kill him but instead apprehended him alive by Tasering him.”

McCusker had returned to work one month before the encounter with police after taking a one-month leave of absence during which he spent the time away from the newspaper “sleeping off exhaustion and attending therapy sessions three times a week,” according to an article in the American Journalism Review by Mark Lisheron. McCusker’s family stayed in Alabama for four months while the photojournalist covered the aftermath of Katrina’s destruction of his hometown.

On August 8, 2006, New Orleans police tried to pull over McCusker when they saw him driving erratically near Napoleon Avenue and Baronne Street. Police said that after he hit several cars, he pulled over but refused to get out of his vehicle, telling police, "Just kill me, get it over with, kill me." The photographer put his car in reverse and pinned one officer between the rear of his car and a police car before driving away, starting the chase.

When news of McCusker's arrest spread through the journalism community, friends and co-workers responded with compassion and financial support. A relief fund that was already in place to help Times-Picayune staffers who lost their homes to Katrina also collected funds to help McCusker, and by the week after his arrest the fund had already received $10,000 in donations on his behalf.

In this week's plea deal, the charge of aggravated flight from a police officer, a felony, was reduced to resisting an officer, which is a misdemeanor, and a second charge of battery on a police officer was reduced to simple battery, also a misdemeanor. The Times-Picayune said McCusker apologized to the police officer and part of the restitution he's agreed to pay will go to the officer. In six months McCusker, who returned to work at the newspaper in January, can ask the court to dismiss the charges entirely.
provided by National Press Photographers Association.

Three New Digital Camera Reviews

Three new links have been added to the Recent Digital Camera Reviews section.

Panasonic DMC-L10 DSLR
Sony CyberShot DSC-H3
Sony CyberShot DSC-T2

Also, new links in the Budget & DIY Suggestions section include 'Product Light Box' and 'Studio Light Kit'.

Scott Kelby Reference Page On Amazon.com

Being a photographer and Adobe Photoshop user it made sense to finally join the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Not only do I already own several instructional books from Scott Kelby, President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), including “The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers” which is essential reading for anyone using or planning to use Adobe’s awesome Lightroom application, I’ve also recently picked up Kelby’s new “7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3” book. I can’t recommend his books and blog enough.

I’ve been a member of NAPP for only a couple of weeks now, and I already have improved my Photoshop knowledge base and skills. The amount of information in the form of tips, tutorials, articles, forums, etc., from the NAPP website is overwhelming. That doesn’t even include all of the great information within the pages of the Photoshop User Magazine that is part of the NAPP membership or the optional Layers Magazine subscription.

Keep all of this in mind as I’m about to shill for Scott Kelby again (and will probably continue to do so), as Amazon.com now provides a Scott Kelby Boutique page with links and information pertaining to his many publications and short video clips about his books.

Fifth Official Lensbaby Photo Contest Ends Monday 12.17.07

Lensbabies recently launched the Fifth Official Lensbaby Photo Contest. The theme of the competition is Creative Bokeh, and entries must be taken with a Lensbaby lens and a creative aperture. Entrants are encouraged to use the Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit to cut their own apertures and capture original shapes and effects in blurred specular highlights. The kit works with Lensbaby 2.0 and 3G lenses. Lensbabies recommends that photographers using the Original Lensbaby craft their own aperture discs out of plastic, paper, or cardboard to participate in the contest. Photographs taken with standard round Lensbaby aperture discs are not eligible.

The Lensbabies Web site will accept submissions until noon PDT on December 17, 2007. Lensbabies has invited PopPhoto.com Online Technology Editor Jack Howard to judge the submitted images on the basis of originality, visual impact, technical proficiency, and adherence to the Creative Bokeh theme. The photographer who submits the image he selects will be awarded a Manfrotto 718B tripod and a one-year subscription to Popular Photography & Imaging Magazine.

A Popular Vote Prize will also be awarded to the photographer who captures the image selected by members of the online Lensbabies Friends Forum. The Popular Vote winner will also receive a Manfrotto 718B tripod and a one-year subscription to Popular Photography & Imaging.

Winners will be announced on December 21, 2007: For complete contest rules, go to the Lensbabies Web site.

Kelby Hands-On With Nikon D300 DSLR

Scott Kelby, editor and publisher of Photoshop User Magazine, Layers magazine (the how-to magazine for everything Adobe) and President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) provides his two cents regarding the new Nikon D300 DSLR.

Scott has personally put the camera through its paces and shares his insight on his Photoshop Insider Blog.

Adobe Camera RAW 4.3.1 Update and DNG Converter

Adobe DNG Converter The Adobe DNG Converter, a free utility that converts files from more than 150 cameras to DNG, enables you to easily convert camera-specific raw files to a more universal DNG raw file. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras. Digital Negative was developed to address the lack of an open standard for the proprietary and unique raw files created by each digital camera. DNG allows photographers to archive their raw camera files in a single format for easy cataloging and access in the future. With the format specification freely available, any developer can build software that supports and takes advantage of DNG.

For more information, visit the Digital Negative page. Camera Raw 4.3.1 update Support for the following camera has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
Canon PowerShot G9
Nikon D3
Nikon D300
Olympus E-3
Olympus SP-560 UZ
Panasonic DMC-L10

The Camera Raw 4.3.1 plug-in is not compatible with versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS3, versions of Photoshop Elements earlier than Photoshop Elements 4.01 for Macintosh or Photoshop Elements 5.0 for Windows, or versions of Premiere Elements earlier than 3.0. The latest versions of the Camera Raw plug-in available for previous Adobe software titles are listed below:

Mac
Photoshop CS2: Camera Raw 3.7
Photoshop Elements 3.0: Camera Raw 3.6

Windows
Photoshop CS2: Camera Raw 3.7
Photoshop Elements 4.0: Camera Raw 3.7
Photoshop Elements 3.0: Camera Raw 3.6

Downloads
Camera Raw 4.3.1 for Mac and Windows
Camera Raw 4.3.1 bundled with DNG Converter for Mac and Windows

New Fees For Filming And Photography On Public Lands

The House Committee on Natural Resources recently heard NPPA president Tony Overman testify, along with representatives of other media interest groups, that proposed new rules governing photography, news gathering, and filmmaking in federal parks and in wildlife refuges must be carefully considered so as to not restrict any press freedoms.

