Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sony Touchscreen DSLR

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A pair recent Sony patent applications reveal what is clearly an Alpha-system DSLR with a touchscreen display that is functional with both the standard grip and a vertical accessory grip.  (See US Patent Appl. Nos. 2010/0134676 and 2010/0134433.)  According to the patent application, the challenge with integrating a touchscreen on a DSLR is keeping your nose from activating it when looking through the viewfinder, while at the same time allowing you to access features mapped to the touchscreen controls. [Read more…]

 

Canon Voice Recognition Camera Patent: “Say Cheese”

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We’ve got menus, buttons and touch screens to help use operate our cameras.  However, imagine telling your subjects to “say cheese” and the camera listens to your command as well, waits for people to smile and handles the shutter button for you.  The latter portion of those operations is are already available on today’s cameras with features like SmileShot and ShutterSmile, which wait for smiles before releasing the shutter.  And, if one of Canon’s latest patents comes to life, we could have the voice recognition features on our cameras in the near future. [Read more…]

Samsung NX10 vs. Canon Rebel T2i ISO Comparison

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Samsung NX10

The Samsung NX10 is the one of the new kids on the hybrid camera block.  Like Micro Four Thirds cameras from Panasonic and Olympus, the NX10 features a DSLR-sized sensor, but offers full time live view and no optical viewfinder (but rather an electronic viewfinder).

However, the Samsung NX10 features a larger sensor than the Micro Four Thirds cameras.  In fact, the NX10’s imaging sensor is about the same physical size as the one found in the Canon Rebel T2i.

As part of my upcoming review of the Samsung NX10, I decided to pit the NX10 against the Canon Rebel T2i to see how the noise control holds up.  [Read more…]

Samsung NX5 Announced in Germany, Samsung USA Still Silent

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Last week, Samsung Germany published a press announcement for the new NX5, which appears to be a lower-end version of the NX10. I inquired with my PR contacts from Samsung USA about the new NX5’s launch in Germany and was told that they have no info with regard to the NX5’s availability in the US market.  So, this may be a Germany- or Europe-only sort of thing.

Unfortunately, the official word from Samsung Germany offers little detail about the new NX5, confirming only that it has a 3″ TFT screen in place of the AMOLED screen on the NX10.  As you can see from the official product images provided by Samsung Germany, the NX5 appears to offer the same 14.6MP APS-C sensor found in the NX10.  Likewise the body and control scheme appears to be identical to the NX10. [Read more…]

The Canon Camera Hackers Manual – New Book

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The Canon Camera Hackers Manual is a new book focused on the CHDK software that allows users to use and create scripts which unlock powerful potential of compact Canon cameras.  The Canon Camera Hackers Manual is authored by Berthold Daum.  The book retails for $29.95, but is available for $19.77 on Amazon.com at the time of this post. [Read more…]

PMA 2011 Gets Pushed to 3rd Quarter, Back to Vegas

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There’s no doubt that PMA 2010 was a bit of a disappointment, particularly with the Anaheim venue, Canon’s absence, and some overshadowing by CES.  Something had to give.  And, well, it did.

According to PMA, industry buying cycles and technology developments have driven the show to a September date instead of residing in the post-holiday and post-CES season. As a result, PMA 2011 will take place from September 8-10, 2011.  And, better still, it’s back at the Las Vegas Convention Center. I’ll be there with bells on.

It will be interesting to see the impact on other photo trade shows around the same time of year, such as PDN Photo Plus on the East Coast.  No word though on what happens in 2012, which would put a September PMA dangerously close to Photokina.

The full press announcement is below. [Read more…]

Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 Now Available

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Photoshop CS5

Adobe has posted the official version of Camera Raw 6.1 for Photoshop CS5 users.  This version includes RAW file support for the following new cameras:

  • Canon EOS 550D (Digital Rebel T2i/ EOS Kiss X4 Digital)
  • Kodak Z981
  • Leaf Aptus-II 8
  • Leaf Aptus-II 10R
  • Mamiya DM40
  • Olympus E-PL1
  • Panasonic G2
  • Panasonic G10
  • Sony A450

Additional info about version 6.1 can be found on the following Camera Raw download pages:

Camera Raw 6.1 for Windows

Camera Raw 6.1 for Mac

Kingston Releases 64GB SDXC Card, Costs More Than Camera

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Kingston has just launched a 64GB Class 10 SDXC card that touts a 60MB/s read speed and a 35MB/s write speed.  The new card carries a rather steep retail price tag of $499.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll stick with using two 32GB cards until the price comes down a bit.

You can read up on all the specs of the new SDXC card in the press release below. [Read more…]

Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm/F3.5 Lens Announced

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Panasonic has unveiled the Lumix G 8mm fisheye lens for it’s G-series Micro Four Thirds cameras.  The new lens offers an equivalent focal length of 16mm on a full frame camera thanks to the Micro Four Thirds 2x crop factor.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

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

Pretec Releases P240 USB 3.0 Card Reader, 64GB SDXC Card and More

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The Pretec P240 USB 3.0 card reader, which is compatible with SDXC, CF and other memory card formats, is looking to be available around August 2010. USB 3.0 (or SuperSpeed USB) is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices, but offers 10x improvement in speed with a 5Gbps signaling rate when tied to USB 3.0 connections on both ends.

Pretec’s new 64GB SDXC card is a Class 16 card is also set to start trickling out soon.  These products and more from Pretec will be featured at Computex Taipei, which starts today.

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