Canon and Sony News for Oct 2014 (Page 6)

From the Adobe Photoshop YouTube Channel:

Photoshop Principal Product Manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes shows us how to use filters in Photoshop (and which not to use) in this episode of the Photoshop Playbook.

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is a great value at only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From seeimpossible.usa.canon.com:

THIS MESSAGE GOES OUT TO FEAR, DOUBT, LOGIC AND REASON.

To excuses, distractions, procrastination, inertia, critics, cynics, realists, pessimists, resistance, conventional wisdom.

To the peanut gallery, the so-called experts, the good enoughs, the urges to pass the buck, the easy way out, the snooze button, the panic button, and to that little voice in the back of your head that says,

“It can't be done.”

To all of it, we apologize.

Because we don’t see what you see.

AT CANON, WE SEE IMPOSSIBLE.

So what in the world is Canon up to? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"This month, I [photographer Tyler Stableford] undertook a longstanding personal project: an attempt to create underwater fine art images of a beautiful swimmer arcing alongside enormous whale sharks. After a busy year of shooting, I’ve had a welling desire to create imagery that speaks to my deepest soul; and to forge a large-format print for my house.

The project is a co-creation with the swimmer model Ashley Mosher. I chose Ashley for the project as she is a former competitive swimmer (she competed in the U.S. Olympic trials) and has a beautiful grace that is only enhanced when she enters the water."

From the Carl Zeiss Lenses Youtube Channel:

Every two years Cologne hosts photokina, the world’s most important imaging trade fair. And from September 16 to 21, 2014, around 185,000 film and photography fans, from 160 countries, attended this year’s event by the Rhine. Many of them headed straight to ZEISS in hall 2.2, stand C-018, where they could talk with optics experts and experience close-up four new lenses that really whet your appetite for photography.

B&H carries Zeiss lenses. Check out Bryan's full review of the Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4.

From Adobe:

Camera Raw 8.7 is now available as a release candidate on Adobe Labs for Photoshop CS6 , Photoshop CC and Photoshop CC 2014 on Adobe Labs. An update of DNG Converter is also available on Adobe Labs.

As mentioned here, updates to Camera Raw 8 for Photoshop CS6 only include new camera support, lens profile support, and bug fixes. The new features listed in the release notes are only available in Photoshop CC.

New Camera Support in Camera Raw 8.7 Release Candidate

• Casio EX-100PRO
• Fujifilm X30
• Leaf Credo 50
• Leica V-Lux (Typ 114)
• Nikon D750
• Panasonic DMC-GM1S
• Sony ILCE-5100
• Sony ILCE-QX1

New Lens Profile Support in Camera Raw 8.7 Release Candidate

• When Photoshop CC 2014’s option to scale the UI 200% is enabled (Edit > Preferences > Experimental Features), the Camera Raw dialog will also be scaled.
• Known issues:

• Sometimes the Camera Raw dialog will not scale after the initial Photoshop relaunch to enable the feature. Workaround: relaunch Photoshop again.
• Some UI flashing/redrawing during interactive operations such as dragging a local adjustment gradient or toggling fullscreen mode.

Bug Fixes:

• Fix crash when rapidly adding corrections with the Spot Removal tool.
• Fix bug that prevented the Filter Brush cursor from displaying while changing brush size when the Graduated and Radial Filter overlay is turned off.
• Improve quality of Camera Matching color profiles for the Nikon D810. Fixes visible banding issues with the Camera Standard, Camera Vivid, Camera Landscape, and Camera Monochrome profiles.

Download

Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.7 for CC
Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.7 RC for CS6

Note: DNG Converter links are on the Camera Raw 8.7 RC for CS6 download page (must click agreement checkmark to see links). [thanks Jan]

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

Sigma just released firmware updates for the following lenses:

• 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM
• 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM
• 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM

Firmware Modifications (applicable to all)

• Autofocus is supported at any aperture value when used with the Canon Digital Cinema Camera EOS C100.

  Note: Before upgrading the firmware of 30mm F1.4 DC HSM A013, please first update your SIGMA Optimization Pro to Ver1.2.0.

Download the Sigma Firmware Updates.

B&H carries the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM, 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM and 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM lenses and the Sigma USB dock.

Canon Japan has posted its official EOS 7D Mark II sample pictures. (thanks Paul)

For what it's worth, the studio portrait sample looks amazingly good – as do several of the other sample pictures. Right now I'm glad I preordered. ;-) [Sean]

B&H has the Canon EOS 7D Mark II available for preorder.

From Sigma's YouTube Channel:

The SIGMA 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Sports incorporates our best features ever. We created this movie to explain more about the great features of this superior tele-photo zoom lens.

Other Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens Videos

• Splash Proof Promo
• Dust Proof Promo

B&H has the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens available for preorder.

From Nikon:

Nikon Latin America, S.A., A New Sales Subsidiary for Imaging Products, is Established to Enhance Nikon's Sales and Marketing Organization in Latin America

September 30, 2014 – TOKYO – Nikon Corporation (Kazuo Ushida, President) is pleased to announce the establishment of Nikon Latin America, S.A. in Panama City, Republic of Panama. This new sales and service subsidiary has been established to fortify sales of imaging products, mainly digital cameras, and to enhance after-sales service in Latin America. Operations will commence on October 1, 2014.

A number of countries in Latin America have shown increasing economic growths in recent years, and this is one region in which the growth of the digital camera business is expected to continue. To date, Nikon has established sales and service subsidiaries in Mexico and Brazil. Sales and service activities have been performed in other Latin American countries by Nikon Inc., the marketing base in the United States through local distributors. We have established this new subsidiary in order to fortify business and marketing activities in these countries.