The hearing was in response to the Department of the Interior's proposed "New Fees For Filming And Photography On Public Lands" which seeks to update and standardize long-standing permit requirements and fees for shooting on land managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

"The new rules would require many photographers to pay a fee, receive a permit, and submit to significant conditions before being allowed to photograph on public land.”

Read the entire NPPA article.

Closer Look At The Nikon D300 DSLR

Popular Photography & Imaging takes a closer look the Nikon D300 DSLR. Here is an excerpt:

"From the outside, the D300 looks a lot like the D200. But what's on the inside pushed the D300 to new performance records in the Pop Photo Lab:

• It's the first DSLR to earn an Excellent image quality rating from ISO 200 all the way up to ISO 3200.

• It sports the fastest (and most sophisticated) AF we've tested so far.

A major factor in the D300's stellar image quality is the new Sony-made 12.3MP (effective) CMOS sensor that captures RAW data with up to 14 bits of color per red, green, and blue channels. Most other DSLRs in this class only provide 12 bits per channel. This gives the D300 an advantage in reproducing fine color gradations, shadow details, and wider dynamic range. But it also increases the file size of images recorded in the 14-bit mode (selectable over normal 12-bit RAW). "

Read the entire review at popphoto.com.

Take Your Photography To The Next Level

Press release from Rocky Nook Publishing:

Written for the photographer who strives to achieve a higher level of results in their work, Take Your Photography to the Next Level is based on a series of essays originally featured on the popular Luminous Landscape Web site. These essays were expanded upon and updated and new essays have been added.

George Barr isn't afraid to tackle some of the rarely discussed, yet essential, aspects of successful photography. Photographers will learn what is required in order to grow in their creativity and to gain a deeper understanding of their craft.

This is not a technical book: no f-stops or shutter speeds are spoken here. Instead, Barr explores the more difficult subjects; the ones that will help you to grow as a photographer. This book takes a practical approach with specific suggestions and enough ideas and exercises to keep you busy and creative for years to come.

Topics include:

• Creativity and developing an eye

• Dealing with disappointment

• Making stronger images

• What photographs well and where to go looking for the best photographic subjects

• How to approach subject material

• Dealing with failure, mind games and being stuck in a rut

• Framing, cropping and manipulating prints to create mood and transmit your message

• Knowing your level in order to improve

• How to work the scene

• Sketching to create strong compositions

• Learn by looking at great images

• Assessing image quality

• Identifying your areas that need improvement and becoming a self-aware photographer

Wacom Cintiq 20WSX Widescreen Tablet

Wacom has added a new model to its Cintiq line of graphics tablets. The Cintiq 20WSX has a 20.1-inch widescreen display that provides a 17x10.7-inch drawing area with a 16:10 aspect ratio. The screen offers 1680x1050-pixel display resolution and a wide, nearly 180-degree viewing angle.

The new tablet's controls include 14 user-assignable ExpressKeys and 2 finger-sensitive Touch Strips. Its Touch Strip Modifier ExpressKey allows up to six functions to be assigned to the touch strips so that the appropriate ones become active when different software tools are in use. The 20WSX also integrates with systems that have additional monitors, allowing the user to toggle between them with the tablet's pen and use the pen to control the cursor on all connected displays. The tablet comes with an adjustable stand that rotates and tilts, and receives graphics from a computer via an analog RGB or digital DVI connection.

A pen that is sensitive to 1,024 levels of pressure and has a +/- 60-degree tilt range is included with the Cintiq 20WSX. It has a latex-free silicone grip, an eraser tip, and two side switches. The pen comes with a stand, a stroke nib, a felt nib, and three standard nibs. The 20WSX is also compatible with Wacom's 6D Art, Airbrush, and Classic pens.

Software programs included in the 20WSX package are Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials, Nik Color Efex Pro, and Wacom Brushes software. The Wacom application provides 81 customized brushes for use with Photoshop.

The Wacom Cintiq 20WSX is available now for $1,999 on Wacom's Web site.

War Photographer Peter van Agtmael

Peter van Agtmael talks about what drives him to the most dangerous assignments on earth: the hope that pictures can play a role in improving the future.

In the Popular Photography & Imaging ongoing series recognizing today's top professional photographers, Joerg Colberg speaks with Peter van Agtmael, a 26-year-old graduate of Yale University who has spent the majority of his young career in hotspots like Iraq and Afghanistan. Van Agtmael was named one of "25 under 25 - Up and Coming American Photographers" by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in 2006 and won a World Press Photo award in 2007 for General News Stories.

Read the entire interview on popphoto.com.

Image © Peter van Agtmael

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Bargin

Digicam prices tend to drop around the holidays and the Canon Rebel XT is no exception. I’m always looking for a bargain and the 8MP Canon Digital Rebel XT (Body Only) is down to $399.95 on B&HPhoto.com. That’s a heck of a deal for an 8MP CMOS sensor Digital SLR with sufficient controls and access to a vast lens inventory.

This would make a great backup body, or introduction to digital SLR photography. See the B&H Photo listing.

New Flickr.com and Picnik.com Partnership

Yahoo-owned photo sharing site Flickr has announced a new partnership with Picnik.com to integrate Picnik's online photo editing tools directly into Flickr. The new features will enable Flickr users to crop, resize, and adjust exposure on their uploaded images, along with removing red-eye and applying special effects to images. Although the photo editing tools don't really compete with similar features in professional image editing applications, they will be available for free to all Flickr users, which can be incredibly handy for tweaking photos when users don't have access to a desktop photo editing application.

"Flickr continues to build on its vision to be the 'eyes of the world', and by bringing Picnik's rich editing tools to Flickr's global community we are enhancing the sharing and discovery of what people see and experience through photos," said Flickr's senior director of product management Kakul Srivastava, in a statement. "Providing the ability to edit directly within Flickr is an important step in offering our 20 million members around the globe a complete photo experience."

Picnik editing tools are now available in the Edit Photo tab within Flickr; users can edit individual images or whole batches of photos. After editing images, users can add the edited versions of the photos to their collections, or overwrite the original image. Picnik also offers a "Perfect Memory" feature that enables users to revert back to the original version of an image.

