Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Pretec CFast Compact Flash Card – Transfer Rate of 160MB/s

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I think Pretec just dared Canon, Nikon or anyone else to produce some higher resolution video and faster frame rates.  The new Pretec CFast series of compact flash cards quadruples the write speed of the SanDisk Extreme IV.

And, if the performance lives up to the specs, the CFast series will eat as much HD video as your Canon 5D Mark II can throw at it.  Maybe we can stop referring to CF card specs as 133x, 266x and so on, since the CFast will be something like 1064x speed card.

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

 

iLovePhotos – Free Software and Free T-Shirt

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iLovePhotos Intro Video from iLovePhotos on Vimeo.

iLovePhotos is free software for your Mac that helps you organize, share, and enjoy your photos based on the people who are in them.

Photography Bay covered iLovePhotos a while back when it was still in private beta. Now, iLove Photos is open to the public with several new features, including the following:

  • Progress bar while exporting a slideshow movie.
  • Performance gains while syncing with iPhoto.
  • Performance gains while auto-saving
  • Fixes for library saving and dequeuing face detection.
  • Getting started overlay the first time you launch ILP.
  • New log-in screen in the iLovePhotos.com preferences.
  • Fade transitions for entering and existing fullscreen and slideshow views.
  • You can now import photos by dragging them from a finder window to iLovePhotos
  • After importing new photos into iPhoto, iLovePhotos will automatically import them.
  • Export all of your tags to iPhoto.

Check out the introductory video above, download a free copy of iLovePhotos and share your thoughts in the comments below.

Two lucky readers that take the time to comment on their experience with iLovePhotos will get an iLovePhotos t-shirt.

You can choose from:

Pink: M, L, XL

Gray: M, L, XL, XXL

You’ve got until midnight on Saturday, January 17, 2009, then I’ll pick two thoughtful posts and genuine posts regarding your honest impressions or thoughts (good or bad) on this software.

You can get the iLovePhotos software for free – here.

Panasonic Lumix G1 Review at DP Review

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DP Review has published an in-depth review of the Panasonic Lumix G1.

Image quality was, generally, a very pleasant surprise. The G1 uses a Four Thirds sensor and although it’s a new sensor that’s not been used previously in another Four Thirds camera, we would have expected at least a comparable image quality to the current Olympus DSLRs.

For more news and reviews, visit Photography Bay’s Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Reviews and Resources.

“Share-a-Link” Saturday

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Inspired by Rich Legg at LeggNet.com:

“Here’s an idea: Drop a comment below with a link or two (or three or four…) to some of your favorite photography related websites. This is a great chance to advertise your own site or other photo sites you frequent.”

Like many of us, I’m always on the lookout for a new site to add to my RSS Reader.

Additionally, if you have a photography related website or blog, consider keeping this “Share-a-Link” rolling after you drop your own link in the comments below.

Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update Ver. 1.0.7

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Canon has updated the firmware for the EOS 5D Mark II with the specific intention of addressing the Black Dot and vertical banding problems.  See the notes from Canon below regarding Firmware Version 1.0.7.

Firmware Update Version 1.0.7 improves and mitigates the following two types of image quality phenomena that occur under certain shooting conditions.

1. “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources become black)
2. Vertical banding noise

Firmware Version 1.0.7 is for EOS 5D Mark II cameras with firmware up to version 1.0.6. If the camera’s firmware is already version 1.0.7, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Notes:
When updating to Firmware Version 1.0.7, please also update the Digital Photo Professional and Picture Style Editor software. Firmware Version 1.0.7 can be downloaded from the bottom of this page. Updates for Digital Photo Professional and Picture Style Editor can be downloaded from the following Web site.

You can download the updates and view further details and instructions from Canon here.

For the latest news and reviews on the 5D Mark II, be sure to stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Canon 5D Mark II Reviews and Resources.

Sony Cyber-shot W220, W210 and S950

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Sony has announced three new point and shoot cameras at CES 2009.  Key specifications and a press release from Sony UK follow.

Sony Cyber-shot W210 Key Features

  • 12.1 megapixels
  • Carl Zeiss lens
  • 4x optical zoom
  • SteadyShot image stabilization
  • Sensitivity up to ISO 3200
  • Smile Shutter
  • Face Detection AF
  • 2.7″ LCD

Sony Cyber-shot W220 Key Features

  • 12.1 megapixels
  • Carl Zeiss lens
  • 4x optical zoom
  • SteadyShot optical image stabilization
  • Sensitivity up to ISO 3200
  • Smile Shutter
  • Face Detection AF
  • 2.7″ LCD

Sony Cyber-shot S950 Key Features

  • 10.1 megapixels
  • 4x optical zoom
  • Face Detection AF
  • 2.7″ LCD

PRESS RELEASE

Three new Cyber-shot™ cameras from Sony make unforgettable images beautifully affordable. Packed with smart features like Smile Shutter and Intelligent Scene Recognition, the Cyber-shot™ W220 and W210 are your passport to gorgeous photos with more fun and less fuss. When real value counts as much as great pictures, the colourful Cyber-shot™ S950 puts unbeatable Sony quality within everyone’s reach. [Read more…]

Olympus SP-590UZ

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Olympus is bringing a new superzoom point and shoot camera to the table in the SP-590UZ.

Olympus SP-590UZ Key Features

  • 12MP Digital Camera
  • 26X Wide Angle Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom
  • 2.7 inch LCD

We’ll have photos and more details once things become official.  I expect this to be a CES release that should be happening very soon though.

[via Amazon.com via 1001NC]