Tamron Provides Insightful Video Podcasts With The Pros

I came across some podcasts while poking around the Tamron sight and was quite impressed. These are very well produced and include information and techniques from the pros themselves. The four recent video podcasts include two segments from West Coast outdoor photographer Don Gale who speaks about lenses, and using his techniques to get amazing wildlife and scenic results in beautiful Yosemite National Park.

Michael Ayers provides insights to Bridal Portraiture in the Studio with an f2.8 17-50mm lens and 90mm lens. Street Photography in Detroit with Andre Costantini and a 18-200mm Tamron lens is the fourth ‘new’ podcast, as the photographer transverses the streets of Detroit capturing wonderful abstracts, architecture, and urban images.

Other available podcasts include instructions and tips from photographers Jennifer George-Walker, Emily Wilson, Ruben Dario Cruz and DJ LaDez. Subjects include natural light portraiture, studio fashion, wedding shoots and the scenic California coast.

These informative and entertaining podcasts from Tamron can be found on the Tamron website by selecting the Photographic Lenses link, then the Learning Center link and finally the Podcasts link. Or to save time just click on this Tamron Podcasts link to get there directly; HTML is such a time saver.

New Mamiya 22MP Medium Format System For Under $10,000

Mamiya introduces the first 22MP digital camera system for under $10,000, here is the official company press release.

Mamiya Digital announced an exciting new product – the Mamiya ZD 645AFD II Digital System. The System consists of the Mamiya 645AFD II Medium Format Camera with 80mm f/2.8 AF lens and the newly introduced Mamiya ZD 22 Megapixel Digital Back. At a retail price of $9,999, the digital system marks a new era in the high-end digital market.

"Mamiya has always been a manufacturer of high quality, professional products at reasonable prices," states Jeff Karp, Mamiya Product Marketing Manager, "By offering this incredible system for under $10,000, we expect to see a broad range of photographers who have been waiting for the right combination of quality and price, to finally step into the medium format digital world."

The platform for the system is the highly acclaimed Mamiya 645AFD II autofocus medium format camera with 80mm f/2.8 AF lens. With an excellent range of high quality lenses, precise auto-focusing and fast handling, the 645AFD II has become the choice of professional photographers.

The Mamiya ZD Digital Back offers all the features serious photographers demand. "Mamiya's communication protocol MSCE (Mamiya Serial Communication for External) has optimized two-way communication between the 645AFD II and the ZD Digital Back," says Karp, "producing an operating experience identical to using a one-piece digital camera."

To further enhance the results of the ZD Digital Back, Mamiya is including Adobe® Photoshop® LightroomTM software with all ZD Backs. Mamiya is the first camera manufacturer to include Lightroom software with every Mamiya ZD Digital Back sold. Lightroom is an all-new digital imaging solution for serious and professional photographers. Its ease of operation and ability to read Mamiya RAW digital files makes it the perfect choice for photographers looking for a modular, task-based and streamlined program that delivers a complete photographic workflow solution.

Also introduced were two new digital lenses – the Mamiya Sekor AF 75-150mm f/4.5 D and a full-frame 28mm f/4.5 D Aspherical – that are designed to work on the 645AFD II with both film and digital backs.

All information and offers contained herewith apply to the USA only.

New Mamiya 22MP ZD Digital Back And Lenses

Aimee Baldridge of PopPhoto.com takes a look at the new Mamiya 22MP ZD digital back, 28mm prime lens and 75-150mm zoom lens for their medium-format digital camera lines. Read the entire online article.

Summer Photography Events

June: Magnum Festival

The Magnum Festival, celebrating the 60th anniversary of Magnum Photos, is ongoing all month in New York. Among the upcoming highlights: A book signing at Strand Books on June 11, a panel discussion at the New York Public Library June 16 and a portfolio review with Magnum photographers June 17. There are also more than a dozen exhibitions running at venues around the city and several screenings of films by and about Magnum photographers. Check out the full schedule at festival.magnumphotos.com.

June 7 to 9: LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph
A new photo festival, the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, will be held in Charlottesville, Va., from June 7 to 9. The event will include outdoor projections, seminars and presentations from photographers including Sally Mann, William Albert Allard, and Eugene Richards. The LOOK3 festival is an outgrowth of informal outdoor shows organized over the last 20 years by National Geographic photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols, who is one of the festival's executive directors.Details are at festivalofthephotograph.com.

June 30: City Magazine Travel Photography Competition
City: The Destination for Style is holding a travel photography competition, with the chance for the winning photo to run on the cover of City's Fall 2007 Travel issue. The grand-prize winner will also receive a prize package valued at $10,000, including a camera, a vacation package and a gift card. Entrants may submit as many images as they wish, as long as each represents a different city or travel destination. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2007. Entry details are at www.city-magazine.com/photocontest.

July 2: En Foco New Works Photography Awards

Deadline New Works #11, En Foco’s Photography Awards, is an annual program for American photographers of African, Asian, Latino/a, Native American and Pacific Islander heritage. The program awards photographers an honorarium of $600 plus supplies to support a photo essay exploring personal experiences. Winners will also be part of a group exhibition in the New York area. The deadline to apply is July 2 and details are online at the En Foco Web site. Additionally, En Foco accepts submissions on an ongoing basis for the Nueva Luz photographic journal. Details are online here.

More Buzz From The Sony Alpha Rumor Mill

Sony showed two DSLR prototypes at PMA at Las Vegas back in March. According to recent reports on the rumor mill Sony plans to release one of these cameras by the end of 2007, and the second model by March of 2008. Two months ago the expected flagship ‘Pro’ model was spotted alongside the code name 'CX62500', while the ‘prosumer’ camera was labeled 'CX62300'. The code names were inadvertently revealed in a display case at a Sony conference held in Rhodes, Greece. But Sony won’t reveal which model will be released first nor will they provide any official model names or specs.