The new image editing tools are available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, traditional Chinese, and Korean. Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the partnership.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.3.1 Update

Adobe has released another update to its popular Photoshop Lightroom application. The Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 1.3.1 update includes these enhancements:

• Additional camera support for the Canon 1Ds Mark III, Nikon D3, Nikon D300, Olympus E-3, and more
• Updated Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard support

Important Note
If you have not backed up your Lightroom library, please do so before upgrading to Lightroom 1.3.1, and choose the optional "Test this database for corruption" feature during the backup. If you receive an error during the corruption testing, visit the Lightroom support page for further instructions before upgrading to Lightroom 1.3.1.

Windows Download
Mac Download

Back To Blogging

Back to blogging. Life’s distractions kept me away from FocalView, but it’s time to put some energy back into this information outlet. Over the last month or so I finally circled back around to my NYIP (New York Institute of Photography) course, which I started back in 2005 and ignored for about two years. I've begun completing and submitting the photo project assignments again. My portrait resides alongside the word “procrastinate” in a Webster’s Dictionary.

I recommend this course for anyone looking to improve their photography skills on a budget. The course is not that expensive and NYIP provides a large amount of instructional material including books, CDs, DVDs and online content. Their personal advisors and instructors are insightful and helpful.

The primary NYIP courses are a Complete Course in Professional Photography, Short Course: Fundamentals of Digital Photography, and the Adobe Photoshop for Photographers course. Apparently a Digital Video course is also in the works.

I’ve included a recent submission representing a photo with converging lines.

Voigtländer Lenses for Nikon and Pentax

Cosina has announced two Voigtländer-branded lenses which it will be making available for Nikon and Pentax DSLR mounts. The Voigtländer Ultron 40mm F2 SLII Aspherical - to give its full title - is a 'Pancake' type lens protruding a mere 24.5mm from the lens mount. The optical design comprises six elements in five groups including a double-aspheric element and high-refraction glass.

The Nokton 58mm F1.4 SLII meanwhile is based on a Topcor design with seven elements in six groups and when mounted on an APS-C camera replicates the angle of view of an 85mm making it an ideal choice for portrait photography. The Nikon-mount examples are Ai-s specification and feature a CPU to allow metering on modern bodies whilst the Pentax mounts are KA compatible. Only Japanese pricing and availability has been announced thus far with both lenses expected to retail for around ¥50,000 when they arrive on shelves over the next two months.

HD Photo to become JPEG XR

A new attempt to provide a higher-end sequel to the ubiquitous JPEG image standard is officially under way.

The multiple countries participating in the Joint Photographic Experts Group, which created the JPEG standard, have approved an effort to make Microsoft's HD Photo format a standard called JPEG XR, said Bill Crow, who has led Microsoft's HD Photo effort and who just took over the company's Microsoft Live Labs Seadragon imaging project. XR stands for "extended range," a reference to the format's ability to show a wider and finer range of tonal gradations and a richer color palette.

"The country vote is done, and it passed," Crow said. "That means the International JPEG committee has decided to go ahead and create the standard. Now it's just a process of doing that work," a process that will begin later this month in a meeting in Kobe, Japan.

The move is an important step in the transformation of the photo format from an in-house technology called Windows Media Photo to a neutral format more likely to be palatable to companies that don't want to be beholden to Microsoft.

However, the move also means that Microsoft will have to be more patient with its hopes to get HD Photo to catch on more broadly. Standardization "typically takes around a year," Crow said.

The wait is worth it, said Josh Weisberg, director of digital imaging evangelism for Microsoft's Rich Media Group.

"As much as I would love to have more support for it, I think it's logical for people to wait for there to be a standardized version of it," he said. "If we weren't going through the standardization process, we'd be pushing much harder for people to support it."

In Microsoft's view, HD Photo also offers better compression and support for in-camera image processing. It's built into Windows Vista, but Microsoft offers the software development kit to implement the technology free and with no royalty constraints. Image-editing powerhouse Adobe Systems has voiced support for the format.

provided by CNET News.

White Stripes Lomo Cameras

In an interesting if somewhat obscure marketing mashup, rock band, The White Stripes is now offering its own Lomography cameras. The funky little cameras are two classic models in a red and white color scheme. The (Jack) Holga and (Meg) Diana+ cameras have been around for years, but The White Stripes have put a twist on them with a unique package and an additional ringflash or fisheye lens. Both cameras come with a “Peppermint Lens Filter.” Perfect for fans of the band and Lomo collectors, a novelty for everyone else. The cameras are a limited edition of 3,000 each, and are on The White Stripes site for $180.

Bling It! Software Released By Vertus

Vertus has introduced a new software program designed specifically for easily transforming snapshots into professional-looking product shots for use on online sales and auction sites. Bling It! uses the same image-masking technology that Vertus provides in its advanced Fluid Mask software, but presents it in a simple interface that takes users through four steps.

In the first step, the user deletes the background by using brush tools. Then, in the Compose Picture step, the user selects a background from an included library and moves the object to the desired position in the image frame. A palette for selecting background colors is available, and the image size and shape can be adjusted manually or by selecting preset specifications for popular sites such as eBay. In the third step, Add Effects, the user can add shadows, sharpen the photo, brighten highlights, and add a logo to the image. The final step lets the user specify a maximum file size for the image to be saved at. To preserve the quality of the product shot at small file sizes, compression can be adjusted to higher levels for the background and lower ones for the foreground object.

Bling It! is available now for $49.95 in Windows and Mac versions. Go to Vertus's Web site for more information.

FS-51 Underwater Housing From Fantasea

Fantasea has released a new underwater housing for Nikon's Coolpix S50, S50c, S51, and S51c point-and-shoots. The FS-51 is rated to protect the enclosed camera to a depth of 200 feet, and features an anti-glare hood to cover the camera's LCD screen, a built-in flash diffuser, and a 41mm lens port. The housing seals all controls with double O-rings.

Controls available on the FS-51 include:• Shutter Release
• Power Switch
• D-Lighting
• One-Touch Portrait
• Flash Mode
• Macro Mode
• Exposure Compensation
• Self Timer
• Delete
• OK Button
• Mode
• Zoom In/Out
• Playback
• Menu

The FS-51 is available for $245 from Fantasea's Web site. It comes with a one-year flood insurance policy for the camera used with it.

