Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sony Announces Faster SD Cards, Continues Using Canon DSLRs for Product Shots

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Sony has announced a broader range of SD cards with capacities up to 32GB and top transfer speeds of 20MB/s.

“There’s now a choice of three SDHC card ranges by Sony. The perfect partner for your Cyber-shot™, Handycam®, ? NEX or DSLR camera, they’re also a great match for SD/SDHC-compatible cameras, camcorders and devices from all manufacturers. The affordable ESSENTIAL Series and value-added EXPERIENCE Series are joined by the flagship EXPERT Series for photo users who demand class-leading capacity and transfer speeds.”  -Sony Press Release

Sony also continues the trend of hiring out Canon shooters for its official product shots, with the top photo captured by the Canon 1Ds Mark III.

I realize that Sony is hiring a photographer, but it’s also trying to be a serious player amongst serious photographers.  I never see Canon and Nikon using product shots captured by the other companies’ DSLRs.  Occasionally, a Phase One MF camera will be used by Canon, Nikon or Sony for product shots, which is understandable for high-res product shots since the cap is at 21-25MP for DSLRs right now.  However, Canon’s product shots are otherwise captured with a 1Ds Mark III or a 5D Mark II, while Nikon product shots are generally captured with the D3x.

Sony’s got two 25MP DSLRs on the market.  And, I know I’ve ranted about this before, but isn’t it time for Sony to eat its own dog food?

[Sony]

 

Nikon DSLR Rebates for December 2010

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Nikon has refreshed and extended its DSLR and lens rebates through the remainder of the holidays.  Cameras included in the rebates are now the Nikon D3000, the new D3100, D90, D300s and the D700.

Up to $400 in rebates are available when purchased with qualifying lenses.  B&H Photo has the complete rundown on qualifying DSLR and lens combos here.

Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 30 Giveaway

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Want an awesome, new Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 30 camera bag?

For free?

Here’s how you can score one:

1. Be a fan of Photography Bay’s Facebook page by “Liking” it.

2. Leave a comment on Photography Bay’s Facebook wall that says:  “I want a free Think Tank Photo bag from Photography Bay.” (or something along those lines)

3. Spread the word to help Photography Bay reach a total of 2500 Facebook fans.

When Photography Bay reaches 2500 total Facebook fans, I’ll randomly select a Facebook fan that has commented (see #2) as the winner.

I’ll send the winner a message via Facebook for his/her mailing address.  Respond within 3 days or the bag goes to someone else.

Canon Freeze Tag

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The above Canon commercial from Director Saman Keshavarz features a game of “freeze tag” using Canon cameras. As part of the commercial, they handed out Canon cameras to various people running through the halls, with many of their shots making it into the final cut of the commercial.

The behind the scenes video is embedded below. [Read more…]

Canon 5D Mark II and 7D Get Locking Mode Dial Upgrade Option

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Canon has announced the availability of a locking mode upgrade for the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D, which will prevent the settings from accidentally being changed.  For now, the service upgrade has only been announced for Japan and will cost 10,500 yen (roughly $125 USD).

No word yet on the availability of this service upgrade in the US or other markets.

Is this a feature that you would want?  Will you pay for the upgrade if/when it becomes available in your market?

[Canon Japan via Rob Galbraith]

New Compact Flash Specs Proposed by Sony, Nikon, SanDisk

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SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB CF Card

The future of camera memory cards may be a new CF card that offers transfer rates of 500 MB/sec and capacity in excess of 2 TB. The development of these proposed specifications were announced today as part of a joint effort among Sony, Nikon and SanDisk.

Nikon, SanDisk and Sony have submitted these high-powered specs to the CompactFlash Association in hopes of a future standardization of the format.  The new card specifications are based on a PCI Express interface (in order to achieve a 500 MB/sec transfer rate) instead of the Parallel ATA interface used in current generation cards.

According to the statement issued by SanDisk, Sony and Nikon, the new cards will be similar in size to existing CF cards.  Hopefully, that also serves as a hint that the new cards will do away with the pins inside camera, which are so susceptible to being bent.

Complete details of the announcement are below. [Read more…]