Canon and Sony News for Apr 2013 (Page 3)

From Nikon:

Support Article

My COOLPIX camera battery will not charge - Firmware Updates available

How to identify the camera battery not charging
The cameras listed below are all designed to charge the battery in-camera by connecting an AC adapter to the cameras USB connector. If the battery is fully exhausted due to a long period of inactivity, sometimes the battery can fail to charge. With the AC adapter connected to the cameras USB connector the battery charge lamp will flash green if charging is in progress. If charging is not possible the battery charge lamp will not light at all.

The battery charge lamp is usually located on the back of the camera indicated with a charge/flash symbol.

Camera Firmware Updates available
Nikon have released camera Firmware Updates for the following affected COOLPIX cameras. We recommend performing the update as soon as possible to avoid this problem should your camera not be used for long periods.

• COOLPIX S9300 Firmware Update v1.2
• COOLPIX S9200 Firmware Update v1.2
• COOLPIX S6300 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S6200 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S6150 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S6100 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S4300 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S4150 Firmware Update v1.2
• COOLPIX S4000 Firmware Update v1.3
• COOLPIX S3300 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S3100 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S3000 Firmware Update v1.2
• COOLPIX S2600 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S2550 Firmware Update v1.1
• COOLPIX S2500 Firmware Update v1.1

Important Note
Make sure the battery is fully charged before perfoming a Firmware Update, alternatively power the camera from an AC adapter unit. If you perform the update with a battery which is not fully charged the camera may stop working during update which will cause further problems.

My camera has no power, I can't update the Firmware!
If your camera will not charge the battery, try the following workarounds which may recover the situation enough to allow the battery to continue charging.

1. Remove the memory card from the camera and then reconnect the AC adapter to the cameras USB connector. In some cases the battery will now charge correctly.
2. A Nikon battery charger is available as an optional sales item for most COOLPIX cameras. If you have access to an external Nikon battery charger, remove the battery from the camera and charge it in the battery charger. In some cases this may start to charge the battery correctly. Click here for battery charger compatibility list.

If these measures fail to charge the camera battery, contact the Nikon Support Centre for further advice.

From Adobe:

New tools to enhance and share your digital photograph library

Welcome to the Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 5 public beta. We're excited about the new features and advancements in the new Lightroom 5 beta and we hope you will be, too. This page includes information about Lightroom, details about the beta release of Lightroom 5, and access to Lightroom 5 beta software.

Lightroom Overview

Lightroom software provides a comprehensive set of digital photography tools, from powerfully simple one-click adjustments and features to cutting edge advanced controls. With Lightroom, you can organize, enhance, and showcase your images all from one fast and nimble application that's available on Macintosh and Windows® platforms.

• Get the highest possible quality from every pixel in your images using state-of-the-art editing tools.
• Easily showcase your work to friends, family, and clients. Craft elegant photo books and share your photographs on social networks or in web galleries, slideshows, prints, and more.
• Manage your entire photo collection in a visual library that makes it quick and easy to organize, find, and select your images.

Introducing Lightroom 5 Beta

Lightroom 5 beta builds on the vision of the very first Lightroom beta. From day 1, Lightroom was designed for photographers and by photographers to help them focus on what they love—the art and craft of photography. Lightroom provides photographers with an elegant and efficient way to work with their growing digital image collections, bring out the best in their images, and make an impact from raw capture to creative output, all while maintaining the highest possible quality each step of the way.

New Features in Lightroom 5 Beta

• Advanced Healing Brush – Easily remove objects and fix defects—even those with irregular shapes such as threads or lint—with a single brush stroke. Take precise control over what's being removed as you make unwanted objects just disappear.
• Upright – Straighten tilted images with a single click. Upright analyzes images and detects skewed horizontal or vertical lines. You choose one of four correction methods, and Upright can even straighten images where the horizon is hidden.
• Radial Gradient – Lead your viewer's eye through your images with more flexibility and control. The radial gradient tool lets you create off-center vignette effects, or multiple vignette areas within a single image.
• Offline editing with Smart Previews – Easily work with images without bringing your entire library with you. Just generate smaller stand-in files called Smart Previews. Make adjustments or metadata additions to Smart Previews and your changes will be automatically applied to the full-size originals later.
• Video slideshow sharing – Easily share your work in elegant video slideshows. Combine still images, video clips, and music in creative HD videos that can be viewed on almost any computer or device.
• Improved photo book creation – Create beautiful photo books from your images. Lightroom includes a variety of easy-to-use book templates, and now you can edit them to create a customized look. Upload your book for printing with just a few clicks.