The larger model with bulky prism head is probably Sony’s attempt at a full-frame sensor ‘Pro’ model, but again, that is only speculation. The other model pictured is probably a ‘prosumer’ version. But at least both look to have an available vertical grip, and probably PC connection. Hopefully they will have at least 12MP sensors. Neither of the pictured models has the dual control knob configuration that I like so much about the Minolta Maxxum 7 and 7D cameras.

Since Sony continues to refuse to release official information, all we can do is wait and speculate. Meanwhile by waiting so long to release additional models and accessories, will Sony lose too much valuable market share to the current big dogs on the porch, Nikon and Canon, for anyone to care? By the time Sony gets around to releasing something beyond the entry level Alpha 100, former Konica Minolta users may have already jumped ship to the competition. The high prices for current Sony lenses won’t help either. I can't help but think that Sony's current strategy won't improve their standing as a niche camera line, much like Konica Minolta became in recent years.

Microsoft Replaces iView MediaPro With Expression

Microsoft will replace its current iView MediaPro Image management and cataloging application with its new Expression Media program. The Expression Media Encoder is about the only difference between the two applications in regard to functionality, and is only available in the Windows version. It allows video to be batch encoded into numerous formats. A Corbis plug-in has also been added, this allows the direct submission of images from Expression Media to the Corbis stock photography agency.

Expect to pick up Microsoft’s Expression Media alone later this month for about $299, or purchase the Expression Studio Suite for $599, which includes Expression Media. A 60-day free trial is also available. Owners of MediaPro 3.0 or above can upgrade to the new application for free until August 1st, 2007. Upgrades for $99 can be purchased for customers who currently own a version older than 3.0.

Get more information directly from the Microsoft Expression website. If you’d like to check out the Corbis submission plug-in, it is currently available as a free download from the Microsoft iView website, which will remain available for customer support until around the end of the year.

Apple iPhone Due June 29th, Let The Frenzy Begin!

At a suggested retail price of $600 the upcoming Apple iPhone will, in my situation, stay behind the display case glass while I’m out shooting with my Sony Alpha 100, and my company cell phone clipped to my belt. I don’t need my cell phone to take my pictures, play my tunes, organize my calendar and Simonize my car. But then again, I’m a self-proclaimed slacker. While today’s announcement that this new level of technology will be available to buyers on June 29th causing a resurgence of buzz and techno-geek hysteria, I’ll sit back and watch the chaos, comfortable in my archaic ways. In my crazed world you use a camera to take pictures and phone to take calls.

While I can appreciate the basic 1-2MP camera built into several cell phone models; my wife’s Motorola Razr is pretty cool to shoot and send quick grab shots of the kids doing silly things; I don’t really see the value of spending six Ben Franklins on this new camera phone and tied down to AT&T for exclusive cellular service, especially if you just dropped $350 on an 80GB iPod. But again, I’m a cheap slacker. I’m sure it will be friggin’ huge. Apparently both Apple and AT&T have received over a million inquiries about the product’s availability.

John Markoff has posted an online article for The New York Times regarding the upcoming frenzy. Read the entire article.

Image provided by Apple

DIY Bounce Flash Attachment For Pennies

It’s amazing the things lying around the house that can be used as photo equipment. In an effort to save pennies whenever possible, I’m always looking for Do-It-Yourself accessories. I realized that I had a bounce flash attachment that costs just a few cents while eating a piece of delicious cheese cake. Actually the bounce flash attachment was under the cheese cake, and a package of one hundred can be purchased for a couple of bucks at a local grocery store.

I’m talking about common, small, white paper plates. These generally are around five to six inches in diameter and come in a fifty or one hundred count package. Sure you can pick up a LumiQuest ProMax Pocket Bouncer for only about twenty bucks online, but you lose the arts and crafts experience that comes with this ‘el cheapo’ solution. This solution is so simple, just take one paper plate and cut a 90 degree section out of each side at about one inch up from the bottom and from the side. See the example. It’s so easy and quick I didn’t even bother to cut straight lines. If you want professional looking paper plates, just use a steadier hand. I’m a slacker.

Once the ‘base’ is cut out, use a rubber band to attach this high-tech device to the back of your off-camera flash unit. This inexpensive solution will work on most flash units, but higher-end units that swivel vertically and/or horizontally will provide even better functionality. ‘duh.’

The first image sample was created using this classy attachment on my Promaster flash set at TTL metering and at a 90 degree angle. The flash was off-camera to the left of the lens. Since these paper plates are indented in the middle, the edge provides an additional down angle toward the subject. This portrait only included another small Quantaray slave flash to light up the background. The subject was completely lit with my Promaster flash and this top-of-the-line paper bounce attachment. I think the results were pretty good. The light is even and soft. I was only a few feet from the subject.

The paper plate attachment also does a pretty good job with product shots when the camera and flash are much closer to the subject. I placed my son’s Mickey Mouse baseball on a high-key muslin background and hand-held the camera and flash at about a foot from the object. The flash was set at 75 degrees. Again, this was a quick grab shot to show that it can be done fairly well. The off-camera flash with paper plate bounce was the only light source.

I now keep a couple of these in my camera bag with a few rubber bands just in case I need them. In addition to being cheap and a conversation starter, they take up little room in a camera bag and are easily replaceable. Not to mention they’re great for holding cheese cake.