With the establishment of this new subsidiary, Nikon believes that more strategic and effective marketing, advertising, and promotional activities will lead to increased sales and greater permeation of the Nikon brand, as well as better service for its customers, further increasing Nikon's presence in these regions.

Company Overview

Name: Nikon Latin America, S.A.
Address: P.H. Oceania Business Plaza, Torre 1000, 42nd Floor, Office 42B, Punta Pacifica, Panama City, Republic of Panama
Capital: US $1 million (approximately ¥ 100 million)
Representative Director: Naoki Onozato, President
No. of employees: 9 at start of operations
Primary activities: Sales of, as well as sales support and after-sales service for imaging products in Latin America (excluding Mexico and Brazil)
Start of operations: October 1, 2014
Annual sales target: Approximately ¥ 3 billion in the first fiscal year

From JP Distribution:

Starting on Wednesday 1st October 2014 customers purchasing any of the following PocketWizard products, from authorised UK and Republic of Ireland resellers, will be entitled to claim up to £100.00 cash back by redemption of a voucher and valid proof of purchase.

• £20 CASH BACK - PocketWizard MiniTT1 for Canon or Nikon
• £25 CASH BACK - PocketWizard FlexTT5 for Canon or Nikon
• £100 CASH BACK - PocketWizard Mini & Flex Kit for Canon or Nikon (1 x MiniTT1, 2 x FlexTT5 & 1 x AC3 ZoneController)

Promotion Ends: Sunday 30th November 2014

Download rebate vouchers here.

Amazon.co.uk is an authorised retailer of PocketWizard products.

I usually really like Canon's promotional videos, especially those produced by Canon Australia (great example here). But this is not one of them.

In the video, Canon Master Krystle Wright introduces Canon Ambassador Lisa Wikinson to three different lenses – the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM.

And that brings me to the first thing I don't like about this video – Why in the world is a Canon Ambassador ignorant of the usefulness of these lenses in the first place? Aren't Canon Ambassador's supposed to be somewhat familiar with the Canon lens lineup (or at least the capabilities of various types of lenses)? Canon Professional Network describes Ambassadors as "...some of the world’s greatest photographers." Yet one of them has no idea what wide angle, standard telephoto and telephoto zooms are well-suited for?

Ludicrous.

But that leads me to the biggest thing I don't like about this video – I feel it goes too far in dumbing-down the usefulness of lenses. In the video, Canon Master Krystle Wright boils down the company's entire lineup to three "types" of lenses – landscape, portrait and sport.

I think I would have preferred if Canon had stuck with the more prevalent terminology – wide (or ultra-wide) angle, standard telephoto and telephoto zoom. These terms describe the physical aspects of each lens that make it well-suited for various uses rather than pigeonholing the lens to a specific (and very limited) use.

I've shot portraits with wide angle lenses, medium telephoto and telephoto zooms. And I often shoot sports with standard and medium telephoto lenses (wider apertures work especially well for dimly-lit gymnasiums). Why Canon would advertise its lenses in this way is beyond my comprehension. :-/ [Sean]

Am I being too hard on Canon Australia? Let me know in the comments section below.

B&H carries the following lenses:

• Ultra-wide angle: Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (review)
• Standard telephoto: Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (review)
• Telephoto zoom: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM (review)

From Drobo:

New Drobo Mini 8TB bundle delivers an industry first for protected storage on-the-go

SAN FRANCISCO – September 30, 2014 – Connected Data, the creator of the award-winning Drobo line of smart storage solutions, today announces the immediate availability of its new Drobo Mini 8TB bundle that provides customers with a massive amount of storage space in a small, rugged form factor.

The Drobo Mini 8TB bundle features four hot-swappable 2.5” drive bays pre-loaded with four Samsung Spinpoint M9T 2TB drives. Like all Drobo products, the Drobo Mini 8TB bundle is built on the award-winning BeyondRAID Technology to ensure that data is not lost in the event of one or two simultaneous drive failures. If a drive does fail, the Mini automatically repairs itself and returns to a protected state while providing full access to all data. New drives can be added or swapped on-the-fly with zero downtime.

The Drobo Mini connects via Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 providing flexible, high performance access to data while on the road with the confidence to know that data will be safe and protected against loss. All of these features and capabilities come in a sleek-looking package that weighs just three pounds and is small enough to easily fit into any travel bag.

This combination of capacity and extreme durability makes the Drobo Mini ideal for photographers, filmmakers and other creative professionals who can quickly and easily transfer large multimedia files from their devices’ media cards to the Mini while still on location.

“Lugging 8TBs of storage to a photo or video shoot was a real challenge before now,” said Rich Harrington, CEO of RHED Pixel and publisher of Photofocus. “While other companies may offer 8TB options, they tend to lack portability and data protection. This makes other solutions impractical for field use by creative pros. The new Drobo Mini 8TB bundle makes it easy to bring a tremendous amount of storage capacity anywhere we need it while still providing the peace-of-mind that comes with Drobo’s unique approach against drive failure.”

“The Drobo Mini is the ideal storage array for our new 2TB Samsung Spinpoint M9T hard drives,” said David Frankovich, Director PLM, Samsung HDD division of Seagate Technology. “We’re able to provide Drobo users with the highest-capacity and thinnest storage solution available in today’s market.”

Pricing and Availability
The Drobo Mini 8TB bundle is available today at an MSRP of $999 USD through select channel partners.

B&H carries Drobo products.