The Lightroom 5 beta program is available to the public. Anyone with an Internet connection can download it and start putting it to the test. You do not need to own (or have tried) a previous version of Lightroom. You can download the beta and use it until the product expires on June 30, 2012.

Download the Lightroom 5 Public Beta.

Adobe's Lightroom YouTube channel has several informative videos on Lightroom 5 Beta.

This is The-Digital-Picture.com's Weekend Recap for the week ending April 13th, 2013

In the news...

On Monday, Canon released a firmware update for the Canon 6D. The new firmware addresses a bug that would cause the 6D to spontaneously request confirmation of the date and time settings even after the settings were already configured.

Also on Monday, Red Rock Micro announced its newest product – the One Mane Crew. The One Man Crew is a slide system that runs automatically keeping the subject in focus thanks to its parabolic track. The device promises to deliver cinematic results with minimal resources.

On Wednesday, PocketWizard announced its beta firmware release plan update. PocketWizard plans to update the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 for compatibility with the Nikon D600, D5200, D3200, the Canon 6D and T4i, and provide HyperSync Improvements for both systems.

On Friday, we posted a news announcement about newly purchased Canon lenses arriving with the Mark II center-pinch lens caps. Long-time Canon customers will surely be happy with this change.

In site news and reviews...

Bryan continued to highlight his updated lens recommendation pages this week. Bryan highlighted his lens recommendations for weddings, outdoor sports, indoor sports, macro subjects, wildlife, and landscapes. And on Saturday, Bryan also highlighted what he considers to be “bargain buys” in the lens world.

On Monday, Bryan posted an update regarding his Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC lens standardized testing. In the end, the lens provided very impressive image quality results – but the difficulty in obtaining a trouble-free copy of the lens indicates Tamron may have some quality control issues to address.

On Thursday, Bryan responded to questions as to whether or not the Canon 85 f/1.2 L’s autofocus was acceptable for sports use. In short, when paired with a very capable body like the 1D X, the lens provides decent results even in moderately challenging conditions.

And, for our deal of the week…

On Friday, we posted promotional deals from Adorama where you could get several popular items at significant savings. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM was an especially good deal – only $1,949.00 with free shipping, 2% Rewards, and a free Red Giant Production software bundle.

This has been the The-Digital-Picture.com’s Weekend Recap. Thanks for listening, and as always, happy shooting!

Find out what I consider to be the best Canon lens bargains: Bargain Lens Recommendations

Then go over to our Facebook page ("Like" us while there) and let me know which lenses you think I missed!

It is hard to overlook the amazing scenery all around us. And capturing those amazing views is what many of us have cameras for. As with most photogrpahy pursuits, the right lens can make a significant difference in your landscape photography results.

Today we are looking at Landscape Lens Recommendations.

Since we were discussing the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens yesterday, I thought I would put up some fresh sample pictures for that lens. Hopefully you will find them - or one of the included tips - interesting and helpful.

B&H has the Zeiss 135mm f/2 Apo Sonnar T* ZE Lens (Canon/Nikon) available for preorder.

Apparantly, the inventory of side-pinch lens caps is starting to dwindle. Site visitor Ian recently sent us an email noting that his recently unboxed Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens from Amazon came prepackaged with the new 77mm center-pinch lens cap.

B&H carries the new Canon Center-Pinch Lens Caps.

From Canon Professional Network:

Great travel photography can evoke a range of emotions and usually ends in that feeling of ‘itchy feet.’ CPN writer Ian Farrell applies the foot powder and talks to Canon Explorer Joel Santos about a recent trip to Patagonia with the EOS 6D DSLR…

The urge to travel goes hand in glove with a need to take pictures. A perfect example of this can be found in Joel Santos, a 35-year-old travel photographer from Lisbon, Portugal, who has explored dozens of locations throughout the world, in Europe, South America, and across Asia.

