Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sigma EM-140 DG Macro Flash for Sony and Pentax

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The Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce the new ELECTRONIC FLASH MACRO EM-140 DG for Sony and Pentax cameras.
ELECTRONIC FLASH MACRO EM-140 DG is designed to work with both AF 35mm film and Digital SLR cameras. The EM-140 DG Macro Flash is ideal for photographing subjects in fine detail when the shadowless mode is used and is extremely effective for scientific and medical applications. Dual flash tubes can fire simultaneously or separately. Using only one flashtube creates shadow, which can give a three-dimensional feeling to the subject. The flash features a guide number of 14 w/ISO 100. The Modeling Flash function makes it possible to check for reflections and shadows before actually taking the flash picture. A wireless flash function is also available, when the EM-140 DG is used as master and the EF-530 DG SUPER as a slave unit for creating fine shadow details. High Speed Synchro and Exposure compensation functions are also available for advanced flash photography.

Features

  • Ideal for Close-up photography, especially medical and scientific applications
  • Fully dedicated with the latest TTL auto exposure systems
  • Flash tubes can be switched on or off for creative flash control
  • Wireless Flash Control
  • High Speed Synchro Flash
 

Nikon D700 and SB-900 User Manuals

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For those of you wanting an in-depth look at the Nikon D700 and/or the SB-900, you can read up on the new gear via the official user manuals – even if you can’t get your hands on the new camera or flash just yet.

UPDATE: It looks like the links to the D700 are down at the moment. The SB-900 manual still downloads though. (Here’s the link to Nikon’s download page for the D700.)

D700 User Guide (Warning: 19MB)

D700 Quick Start Guide

SB-900 User Manual

SB-900 flash shooting techniques guide

Sony HVL-F58AM Flash

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Today, Sony announced their new flagship flash for the alpha DSLR lineup. Sony had previously alluded to the coming of this flash, when discussing their flagship A900 DSLR. For details on the new F58AM speedlight, see the press release below.

PRESS RELEASE:

SAN DIEGO, Jun. 19, 2008 – Sony is expanding its a (alpha) system of accessories to include the new HVL-F58AM flash unit with exceptional features for versatile and flexible external lighting control.

Quick Shift Bounce and Expanded Versatility

This new flash features a new and innovative Quick Shift Bounce system. It offers more creative ways to achieve lighting, flash and bounce angles you may not have been able to experience before.

The flash head can pivot 90 degrees left and right on a horizontal axis in addition to the conventional up and down vertical adjustment. With this system, the camera and flash unit can keep the same orientation regardless of portrait or landscape shooting. This gives a higher degree of flexibility when arranging the direction of light. [Read more…]

SmugMug Adds Embedded Video

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A few months ago, SmugMug added video capabilities to its repertoire of sharing features.  SmugMug has now followed up with embedding capabilities for a variety of video sizes including HD.  Don MacAskill gives the rundown on the new H.264 embedded format here. 

I’m a big SmugMug advocate. I’ve been nothing but thrilled with their photo hosting and sharing services. You can read more of my thoughts on an earlier Photography Bay post – 7 Alternatives to Flickr.

While SmugMug “demands video to be awesome”, I ran into a little bit of a lag issue on my aging iMac G5.  I have to say though, that the video quality looks great for a flash-based video. How’s the above video working for you (for both streaming and quality)?

If you decide to give SmugMug a try, you can use this code ( 7jCtURK05RxCQ ) in the ‘Referred by’ field on the signup form to save $5 from whatever account you sign up for. (Disclosure: I get a credit as well.)

SanDisk 3-bit-per-cell (x3) Nand Flash

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Company Introduces World’s First Commercial 16-gigabit, 3-Bit-Per-Cell NAND Flash ChipSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, February 6, 2008 – Reaching a new threshold in the development of flash memory, SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced that it expects to start mass production of the world’s first commercial three-bit-per-cell (x3) NAND flash memory in March/April 2008. The 16-gigabit (Gb) x3 NAND flash employs SanDisk’s standard 56 nanometer (nm) flash technology and provides over 20 percent more die per wafer compared to standard NAND Multi-Level Cell (MLC) memory (2-bits-per-cell) on the same technology node. x3 enables higher manufacturing efficiency and lower die cost for the same capital investment. The new x3 flash architecture has been in development for the past two years and employs SanDisk’s most advanced patented design innovations to achieve the same performance and high reliability found in SanDisk’s 2-bits-per-cell chips. [Read more…]