Photo&Cameras

Canon has announced instant rebates on select products. The program, which runs until January 17, 2009, is available on a select group of lenses and speedlites, while supplies last.

Rebates range from $30 for a Canon Speedlite EX/EXII to $125 for an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and are available from authorized Canon dealers and resellers. This promotion applies only to new equipment, and is limited to residents of the United States and Puerto Rico.

Check out www.canoneos.com for the full list of rebates.

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Panasonic LUMIX G1 price info : Panasonic announced pricing for the world’s first Micro Four Thirds System camera, the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G1 – available in mid-November for a suggested retail price of $799.95, which includes the Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH/MEGA O.I.S. kit lens. Also available in November, the Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 45-200mm / F4.0-5.6/MEGA O.I.S. telephoto Micro Four Thirds lens has a suggested retail price in the United States of $349.95. The Panasonic LUMIX G1 digital camera, available in black, blue and red models, is the first interchangeable lens camera to offer consumers a choice of colors.
Panasonic Contrast Auto Focus system
The Panasonic LUMIX G1 introduces a new Contrast AF (Auto Focus) system that is accurate and fast. Additionally, the Panasonic G1 features Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto mode found across the Panasonic LUMIX line of digital cameras, which includes AF Tracking, Intelligent Exposure, MEGA O.I.S., Intelligent ISO, Intelligent Scene Selector, and Face Detection. Weighing about half as much as a standard digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera (1.28 lbs), the Panasonic LUMIX G1 camera is loaded with features that both entry-level and more experienced DSLR users will appreciate.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G1
“The Panasonic LUMIX G1 provides the power of a DSLR with many of the easy-to-use features from our point-and-shoot digital cameras,” said David Briganti, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “With the Panasonic LUMIX G1, we’re able to provide manual controls and professional-quality images, while also making the camera much more compact and with intuitive features easy for those new to DSLRs to learn and use.”

Panasonic LUMIX G1 Live View Finder
The Panasonic G1’s electronic Live View Finder, with a high-resolution 1,440,000-dot equivalent, allows the user to shoot the exact image seen, while also displaying information about the camera’s settings. The Panasonic DMC-G1 camera also features a free angle 3.0-inch LCD, enabling the user to see the adjustments as they are being made, a valuable learning tool for users new to manual controls, as the effects can be confirmed visually before snapping the shot.

Panasonic Micro Four Thirds System cameras
Panasonic will expand its Micro Four Thirds System cameras and lenses in 2009, including a new model that builds on the LUMIX G1’s portability and style, while incorporating High Definition video capabilities. More details to be released in 2009.

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Boinx showed version 2.6 of its Mac-only slideshow software FotoMagico at Photo Plus Expo this year. The new version includes a free plug-in for Aperture, which allows users to export images to the slideshow application. Images can also be accessed from—or sent to—Aperture libraries from the application’s iMedia Browser. The Pro version of FotoMagico 2.6 also provides Lightroom 2 support.

Version 2.6 is a free update for current FotoMagico 2.x users. FotoMagico Express 2.6 costs $49; the Pro version is available for $129.

For more info, check out their website.

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If you haven’t heard, Digital Railroad is in the process of shutting down—quickly.

Stock Artist Alliance has some details here, and there is chatter all over photography sites about what went wrong, how poorly this has been handled and how angry many photographers are about the whole situation .

There will be time in the coming weeks to analyze the situation, compare different surviving online storage and marketplace options, but right now is a time for action. If you know any Digital Railroad photographers that may not have heard of this trainwreck and imminent shutdown, get in touch with them as soon as possible. Alert them to the current situation that their photos and records stored on Digital Railroad may not be accessible after midnight Pacific Time on Halloween.

Trick or Treat, indeed.

[October 31, 2008. Editor's Note: we originally published the above story  on October 30th, 2008. As the East Coast business week wound down today we recieved an alert from the Stock Artist Alliance about a potential letter of intent from an unnamed buyer. Below is an excerpt of this letter from their website.  Please visit SAA for the full text. -- Jack Howard, Editor, PopPhoto.com]

Memo from Diablo Management
Re: Digital Railroad
October 31, 2008

To Digital Railroad Members and Customers;

Digital Railroad (DRR) has been attempting to keep its servers up and running for as long as possible. However, given DRR’s current cash position, it can no longer keep these servers operational. Therefore, as early as midnight EST, October 31, 2008, the DRR website will be closed and the images located on the DRR servers will be inaccessible. DRR apologizes for difficulties and inconvenience that this creates, however, without additional capital investment, DRR has no other recourse.

These images will be preserved on the existing hardware in anticipation that at a later date they can be retrieved by their owners.  Continue reading the memo here.

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Due to popular demand, Moab has resurrected one of its most popular papers, Kayenta Photo Matte 205. This double-sided, acid- and lignin-free paper had been discontinued in 2007 after the company was acquired by Legion paper.

Compatible with pigment ink printers, Kayenta Photo Matte 205 is designed for a variety of uses such as final prints, portfolios and proofing.    The paper is scheduled to ship in December 2008 and will be available in 50-sheet boxes as well as 100-foot rolls in 17 and 24-inch widths. Sheet sizes include 8.5×11, 11×17, 13×19 and 17×22, and the new 17×25 inch format. Prices are not yet set. Check out www.moabpaper.com for more info.