Joel, who worked as an economist before he sidestepped into the photographic industry, has enjoyed travelling from an early age. “I was fortunate that my parents loved to travel, so I had the chance to see some amazing places as a child,” he says, explaining that it wasn’t until 2003, after he had qualified with a masters degree in economics, that he thought of working in photography.

“I was working for a while in East Timor, near Indonesia, teaching economics at university,” he continues. “My passion for photography grew during this time, and it was only natural that it joined up with the love for travel I’d developed by living abroad.” Now Joel makes a living from his photography, splitting his time between organising workshops and tours, writing about the destinations that he visits and shooting stunning images of people places and culture.

See the full CPN article here.

B&H carries the Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera.

From Sigma:

SIGMA 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM & SIGMA USB DOCK

2013.04.12 - SIGMA 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM for Canon and SIGMA USB DOCK for Canon are scheduled to start the shipment from the end of this month.

B&H has the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Lens for Canon available for preorder.

I included the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II Lens in my indoor action sports lens recommendation list. Some, in a politely-constructive way (always very appreciated), are questioning my logic for doing so. The big reason for this questioning is due to the 85mm f/1.2L II's focusing speed. This is not the fastest Canon AF system.

So the question: "Can the EF 85mm f/1.2L II Lens be used for sports action photography?" is one that I want to answer today.

The short answer is "Yes".

Here is a very slightly cropped sample photo I captured with a Canon 1D X:

Is it sharp? That is a good question because it is easy to make web-sized images sharp. Even with very light sharpening ("2" in DPP), the eyelashes are sharp as shown in the screen capture below. The screen capture is lower quality than DPP's RAW conversion (the sharpening is not as clean), but I want to show the active AF point placed on the jaw line:

Close and fast approaching subjects present a challenge to the autofocus systems of both cameras and lenses. This runner was very close and moving fast. She was on the inside lane of the track and I was off of the track *just* far enough to not disturb the race. It is going to be hard to get much closer to any action - and dangerous to get that close to anything faster. The 1D X has proven very impressive to me, making it a great choice for finding the limitations of the lens. This shot and a significant percentage of my other 85 f/1.2 action images are in sharp focus.

Adding to the challenge of capturing in-focus action sports images with this lens is the razor-thin depth of field at f/1.2. Maintaining a focus point on the same plane of focus as the in-action subject's eyes is a challenge. Do not expect an in-focus hit rate as high as with some good f/2.8 lenses - though the 85 f/1.2L II bested some other non-Canon f/2.8 lenses I was testing at the same event.

You of course do not have to use a wide open aperture, but ... f/1.2 is a leading contributor to the major awesomeness of this lens. It is seldom too dark to stop action with an f/1.2 aperture as the in-action subject's ability to see becomes an issue.

Actually, it can be too bright to shoot sports at f/1.2 unless you have the right DSLR camera. Shooting under full sunlight as shown in the sample above? You need a DSLR with 1/8000 shutter speed capability (only higher end models have it) along with ISO 50 to keep images dark enough to avoid blown highlights in some scenarios. These were the settings used in the sample above. Alternatively, a neutral density filter can be used.

Returning to the autofocus speed question ... Can other Canon lenses focus faster than the 85 f/1.2L II? Yes. But, this 85mm f/1.2 action sports sample is far from a 1-off autofocus accident. My overall focus hit rate is decent with this lens.

Can any other Canon lens produce the same sports image look?

No. I love this lens.

While some wildlife is tolerant of human presence (and some is captive), much of the world's wildlife remains elusive. It would prefer that you were in the next county. Lenses that allow you to remain far from the subject tend to rule the wildlife photography category.

Today I introduce the Wildlife Lens Recommendations page.

From Tamron:

Two-hour educational seminars to be held at 30 select Tamron dealers

April 11, 2013, Commack, NY - As part of the company's Educational Series 2013, Tamron USA announced photography seminars to be conducted throughout the US at 30 select authorized dealers. The how-to seminars cover a wide variety of subject matter:

• Seeing in Black & White Photography
• Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography
• Kids Sports Photography
• Family, Friends & Kids Informal Portrait Photography
• Formal Portrait & Lighting Photography
• Close-up & Macro Photography

Attendees of the event can expect to go behind the lens and learn a multitude of useful photographic tips and insights that will improve their picture-taking abilities with their DSLR camera. The topics discussed during the seminar include understanding light, point of view, composition, and knowing your lens in order to shoot the types of pictures the DSLR user desires.

