Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
The Canon Camera Hackers Manual is a new book focused on the CHDK software that allows users to use and create scripts which unlock powerful potential of compact Canon cameras. The Canon Camera Hackers Manual is authored by Berthold Daum. The book retails for $29.95, but is available for $19.77 on Amazon.com at the time of this post. [Read more…]
There’s no doubt that PMA 2010 was a bit of a disappointment, particularly with the Anaheim venue, Canon’s absence, and some overshadowing by CES. Something had to give. And, well, it did.
According to PMA, industry buying cycles and technology developments have driven the show to a September date instead of residing in the post-holiday and post-CES season. As a result, PMA 2011 will take place from September 8-10, 2011. And, better still, it’s back at the Las Vegas Convention Center. I’ll be there with bells on.
It will be interesting to see the impact on other photo trade shows around the same time of year, such as PDN Photo Plus on the East Coast. No word though on what happens in 2012, which would put a September PMA dangerously close to Photokina.
The full press announcement is below. [Read more…]
Adobe has posted the official version of Camera Raw 6.1 for Photoshop CS5 users. This version includes RAW file support for the following new cameras:
Additional info about version 6.1 can be found on the following Camera Raw download pages:
Kingston has just launched a 64GB Class 10 SDXC card that touts a 60MB/s read speed and a 35MB/s write speed. The new card carries a rather steep retail price tag of $499.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll stick with using two 32GB cards until the price comes down a bit.
You can read up on all the specs of the new SDXC card in the press release below. [Read more…]
The Panasonic Lumix FX75 is a 14.1MP, slim point and shoot camera with a 5x optical zoom, covering an equivalent range of roughly 24-120mm. The FX75 can capture 720p HD video in AVCHD Lite format. It also features a 3-inch touchscreen LCD on the rear for a finger-friendly interface.
The Panasonic Lumix FX75 carries an initial retail price of $299. Check availability on Amazon.com.
More details in the press release below. [Read more…]
Panasonic has unveiled the Lumix G 8mm fisheye lens for it’s G-series Micro Four Thirds cameras. The new lens offers an equivalent focal length of 16mm on a full frame camera thanks to the Micro Four Thirds 2x crop factor.
No word yet on pricing or availability.
More details in the press release below. [Read more…]
The Pretec P240 USB 3.0 card reader, which is compatible with SDXC, CF and other memory card formats, is looking to be available around August 2010. USB 3.0 (or SuperSpeed USB) is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices, but offers 10x improvement in speed with a 5Gbps signaling rate when tied to USB 3.0 connections on both ends.
Pretec’s new 64GB SDXC card is a Class 16 card is also set to start trickling out soon. These products and more from Pretec will be featured at Computex Taipei, which starts today.
More details in the press release below. [Read more…]
Updated: Check out all of the recently announced cameras and other gear at the bottom of this page.
Photokina 2010 is set to take place from Tuesday, September 21 to Sunday, September 26, 2010 in Cologne, Germany. Photokina occurs every two years, and in 2008, 1523 companies exhibited at the show and more than 169,000 people attended the show.
Photokina is a trade show in which many new cameras, lenses and accessories are frequently introduced. Cameras introduced at or around Photokina 2008 include, the Canon PowerShot G10, Canon Rebel XS, Canon 50D, Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Panasonic G1, Pentax K2000, Sony A900 and Sigma DP2. All the major camera manufacturers are typically in attendance and are rather high profile at Photokina events. Expect no less this year.
Camera features and formats haven’t seen a state of flux like we are currently seeing for quite some time. As a result, I don’t think that it would be unreasonable to expect big things from big players in the months and weeks leading up to Photokina 2010.
Sony has already busted out of the gate with a serious mirrorless camera system this year, leaving the two big camera makers, Canon and Nikon, to play catch up. The industry is seemingly waiting for these traditional camera manufacturers to bless this new format by entering into the field with a product of their own. The killer (as in entry-level DSLR killer) mirrorless camera hasn’t hit the market yet. Could Canon or Nikon deliver one this year at Photokina?
No one really knew what kind of potential that the Canon 5D Mark II had when it was introduced nearly two years ago. Now, with an abundance of short films, commercials and broadcast TV episodes under its belt, this market segment is a serious piece of the pie.
Canon is the clear front-runner; however, Nikon is sure to add 1080p video capture at some point. The next DSLRs in the Nikon line-up would be a perfect time to seize a piece of this still-yet-to-be-defined market segment. We know Sony is working on some AVCHD-capable DSLRs, so it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see these guys at Photokina 2010.
Enthusiasts have been dying for these cameras to break out to the mainstream manufacturers. It’s not a segment that’s necessarily hot, but has been rumored to be “coming” from a number of manufacturers for years now. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, or maybe enthusiasts will soon get their serious compact cameras with DSLR-sized sensors (instead of the handful of niche products currently on the market). Of course, the rise of mirrorless camera systems could be the death knell to these pipe dreams as well.
With Summer upon us, I will be adding new camera and gear announcements to this page on a rolling basis as we approach Photokina 2010. Expect any serious cameras or gear announced from now on to play a roll in manufacturers’ exhibits at this year’s Photokina. Feel free to bookmark this page for future updates, or check the front page of Photography Bay for regular updates as we approach September.
Stay tuned for the latest updates in the days leading up to Photokina 2010.
Here’s another round of reader photos from the Photography Bay’s Flickr Group. (And you guys just keep submitting better and better stuff!)
So, I may be out of pocket a bit within the next week or so. We’ve got a new addition to our family on the way, and while I’m trying to work on some good content to go up while I’m learning to change diapers again, I thought I would open up Photography Bay to other photographers (amateur or pro) to share their thoughts with the rest of the Photography Bay community.
If you have something worthwhile to say that generally relates to photography, whether it be cameras, lenses, techniques, tips, business, etc., I’d be happy to consider your guest post. It can be something as simple as how you shot a particular image, or something a little deeper, like how other art forms relate to a specific photographic technique.
Send your ideas via the Contact Form, and I’ll let you know if it will work.
The last time I did this, it turned into a win-win-win for everyone involved. The guest authors really enjoyed the boost in traffic, it started some great discussions among regular readers and the authors, and gave me something to share with you guys while I was off doing other things.
The posts will likely run between Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 13.
For every guest post, I’ll include a short bio with a couple of links back to your site or work elsewhere on the web.
Past guest contributors include Rich Legg, Zach Matthews, Angela Datre, Ron Kruger and many others. You can hit those links for an idea of the bio, links and general topic ideas.
Again, you can submit your post ideas or any questions through the Contact Form.
Thanks!