Canon and Sony News for Aug 2010 (Page 2)

Canon has announced the cute little Canon SELPHY CP800 Compact Photo Printer (press release).

Canon has announced three new PowerShot camera models (press release).

In a consolidated Nikon Summer 2010 DSLR Lens Announcment, Nikon has announced the following lenses:

Nikon 85mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor Lens
Nikon 24-120mm f/4G ED AF-S VR Nikkor Lens
Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR Nikkor Lens

Announced separately is the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR Nikkor Lens.

Also announced is the Nikon D3100 DSLR Camera.

Specifications for the new lenses have been added to the Lens Specfications Tool for easy reference and comparison.

Canon has officially announced the Canon EOS 7DSV (Studio Version) (press release).

Canon U.S.A. Announces Two New PIXMA Printers With Innovative Intelligent Touch System and Full HD Movie Print (Canon USA Press Release)

Firmware 5.15 Corrects Data Table Issue in 5.10

"We recently released the latest official ControlTL firmware, version 5.10. Based on continued internal testing and feedback from users, it appears that a couple of the exposure and timing data tables became corrupted somewhere in the process. We’ve had reports of improper exposures with several camera models as well as shutter clipping with the 1Ds Mark III and 1D Mark IV. We have corrected the tables and the revised firmware is available as version 5.15 and can be downloaded via the PocketWizard Utility now.

We recommend upgrading to 5.15 as soon as you can.

The manual addendum for v5.10 is still the same for v5.15."

Nikon ViewNX 2 has been made available for free download today.

The list of changes includes:

1. Revamped workspace
2. New editing functions (Crop, Auto Red-Eye, Straighten, Auto Lateral CA Correction)
3. Movie editing functions
4. Improved print functions
5. Greater collaboration with my Picturetown

View the entire press release here.

ISO 12233 Resolution Chart and Lens Specifications and Measurements Tools have been added to the Nikon 200-400mm f/4G AF-S VR II Lens Review page.

I have to admit - I was not expecting much difference in sharpness between this lens and the version 1 Nikon 200-400mm f/4G AF-S VR Lens. But, I'm very pleased with the improvement at 400mm. This difference is confirmed in the with-extender tests. When shooting sports, I often had the version 1 lens at 400mm and was not excited about the results I was getting, so this improvement is very welcomed. Canon needs one of these.

As I mentioned yesterday on the site news page, the root cause of the community site being down was a mandatory site migration to the webhost's new datacenter (performed by the host). After 12 hours of being down with no solution in sight, I made the decision to relocate the site to RackSpace along with the main site. The hosting costs more, but will hopefully be more bulletproof.

The incompetencies shown by the web host in this site migration are simply beyond my comprehension. These include, along with giving me no notice of the actual cutover and among many other things, the restoring of a 3 week old database (so much for daily backups). And they thought no one would notice?

Fortunately I had a personal backup. Unfortunately, my latest backup was from early evening on Aug 6th. I strongly apologize for the inconvenience of the lost information - please restart/complete the threads that were important to you. Thanks!

Since the RSS news feed is currently down, I am going to push a planned implementation of new RSS news feeds ahead of schedule. I intend to 301-Redirect (automatically forward) the previous feed (when its functionality is restored) to these new feeds, but changing your news reader now will restore the site's RSS news functionality immediately.

The available feeds are:

Canon, Nikon News, What's New (all posted news)   
Canon News, What's New (Nikon-related news filtered out)  
Nikon News, What's New (Canon-related news filtered out)  

Simply click on the link of the feed you desire to get the subscription address/URL. For my Nikon friends, Nikon news will be ramping up. If you have no interest in Nikon-related posts, simply subscribe to the Canon-specific feed - and vice-versa.

Facebook and Twitter offer alternatives for keeping up on the news.

Please pass the word about this change.

A news page for everyone:

The current Canon News page will remain unchanged and the content will remain the same.

A new Canon and Nikon News page will now be available as will a Nikon News page that omits Canon-specific news posts.

The Nikon-specific posts will be ramping up in the future.

The Community.The-Digital-Picture.com subdomain (the forums and RSS news feed) is currently down. The root cause of the problem is a mandatory site migration to WebHost4Life's new datacenter (performed by WebHost4Life). An issue with the IP address and DNS are thought to be at the root of the problem.

