Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

Pentax Optio W90 Now Available In Orange, Earth Remains on Axis

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In perhaps some of the most exciting news of the week, the Pentax Optio W90 is now available in orange (in addition to green and black).  While Pentax’s press statement failed to reveal the reasons for the delay of an orange camera, rumors continue to circulate that the long wait for an orange W90 was due to an actual shortage of the color orange, which was in turn caused by a less than stellar year on the color wheel, along with the fact that it is no longer receiving compliments from blue.

Additional sources cited fears that UT Vol fans would lose such a camera in or around the checkerboard end zone at Neyland Stadium.  Local Best Buy stores in Knoxville, Tennessee report that consumers are already forming lines outside for the anticipated July release of the orange W90 at $329.95. You can also check availability on Amazon.com.

In other news, your refrigerator is running.

Nikon Coolpix L110 Review

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The Nikon Coolpix L110 is a 12.1-megapixel superzoom camera with a 15x optical zoom equivalent to 28-420mm on a 35mm camera.  While a 15x zoom isn’t quite at the top of the superzoom food chain today, two or three years ago that was about the best you could buy.  Nowadays, 15x zoom cameras are your entry-level superzooms, and the Nikon L110 is targeted squarely at the novice user in terms of its controls and usability.

To see how the Nikon L110 measures up, read on. [Read more…]

Adobe Lens Profile Creator Prerelease 2 Available

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Adobe has made a second prerelease version of the Lens Profile Creator available in Adobe Labs.  As you may know, the Adobe Lens Profile Creator is a utility designed to work with Photoshop CS5, Camera Raw and Lightroom that allows you to build custom profiles for lenses in your kit.  These profiles “describe[] the types of optical aberrations that exist in a particular lens and prescribe[] how to correct the lens distortions in an image captured from the same lens.”

More details and download instructions over at Adobe Labs.

Manfrotto & Datacolor Offering Free Monitor Calibration Webinar This Week

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Manfrotto Distribution and Datacolor will be putting on a free webinar on monitor calibration.  It’s coming up on Wednesday, June 16 from 2-3PM EDT.

The course will be hosted by Datacolor’s education manager, Josh Fischer, as well as Manfrotto Distribution product manager, Will Holowka. Together, Will and Josh will cover the importance of calibrating one’s monitor as well as the how-to’s using Datacolor’s Spyder3 solutions.

Attendees will have a chance to win some Datacolor Spyder products as well.  You can register here.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Video Stabilization Options

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I just wanted to pass along a little update for those of you into video cameras and accessories.  Over at Tech Tilt, I’ve recently review the Barber Tech SteddiePod, which is a pretty darn sweet, all-in-one video camera stabilization device.  It does a lot of things from steadicam-type shots, to doggie cam, to boom shots.  It’s also got a nice little fluid head built-in.  You can find the whole review, which includes some sample footage, here:  SteddiePod Review.

After using the SteddiePod for a while, I started thinking about ways to DIY a similar device on a shoestring budget.  So, I took $30 to Lowe’s and Wal-Mart, and came away with what I call a DIY GlidePod.  While it’s not as pretty as the SteddiePod, it can do many of the same types of shots.  Of course, the SteddiePod is a smoother, more refined device, but the DIY GlidePod can get the job done for the backyard cinematographers out there.  So, if you’ve got $30 and an hour to kill, you can see how to make your own DIY GlidePod here.

I’ve had some great suggestions on ways to make the GlidePod better, along with alternatives that do a better job with some of the shot types from the GlidePod.  If you’ve got other ideas, feel free to drop a comment here or over on the GlidePod post.

If you’re interested in video gear and accessories, you’ll be able to find camcorder reviews and such over at Tech Tilt in the future.  However, I’ll also provide occasional updates on noteworthy gear here at Photography Bay.