Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9

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Adobe has announced Photoshop Elements 9 for both Mac and PC.  As with past iterations of Photoshop Elements, this new version benefits from the advances made in the full Creative Suite version of Photoshop.  This time around Photoshop Elements 9 benefits by adding content aware technology to help repair and fill photos, among other new features.

Photoshop Elements 9 carries an initial retail price of $99.99.  Check availability on Amazon.com.

More detail about the new version in the press release below. [Read more…]

 

Canon G12 Tomorrow

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Just a heads up – I received a tip that the previously leaked Canon G12 should be announced tomorrow.  There shouldn’t be any real news about it that we don’t already know – other than the price tag, of course.  I don’t expect it to veer too far off of the standard $499 retail price though.

Hopefully, we’ll see the final update on the G12 at midnight.  Stay tuned.

Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3S – Autofocus Performance [Part 3]

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Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3s

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I provided an introduction to this autofocus evaluation, as well as a brief overview of the Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D3S AF systems.  If you have not read the previous installments in this series, you can do so now by clicking the links below:

  1. Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3S – Autofocus Performance [Part 1]
  2. Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3S – Autofocus Performance [Part 2]

In Part 3 below, we will look more in-depth at images captured during basketball games with the 1D Mark IV and D3S. [Read more…]

SD Association Bumps SD Card Specs to 300MB/s Max

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SD Logo

The SD Association has announced a new design that will allow an increase in bus interface speeds for SD-format memory cards up to 300MB/s.  The new design is also backwards compatible with existing devices that accept SD, SDHC and SDXC cards.  To give you an idea of what this transfer speed means in real products, SanDisk’s powerful Extreme Pro line of CF cards is rated at 90MB/s.

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

Canon Shows Off 4K Camera and More at Canon EXPO 2010

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Canon 4K Concept Camera - via Philip Bloom
Canon 4K Concept Camera – via Philip Bloom

At Canon EXPO 2010 in New York, Canon displayed a 4K concept camera, which Canon describes as “lightweight and compact, Multipurpose Camera that supports both video and still image capture with ultra-high definition 4K resolution and a newly developed CMOS sensor that enables video shooting at high frame rates in excess of 60 frames per second.”

The new Canon 60D, XF105 and XF100 camcorders and plenty other gadgets that have yet to be released were also on display at Canon EXPO 2010.

Philip Bloom has a nice little rundown of the the show floor here.  Also, get more details in Canon’s official press release below. [Read more…]

Canon Develops 8″ x 8″ CMOS Image Sensor

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Canon’s R&D group has been eating its Wheaties, as evidenced by the recent 120MP CMOS sensor and the new 8-inch CMOS sensor.  That’s the 8″ sensor above, just to the left of a 35mm sensor.

The new sensor is roughly 40 times the size of the sensor found in the 5D Mark II.  It measures 202 x 205mm, or roughly 8″ x 8″ – holy cow! Canon says that it is “capable of capturing images in one one-hundredth the amount of light required by a professional-model digital SLR camera.”

Don’t expect to see these in your next DSLR though – this is just bragging rights for now.  Get the full tech-speak and marketing buzz in the press release below. [Read more…]

Zacuto Quick Draw DSLR Rig Review

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The Zacuto Quick Draw is basically a trimmed-down version of the Zacuto Striker (without the shoulder stock), and actually I don’t even know that you can pick up the Quick Draw as a standalone product anymore.  Nevertheless, Zacuto prices have dropped, and the Striker kit is even in a relatively reasonable price range now.

As far as simple, low-key DSLR support goes, I’m a big fan of the Quick Draw.  I didn’t really think that would be the case going into my use of this rig since it didn’t include a shoulder support.  However, after getting used to the kit with my 5D Mark II, I was very pleased with the flexibility of the Quick Draw.

Read the full review over at Tech Tilt: Zacuto Quick Draw DSLR Rig Review

Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3S – Autofocus Performance [Part 1]

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Canon 1D Mark IV vs. Nikon D3s

We all know that the Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D3S are geared toward sports photographers.  While the cameras have found their way into many other photography niches, at their core, these cameras are made for shooting sports.  As an action-oriented camera, nothing defines its performance more so than its autofocus speed and accuracy.

When shooting sports, we can forgive images that are a bit noisier in one camera over the other, and we can forgive a camera with lower resolution than its competitor.  What we cannot forgive, however, is out of focus images.  When shooting sports and other action, autofocus performance is a paramount concern. [Read more…]