Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

Adobe has just announced Photoshop Elements 8, which offers a number of enhancements that appear to be geared toward a more user-friendly environment.  That’s not to say that there isn’t horsepower available in Elements 8, given that it borrows even more tech from Photoshop CS4, like Photomerge Exposure for an HDR experience in Elements.  Additionally, Windows users can pony up for a “Plus” version, which adds 20GB of online storage for automatic backups.

Photoshop Elements 8 will be available in October 2009 at an initial retail price of $99.99.  Check availability on Amazon.com.

See the following press release from Adobe for more details. [Read more…]

 

Lightroom 2.5 and Camera Raw 5.5 Now Available

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Adobe has updated Lightroom 2 to version 2.5 and Camera Raw 5 to version 5.5.

Lightroom 2.5 and Camera Raw 5.5 now include support for the following cameras:

  • Nikon D300s
  • Nikon D3000
  • Olympus E-P1
  • Panasonic DMC-FZ35
  • Panasonic DMC-GF1

The updated versions can be downloaded here.

DxO Optics Pro Updated to v5.3.5

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DxO Labs has updated DxO Optics Pro to the latest version 5.3.5, which adds support for the Sony A850.  The update also provides better noise control for the Sony A900 and adds support for the Tamron 18-270mm Di-II lens.  There are many more updates in the new version.  Get more details in the press release below and check out the full compatibility list on DxO’s website. [Read more…]

Corel Digital Studio 2010

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Corel Digital Studio 2010

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is photo, video and music combo software product that caters to the family photographer/videographer.  The software package covers everything from importing photos and videos, to editing and final output through online sharing or DVD burning.

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is available to download now (free trial available – corel.com/digitalstudio) and will begin to ship in CD form in September 2009 at an initial retail price of $99.99. Check availability on Amazon.com.

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

Adobe Camera Raw 5.5 Release Candidate Available

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Adobe has made the release candidate for Camera Raw 5.5 available for download on Adobe labs.

Release notes are as follows:

Newly supported camera models include:

  • Nikon D300s
  • Nikon D3000
  • Olympus E-P1
  • Panasonic DMC-FZ35

Camera Raw 5.5 includes a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Bayer sensor cameras with unequal green response

More details and download links are available over at Adobe labs.

DSLR Camera Remote iPhone App Ver. 1.1 Ready and Submitted to Apple App Store

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onOne DSLR Remote Software

onOne Software has submitted version 1.1 of its DSLR Camera Remote app to the iPhone App Store (approval could take some time).  New features that are being added to version 1.1 include the following:

  • Nikon DSLR Camera Support (see complete list here)
  • Canon 500D/T1i/Kiss X2 support
  • Auto Bracketing for HDR shooters
  • Burst Mode
  • Auto-Focus during LiveView
  • Updated user interface with improved horizontal view mode
  • Lightroom Auto-Import support
  • Changed the naming system for downloaded images to prevent accidental overwriting
  • Raw+JPG are not treated as a single entity rather than appearing on the phone as two files
  • Auto-update added to the companion server software in case there are updates available
  • Fixes to various bugs reported by users

Rob Galbraith got a private beta copy and gave it a thorough run through.  It’s pretty impressive if you can work in a tethered shooting environment.

SmugWallet (iPhone App) Review

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While I like some apps on my iPhone, I have always stuck to the free apps.  I really hate being nickled and dimed for every little app that comes along.

Maybe it’s just the principle of it; however, I had never purchased an iPhone app until a couple of weeks ago, when a friend showed me some photos on his iPhone by using SmugWallet.  Instantly, I knew I had to get this app.

As you may know, I am an avid SmugMug user/evangelist.  It’s a service that works and is constantly improved upon by the founders.  You can always find someone to return your emails within a few minutes, and the SmugMug staff act like they really care.  SmugMug accounts start at $40/year.  You can get $5 off the first year by using a referral code (mine’s 7jCtURK05RxC if anyone is in need – in the interest of disclosure, I get a credit toward my annual fees as well).

Ok, so you know I like SmugMug and SmugWallet obviously has something to do with SmugMug.

Now, let’s get to the point of this discussion. [Read more…]

Using High ISO and Image Noise to Your Advantage

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The Poor Homeless Man

Like many of you, I’m for getting the cleanest image possible while shooting. Raising that ISO up to levels where you see lots of banding and image noise isn’t really worth it for selling your shots considering how much post-process noise reduction you have to do. Therefore, anything less is totally unacceptable, right? Well, not all the time. If you look at old film photos you’ll see that this isn’t always true. Additionally, there’s lot more you can do besides making the image smaller to hide the flaws. Here’s how to use Image Noise to your advantage: [Read more…]

Corel Announces Support for Wacom Intuos4 Tablet

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Ottawa, ON – March 26, 2009 – Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CREL; TSX: CRE) today announced its support for the new Wacom® Intuos®4, providing significant creative support and workflow advantages for artists using Corel® Painter(TM) 11. Together, Corel Painter 11 and the Wacom Intuos4 offer a heightened level of realism in digital art through unparalleled creative options, optimal control, and interactivity. [Read more…]

Adobe Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 Update

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Adobe has released an update for Photoshop CS4, which includes the following fixes:

  • A number of issues that could cause slow performance have been addressed.
  • Pen barrel rotation with Wacom tablets now works correctly.
  • Photoshop now correctly recognizes 3D textures edited by a plug-in.
  • The quality of the results of Auto-Blend Layers (Stack Images) has been improved.
  • A problem that could result in a crash when pasting formatted text has been fixed.
  • A crash that could result from a corrupt font no longer occurs.

Updates are here:

Photoshop CS4 Update for Mac

Photoshop CS4 Update for Windows