Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Lensbaby let the wraps off a new lens today – the Composer Pro.
The Lensbaby Composer Pro steps up its game with upgrades to the swivel ball and focus mechanism to make it (you guessed it) more “pro” oriented. The new focus ring is a dampened fluid ring, which (according to Lensbaby) is more akin to pro-caliber lenses from conventional lens makers. [Read more…]
With press releases already leaking out on the web, it looks like Nikon is about to lower the hammer with its new D5100 DSLR, which sports a 16.2MP sensor, 11-point AF system and 1920 x 1080/24p video capture. Other juicy specs are a new HDR feature, video special effects and 4 fps still frame rate.
The most obvious new addition to the D5100 is a swivel LCD, which attaches to the side of the camera. This is a bit of change up from the D5000, which sported a swivel LCD that attached to the bottom of the camera. The LCD itself is a solid 921k-dot res display that weighs in at a full 3 inches.
The D5100 offers a sensitivity range of ISO 100-6400, and is expandable to ISO 25,600. What’s more, the D5100 sports a new “Night Vision” mode for video capture that records in low light up to ISO 102,400.
The D5100 captures both 1080p and 720p at 24p or 30p frame rates. Notably absent is the ability to record at 60p when shooting 720p video (like the Canon 7D and 60D models). Of course, this isn’t new to Nikon HDSLRs – with the recent Nikon D7000 locked down to the same frame rate options. Manual exposure control is confirmed for video mode. [Update: DPReview confirms that the D5100 suffers from the same, frustrating aperture lock that cripples the D7000 when in Live View mode. This seriously hampers the use of the D5100 as a video-centric tool.]
Those interested in using the D5100 to capture video will find the addition of a stereo mic input will be a welcomed bonus.
Speaking of mic inputs, Nikon looks to be launching the Nikon ME-1 stereo mic alongside the D5100 – although its spec sheet is hardly inspiring. Nikon Rumors picked up word that the frequency response only covers 70Hz to 16kHz. It will be powered by the camera and will sport a switchable low-cut filter (not sure what the low-cut boundaries are though). Given that the ME-1 appears to be strictly intended for using on-camera and mounted in the hot shoe of a consumer-grade camera, it might be good enough.
[via Nikon Rumors]
Full Nikon Canada (replaced with US version) press release follows. [Read more…]
First off, I want to give a big shout out to all the sponsors of the Swag Bag Giveaway.
Think Tank Photo | B&H Photo | SanDisk | Seagate | Kubota Image Tools | MyPhotoCreations | Moo | Wiley | Peachpit
We couldn’t have done it without all these great sponsors!
Now, for the winner. [Read more…]
Last week, we saw what the future possibilities are for Photoshop on the iPad and other tablet devices when it comes to actually working with layers. Now that I’m back from Photoshop World and have had some sleep, I’m getting to some of the other exciting stuff that I saw there.
In yet another segment of the Photoshop World 2011 Keynote, John Loiacono introduced a teaser trailer of a new “color mixing” feature that will be coming to Photoshop for the iPad in the “very very near term,” as he put it.
Check out the video below. [Read more…]
The above video is from Gulf Photo Plus 2011. In it, you’ll see JoeyL and Zack Arias going head-to-head in photo shootout, where each gets 20 minutes to photograph, edit and output an image of a subject they’ve never seen before. There’s also the nice bonus of Gregory Heisler dogging both contestants throughout their shoots.
Also check out Zack Arias’ post on his thought process during the shoot. Good stuff Zack.
[via Vimeo]
If you’ve been reading Photography Bay over the last couple of weeks, you already knew that you can edit video in Photoshop CS5 Extended. If you missed the prior post, check out the Bokeh 2 review where I applied a tilt-shift effect to a video file.
Still yet, I know this may be news to a lot of folks, and that’s one of the reasons it was highlighted at the Photoshop World Keynote. Check out the short clip below that shows off a few features such as adjusting curves and making lens correction adjustments to video files. [Read more…]
It’s time for our weekly break from the gear for a few minutes so we can enjoy another round of reader photos from the Photography Bay Flickr Group.
Check out the rest of the photos below. [Read more…]
Below you will find this week’s firmware updates. Hit the manufacturer website links for more details and download instructions for the firmware. [Read more…]
Of course, seeing the latest and greatest things unveiled by Adobe is a cool thing about Photoshop World. However, another cool thing about the keynote session and other sessions withing Photoshop World is taking away little educational gems that will help you grow as a photographer and editor.
In this snippet from the keynote, we get a little taste of what happens when you combine tools like the puppet warp and content-aware fill for some content-aware lens correction in a 5-image panoramic (an image where ordinary lens correction wouldn’t hold water).
Check out the video below. (Pardon the first couple seconds of shaky-cam.) [Read more…]
In the lead up to NAB 2011, Zeiss has announced new adapters for its CP.2 prime cine lenses that allow them to work with Sony’s E-Mount as well as the MFT mount for pro camcorders.
More details in the press release below. [Read more…]