Participating Retailer Locations & Registration

Attendees can register for the seminars at www.tamron-usa.com/events/howto/.

Dates are continuing to be added. The current roster includes the following locations:

4/11- Family, Friends & Kids Informal Portraits Photography Seminar (Metairie, LA)
4/19- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Kenmore, WA)
4/23- Family, Friends & Kids Informal Portraits Photography Seminar (Charlotte, NC)
5/4- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Hartford, CT)
5/10- Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography Seminar (Rockford, IL)
5/16- Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography Seminar (Glen Mills, PA)
5/17- Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography Seminar (Lansdale, PA)
5/17- Formal Portrait & Lighting Photography Seminar (Lakewood, WA)
6/1- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Louisville, KY)
6/7- Close Up & Macro Photography Seminar (Oshkosh, WI)
6/14- Seeing in Black & White Photography Seminar (Nashville, TN)
6/14- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Brookfield, WI)
6/15- Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography Seminar (Nashville, TN)
6/21- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Orlando, FL)
6/21- Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography Seminar (St. Louis, MO)
7/27- Kids Sports Photography Seminar (Pontiac, MI)

More About the Tamron Educational Series 2013

The 2013 Educational Series led by top Tamron photographers and instructors offer a wide variety of topics across the country. Seminar leaders strive to not only teach but inspire their attendees by creating an educational experience that promotes technique strengthening, creativity and practical application. These series offer opportunities to travel to the Nation's most awe-inspiring state parks, partaking in cutting edge Photoshop live training, college campus tours and traditional How-To photo seminars. With over eighty dates at country wide locations, all interested photographers have the opportunity experience these fantastic learning workshops and gain insight on how to become a better photographer. Most "How-To" events cost $25.00 to register.

B&H carries Tamron lenses.

When your current lens does not make your subject large enough in the frame, you need a macro lens. And even if your current lens will focus close enough to your subject, you may want a macro lens anyway - perhaps for the excellent image quality that they deliver. Perhaps for use as a portrait lens. Perhaps for use in low light. Or just to unleash your creativity.

Today's segment of Lens Recommendations Week features Canon Macro Lens Recommendations.

From PocketWizard:

April 10, 2013

So. Burlington, VT – As Canon and Nikon continue to release new cameras and flashes, PocketWizard Photo Products has established an evolving Firmware Release plan for the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios to address compatibility with these new products.

Our current firmware development priorities include compatibility updates, HyperSync improvements and bug fixes. The next beta will include the following:

MiniTT1/FlexTT5 Beta firmware release for Nikon
Compatibility with the following NIKON gear:

• Nikon D600, Nikon D5200 & Nikon D3200
• HyperSync Improvements

MiniTT1/FlexTT5 Beta firmware release for Canon
Compatibility with the following CANON gear:

• Canon 6D & Canon T4i – Manual power control only (no TTL)
• HyperSync Improvements

PowerMC2 & PowerST4 Beta firmware release with HyperSync Improvements

The Nikon D600 (full-featured) and Canon 6D (manual-only) firmware is in the final testing stages. Some HyperSync enhancements, currently enabled for Canon only, are also in the final testing stages for all our ControlTL radios: MiniTT1 & FlexTT5 for both Canon and Nikon including the AC9 AlienBees Adapter, and the PowerST4 & PowerMC2. This large bundle of firmware could be available in Beta this month if all goes as well as we hope, and available as officially released firmware a few weeks after that. You'll be able to get some serious practice with it well before the heat of the June wedding season.

Ongoing: The latest Canon cameras have an entirely new TTL protocol. This has proven extremely difficult to reverse engineer as is the case with the Canon 1DX. We believe we have found a path to a solution, but it will still take many weeks to validate, implement and test-test-test. There is nothing simple about this. When completed it will be made available as a free update to the ControlTL system, as have all other compatibility updates.

B&H carries the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 triggering units.