Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sony NXCAM HD Camcorder in Development, Uses NEX E-Mount

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Sony is teasing the development of a new pro-level NXCAM camcorder that uses the same E-Mount lenses found on the popular NEX-series of cameras, like the 18-200mm lens packaged with the Sony NEX-VG10.

Because the NXCAM uses features the E-Mount system, it can accept Sony Alpha mount lenses like the 70-400mm with the aid of the LA-EA1 adapter, which appears to be attached in the above screenshots.

Good news on the recording format front – it looks like the NXCAM will feature full 1920 x 1080 resolution in AVCHD format at a variety of frame rates, including 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and the all-important 24p.  Check out the video below for the rest of the teaser. [Read more…]

 

Olympus E-PL1s Announced, But Only for Japan

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Olympus Japan has announced a new E-PL1s Micro Four Thirds camera as a slight tweak to the popular E-PL1.  The E-PL1s adds an ISO 6400 sensitivity setting and now comes in a red body.

Along with the E-PL1s, Olympus announced a new 14-42mm II f/3.5-5.6 kit lens with improved internal focusing for faster and quieter AF.

[Olympus Japan via Photo Rumors]

Nikon D7000 Availability Update

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Speaking of the Nikon D7000 . . . .  B&H Photo now has the D7000 “available for pre-order,” which (as many of you may know) means B&H will have real stock of this camera very soon.

B&H doesn’t do long lists of pre-orders that take months to fill.  Instead, they only open up the pre-order list when stock is confirmed and then shut it down when stock runs out.

Here’s the link while it lasts:  Nikon D7000 w/ 18-105mm lens at B&H

Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 40 V2.0 Review

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Think Tank Photo’s new Urban Disguise series camera bags are a versatile line of shoulder-carry bags that make it possible to carry a lot of gear in a compact and inconspicuous manner.

Think Tank Photo offers several different versions of the Urban Disguise bags, which lets find a bag that serves your own needs. At the bottom end, you’ve got the Urban Disguise 10, which holds a DSLR with lens attached (along with some extra space in the front pocket), to the Urban Disguise 70, which holds 2 pro-sized DSLRs with up to 70-200 f/2.8 lenses attached, plus several lenses and a couple of additional bodies.  Additionally, the Urban Disguise series features bags like the Urban Disguise 60, which holds pro-sized DSLRs, lenses and offers a 17″ widescreen laptop compartment.

The Urban Disguise 40 V2.0 has been on my shoulder for the past few weeks with a number of different gear arrangements inside.  For a lot of folks, the Urban Disguise 40 V2.0 will serve as the perfect single-shoot bag.  It’s also a fantastic photo walk or day trip bag.

The Urban Disguise 40 V2.0 looks and feels like a professional briefcase.  It doesn’t stick out in a crowd and draw attention to you like “Hey, I’m carrying a few grand in camera gear.”  This is a camera bag that just lets you blend into the crowd, but still functions like a sexy camera bag. [Read more…]

Nauticam NA-D7000 Takes the Nikon D7000 Underwater

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The newly announced Nauticam NA-D7000 is an underwater housing for the Nikon D7000, which allows you to take the 16MP DSLR down to a depth of 100M.  It will set you back a bit on top of the D7000 sticker price though.  The Nauticam NA-D7000 carries a retail price tag of $3100 and should be available at the end of this month (just in time to make it on your wish list).

[via Nikon Rumors]

Firmware Friday: Nikon P100 & S8100

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Camera Firmware Update

Below you will find this week’s firmware updates.  Hit the manufacturer website links for more details and download instructions for the firmware.

Nikon P100 version 1.1 – Numerous bug fixes [Nikon Website]

Nikon S8100 version 1.1 – “When Sequence display options was selected from the playback menu and Individual pictures then selected, pictures previously shot continuously were displayed one at a time, but only the key picture for a series shot after the setting was displayed. This issue has been resolved.” [Nikon Website]

Photo Mechanic Review

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Photo Mechanic is solid piece of photo organization software.  It is not an image editor, but it’s just as critical to your workflow if you shoot a lot of photos.  Camera Bits (the maker of Photo Mechanic) says, “Photo Mechanic sets out to be the most useful Photo Workflow Software on the market today.  It does this by being logical in operation, intuitive in use and, most importantly of all, performing its functions as quickly as possible.”

All those things are true, but that last part “. . . as quickly as possible” is what makes Photo Mechanic such a hit for me.

Ever shoot a few hundred or a few thousand images in a day?  Do you shoot in RAW format and hate waiting for the those 100% previews to load in Lightroom?  Do you need to view your photos faster?  If you said “yes” to any of these, then you will see an immediate benefit to putting Photo Mechanic in your workflow. [Read more…]

Apple Adds Additional RAW Support in Mac OS X 10.6.5

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Apple Aperture 3

Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6.5 update has added system-wide support (including Aperture and iPhoto) for a number of new RAW formats captured by the following cameras:

  • Canon EOS 60D
  • Canon PowerShot S95
  • Hasselblad H4D-40
  • Nikon D3100
  • Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
  • Sony DSLR-A290
  • Sony DSLR-A560
  • Sony DSLR-A580
  • Sony SLT-A33
  • Sony SLT-A55

The update is available via systems updates in Mac OS X 10.6.