From Canon USA YouTube Channel:
In the 2nd video of this 3-part series, we'll cover more advanced features and settings for video capture going beyond basic, automatic settings. You'll also learn some tips about how to take advantage of these settings for even better video results.
Adorama has the Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 HD Fisheye Lens available for $235.00. Regularly $279.00.
Want to know how to decipher the colored rings on Canon's lenses? Or possibly the difference between fluorite, aspherical and UD lenses? Or why some black lenses allow focusing past infinity?
Check out Canon Professional Network's Infobank for the answers to these questions plus a wealth of information on other topics.
Infobank Lens Topics
From Adobe:
Creative Cloud Subscriptions Accelerate to More Than 1.4 Million; Adobe Marketing Cloud Surpasses Revenue of $1 Billion in 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dec. 12, 2013 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 ended Nov. 29, 2013. The Company also provided a financial outlook for fiscal year 2014 and long-term growth targets for key areas of its business.
Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights
Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Highlights
Note: The growth of Creative Cloud has likely been aided by Adobe's current special on the Photoshop Photography Program – that's Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 for $9.99/month with no prior Photoshop ownership required. Deal is valid through December 31.
Cutting-edge eBAND Coating and three LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements deliver superior imaging performance, while the latest built-in VC (Vibration Compensation) system broadens users’ horizons in achieving sharper handheld photographs.
November 26, 2013, Saitama, Japan - Tamron Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of precision optics, has announced the release of an innovative ultra-telephoto zoom lens with a focal length range of 150mm to 600mm for full-frame and APS-C format DSLR cameras.
Tamron’s previously announced 200-500mm (Model A08), still currently available, is a popular, compact, easy-to-use ultra-telephoto zoom lens, but customers have shown great interest in having a lens that provide an even greater focal length range.
This all-new ultra-telephoto zoom lens features VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization, speedy, precise USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive), state-of-the-art eBAND (Extended Bandwidth & Angular-Dependency) Coating, which significantly reduces the unwanted light reflections that cause flare and ghosting, and, in addition a sophisticated and stylish new external finish.
Its 4x ultra-telephoto zoom capabilities, with a focal length range from 150mm to 600mm, enhance the creative potential of telephoto photography, a captivating feature for all photographers, particularly nature, wildlife, and sports shooters.
Features
The SILKYPIX Developer Studio for Tamron provides a range of functions, in addition to the basic adjustment capabilities, such as correcting aberrations (chromatic aberrations of magnification, distortion, peripheral light fall-off), based on the optical data. Used in tandem with Tamron's SP series lenses - renowned for their high-depiction capability - this advanced technology efficiently produces images that meet photographers' most exacting demands.
The Canon mount model will be released first in Japan on December 19, 2013 and subsequently elsewhere. The launch dates of the Nikon and Sony compatible mount models will be announced at a later date. The SP 150-600mm Di VC USD lens will be available in the USA on January 17, 2014.
The Canon Store has the Refurbished Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens (review) available for 50% off – now just $259.99 with free shipping. Compare at $537.00 new (checkout price).
Canon has released updates for Digital Photo Professional, EOS Utility and Picture Style Editor.
From Canon:
Canon Digital Photo Professional 3.13.51
Changes for Digital Photo Professional 3.13.51 Updater for Windows :
EOS Utility 2.13.40
Changes for EOS Utility 2.13.40 Updater for Windows :
Picture Style Editor 1.13.30
Changes for Picture Style Editor 1.13.30 Updater for Windows :
Download the software updates at Canon USA.
From Photoshelter:
Worried about your images floating around online without any way to trace them back to you or your organization? Have thousands of images stored on hard drives you’re looking to get organized or posted online to make them searchable? Think it’s just your website that gets you discovered by buyers? Think again. Getting organized to make your images searchable, findable, and valuable – on your desktop or on the web – starts with good archiving and tagging practices.
Whether you’re a metadata pro or new to the game, this webinar with Sam Merrell, VP of ASPP, and David Riecks, one of the leading authorities in the field of metadata practices, will break down the techniques and tools you need to to track your image files and create an archiving system that works harder for you.
In this webinar you’ll learn
From Eye-Fi:
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., December 10, 2013 — Eye-Fi, the global leader in wireless memory cards, is announcing a beta Windows desktop receiver for the Mobi card. The Eye-Fi Mobi card will now instantly transfer directly to the desktop, extending the simple camera-to-mobile photo and video transfer users love.
With pricing yet to be announced, Eye-Fi's new desktop receiver for Windows will be free to all customers during beta and gives Mobi users more choice in where their high-quality photos can be transferred, stored and shared. Mobi users will now have the option to transfer to mobile for on-the-go sharing or to the desktop for greater archiving and editing ability — all without the hassle of wires or any delay in showing off their best photos whenever and however they want.
"Our customers love the ability to snap great pictures on a camera and instantly share from a phone or tablet, and now we're taking that experience one step further," said Matt DiMaria, CEO of Eye-Fi. "Now we're adding a simple, instant way to transfer to the desktop and make it easy for customers to get their photos on their computers to edit and archive."