Casio Provides Digicam Firmware Updates

Casio has made available firmware updates for ten of the companies cameras. These updates include improvements to movie white balance for seven models and 8GB+ SDHC support for an additional three. The updates are available now via Casio's support site. In order to be able to download the firmware, you must register by providing the product (serial) number marked on the bottom of your camera.

Phoenix Helicopter Photographer's Family Launch Jim Cox Foundation

The parents and sisters of television photojournalist Jim Cox, a KTVK-TV photographer killed on July 27 when two news helicopters collided midair over Phoenix, AZ, and crashed into a city park, killing all four aboard the two aircraft, have started The James Alan Cox Foundation for Student Photographers.

The photographer's sister, Leslie Cox of Austin, TX, today told News Photographer magazine that their family started the foundation in memory of her brother to provide financial support to student photographers of high school and college age. The foundation's mission is to provide funding for scholarships, equipment, college and technical school classes for students who demonstrate interest, talent, and financial need.

Alan G. and Barbara Cox, the photojournalist's parents, and Jennifer Cox-Bracksieck join Leslie as the principal members of the foundation's board of directors. Each year through a juried selection process, several deserving students will be picked to receive equipment or tuition, and each grant recipient will also have the opportunity to display their work in an exhibit in the Phoenix area.

The late photographer was a native of New York who started as a live truck operator before becoming an editor and then a photographer. Before working for KTVK-TV he worked for the Arizona Cardinals NFL team, photographing their practices and games. In addition to being a video photojournalist for more than a decade for Channel 3, his family says Jim was an accomplished still photographer who traveled widely photographing from Hawaii to New York and Texas to Scotland.

The summer crash was between KTVK-TV's helicopter, piloted by Scott Bowerbank who was reporting live while flying and covering a police car chase, and KNXV-TV Channel 15's helicopter piloted by Craig Smith, who was also reporting live and flying. Their passengers, photojournalists Cox from Channel 3 and Rick Krolak from Channel 15, were also killed in the crash.

The crash raised questions about the safety and sensibility of having helicopter pilots do both flying and reporting duties simultaneously, and brought attention to the absence of rules and regulations governing the separation of aircraft in such circumstances.

The National Press Photographers Association called for an immediate stop to the practice of pilot on-air reporting in their Editorial in the October 2007 issue of News Photographer magazine.

Despite the crash, and the following outcry about safety, television news stations in Phoenix have returned to the practice of having pilot/reporters who are reporting live while flying the aircraft. Only Channel 12 in the Phoenix market has a news helicopter pilot whose sole duties are flying the aircraft.

For more information about The James Alan Cox Foundation for Student Photographers, please see their Web site at http://www.jamesalancoxfoundation.org/, or contact the foundation at +1.512.459.8515, or eMail info@jamesalancoxfoundation.org. A scholarship/grant application will also be posted online in the next several months.

Provided by National Press Photographers Association.

FujiFilm Lowers FinePix Digicam Prices

Effective November 4, 2007, Fujifilm reduces the price of the FinePix A900 to $169.95, the FinePix A920 to $179.95 and the F480 to $159.95, all representing even greater value!

The FinePix A900 and A920 cameras pack an incredible punch with 9.0 megapixel power, a 4x Optical Zoom, Fujifilm's Picture Stabilization, and provide the ease of use and versatility of multiple media formats.

The FinePix F480 offers 8.2 megapixel power, a 4x Optical Zoom and an extra-large 2.7" LCD; along with Fujifilm's Picture Stabilizaton technology, Lithium-ion rechargeable battery and slim design.

For more information, please go to Fujifilm USA.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III Service Notice

Canon has now posted a service notice on its US website, detailing its plans to solve a potential AF problem on the EOS-1D Mark III digital SLR.

This issue is said to affect cameras with serial numbers in the range of 501001 to 546561, you might want to read our earlier coverage. The problem relates to the camera's AF mirror mechanism, and can result in poor or jittery autofocus, particularly in high temperatures when using the AI-Servo AF and continuous shooting modes. The fix requires an adjustment to the mirror, and a free repair campaign is expected to start in late November.

More details can be found in Canon's service notice.

Photo Assistants Put To The Test

Being a photo assistant is a notoriously grueling job -- and often a thankless one. But for the five members of the winning team at Sunday's Assistant's Hexathlon in New York, all the backbreaking work and sleep-obliterating hours paid off in a very tangible way.

The top team -- Steve Zadrozny, Esteban Aladro, Zach Callahan, Gabriela Herman, and Anthony Cunanan -- won a bag of prizes that included a Canon PowerShot SD850 IS Digital Elph, a Lenbaby 3G, and a $100 Fotocare gift certificate. The second- and third-place teams took home smaller prizes. And, of course, all participants received their very own roll of gaffers tape from Set Shop.

Read more about this interesting contest.

Layers Magazine Face-Lift

The following is provided by Photoshop Insider.

We’ve just totally updated the online home of Layers Magazine (The how-to magazine for everything Adobe; available on newsstands nationwide) with an all-new look and feel. But beyond that, the new site features some very cool things, most notably a brand new daily blog from LayersTV co-host RC Concepcion; a new Photoshop Killer Tip video tutorial posted each day from Photoshop guru Matt Kloskowski, and it’s also the home of the Adobe Creative Suite how-to show; Layers TV (you can watch each weekly episode of LayersTV right there on the home page).

Besides the fresh new look, LayersMagazine.com has loads of tutorials on all the Adobe Creative Suite apps, including InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop and more! It’s really pretty slick, and RC’s blog and Matt’s Killer Tips make it worth a daily stop for sure. Check it out today; here’s the link.

Hands-On Look At New Olympus E-3 DSLR

If the Olympus E-1, the company's first high-end DSLR, never caught on among pros, you can blame its painfully slow, insensitive autofocus system. But one look at the new Olympus E-3 ($1,700, estimated street, body only) was enough to convince Popular Photography & Imaging that, this time around, Olympus has come up with not just a much better AF system, but a much better camera all around.

Read their Hands-On Review of the new Olympus E-3 digital SLR.

