Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of the Nikon D700.
Is it worth the asking price? Well that depends on your own would-be use and needs. For the amateur there are more affordable alternatives, but for the professional needing full frame capability it can be considered a steal.
For the latest Nikon D700 news and reviews, be sure to visit Photography Bay’s Nikon D700 Reviews and Resources.
The Lonely Planet travel guides have become the travel guide for the young and the hip. Now, Lonely Planet has teamed up with photo-sharing site Pikeo to find new cover images.
If you have a great photo of Paris, London, Barcelona or Istanbul sitting around, consider uploading it to Pikeo. The directions on how to do so are on the contest page. The winner won’t just get his or her image on the cover of a Lonely Planet book, though. The winner will also get a trip from Intrepid Travel — the choices are India, the Serengeti Trail, Morocco or Russia. I know I wouldn’t mind a chance to take photos on the Serengeti Trail.
A tipster, who wishes to keep his identity confidential, passed along that he recently received word from Sony that the Sony A900 will be announced worldwide on September 9th. That’s next Tuesday folks.
While it may seem like we’re all over the place on announcement dates, I feel pretty good about this info, as opposed to yesterday’s rumor of a 9/3 announcement. He emailed me directly with the info, which he says comes directly from Sony. Additionally, he’s provided solid info in the past. I will honor his request to remain confidential, but I thought you should know why I feel good about his info.
Expect to see lots more A900 coverage as we approach Photokina 2008.
For more on the Sony A900 flagship DSLR, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Sony A900 page.
In the near to far category, Tamron has upped the ante with a 15x zoom for Canon and Nikon DSLR with the new 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC lens. This superzoom from Tamron also features vibration compensation, which will surely be needed when taking into account the tele end of the zoom, which is equivalent to 419mm on a 35mm camera. Tamron has not provided us with a price or availability date yet.
September 1, 2008, Saitama City, Japan – Tamron Co., Ltd., under the leadership of Mr. Morio Ono, President, has unveiled a unique ultra high power zoom lens-the Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO (Model B003), the first digital SLR lens in the world that delivers a remarkable zoom ratio of 15X (28-419mm equivalent) and is equipped with a highly effective Vibration Compensation (VC) mechanism. Designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C sized image sensors, the new lens delivers outstanding image quality over its entire zoom range and its exclusive VC anti-shake system facilitates sharp handheld photography even at the longest telephoto settings. [Read more…]
As with the Tamron 10-24mm the 90mm f/2.8 Macro has been updated to include a built-in motor for the Nikon mount in order to accommodate the Nikon D40, D40x and D60, which do not have an AF motor in the body of the camera.
Tamron Co., Ltd (Mr. Morio Ono, President) has successfully renewed the existing SP AF90mm F/2.8 for Nikon and is now pleased to announce the availability of the lens with a built-in AF motor for Nikon. (The lens is already available in mounts for Canon, Pentax and Sony.) [Read more…]
Tamron has updated its 10-24mm wide angle lens to include a built-in focusing motor to accommodate the Nikon D40, D40x and D60 cameras, which do not have a focusing motor in the body of the camera.
September 1, 2008, Saitama city, Japan- Tamron Co., Ltd (Mr. Morio Ono, President) announced the SP AF10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) featuring an unprecedented 2.4X zoom ratio in its class of ultra wide-angle zoom lenses. The innovative, high-performance ultra wide-angle zoom lens (model B001) is designed exclusively for Canon and Nikon digital SLRs with APS-C sized image sensors. Pentax and Sony mount models will be announced at a later date. [Read more…]
Tamron has added Pentax and Sony to the stable of compatible DSLRs for its 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. The lens will be available later this month in Japan initially. The lens carries a street price of about $700 for the existing Canon and Nikon mounts.
As previously announced, Tamron Co., Ltd (Mr. Morio Ono, President) has developed SP AF70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD [IF] MACRO (Model A001), a lightweight and fast F/2.8 tele-zoom lens designed for full-size SLR cameras. Tamron is pleased to announce the availability of the zoom lens in mounts for Pentax and Sony SLR cameras. [Read more…]
PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of Power Retouche Pro plugin suite for Photoshop.
Power Retouche Pro is a comprehensive suite of plugins for professional photo retouching in Photoshop and other imaging applications. Power Retouche Pro supports both 8bit and 16bit images, and is compatible with all versions of Photoshop, plus Paint Shop Pro, Corel Draw, Illustrator, Fireworks amongst others. Plugins can be purchased individually, or the full pro package is available for just $175 / €113 / £ 88. Jon Canfield tries out all 25 individual plugins in our latest review.
Canon announced a firmware update for the EOS Rebel XSi / 450 digital SLR camera. Update version 1.0.9 fixes several problems that have been reported to Canon with Auto Exposure Bracketing, Live View and Playback. The exact fixes are:
Fixes a phenomenon in which AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) shooting does not operate normally under specific conditions.
Fixes a phenomenon in which the Live View exposure simulation warning indication does not properly display during Live View shooting.
Fixes a phenomenon in which images cannot be played back after continuous shooting when a printer is connected to the camera or a video output terminal is used.
The previous firmware version is 1.0.4 — if your camera uses this version, updating is recommended.
Further information about the update is available on Canon’s update page.
This is the first time we’ve heard of September 3rd as an official announcement date for the A900; however, a DPR forum poster says he’s got third hand or so info on the A900 being available in China on September 3rd.
according to retailers of Sony DSLRs in Suzhou China (which is the city next to Shanghai), the Sony Gallery shop in Shanghai should be stocking the A900 from the 3rd.
[via DPR]
I’ll note though that the most reliable-sounding info we’ve heard for the A900 unveiling was September 9-10.
Either way, it won’t be long and we’ll stay on top of the latest developments. Expect to see lots more A900 coverage as we approach Photokina 2008.
For more on the Sony A900 flagship DSLR, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Sony A900 page.