Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

13,000 Vivitar Cameras for Sale

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If you’re in the market for a new point & shoot camera (or 10 of them), then the liquidation of Vivitar UK’s stock might interest you – particularly, if you’re in the UK.  King Sturge, a European property consultant, will be conducting an online auction October 14-16 as a result of the sale of the Vivitar brand to Sakar International. The auction will consist of 999 lots (many of which contain 10 new/boxed cameras) of Vivitar UK’s remaining assets.

If you’re outside the UK and want by a camera or 10 of them, consider that the cameras packed with rechargeable batteries have UK pronged chargers.

 

Pentacon Lines Up Four New Cameras

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Pentacon has unveiled four digital cameras in two different lines:

  • The Praktica luxmedia 8403 (8 megapixels)
  • The Praktica DCZ 8.3 (8 megapixels)
  • The Praktica DCZ 10.2 (10 megapixels)
  • The Praktica luxmedia 10-TS (10 megapixels)

Pentacon has relied on some of the characteristics that made older Praktica models popular, such as Domiplan lenses. The company has also added a few new features to update their Praktica cameras. The Praktica luxmedia 8403, for instance, has 22 different shooting modes as well as an automatic panorama mode. Each of the four new models has face tracking and smile detection. Pentacon has put together some quality attributes for the new Praktica cameras.

Microsoft Discusses Digital Photography

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While at Photokina, Microsoft’s Kostas Mallios took a moment to discuss the company’s efforts to help photographers solve problems. According to Mallios, Microsoft has been focusing on providing applications that help pros and advanced amateurs, such as Expression Media 2 (a professional asset management tool that comes bundled with Capture One).

Mallios also pointed to the investments Micorsoft is making to new ideas, such as Photosynth. He also discussed the Metadata Working Group:

The Metadata Working Group is dedicated to the preservation and seamless interoperability of digital media metadata and to interoperability and availability to all applications, devices, and services. When we started looking into some of the leading technology problems that digital photographers faced, we realized we needed to address the interoperability issues that still exist with metadata. For example, you may use metadata tags to rate your photos in Expression Media but if you use different applications, devices or services to process or share photos, that information may not be preserved. We knew we couldn’t solve the problem alone, so about a year ago Microsoft assembled leaders in the industry, including Adobe, Apple, Canon and Nikon to form a group with broad expertise. I’m pleased to say that Sony also recently joined us and that the group, led by Chairman Josh Weisberg of Microsoft, has already delivered its first metadata specifications.

Gorillapod Focus

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Gorilla has announced their new Focus, which is a flexible tripod (like all their others) and supports a whopping 11 pounds of DSLR and big zoom fun.  It’s price tag weighs in at about $150 and should be available immediately.

Gorillapod Focus Press Release

San Francisco, CA – September 24, 2008 – Joby, Inc. is pleased to announce the arrival of the Gorillapod Focus™, a unique, bendable tripod engineered to support SLR cameras with larger telephoto lenses or digital video cameras. Designed with professionals and motivated amateurs in mind, the Gorillapod Focus is the biggest, strongest Gorillapod® yet and is the fifth addition to the growing and award-winning Gorillapod family.

The Gorillapod Focus provides the stability of a standard tripod at a fraction of the size and weight – only 1.1 pounds (500g). Sturdy machined aluminum sockets, debuting in an anodized gunmetal finish, offer incredible flexibility while ensuring a rock-solid hold in almost any environment. The Gorillapod Focus uses a stainless steel screw for maximum strength to support an amazing 11 pounds (5kg) of gear. It’s shipped with a 3/8” adapter screw in place and can be used with or without a professional tripod head. [Read more…]

Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony form Metadata Working Group

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The Metadata Working Group is a coalition between Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony, which was formed to help standardize the various methods and formats metadata is created and used among consumer electronics manufacturers.

The Metadata Working Group has porduced a set of Guidelines for Handling Metadata, which is a 42 page document describing how best to use existing standards such as Exif, IPTC, and XMP to address the key organizational metadata questions that most consumers have.

The intent of the MWG is to publish technical specifications that describe how to effectively store metadata into digital media files. These royalty-free specifications will be made available to manufacturers and service providers so that they may create products that store metadata in a consistent way, and that allow consumers to maintain control over their valuable information. Where possible, these specifications will rely on existing standards, and will aim to create a unified and cohesive approach to applying these standards.

For additional information, see the press release below.

[Read more…]

Gorillapod Focus

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San Francisco, CA – September 24, 2008 – Joby, Inc. is pleased to announce the arrival of the Gorillapod Focus™, a unique, bendable tripod engineered to support SLR cameras with larger telephoto lenses or digital video cameras. Designed with professionals and motivated amateurs in mind, the Gorillapod Focus is the biggest, strongest Gorillapod® yet and is the fifth addition to the growing and award-winning Gorillapod family.

The Gorillapod Focus provides the stability of a standard tripod at a fraction of the size and weight – only 1.1 pounds (500g). Sturdy machined aluminum sockets, debuting in an anodized gunmetal finish, offer incredible flexibility while ensuring a rock-solid hold in almost any environment. The Gorillapod Focus uses a stainless steel screw for maximum strength to support an amazing 11 pounds (5kg) of gear. It’s shipped with a 3/8” adapter screw in place and can be used with or without a professional tripod head.

Cleverly designed to help capture “hard to get” images like time-lapse, available-light, night-time or long-exposure, the Gorillapod Focus helps photographers refine their imaging skills. Wrap it around a railing, twist it around a tree branch, loop it onto a shopping cart, stand it on a table in the studio, or perch it on a rock during a hike! The possibilities for taking unique images are endless. And, it makes a great travel companion, folding up to fit in most gear bags.

At $149.95, Joby’s new Gorillapod Focus offers the same great features and functionality of all Gorillapods. The medium-sized members of the family are the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom for cameras up to 6.6 pounds (3kg) and Gorillapod SLR for cameras up to 1.75 pounds (800g). The lightweight, original Gorillapod supports compact digital cameras up to 11.5 ounces (325g). And, the Go-Go! is an original Gorillapod that comes with clips to attach cell phones, PDAs and music/video players for mobile entertainment on the go.

The Gorillapod debuted in February 2006 and now sells in over 40 countries. The Gorillapod Focus is available online at www.joby.com.

Nik Software Announces “Complete Collection” of Award-Winning Digital Photographic Filters

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Complete Collection includes Photoshop® and Aperture™ versions of Dfine® 2.0, Viveza™, Color Efex Pro™ 3.0, Silver Efex Pro™, and Sharpener Pro™ 3.0

Cologne, Germany (Photokina Hall 4.1, Stand F001) – September 22, 2008 – Nik Software today announced the availability of its new Complete Collection of the company’s award-winning digital imaging software products. This new product bundle includes all of the latest versions of Nik Software’s products available at a discounted price of $599, which represents a savings of $450 if purchased separately. [Read more…]

32-Gigabyte SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash Cards

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COLOGNE, Germany – Sep 23, 2008 The recent release of Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera represents an emerging trend in digital imaging: the convergence of high-megapixel still photograph and High Definition (HD) video capture in a single digital single-reflex lens (DSLR) camera and the need for large-capacity memory cards to support these added capabilities. With flickr.com now allowing users to post 90 second videos, or “long photos” as they are called, the DSLR video movement has definitely arrived. Canon’s new DSLR camera enables enthusiasts to take professional-grade photos and video, while SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) memory cards provide the robust capacity required to store the resulting data. [Read more…]