The Eye-Fi desktop receiver for Windows will offer the same, reliable features that Mobi customers already use and love, including:
The beta Eye-Fi desktop receiver for Windows is available for Mobi users to download now, and a beta version for Mac is coming soon.
Adorama carries Eye-Fi Mobi memory cards.
Just Posted: Sigma 24-105mm f/4.0 DG OS HSM Art Lens Review
In the 24-105 OS, Sigma has given us another great Global Vision lens. This lens is definitely worth consideration for needs in this focal length range.
In a comment on Zeiss's website (pulled from Facebook), the Zeiss team has acknowledged that an 85mm f/1.4 OTUS will be released some time next year.
Adobe has released updated versions of Photoshop Lightroom 5 and DNG Converter. (thanks Niklas)
From Adobe:
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 update includes these enhancements:
Download
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 - Windows (872MB) | Macintosh (480.6MB)
Adobe DNG Converter 8.3
This update contains the Adobe DNG Converter 8.3.
The Adobe DNG Converter is a free utility that enables you to easily convert camera-specific raw files from more than 350 cameras to the more universal DNG raw format.
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.
Support for the following cameras has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.
Download
Adobe DNG Converter 8.3 - Windows (70.8MB) | Macintosh (21.5MB)
Adorama carries Adobe Ligthroom 5.
In the Pocketwizard PlusX Transceivers Review we posted yesterday, I mentioned that I have used various "dumb triggers" throughout the years. When it comes down to it, I use dumb radio triggers with off-camera flashes about 95% of the time a person is in front of my camera.
But there are times when ETTL triggering and a shoe-mounted flash are exactly what's needed. A prime example is indoor event photography. This past Halloween I was hired to photograph a costume party hosted by a local business. Photographing the event meant I had to be mobile and react to changing lighting conditions.
My choice of gear proved a good fit for the dynamic conditions:
The 5D Mark III's AF system nailed focus even in the dimly lit areas of the arena. The Sigma 35mm f/1.4's moderatley wide angle was great for capturing groups of people and allowed me to choose a wide aperture when needed. The Rogue FlashBender increased the size of my shoe-mount flash so that the light was a bit more flattering on my subjects. The CTO gel I stuck on the flash closely matched the arean's warm light so that good results could be obtained with a global white balance correction. And lastly, ETTL exposure meant I could focus more on framing, composition and timing without having to worry about constantly changing my flash's power to suit any given situation.
I love shooting in very controlled, studio-like conditions. Under those circumstances, I find manually adjusting my flash(es) to be optimal for me. However, there are times when ETTL and a shoe-mount flash (and a possibly small modifier) simply can't be beat.
The fact that the 600EX-RT features built-in radio (ETTL enabled) triggering is a big plus. ;-) [Sean]
Adorama has the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Flash available for a checkout price of $449.00 with free shipping and 4% Rewards. Regularly $499.00 after instant rebate.
From Photoshelter:
In "The Photographer’s Guide to Facebook," we break down tactics to help you increase awareness about your photography, engage potential clients, and encourage word-of-mouth referrals.
Learn how you can use Facebook to attract followers by:
We also share some great examples of pages from photographers who have successfully used Facebook to build and grow their audience - and their client base - using simple, low cost strategies from posting regularly to showcasing images in a compelling way.
I've seen a lot of sensational headlines about a study that appeared on Psychological Science's website. They included:
The headlines are the result of a study by Linda A. Henkel, Professor of Psychology at Fairfield University, titled "The Influence of Taking Photos on Memory for a Museum Tour."
Her findings indicated that photographing objects can have an effect on what is remembered about them. Her abstract states:
"Two studies examined whether photographing objects impacts what is remembered about them. Participants were led on a guided tour of an art museum and were directed to observe some objects and to photograph others. Results showed a photo-taking-impairment effect: If participants took a photo of each object as a whole, they remembered fewer objects and remembered fewer details about the objects and the objects’ locations in the museum than if they instead only observed the objects and did not photograph them. However, when participants zoomed in to photograph a specific part of the object, their subsequent recognition and detail memory was not impaired, and, in fact, memory for features that were not zoomed in on was just as strong as memory for features that were zoomed in on. This finding highlights key differences between people’s memory and the camera’s “memory” and suggests that the additional attentional and cognitive processes engaged by this focused activity can eliminate the photo-taking-impairment effect."
In other words, subjects who photographed museum pieces as a whole did not remember the pieces as well as those who were cameraless. However, those who zoomed in on the pieces and captured details seemed to remember the artwork as well as test subjects who didn't carry a camera.
But from my own personal experience, pictures tend to bring back a flood of memories that I wouldn't have been able to recall otherwise. Truth is, I have a terrible memory. I have trouble remembering what I had for lunch yesterday let alone things I did a year or more ago.
But when I see a photos taken throughout my life, I'm instantly taken back to that exact place and time. With the photo in hand (or on the screen, as it may be), memories wash over me with ease and I can recall details I thought I never knew had been tucked away in my memory (and not just the details illustrated by the photo). I think most people can identify with that.
So maybe we shouldn't let one study with a very narrow set of circumstances tarnish how we perceive cameras and how they can affect our lives. As for me, cameras have done so much more to enrich my memory (and for that matter – my life) than they have ever taken away from it. [Sean]
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