Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

Moo Business Cards Rock

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Moo Business Cards

I recently ordered some business cards from moo.com. They arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I’m very impressed with how these Moo cards look – and how easy they were to order.

In the past, I’ve used a Photoshop template to set up my business card designs, which I tinkered with forever before I was finally happy with the design.  Then, I ended up ordering hundreds of the same card.

Granted, that works fine for a lot of folks; however, I really liked the idea of shaking things up by using multiple images as a featured photo in the same batch of business cards.  I think other photographers might appreciate this as well.  In fact, with Moo, every single card can use a different image if you so choose.

I recently read about Moo cards from my friend Rich Legg, who seemed to be very pleased with his Moo MiniCards.  So, with a hat tip to Rich, I thought I’d give them a try. [Read more…]

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM

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Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM

Sigma has announced the 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM lens for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma mounts.  The addition of optical stabilization and HSM focus motor will make the new 17-70mm an attractive carry-around lens for crop-sensor DSLRs.

No word on price or release date yet.  Check availability on Amazon.com.

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

Pentax K-x Firmware Update ver. 1.01

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Pentax has issued a firmware update for the K-x DSLR.  The firmware update version 1.01 address the following issues:

  • Added three kinds of particular effect shooting function (Pre-set 1,2 and 3) on [Cross Processing].
  • Added assignment of Cross Processing function to the green button.
  • Improved accuracy of Battery Level Indicator under specific conditions and improved stability for general performance.

To download or learn more about the firmware update, visit Pentax’s website.

Bing Photo Contest

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Bing Photo Contest

Microsoft is holding a Bing photo contest, which gives the winner some exposure by hosting their image on Bing’s homepage on January 6.

To enter, you need to be a fan of Bing’s Facebook page – you’ll submit your images via Facebook.  Deadline for entries is December 13.

You can enter here.

Read the fine print though:

Image Ownership

All digital images must be original work. Participants retain ownership rights to their photos. You must have taken the photograph yourself, and submitted photos cannot violate the privacy or intellectual property rights of any person or entity. This shall include, but not be limited to, all third party copyrighted materials.

By submitting your photograph you grant Microsoft Corporation and its affiliates (collectively, “Microsoft”) an unlimited, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, publish, modify, perform and display the image and any hot spots on the www.bing.com webpage or any replacement or successor to such web page, any sub domains, any international versions of www.bing.com, and in any marketing or advertising of any kind related thereto, in any medium now known or later developed.

Microsoft will not pay you any compensation for your photograph or any use we may make of it. Microsoft is not obligated to use your photograph and we may not notify you if we do not use it. By submitting your photograph you agree and represent to Microsoft that you are the photographer and the sole copyright owner of the photograph.

Canon Touchscreen DSLR

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Canon Touchscreen DSLR Patent

DSLRs continue to evolve. And, this evolution will continue.  There’s no stopping it.

A few years ago, purists scoffed at chimping on the preview screen to see how exposures looked.  Then, a loud minority (of probably the same purists) cried afoul when Live View displays began showing up on just about every DSLR released.  The latest purist revolt has come as a result of the inclusion of video capture as a “must-have” feature in almost every DSLR released.

Just hop on about any photo gear forum and you’ll find plenty of critical comments concerning the latest bells and whistles attached to DSLRs.  Many proclaim that they will not buy a given camera because it has a specific feature – again, the latest villain is video.

If you think the above examples of departure from a pure SLR camera are annoying, you may very well consider the addition of a touchscreen on a DSLR to be heresy. Chris posed the question of whether photographers want a DSLR with a touchscreen (among other features) back in July.  The handful of well-reasoned comments brought up issues regarding interaction with the camera and accessibility to its features.  One commenter noted, “Just because it’s possible doesn’t make it desirable. I have one DSLR that only displays the settings on the LCD on the back of the camera; it is bulky and time consuming to take my eye away from the camera, select the setting and walk through a menu to set it.”

While the above image appears to have been produced by my 7-year-old, I can assure you that is not the case.  The image actually appears in US Patent Application No. 12/422,695, which was originally filed by Canon on April 13, 2009 and published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 22, 2009.

The patent clearly exposes Canon’s implementation of a touchscreen DSLR.

[Read more…]

Nikon DSLR Instant Rebates

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Several Nikon DSLR and lens combos have solid instant rebates available, which make for a heckuva deal in time for the holidays.  These rebates run through December 12, 2009.

All you have to do to take advantage of the rebate is order one of the camera and lens combos noted below.  The following links take you to Amazon.com.  You have to add both products to your shopping cart and Amazon will automatically apply a $200 or $100 discount (depending on the combo) at checkout.

Nikon D5000 (body only) and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Nikon D5000 w/18-55mm VR kit lens and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Nikon D3000 w/18-55mm VR kit lens and Nikon 55-200mm lens = $100 instant rebate

Nikon D3000 w/18-55mm VR kit lens and Nikon 55-200mm VR lens = $100 instant rebate

Nikon D90 and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Nikon D90 w/ 18-105mm VR kit lens and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Nikon D300s and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Nikon D700 and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens = $200 instant rebate

Additional detail are available on the respective product pages on Amazon.com.

Inkjet Greeting Card Intro Video from Red River Paper

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Red River Paper has published a video that gives an overview of their paper selection and printing capabilities for holiday cards.  It’s a bit on the commercial pitch side of the coin; however, those of you interested in printing your own holiday cards might get something out of it.

Red River Paper keeps telling me how great their products are; however, I generally get all of my printing needs covered through MyPhotopipe, Mpix, SmugMug (via Bay Photo) or locally at Thompson Photo (all of which do a bang up job).  For those self-printing types out there, Red River Paper does have the endorsement of Derrick Story over at The Digital Story, who is a pretty trustworthy source.

If any of you have thoughts on your own use of Red River Paper, feel free to drop a comment below.

Finally, you can find the holiday card resource mentioned in the video – here at Red River Paper.