Canon and Sony News for Feb 2013

B&H has the Nikon MB-D15 Multi Power Battery Pack (for D7100) available for preorder.

From Canon:

Firmware Version 1.0.2.0 incorporates the following fix:
Fixes a phenomenon in which the focal length may not change when the control ring's function is to control the step zoom, and the control ring is turned slowly, click-by-click. (In AUTO, SCN, or Movie mode, the default function for the control ring is to control the step zoom.)

* Please note that this phenomenon does not always occur with every affected product.

Firmware Version 1.0.2.0 is for cameras with firmware Version 1.0.1.0 or Version 1.0.0.0. If the camera's firmware is already Version 1.0.2.0, it is not necessary to update the firmware.
Please note that, once the camera is updated to the latest version, it cannot be restored to a previous version.

How to Identify Cameras eligible for the Firmware Update:
All PowerShot S100 Digital Compact Cameras are eligible for this firmware update.

Download:

Canon PowerShot S100 Firmware v1.0.2.0: Windows | Macintosh

Adorama carries the Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Camera.

From Canon:

Firmware Version 1.0.2.0 incorporates the following fixes and improvements:
1. Fixes a phenomenon in which the focal length may not change when the control ring's function is to control the step zoom, and the control ring is turned slowly, click-by-click. (In AUTO, SCN, or Movie mode, the default function for the control ring is to control the step zoom.)

* Please note that this phenomenon does not always occur with every affected product.

2. Changes the camera's specification in accordance with the specification of iOS 5/6 so that the Wi-Fi connection between the camera and an iOS device will not disconnect after one minute, when the PowerShot S110 is set as an Access Point and an iOS device is connected to that Access Point.

The latest version of Canon Camera Window iOS App (1.2.0 or later) is available for download from Apple's App Store. Please perform this update. Sharing images on social media sites may not be possible with Canon CameraWindow. However, sharing images on social media sites is possible through the application installed in the iOS device, at this time.

Firmware Version 1.0.2.0 is for cameras with firmware Version 1.0.1.0 or Version 1.0.0.0. If the camera's firmware is already Version 1.0.2.0, it is not necessary to update the firmware.
Please note that, once the camera is updated to the latest version, it cannot be restored to a previous version.

How to Identify Cameras eligible for the Firmware Update:
Please check the serial number on the bottom of the camera. This firmware update is for products with the following serial numbers.

• Products whose sixth digit from the left is "4" or less [*****4******]

Products with eligible serial numbers that contain a blue marking inside the battery cover near the hinge have had this firmware update already applied.

Download:

Canon PowerShot S110 Firmware v1.0.2.0: Windows | Macintosh

B&H carries the Canon PowerShot S110 Digital Camera.

From DxO:

02/27/2013

129 new lens / camera combinations have been added to the DxO Optics Modules library, providing support for Canon, Nikkor, Sigma and Konica lenses for Canon, Nikon, Fuji and Sony cameras.

To see supported and planned combinations, click on the link below then select the second tab.

Supported or planned combinations

New DxO Optics Modules:

Canon | Fujifilm | Nikon | Sony

B&H carries DxO Optics Pro.

From Adobe:

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Feb. 27, 2013 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of a new version of Adobe Photoshop Touch, optimized for iPhone, iPod touch, and Android smart phones. Inspired by the highly successful Photoshop Touch for tablets, the phone app brings core features of Photoshop desktop software to mobile devices and offers similar intuitive, touch-based gestures and features.

“Mobile phones are increasingly becoming the primary tool for people to take and edit photos," said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Adobe is dedicated to serving our customers’ evolving creative workflow and we heard, loud and clear, that Photoshop fans wanted some core Adobe imaging magic on their smartphones.”

Adobe Photoshop Touch for phone offers powerful new capabilities for smartphone users

• Enhance images using popular Photoshop features such as layers, selection tools, filters, tonal and color adjustments
• Apply effects and add graphical text for endless creative possibilities
• Edit images as large as 12 megapixels with layers
• Combine images together quickly using the Scribble Selection feature, and easily refine your selection with the Refine Edge tool
• Automatically sync images to Adobe Creative Cloud™ with free 2GB of storage

"Photoshop Touch is a great way to work on an image on my mobile phone. The 400 percent touch zoom and organized interface in Photoshop Touch for phone made enhancing my images fun and easy,” said Brian Yap, creative director, Boxing Clever. “Working with curve adjustments and filters that use slider controls is especially intuitive."

“Adobe Photoshop Touch for phone offers great depth and value with layering and blending features,” said Richard Gray, mobile photographer, educator and blogger, iphoggy.com. “I’ll be using Photoshop Touch for phone in class with my students this year as we look at the more artistic end of the creative process with dreamscapes and surreal images.”

