Canon and Sony News for Aug 2011 (Page 2)

Nikon has today introduced a long list of compact digital cameras. Here is that list along with links to the Nikon USA press releases.

Nikon COOLPIX P7100
Nikon COOLPIX S8200
Nikon COOLPIX S6200
Nikon COOLPIX S100
Nikon COOLPIX S1200pj
Nikon COOLPIX AW100/AW100s

The I Am Nikon Blog has more information.

Amazon.com is accepting preorders on most of these cameras.

Adobe has made release candidates available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.5 and Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 6.5

Lightroom Journal has the details.

Breaking News: I'm sitting at my desk in central Pennsylvania with 6" of concrete under me. The concrete just rippled enough to very noticeably shake my heavy glass and steel desk. Fortunately there appears to be no damage here.

I was on the phone with my Adorama rep at the time and conveyed to him what was happening. He was in disbelief until moments later it hit New York City also. Twitter is alive with the news.

The new Arch Rig (press release) offers an innovative new way to follow focus:

Rob asked me to share his Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM Fisheye Lens Cap modifcation with you:

" ... I modified the lens cap of the 8-15 4.0L fisheye lens with two small pieces of Velcro (only the soft part). The result is very satisfying! The lens cap won’t fall of anymore even when one presses one or both clips." (thanks Rob)

Rob modified his original Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens cap in a similar way - using much more velcro for that mod.

 
Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM Fisheye Lens Review

That's what I'm hearing. I look for the next new DSLR camera and lens announcements to happen later this year - perhaps October.

Canon has also today announced the PIXMA MG8220 and MG6220 Wireless Photo All-In-One Printers (Canon press release).

Canon has today introduced the PowerShot SX150 IS, PowerShot ELPH 510 HS and PowerShot ELPH 310 HS along with a PowerShot Flash.

Some of you have expressed the desire to have the complete site index shown at the bottom of all pages as it had been. This feature is now optional.

I added a small on/off icon () beside the "Site Index" menu option on the navigation bar at the bottom of each page. Clicking on this icon toggles the bottom-of-the-page site index on and off. The sample image just shown is live - it will enable the index.

The site should then remember your choice on all pages except the home page, which does not include this feature (due to technical difficulties).

I would like to address a couple of comments I received regarding my failed hard drive.

First, Jeff suggested using an online backup service.

This is a great option as long as you have the bandwidth available to make uploads happen in a reasonable amount of time. You are of course trusting that the online storage service provider will both remain in business for the duration of your backup needs (I've seen them fold) and that they will properly secure your files so they are really there when you need them (I've seen entire accounts disappear).

The costs for online backup services vary and should be examined. In some cases, you can buy a new external drive each month and ship it to a friend for the monthly cost of storing your files. Online backup has an availability advantage over a distant friend or family member's house, but downloading 1TB of image files is going to take a while over all but the biggest pipes.

I use Amazon's S3 service for website image serving and for non-image file backups.

 
The "Get a DROBO" suggestion from Christopher is another good one.

DROBO makes external RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk) enclosures. Configured as a RAID-5 array, the DROBO utilizes the equivalent of one drive to store parity bits from the other drives (you lose this storage space). Because of this, the DROBO (and other RAID 5 arrays) can withstand one drive failure without any data loss.

I have not used a DROBO, but these drive arrays typically can keep working with a single failed drive. Install a replacement drive and the array rebuilds itself. Performance may suffer until the failed drive is replaced and the array is rebuilt, but no data is lost and immediate access to files remains.

RAID 1 (mirrored) drives take data protection one step farther, giving you complete drive redundancy. RAID 1 configurations can withstand failure of up to 1/2 of the drives - as long as they are all on one side of the mirror (unfortunately, Murphy's Law always kicks in here).

Performance is typically a big benefit these drives offer as the data is striped over all the drives, multiplying the disk arms available for reading and writing data. You will see this difference when using a fast attachment method such as USB 3.0, eSATA and FireWire 800.

While I think RAID 1 and RAID 5 are great options, I KNOW that they (and any other storage method) are alone, not enough. I have worked heavily in enterprise-level IT and have seen enough RAID arrays get corrupted to scare me. I have also seen multiple drives in an array fail at the same time. RAID arrays do not protect from fire or theft - or viruses. You NEED an off-site backup.

As I said before, I have not used a DROBO, but they are generally well regarded. You buy an empty enclosure and add compatible drives or buy them together in a kit. There are $100 mail in rebates available on some of the DROBO configurations right now.

Here are the DROBO enclosures at B&H.

Thanks for the comments!

 
Update:

I incorrectly referred to mirroring as RAID 0 instead of RAID 1. RAID 0 is striping only and offers no protection (only performance improvements). Protective RAID options are 1, 3, 5 and 10.

When shipping a drive, be sure to pack it well to insure no damage in transit. Hand delivery may be a better option. Testing the drive at the recipient location will insure data integrity.

I'm hearing of some trouble stories with DROBO drives. You might want to research this option more thoroughly before making a decision.

Thanks again for the comments (sent via email and Facebook).

Ironic that, less than three weeks after my "Your Hard Drive Just Failed" post, one of my hard drives failed. The vendor is replacing the drive under warranty, but had my files not been backed up, I would be in a very bad situation.

I know that some of you moved on my suggestion to use external hard drives for your backups after my last post, but I also know that most people are not adequately backing up their files. If you are in this category, the time to backup is now.

Here are the external hard drives at B&H.

I slightly revised the Where To Buy Cameras and Lenses warning page on the site.

I seem to be getting an above-average number of emails regarding online scams recently, and therefore want to make sure everyone remains alert.

Sigma has announced that the new Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 II DG HSM Lens in Nikon mount will be shipping at the end of this month.

DxO Labs has added 31 new lens / camera combinations to the DxO Optics Modules library, providing supports for Canon, Tamron, and Sony lenses, for numerous Canon, Nikon, and Sony cameras.

Visit this page to see the new combinations.

DxO Optics Pro is available at B&H.

Just posted: Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM Fisheye Lens Review

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