Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

 

How Does Third-Party Firmware Affect Canon, Nikon and Panasonic Camera Warranties?

By

5D Mark III Magic Lantern

We’ve covered Magic Lantern firmware and the new Canon 5D Mark III raw video feature lately. However, one thing we haven’t touched on is how using and installing third-party firmware on your DSLR affects your camera warranty.

Udi over at DIY Photography contacted Canon, Nikon and Panasonic to see what they had to say about using third-party firmware on their cameras. In short, Canon says that using Magic Lantern firmware won’t void your warranty, while both Nikon and Panasonic say that installing a third-party firmware will void your warranty.

Of course, if your Canon camera is bricked by the Magic Lantern firmware, Canon would charge for the repairs.

More over at DIY Photography.

LockPort USB Saves USB Ports for Canon 5D Mark III & Mark II

By

LockPortUSB_1

LockCircle has announced its new LockPort USB, which is designed to help avoid damaging your 5D Mark III and 5D Mark II mini USB camera port.

Previously, LockCircle released the LockPort HDMI port savers, which proved successful and led to the logical development of a port saver for USB ports on HDSLRs. LockPort HDMI was eventually developed and released for Nikon D600 and D800 HDSLRs, so I would expect a LockPort USB model to be in the works for those cameras as well.

LockPort USB is available for $139 direct from LockCircle. More details here on LockCircle’s website.

Nikon D300, D300s, D700 and P7700 Firmware Updates

By

Nikon D700

Nikon has released firmware updates for the Nikon D300, D300s, D700 and P7700.

The firmware updates for the D300, D300s and D700 add support for the new Nikon 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens.

The firmware update for the Nikon Coolpix P7700 includes the following improvements:

When shooting with shooting mode set to M (manual) with Flash, and the ISO sensitivity set to Auto, ISO 80-200, ISO 80-400, or ISO 80-800, ISO sensitivity was sometimes not locked at ISO 80 and a different ISO sensitivity was sometimes applied.  This issue has been resolved.

You can download the firmware updates here at Nikon’s website.

DxO Optics Pro v8.1.6 Released, Supports Leica M, Nikon Coolpix A, Canon Rebel T5i & More

By

Leica M

DxO Labs has released DxO Optics Pro v8.1.6 which adds support for the following new cameras:

Additionally, DxO Optics Pro v8.1.6 adds 267 new camera/lens combinations added to the Optics Modules library. More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Nikon 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 Lens Announced

By

Nikon 32mm f/1.2 for Nikon 1 Series

The Nikon 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 is a new lens for the Nikon 1 Series mirrorless camera system. The lens was originally introduced in October 2012 as an “in development” unit.

The new 32mm f/1.2 lens is 86.4 mm equivalent in full frame format, which makes a is a nice length for portraits and the f/1.2 should produce better bokeh than any other lens currently in the Nikon 1 series.

1 NIKKOR 32mm f/1.2 Highlights

  • Fixed 32mm focal length (86mm equivalent)
  • Fastest lens in the 1 NIKKOR line with a wide max aperture of f/1.2
  • First 1 NIKKOR lens equipped with Silent Wave Motor (SWM) to ensure quiet operation
  • First 1 NIKKOR lens with a manual focus ring and M/A (AF with manual override function)
  • First 1 NIKKOR lens sporting a Nano Crystal Coat to reduce instances of ghost and flare
  • Compatibility with the entire Nikon 1 system (J1, J2, J3, S1, V1, V2)

The Nikon 1 Nikkor 32mm f/1.2 lens retails for for $899.95 and should be available in June 2013. Check availability here at Adorama and here at B&H Photo.

Nikon ViewNX 2.7.5 and Capture NX 2.4.2 Updates Available

By

Nikon ViewNX 2

Nikon has released ViewNX 2.7.5 and Capture NX 2.4.2, which fix a bug with Nikon D600 files as described below.

When RAW images captured with a D600 running C firmware Ver. 1.01 at an Image area setting of DX (24×16) 1.5× and any Active D-Lighting setting other than Off were opened in Capture NX 2, a bright (whitish) diagonal line was visible. This issue has been resolved.

You can down the updates from Nikon’s website at the following links: ViewNX 2.7.5 | Capture NX 2.4.2