“The depth of selection tool options offered in Adobe Photoshop Touch for phone is unique to the photo compositing app market,” said Dan Marcolina, Marcolina Design & MarcolinaSlate LLC, author of iPhone Obsessed. “Now I, and other iPhonegraphers, can do even more exacting edge editing on the device where the image originated—our mobile phones.”

Adobe Create Cloud Workflow Integration
Photoshop Touch for phone is integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud and includes access to 2GB of Creative Cloud storage with a free account. Users can sync photos and projects to Creative Cloud, and then continue working with the files from a tablet or Photoshop desktop software. Creative Cloud is a radical rethinking of the entire creative process and an industry-defining shift in creative expression and inspiration, where members can explore, create, publish and share their work across devices, the desktop and the Web. Visit Adobe Creative Cloud for more information.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop Touch for phone is immediately available in the Apple App Store and Google Play for US$4.99. For iOS devices, the app requires iOS 5, iPhone 4S and iPod touch 5th generation; Android phones must run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later.

Adobe Create Cloud Workflow Integration
Photoshop Touch for phone is integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud and includes access to 2GB of Creative Cloud storage with a free account. Users can sync photos and projects to Creative Cloud, and then continue working with the files from a tablet or Photoshop desktop software. Creative Cloud is a radical rethinking of the entire creative process and an industry-defining shift in creative expression and inspiration, where members can explore, create, publish and share their work across devices, the desktop and the Web. Visit Adobe Creative Cloud for more information.

From Zeiss:

New application laboratories, sales and service offices and customer facilities

CAMBRIDGE/UK, 27.02.2013. - The UK manufacturing and sales divisions of Carl Zeiss have cemented their roots in Cambridge with an expansion of their existing production site and the construction of new application laboratories, sales and service offices and customer facilities.

Coldhams Lane in Cambridge has been home to Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd for some years. Due to the sustained growth in international orders, the business has acquired neighbouring premises in order to increase production of their scanning electron microscopes, including EVO, ΣIGMA and process specific tools. This provided opportune timing for the UK Sales and Service business, Carl Zeiss Ltd, to relocate from Welwyn Garden City to Cambridge where one larger ZEISS campus could be formed. The new building, located at 509 Coldhams Lane, has taken on Head Office status for both Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd and Carl Zeiss Ltd. The new facilities include five application laboratories for electron and light microscopes as well as demonstration and training facilities for surgical microscopes, medical diagnostic equipment, camera lenses, binoculars and scopes.

The first recorded sale in the UK for the German-owned company stems back to 1851. Furthermore, as Cambridge Scientific Instruments, the company designed and developed the world’s first commercial scanning electron microscope in 1965. It is clear from today’s modern business that its long history has paved the way for its success as an international leader in the field of optics and opto-electronics. Paul Adderley, Managing Director for Carl Zeiss Ltd, commented “Customers from several of the Carl Zeiss business groups, including Microscopy, Medical Technology, Camera Lenses and Sports Optics, will be able to visit us in Cambridge, the hub for innovative technology, for product demonstrations and expert applications support in our new facilities.”

The Cambridge site is one of 20 ZEISS construction projects currently underway around the world. The end goal is to achieve a modern working environment for all employees with a consistent corporate design and welcoming environment for customers.

B&H carries Zeiss lenses.

Nikon now has the following COOLPIX User's Manuals availalbe for download (PDF):

• Nikon COOLPIX L28 - English | Spanish
• Nikon COOLPIX S31 - English | Spanish
• Nikon COOLPIX S5200 - English | Spanish
• Nikon COOLPIX S6500 - English | Spanish
• Nikon COOLPIX S9400/S9500 - English | Spanish
• Nikon COOLPIX P520 - English | Spanish

B&H carries Nikon COOLPIX cameras.

In addition to the official sample pictures found on Nikon's website, Nikon France has published a set of D7100 sample pictures on flickr.

The Nikon 1 J3 User's Manual is now available for download.

Download:
Nikon 1 J3 User's Manual (PDF) - English | Spanish

From AdNews:

"Canon marketing boss Darren Ryan, who steered the brand's acclaimed 'World of EOS' campaigns, has resigned his post after seven years.

Ryan will finish on 26 April as general manager of marketing – Canon Consumer Imaging. A search for a replacement is already “well underway” according to Canon."

Read the entire article here.

From Nikon:

The WU-1a and WU-1b are USB wireless adapters that can establish a two way wireless connection between specific cameras and iOS and Android smart devices and tablets. The USB connections on the WU-1a and WU-1b are different so it is important that the correct adapter is used for the specific camera.

The table below confirms which cameras are compatible with each adapter.

The Wireless Mobile Adapter Utility (“app”) is used in combination with the WU-1a and WU-1b to download pictures from the camera and to release the camera shutter remotely. Click here for further information regarding operating system and mobile device compatibility.