Photographers On The California Fire Lines

San Diego NBC 7-39 photojournalist Phil Ige has written about his experiences covering the California wildfires and posted some images in a slideshow on the station's Web site. His story and images can be seen here.

And even though it was written for photographers covering wildfires in California a couple of years ago, the information in Sedda Kreabs' "What's In Your Fire Kit?" is still good advice today.

A gallery of images by Los Angeles Times photographers who have been covering the wildfires from the first day is online here.

Sony Already Releases A700 Firmware Update

Sony has already released updates for the Alpha DSLR- A700 firmware and Image Data Converter and Image Data Lightbox software. The camera firmware and software updates apply to the 12.2-megapixel Sony A700 flagship model, specifically units manufactured until early October that contain firmware version 1.

Cameras with firmware version 2 already include the upgrades, according to a company press release. The Sony Alpha firmware version 2 promises improved image sharpness and noise reduction. It also allows for more short distance flash control with non-ADI control lenses. The software updates correct image display and file type errors. “Although these improvements are subtle, it is recommended that customers make the update to improve the camera and application software performance,” stated a company press release today.

Users can download the Alpha DSLR A700 camera firmware updates from the Sony Customer Support site.

Popphoto.com Reviews New Sony A700 DSLR

I can't get enough information about the new Sony Alpha 700. Popular Photography & Imaging has provided an in-depth, favorable review of the new 12MP digital SLR. Read the entire online review on popphoto.com.

ASU Working To Develop Terabyte Thumb Drive

Researchers here in my neck of the words, at Arizona State University have developed a low-cost, low-power computer memory that could put terabyte-sized thumb drives in consumers' pockets within a few years. Even more importantly the ASU Sun Devils are 8-0 so far this season!

Read more about their terabyte thumb drive tech on wired.com. Go Sun Devils!

WiFi SD Card From Eye-Fi

Eye-Fi has introduced an SD card with built-in wireless connectivity that allows it to automatically transfer images to a computer or online destination when in range of a WiFi network. The 2GB Eye-Fi Card stores photos just like any other SD card used in a compatible camera, but can also be set up to send the stored images via WiFi to a PC, a Mac, or many online gallery, blogging, and social networking sites such as Kodak Gallery, Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket and more.

Eye-Fi software works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X (10.3 and 10.4). Eye-Fi software works with Internet Explorer 6 and 7 (Windows only), FireFox 2.0 (Windows and Macintosh). Includes USB memory card reader to make set-up easy.

The Eye-Fi Card is available now for $99.99. For more information, go to the Eye-Fi Web site.

Nikon 90th Anniversary Video

Celebrating the 90th anniversary of Nikon as an imaging technology world-leader.

View video here

Highlights include a recap of the world's-firsts in terms of technological imaging advancements from Nikon Corporation as well as their desire to see the Earth; it's most remote locations and capture the world's greatest moments. This video also features some of Nikon's latest innovations on their newest products that all aim to make creating better images more fun and exciting.

To download a high-resolution version of this video, please right-click here and choose "Save Link As" or "Save Target As".

Sony's New 80GB Digital Photo Album Device

Sony has introduced the 80GB HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album that organizes and displays up to 50,000 high resolution images. The digital photo album can display images on high definition televisions and, using the included Sony software, create slide shows and scrapbook pages. Available this month, it will retail for approximately $400 and be sold on Sony’s website and in stores.

There are multiple ways to import images to the digital album. It is compatible with flash memory cards, CDs, DVDs, USB drives, and Ethernet cables. Once photos are uploaded, users can organize and display their images in multiple ways. Images can be sorted by a specific date, occasion, or grouped into up to 3,000 albums. The included remote control or the interface can be used to navigate images.

Using the included software, images can be viewed as a slide show, printed, or arranged on a scrapbook page. The slide show software, X-PictStory, allows users to choose from multiple transitions and play one of the 30 included songs to accompany their slide show. Five additional songs can be added to the software. When the slide shows play, Sony’s face detection technology identifies the location of subjects and applies transitions around them.

x-ScrapBook helps users organize photos into scrapbook pages. Like X-PictStory, the software can detect faces and layout groups of photos. The digital album can be connected in an HDTV using HDMI. Images can be exported from the frame onto a CD, DVD, or flash memory card.

Sony Alpha 700 DSLR Hands-On Review

LetsGoDigital.com provides a hands-on review of the new Sony Alpha 700 digital SLR. I’ve been looking forward to hearing about this camera and actual user opinions. As a current Sony A100 DSLR user, the A700 may be my next acquisition or I may wait until Sony releases their anticipated ‘pro’ model to make a decision. Here is an excerpt from the review.

…The housing of the Sony A700 is light in weight and consists of aluminum. The buttons, memory card slot and flaps in the body are dust- and waterproof. A handy feature is the indication of the battery life in percentage, which is made possible through the use of an InfoLithium battery; also with the use of an optional grip, this information remains visible. The Sony Alpha 700 has a double card slot supporting Memory Stick PRO Duo and CompactFlash type I & II flash memory cards. It’s a pity that Sony does not fully utilize the presence of a double card slot; you have to set the card slot manually, via the camera’s menu. It would be handier, and above all faster, if the camera itself would recognize and activate the card slot. Perhaps a future firmware solution can offer such possibility. New is also the built-in studio- flash connection, so a direct connection to a studio flash-installation becomes possible…

The camera sounds great. Read the entire review on letsgodigital.com.

Lightroom Killer Tips Video - Backing Up Lightroom

Matt Kloskowski of at Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips has posted an informative video covering the backup process for Lightroom. With version 1.1 and 1.2 you can now save the Lightroom database as an entire catalog or individual catalogs. The original image files can even be copied to the backup location as well, or transferred to other computers. Watch the video on the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips blog.

image © Matt Kloskowski

Macworld Contemplates Value Of A Mac OS X Leopard Upgrade

I like the way Andy Ihnatko of Macworld sums up the new Mac OS X 'Leopard' from Apple;

...I think the way to sum up the correct level of anticipation for Leopard is to compare it to a movie that stars Gene Hackman or Michael Caine. You know that it’s going to be worthwhile… but the coin’s in the air as to whether it’s worth seeing right away...

Which is why I'm a Netflix subscriber..."I'll just wait for the rental."