I apologize for the inconvenience and will make resolution of the problem a top priority.

ISO 12233 Resolution Chart and Lens Specifications and Measurements Tools have been added to the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM Lens Review page.

Adobe Labs has posted Lightroom 3.2 rc and Camera Raw 6.2 rc.

Lightroom Journal documents the updates - inlcuding a long list of new Lens Profiles.

Tamron Announces Release of a Full Size Premium Telephoto Zoom – The Tamron Superior Performance SP 70-300mm Di VC USD (Model A005) for Nikon mount

An Extra Low Dispersion (XLD) lens made from high-grade materials delivers best-in-class resolution while Tamron’s own Ultrasonic Silent Drive (USD) and Vibration Compensation (VC) make the lens fast, quiet and easy to use

August 10, 2010, Commack, NY – Tamron announced another advance in the company's pursuit of high resolution images in the telephoto lens category with the release of its anniversary model SP 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens featuring VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization and an ultrasonic auto-focus drive –– USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive). The SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) high-resolution DSLR telephoto zoom lens is available for the Nikon mount on August 26, 2010, with the launch of mounts for Canon and Sony to follow.

Read the original Tamron SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC US Lens Press Release for more information.

Just posted: Camera L-Plate Review

This is a short review describing one my my most-used pieces of gear and answering one of my most-received email questions - "What is attached to your camera in that picture?".

I added a new page to the site's Help section: Used DSLR Cameras, Lenses and Acessories for Sale

This will give me a static location to list used gear that I am finished evaluating/using for sale.

I will post here when any significant additions are made to the used gear page. Note that I don't have time to do a lot of price research, but usually try to list the gear, typically in mint condition, at attractive prices.

August 4, 2010

South Burlington, VT - PocketWizard today launched the newest firmware version for the MiniTT1 Transmitter and FlexTT5 Transceiver. ControlTL Firmware Version 5.1 is a firmware upgrade which allows compatibility with the AC3 ZoneController for Canon. The AC3 ZoneController gives the photographer control over three independent zones of light, whether working in E-TTL or Manual mode, directly from the camera’s position. Additionally, the firmware upgrade now allows compatibility with the Canon Rebel T2i. Compatibility with the Canon 7D and 1D Mark IV has also been expanded.

There have been a few refinements to the firmware since the 5.0 launch which has been tested in the beta lab in the form of two beta versions.

For more detailed information on firmware version 5.1, including compatibility, refinements and operational notes, please click here.

IMPORTANT: When upgrading your radios, be sure to upgrade all MiniTT1’s and FlexTT5’s to v5.1 for proper AC3 functionality. Your radios will only operate as expected when all units are using the latest firmware.

Additionally, always perform a factory reset after updating your firmware. And be sure to write down any custom settings for Configuration 1 or Configuration 2 before you reset your radios so you can re-apply them after the upgrade. See RESET B on page 28 in the original Owner’s Manual or simply hold TEST as you power on for 10 seconds until you see 4 blinks (green).

PocketWizard, the world leader in wireless control and synchronization of cameras, flash lighting and light meters, is made by LPA Design, based in South Burlington, Vermont and sold by MAC Group in the USA and authorized distributors around the world.

Use PocketWizard Utility to download the update.

Sigma has announced the availability of the new Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Lens.

B&H and Adorama both have this lens in stock.

Lowepro has announced the Adventura TLZ toploader DSLR bags.

These look like a great choice for a smaller DSLR.

Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Distagon T* ZE Lens Review

This is an impressive lens.

Apple has released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.3.

This update extends RAW image format compatibility to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '09 for the following cameras:

• Canon PowerShot SX1 IS
• Olympus E-PL1
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10
• Samsung NX10
• Sony Alpha DSLR-A390
• Sony Alpha NEX-3
• Sony Alpha NEX-5

Check out my Timber Rattlesnake Picture with a more-than-usual amount of commentary.

Have some free time? Want to get your work noticed? Here is a technique demonstrated that is sure to bring you attention: Levi’s: “Guy Walks Across America”

Rob Galbraith describes a new version of the Canon EOS 7D that supports certain barcode readers and stores barcode data in EXIF.