Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Honl Photo Speed System Review

By

Honl Photo Speed System Review

The Honl Photo Speed System has been around for some time now.  I’ve had the pleasure of using the system on and off for several months.  The products are the creation of photographer David Honl and designed to be a fast and versatile set of tools for sculpting light when using hotshoe flashes.

The first impression that I get from the Honl Photo Speed System is that it’s a quality product.  You open up the packages and find very tough nylon and plastic components.  The straps, grids and snoots have traveled many miles in my camera bags and have shown resilience even through abuse. [Read more…]

 

onOne Photo Essentials 3 for Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

By

onOne Photo Essentials 3

onOne has announced Photo Essentials 3 for Photoshop Elements, which includes support for the new Elements 8.

The Photo Essentials software tools are designed to help you unleash the power of Photoshop Elements more easily by minimizing the work that goes into common image editing tasks.  For example, the new Make It Cool module in Photo Essentials 3 gives you a library of effects that you can easily apply to your images with the click of a mouse.  The Make It Cool module includes over 40 effects that simulate classic film, filter and darkroom techniques like sepia toning and cross processing.  Other tools inside Photo Essentials 3 let you apply automatic enhancement settings, remove backgrounds and add frame and border effects, among others.

Photo Essentials 3 will be available October 2009 at an initial retail price of $69.99.  Check availability on Amazon.com.

More details below. [Read more…]

Hasselblad H4D Series

By

Hasselblad H4D

The Hasselblad H4D series is the follow up to the H3D platform.  The first camera in the new H4D series is the H4D-60, which is a 60-megapixel, medium format camera.  The H4D series of cameras will feature Hasselblad’s True Focus with Absolute Position Lock technology, which ensures accurate focus during any recomposition after autofocus is initially achieved.

The H4D-60 should be available in January 2010 for 28,995 EUR.

Hasselblad H4D

More details below.

[Read more…]

Panasonic GH1 Review

By

Panasonic GH1

The Panasonic GH1 is a 12.1-megapixel camera built on the Micro Four Thirds platform.  The GH1 is Panasonic’s follow-up to the G1, which was the first Micro Four Thirds camera offered by the company.

What makes this platform unique is the camera body’s mirror-less design, which allow manufacturers to make smaller cameras while still using larger, DSLR-sized sensors.  Additionally, the GH1, like other Micro Four Thirds cameras, has a detachable lens and will accept other lenses with the same lens mount – or even different lens mounts if you use an appropriate adapter.

Another powerful feature for Micro Four Thirds cameras is the use of full time live view.  That is, the image that the lens sees passes directly to the image sensor rather than using a mirror to redirect it to the optical viewfinder.

The Panasonic GH1 adds 1080p video capture at 24fps to its predecessor’s spec list.  Additionally, the GH1 includes a new superzoom lens, specially designed for this camera – the 14-140mm f/4-5.8 HD MEGA O.I.S. lens.  The GH1 was met with a lot of fanfare due to its impressive spec list and overall potential.   While there is no doubt that the GH1 offers a lot of versatility and is fun to shoot with, it’s not without a few chinks in its armor. [Read more…]

Canon 7D Available Soon

By

Canon 7D Availability

Several reports are coming in that the Canon 7D is or soon will be available in the US.  Notably, B&H Photo is now accepting orders for the Canon 7D body only, which usually means they are expecting its arrival very soon.

Other stores where you can order/pre-order the Canon 7D are as follows:

Amazon.com

Adorama

B&H Photo

Calumet

International Availability:

Jessops

Amazon.de

Amazon.fr

Amazon.co.jp

Keep watching Photography Bay’s Canon 7D Reviews and Resources or stay glued to the front page for the latest updates on this new DSLR.

Nikon D3s – A Sure Thing for October?

By

Poorly Photoshopped Nikon D3s

Consistent with the previous rumors that a Nikon D3 replacement, the Nikon D3s, is coming in October, Nikon Rumors is calling the D3s a sure thing for roughly October 15, 2009.

The rumored spec list continues to call for 14 frames per second and 1080p video capture.  Additional rumored specs surfacing from Nikon Rumors today include a sensitivity range of ISO 200-12800 (expandable up to ISO 102,400 equivalent) on a tweaked 12.1 mp FX sensor.

Let us know what you’ve seen or heard through the contact form.

Nikon D5000 Recall – First Hand Report [Featured Reader Comment]

By

Nikon D5000

Photography Bay reader, John, is a Nikon D5000 owner who had a unit affected by the official Nikon D5000 recall.  John took the time to put together a thorough account of his experience with the recall process into a comment here on Photography Bay.  I think his first hand report of his experience should be reassuring to those of you who own a D5000 or a looking to buy one. [Read more…]

Canon LP-E6 In-Stock

By

Canon LP-E6

Many Canon 5D Mark II owners have struggled to find this battery in stock over the past year.  They have been pretty hard to come since the 5D Mark II was released, and they might become scarce again soon since the Canon 7D also uses the LP-E6 battery.

At the time of this post, the Canon LP-E6 battery is in stock at Amazon, B&H and Adorama.  Here’s the links to each store’s product page for the LP-E6.

Amazon

B&H Photo

Adorama

If you’ve been putting off the spare for your 5D Mark II or if you’ve got a 7D on pre-order, it might be a good time to pick up a spare instead of waiting until the 7D’s ship out in force, which should occur over the next few days.  Check Canon 7D availability here.

Wacom Adds Multi-Touch To Bamboo Tablets

By

Wacom Bamboo Multi-touch Tablet

Wacom has added multi-touch capabilities to its popular line of Bamboo tablets. There are now 2 tablets in the Bamboo family that now offer multi-touch capabilities – the Bamboo Touch; and the Bamboo Pen and Touch.

With the new Bamboo Touch, you can navigate your PC or Mac in a totally different manner than using a mouse.  It works much like the multi-touch screen on an iPhone.  The Bamboo Touch uses 9 key gestures to do things like click, zoom, scroll and rotate.  It also has 4 programmable buttons to take care of common actions.

Bamboo Pen and Touch has two sensors, one for pen and one for multi-touch.  What’s more, the tablet automatically recognizes when you are using your fingers or pen on the tablet’s surface.

The Wacom Bamboo Touch carries an initial retail price of $69, while the Bamboo Pen and Touch runs $99.  Check availability on Amazon.com:

Bamboo Touch

Bamboo Pen and Touch

My first take on these multi-touch products is that they are quite cool and could be used productively.  I have an older Bamboo tablet that I break out for image editing sometimes, but the multi-touch capabilities of this new series give me the hope that I might one day soon be able to ditch my mouse for good.  We’ll have to wait and see how the product performs in real world use to make that call, but I happily welcome effort from Wacom  on this new feature.

More details below. [Read more…]