Ihnatko asks "What's Leopard really worth?" Read the entire article on Macworld.com.

Adobe Compatibility With New Mac OS X Leopard

With the new Apple OS release called 'Leopard', Adobe, one of Apple’s most important third-party partners, has commented on its compatibility with the Mac. The company said that most, but not all of its applications are compatible with Leopard without the need for an update.

Adobe Photoshop CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Contribute CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Fireworks CS3, Flash Player 9, GoLive 9, Illustrator CS3, InCopy CS3, InDesign CS3, Bridge CS3, Version Cue CS3, Device Central CS3 and Acrobat Connect (Start Meeting) are all compatible with Leopard.

Products that will require updates for full Leopard compatibility include Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and the company’s professional video applications, including Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 Professional, Encore CS3 and Soundbooth CS3.

Adobe said it expects to publish free Leopard compatibility updates for the video applications in December 2007 and for Acrobat 8 Professional and Adobe Reader 8 in January 2008.

Older versions of Adobe and Macromedia may work with Leopard, but the company warns there could be “installation, stability, and reliability issues for which there is no resolution.” Adobe said these products would not be updated for Leopard.

Conversation With Photographer Adam Bartos

Popphoto.com has a conversation with photographer with Adam Bartos.

...A native New Yorker, Adam Bartos became interested in photography at an early age, inspired largely by the work of Magnum co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson. Through frequent trips to The Museum of Modern Art, he was well acquainted with the black and white street photography of Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, and Diane Arbus. But in 1974, while studying film at NYU, Bartos struck up a relationship with color pioneer Joel Meyerowitz that inspired his transition away from 35mm black and white work...

The photographer talks fine art strategies and how to avoid the photo cliché. Read the entire Q&A on popphoto.com.

Image © Adam Bartos

New Sony CyberShot DSC-T2 Digicam

Sony has introduced a new 8-megapixel point-and-shoot with 4GB internal memory and advanced photo-organizing functions for sorting and viewing shots that are stored on the device. The ultracompact Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is equipped with a 2.7-inch, 230,000-dot touchscreen LCD and an f/3.5-4.3, 38-114mm 3x zoom lens, and will be available in December for about $350.

The T2's numerous photo-sharing features include the ability to display images in chronological order, in a calendar view, and by event. Photos can also be saved as favorites and then sorted into categories within the favorites folder for quick retrieval, and in-camera slideshows can include selectable transitions and music. The T2 can also output images to an HDTV with an optional HD component cable or HD cradle, and it's loaded with Sony PMB Portable software, which allows it to publish photos and videos directly to online image sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube.

This Cyber-shot is designed for automatic snapshot photography and allows few manual adjustments. However, the touchscreen can be used for spot focus and metering, and the camera has a top light-sensitivity setting of ISO 3200. The T2 offers Sony's recently introduced Smile Shutter mode, which automatically snaps a picture when someone in front of the camera smiles. It allows the photographer to track a specific person in a group by selecting the person's face on the touchscreen, then releases the shutter when the subject smiles. Non-Smile-Shutter face detection is available as well.

The T2 will retail for about $350 starting in December and will be sold with blue, green, pink, white, and black sliding lens covers.
provided by popphoto.com

New Lightroom Plug-In For SlideShowPro

SlideShowPro has announced a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. SlideShowPro lets users create Flash slideshows that can be placed on Web sites, providing numerous options for customizing parameters such as background color, layout, and transitions between images, along with audio track and support for video clips. The plug-in will integrate into Lightroom's Web Module workspace, allowing users to publish slideshows directly from the software to the Web.

The plug-in will be available from SlideShowPro's Web site in November 2007. Pricing has not yet been announced. Current SlideShowPro owners will be able to update their software with the plug-in at a discounted price.

Apple Releases Aperture 1.5.6 Update

Apple has released a 131-MB update to Aperture recommended for all users for its performance and stability improvements. The update should also be installed before updating to Mac OS X Leopard, the company said.

Text of the announcement follows:
"Aperture customers can now install the Aperture 1.5.6 Update, either by running Software Update or by visiting the Aperture Download page. Recommended for all those using Aperture, the Aperture 1.5.6 Update addresses issues related to performance, improves overall stability, and supports compatibility with Mac OS X v10.5. The update should be installed before first use of Aperture with Mac OS X Leopard."

New Packages And Prices From LiveBooks

LiveBooks, Inc., the leading provider of fully editable website solutions for professional photographers, announced it is releasing new packages and new pricing under the product name liveBooks Professional. The decision to revise and enhance their product line is based on the experience of servicing thousands of photographers over four years and recognizing that photographers have many common needs which could be addressed with a common feature set. In addition, they realize that each photographer has their own individual needs which require the flexibility to customize their web presence. Therefore, a robust feature set and custom design time are included with all three of the liveBooks Professional packages— Unlimited, Select and Basic .

Product Details
All liveBooks Professional packages include a standard set of features designed to give photographers the flexibility they need to create their optimal website. These include but are not limited to:

The ability to deliver a custom professional website through the use of custom design time with the liveBooks in-house design staff, large highquality images and intuitive navigation.

Tools to reach and service the photographer’s audience such as image descriptions, automatic ghost HTML creation for search engine optimization, shopping cart, webstats and downloadable PDF portfolios.

An easy-to-use online admin tool to control the content of the website including drag-and-drop portfolio creation and editing, custom styling and uploadable content pages.

A rich multimedia experience including video upload and the ability to add music which can be defined on a page by page or per portfolio basis. These features have been combined to empower photographers to clearly communicate their unique brand in a way that will help them to get work and grow their businesses.

Beyond the standard feature set, photographers will choose between one of three packages based on the scale of the site they are creating. These packages are differentiated by the amount of included design time, as well as the number of portfolios and pages within the site. For the ultimate in flexibility, the Unlimited package offers photographers a choice in image sizing including the largest image area along with virtually unlimited portfolios, menu pages, external links and password-protected client areas. The Select package offers a smaller image size with enough portfolios, menu pages and links to meet the needs of many photographers today. The Basic package provides the minimal number of portfolios and menu pages and is an ideal choice for the emerging photographer beginning a career in photography.