From Adobe:

Welcome to the Adobe® Photoshop® Camera Raw 7.4 plug-in release candidate on Adobe Labs. A "release candidate" label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers. The Camera Raw 7.4 update includes support for many new cameras and lens profiles.

The Camera Raw plug-in provides easy access within Adobe Photoshop CS6 to the raw image formats produced by many leading professional and midrange digital cameras. For more information on the Camera Raw plug-in please visit the Camera Raw pages on Adobe.com.

The Camera Raw team would like the community to help verify the quality of the plug-in through normal usage as this will ensure that the plug-in is tested on a diversity of hardware and software configurations not available internally at Adobe. If you do experience an issue with this release candidate please report it within the Camera Raw discussion forum.

Features:

Camera Raw 7.4 Release Candidate includes a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor. This specifically impacts the following cameras:

• Fujifilm X-Pro1
• Fujifilm X-E1
• Fujifilm X100S
• Fujifilm X20

New Camera Support

The following new cameras are now supported:

• Canon EOS-1D C
• Casio Exilim EX-ZR700
• Fujifilm X100s
• Fujifilm X20
• Hasselblad Lunar
• Leica M
• Nikon 1 V3
• Nikon 1 S1
• Pentax MX-1

New Lens Profile Support:

Fixed Issues:

The following issues have been fixed in Camera Raw 7.4 release candidate:

• The grayscale visualization associated with Noise Reduction Luminance was visible after mouse release. This occurred when positive Clarity was present.
• The command/control + A “select all” keyboard shortcut did not select all photos.
• Modifying the brush size using the Right-click + Drag method did not increase or decrease the brush size by the desired amount.
• The crop overlay tool resized incorrectly when used in conjunction with the “Constrain to Crop” checkbox in the Lens Correction panel.
• Hovering the mouse over a local adjustment pin would turn off the desired mask.
• Horizontal artifacts occasionally appeared in DNG files.
• Improved interactive performance at intermediate zoom levels (e.g., 33% and 66%)

Downloads:

Adobe Camera Raw 7.4 Release Candidate: Windows | Macintosh
DNG Converter 7.4 Release Candidate: Windows | Macintosh

From Adobe:

Welcome to the Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 4.4 release candidate on Adobe Labs. A "release candidate" label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers. The Lightroom 4.4 update includes support for many new cameras and lens profiles.

The Lightroom team would like the community to help verify the quality of this update through normal usage as this will ensure that the application is tested on a diversity of hardware and software configurations not available internally at Adobe.

If you experience an issue with this release candidate, please submit a bug report. For more information on Lightroom 4, please visit the Lightroom product page on Adobe.com.

Features:

Lightroom 4.4 Release Candidate includes a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor. This specifically impacts the following cameras:

• Fujifilm X-Pro1
• Fujifilm X-E1
• Fujifilm X100S
• Fujifilm X20

New Camera Support

The following new cameras are now supported:

• Canon EOS-1D C
• Casio Exilim EX-ZR700
• Fujifilm X100s
• Fujifilm X20
• Hasselblad Lunar
• Leica M
• Nikon 1 V3
• Nikon 1 S1
• Pentax MX-1

New Lens Profile Support:

Fixed Issues:

The following issues have been fixed in Lightroom 4.4 release candidate:

• The crop overlay tool resized incorrectly when used in conjunction with the “Constrain to Crop” checkbox in the Lens Correction panel
• Background graphics were not correctly rendered within the Book Module
• The supplied lens profile for the Sony RX-1 did not contain vignette information
• Previews of photos in portrait orientation were blurry when viewed in the filmstrip in the Develop module. (Mac only)
• Stack badges displayed the wrong count when creating new stack that included a preexisting stack.
• The Filter scrollbar within the Library module was not rendering properly.

Download:

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 Release Candidate: Windows | Macintosh

B&H carries Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.

The Canon Camera Museum has published a technical report on the Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM & EF 35mm f/2 IS USM lenes.

Purchase opportunities:
Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM Lens: B&H | Adorama | Amazon | BuyDig
Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM Lens: B&H | Adorama | Amazon

From Photoshelter:

Get Organized & Build a Better Portfolio with Jasmine DeFoore

As an award-winning photo editor, Jasmine DeFoore knows what busy editorial and commercial clients are looking for when hiring new photogrpahers. Jasmine now helps photographers create unique narratives for books, exhibitions, websites, and promotions.

In this live webinar, Jasmine will show us what it takes to build a better portfolio and stand out from the crowd. She breaks down her tips for getting organized into four main steps

1. Define your target audience.
2. Put together a cohesive edit.
3. Build a better portfolio.
4. Create your marketing checklist.

Join us on Tuesday, February 26 at 4pm EDT for this live webinar!

Register Here