Availability and Pricing
liveBooks Professional is available today through liveBooks, Inc. by calling 800.253.2085. These new packages include an optimal set of features at a maximum value. Packages are sold as a one-time non-recurring fee of $3,200 for Unlimited , $1,700 for Select and $800 for Basic . Additionally, all liveBooks sites are hosted by liveBooks at the annual fee of $90, which includes hosting the site at the photographer’s unique domain as well as email addresses and storage space.

To learn more visit http://www.livebooks.com/packages

FujiFilm ‘Capture To Print’ Seminar Series For Professional Photographers

Free Educational Seminars to Feature Live Demonstrations, and Tips to Streamline Your Photographic Workflow

Mark your calendars to attend one of a series of free educational seminars for professional photographers to be held in five cities across the United States. Entitled ‘Capture to Print Solutions,’ these seminars are designed to inform and educate professional photographers on how Fujifilm’s FinePix S5 Pro can be specifically utilized for school, portrait, sports and wedding photography and how they can better streamline their business workflow with a comprehensive range of professional digital imaging solutions.

Fujifilm’s ‘Capture to Print Solutions’ seminar series will kick off on Monday, November 5th in Orlando, Fla., followed by Long Beach, Calif., Sturbridge, Mass., Atlanta, Ga., and Somerset, N.J. At each seminar, Fujifilm Technical Staff Members will demonstrate live studio use of the FinePix S5 Pro with Bar Code Scanner, along with the ASK-2000 and ASK-4000 Digital Photo Printers.

Fujifilm’s ‘Capture to Print Solutions’ seminars will be held in conjunction with partners Express Digital and PhotoLynx. Express Digital and PhotoLynx staff members will demonstrate front-end software applications that enable photographers to shoot tethered or un-tethered and keep track of student records and image databases.

Seminar attendees can hear and see benefits of Fujifilm’s IS-1 and IS Pro ultraviolet and infrared cameras for the fine art market and Fujifilm’s DigiLabs software which enables photographers to build incremental business by offering their customers photo books, cards and calendar products.

For more information or to reserve a seat at Fujifilm’s free half-day ‘Capture to Print Solutions’ seminars, go to Free Seminars.

FujiFilm Announces New “Get A Grip” Promotion For FinePix S5 Pro

“With this new promotion, we’re happy to make it easier for those photographers who have been waiting for the opportunity to get the S5 Pro,” says Darin Pepple, consumer and professional marketing manager with Fujifilm’s Electronic Imaging Division. “And the new Power Grip provides a useful, proven tool for the professional photographer.”

Professional photographers can take advantage of this new promotion that enables them to purchase a FinePix S5 Pro camera at the reduced price of $1,699.95 – a $200 savings. In addition, Fujifilm is also offering professional photographers a free Power Grip, plus a Pantone Huey™ Pro* with purchase of the S5 Pro Body Only Kit, a savings of $280 with mail-in rebate.

Available only through authorized Fujifilm dealers, the “Get a Grip” promotion represents a total savings of $480.

For more information on the FinePix S5 Pro, visit Fujifilm USA.
*Pantone Huey standard edition will be mailed out with an option for a FREE upgrade to Huey Pro via online software download from Pantone.

Classic Diana MF Camera Makes A Comeback

As someone who enjoys using the Holga, an all-plastic medium-format camera made in China that provides some interesting 'low-tech' results, I was intrigued to discover that the Lomographic Society has revived the Diana, an all-plastic medium-format camera that had its heyday in the 1960s and ‘70s, and inspired the Holga while achieving legendary status among many creative photographers for the atmospheric images it captured. The new Diana Plus is a faithful recreation of the original, with the addition of just a few features. Its boxy black and light-blue body backs up a plastic, single-element 75mm lens and a non-TTL optical viewfinder.

The Diana Plus retains the simplicity of its forebear, with a choice of Normal and Bulb shutter settings, three selectable apertures, and manual focus control. New to the twenty-first-century Diana are a shutter lock for long exposures, a standard tripod mount, and a panorama mode for shooting a seamless series of images the length of a roll of 120 film. Another alteration is the ability to remove the lens, which allows photographers to use the Diana Plus as a pinhole camera at its smallest aperture setting.

To capture separate frames, the Diana Plus can be set to shoot 16 4.2x4.2-centimeter images or 12 5.2x5.2-centimeter photos on a roll of 120 film. The camera’s manual film advance also makes multiple and overlapping exposures possible.

The Diana Plus is available now for $50 and comes with a 200-page book of Diana photographs and history. The Lomographic Society also sells $75 Diana Plus kits that each include 20 rolls of Agfa Portrait 160 or Optima 100 film.

Olympus Announces Two New SLR Flash Units

Olympus has announced two new flash units for its line of digital SLRs. The FL-50R and FL-36R both have a head that can be rotated in four directions, and support the commander function of Olympus's new flagship SLR, the E-3. That feature allows wireless control of multiple remote flash units from the camera.

The FL-50R will be available later this year for $499 and the FL-36R for $299.

Olympus Announces Three New Zuiko Lenses

Olympus has introduced three new Zuiko lenses that implement its Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD). According to the company, when used with the E-3 SLR, also announced today, the lenses will offer extremely fast and quiet autofocus, with the new 12-60mm optic providing the fastest autofocus performance in the world. The three compact, weatherproof lenses have Four-Thirds standard mounts, and are designed for use with digital SLRs only. Olympus has also introduced a new teleconverter for use with its Four-Thirds lenses, the Zuiko Digital EC-20 2x Teleconverter.

The new optics include the Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD, the Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD, and the Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm f2.0 SWD. Four-Thirds cameras have a 2x lens conversion factor, making the 35mm-equivalent focal lengths of the lenses 24-120mm, 100-400mm, and 28-70mm. The new teleconverter doubles the focal lengths of any Four-Thirds lens attached.

Olympus notes that the 14-35mm lens is the world's first standard zoom with a constant f/2.0 maximum aperture. That spec makes it part of the Olympus Super High Grade (SHG) lens series. It also offers splash- and dust-proofing, a mechanically interlocked manual focusing mechanism, and a large, petal-shaped hood with a polarization filter control window.

The new lenses and teleconverter will be available as follows:
Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD: November 2007 for $999.99.
Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 SWD: December 2007 for $1,199.99
Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm f2.0 SWD: first quarter of 2008 for $2,299.99
Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter EC-20: December 2007 for $479.99

Olympus Announces New E-3 DSLR

Olympus has announced the long-awaited successor to its E-1 camera. The new flagship model of the company's line of digital SLRs, the 10.1-megapixel E-3, promises to outdo its predecessor with significantly faster autofocus performance, a larger viewfinder, and live LCD viewing, while retaining the Four-Thirds format that makes it compatible with existing lenses from Olympus and other Four-Thirds optics makers. Equipped with an articulating 230,000-dot, 2.5-inch Live View LCD with a 170-degree viewing angle, the E-3 also offers a pentaprism eyepiece viewfinder that shows 100 percent of the image frame at 1.15x magnification. The LCD has a dedicated luminance sensor that allows it to automatically adjust the screen brightness in response to ambient light changes. The E-3 offers dual CompactFlash and xD-Picture Card slots, with support for fast UDMA CF cards.

Read the entire camera preview which includes the company press release, product gallery, hands-on review, etc., on popphoto.com.

Nikon Leads Wireless Digital Camera Technology

Taken from the official Nikon press release:

Nikon announced today key findings from IDC, a leading technology analyst, resulting from their white paper titled "The Evolution of Wireless Photography" concluding: Nikon is, and always has been on the forefront of the wireless revolution. Since the introduction of its first wireless cameras in 2005 to the current COOLPIX S51c digital camera, Nikon has been the worldwide leader in regards to Wi-Fi integration and innovative ways to share memories such as the new my Picturetown, Nikon’s new photo sharing and storage service. Results are based on IDC’s ongoing research on wireless connectivity, digital camera market research and a consumer survey on the adoption of wireless digital cameras and their propensity to embrace the capability in future camera purchases.

With each new digital camera generation, Nikon continues to streamline the photo-sharing process through wireless technology, making it easier than ever to share and send pictures without the confines of wires and cables or even computers! The new white paper from IDC states “To date, Nikon is the only digital camera manufacturer to consistently and fully embrace wireless photography. IDC predicts that other top vendors will seek to catch up and embrace wireless photography as well, spurring industry-wide adoption.”

Read the entire release on the Nikon website.

Kodak Ends Olympic Sponsorship After Beijing Games

Eastman Kodak Co. has announced that it will end its long-standing sponsorship of the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing Games end next August. Kodak has been involved with the Olympics for more than 100 years and has been one of 12 "top tier" sponsors for more than two decades, but now they say the company's long-term market strategy is moving away from film products to digital products.

Kodak said the move is not out of financial consideration but a change to "get closer to our customers," a company spokesperson told Reuters. "Our new business strategy requires us to reassess our marketing tactics as well, and adapt them to changing market conditions and evolving customer behavior," said Kodak director of brand management Elizabeth Noonan.

The Beijing summer games will reach an estimated 4 billion television viewers, more than 1 billion more than those who watched the Athens games in 2004.

For several years Kodak has been moving away from film and cameras toward a product line that features solely digital products and consumer printing. During past summer Olympic games Kodak ran a media center for professional photographers who had Olympic credentials where film was processed, images were edited, scanned, or printed, and a medical clinic was available for diagnostic imaging to treat injured athletes.

Kodak would not tell Reuters how much they paid to be a top-tier corporate sponsor, but analysts on Madison Ave. have estimated that level of sponsorship may cost as much as $55 million.

Kodak has been involved with the summer Olympics on some level since the first modern games in Athens in 1896, the International Olympic Committee's marketing staff said.

News reports detailing Kodak¹s transformation over the years, since the time they were a chemical and film company who seemed to be caught unprepared for the digital revolution and lagged far behind in developing and marketing digital products to a changed world, has cut more than 30,000 jobs and closed plants around the world while their stock price stayed depressed.
Provided by NPPA.

New Canon Luxury Series Lenses On The Way

Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, has announced the development of two all-new telephoto lenses for use with its EOS SLR cameras: the EF200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM. The Company will exhibit prototypes of the new lenses at PhotoPlus Expo (booth #318), taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 18 to 20.

The new Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM and EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM, both of which are L (luxury)-series lenses incorporating a high-performance Image Stabilizer, feature optical systems utilizing special optical materials such as fluorite to correct chromatic aberrations, making possible high-resolution, high-contrast shooting performance.

The Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM, targeting users who seek a brighter lens for portraiture and indoor sports photography, realizes a large aperture of f/2. The EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM, expected to deliver telephoto performance surpassing the current top-of-the-line EF600mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens, is being developed in response to requests from users working in the fields of sports and news photography who are looking for a high-performance lens that offers a longer focal length.

"These new lenses demonstrate that Canon is continuing to respond actively and flexibly to the wide-ranging needs of professional and advanced amateur users, with the aim of contributing to the expansion of photographic possibilities for SLR cameras," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "Canon's EOS System is the premier brand of Digital SLR cameras, and we take great pride in offering the world's largest selection of interchangeable autofocus lenses."

As these new lenses are currently under development, pricing and availability information is not yet available.

Dragonfly Enjoys Cooler Southwest Weather

With the summer sizzle finally ending here in the Sonoran Desert, I can go outside without the fear of spontaneous combustion. I ventured out to a nearby park and found this little guy also enjoying the cooler weather. Image was taken with the Sony A100 DSLR and the classic Minolta Maxxum 70-210mm f4 “beer can” with a setting of f16@1/160. Focal length was 210mm with the camera set to ISO 400.

Sharpcast Releases Mobile Photo Edition

Sharpcast has released a mobile component of its photo sharing service for devices running Windows Mobile 5.0. Sharpcast provides photo gallery and sharing tools that automatically synchronize photos between a user's computer desktop, online gallery, and designated friends. The mobile component integrates into the system to automatically synchronize photos taken by a Windows Mobile 5.0 camera phone, and to make the user's collection of photos available on the device.

Windows Mobile 5.0 users can download the mobile application directly to their phone by following the instructions on Sharpcast's Web site. Sharpcast is offering the mobile component for free for an introductory period and will announce pricing at a later date. The company plans to release applications for additional mobile platforms later in 2007.
provided by popphoto.com.