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Photographers have paid tribute to Dick Merrill, the co-inventor of the Foveon X3 imaging sensor who has died after a long illness.

Merrill, who was not yet 60, co-invented the technology in the United States alongside Dick Lyon.

A Sigma Imaging (UK) spokesman today told : ‘Dick Merrill was instrumental in bringing the concept of the X3 sensor to fruition… He leaves behind a highly accomplished team of engineers at Foveon who will continue to develop his innovative ideas. Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.’

Launched in 2002 the Foveon X3 direct image sensor first appeared in Sigma’s 10.2-million-pixel SD9 digital SLR.

The silicon in the X3 sensor filters different light wavelengths using a three-layer system similar to that used in colour film.

A 14.1MP-version of the sensor is used in Sigma’s current SD14 DSLR and DP1 high-end compact camera.

The technology will also be incorporated into the SD15 and DP2 cameras, which are due out next year. We are also expecting a ‘DP3′ model to include a Foveon sensor at a date yet to be announced.

Polaroid’s 4.5MP X530 compact also featured a Foveon X3 sensor.

Paying tribute to his friend, Laurence Matson wrote in an online blog: ‘Dick was a warm and wonderful person and someone who took great pleasure in his passion and the photographic images it provided. In many ways he was the spirit within FoveonВ…’

The sensor’s pixels are able to record red, blue and green light individually. Light passes through a series of three layers in the silicon, covering each pixel to record different levels of intensity from each of the three colours.

At its launch, its developers hailed the ability of each pixel to transmit three times the amount of information of a normal CCD or CMOS senor by using three photo sensors instead of one.

In 2005, the technology earned Foveon the Royal Photographic Society’s Progress Medal.

To read more tributes visit http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/10/richard-b-merri.html

To see how the BBC reported the invention in February 2002 visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1842673.stm

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Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz was hired to shoot the 2009 Lavazza calendar which has been unveiled today. Copies of the ‘limited-edition’ calendar will be given away as competition prizes in a future issue of (AP).

Leibovitz was commissioned to create six images exploring ‘the Italian espresso experience’ and to reflect Italy’s ‘influence on art, cinema, history and culture’.

Leibovitz said: ‘The Lavazza calendar has a rich and varied tradition and is an ideal opportunity to use your imagination. The creative concept I wanted to express is clearly evident in the production process and in the various paths which have all led to the creation of these iconic images.’

The limited-edition calendar is not available in the shops. But Lavazza is giving 10 away to AP readers. For details of how you can win one look out for upcoming issues of AP, in shops every Tuesday.

Picture credits: Annie Leibovitz

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SLR camera production jumped 27.7% in Japan during the first eight months of 2008 compared to the year before.

Almost 6m interchangeable lens SLRs left Japanese factories from January-August 2008, representing a 32.6% rise in value terms.

Shipments to Europe shot up by 22.5%, while the number of SLRs bound for Asia grew 43.5%, according to figures released by Japan’s Camera & Imaging Products Association.

Compact camera shipments saw a similar rise, increasing by 26.7% globally.

The number of compacts shipped to Europe grew 22%, while 34.1% more units were sent to Asia than in 2007.

Total compact camera production increased 23.2% in volume but, in revenue terms, this only marked a 12.9% rise.

Meanwhile, the average price of a digital compact camera in Japan fell 9.1% in the year to August, according to figures reported by Japanese trade publication .

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Around 13,000 digital cameras and camcorders are due to be sold off alongside other photographic equipment in an online auction of Vivitar gear starting on 14 October.

The cameras, described as ‘brand new and boxed’, are part of the assets of Vivitar UK, which closed after the firm’s European base ceased trading.

Though the Vivitar brand name has been sold to Sakar International, the US electronics firm did not buy Vivitar’s stock or physical assets.

Last month we reported that Vivitar’s offices had closed with the loss of 26 staff В– including 14 in the UK В– as the firm, known as Vivitar SA France, ceased trading.

The firm went into administration owing more than £4m to creditors.

Vivitar was set up in 1938.

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Metz mecablitz 36 AF-4 digital flash : The Metz mecablitz 36 AF-4 digital is now available in five versions. The Canon and Nikon versions that have been available for some time now have be supplemented with models for Olympus/Panasonic, Pentax/Samsung and Sony Alpha digital cameras. Thus, depending on the camera manufacturer, the highly-specific E-TTL-flash mode, i-TTL, Four Thirds-TTL flash mode, P-TTL or ADI flash operating modes are available. With these two sophisticated entry-level models Metz offers the right flash solution for users of all these digital cameras. In addition, the user is impressed by the 36 AF-4 digital’s likable, simple operation. Even bounce flashes become child’s play, due to the vertically-tilting reflector.

Metz mecablitz 36 AF-4 flash – Special functions
The manually-adjustable zoom reflector has other advantages. By adjusting the reflector to different focal lengths, the illumination angle of the Metz mecablitz 36 AF-4 digital can be fully exploited. Furthermore the Metz 36 AF- 4 digital offers a range of practical special functions such as the fill-in flash for daylight shots (camera dependent) that makes it possible to effectively illuminate areas of dark shadow. And an integrated AF measuring beam that is a valuable focusing aid under poor light conditions. And the practical flash standby indicator in the camera viewfinder.

About Metz
Metz has been continually expanding its leading position in the flash field for years. It exports worldwide to over 90 countries with a market share of more than 60 per cent. Metz has been the market leader in Germany for many years. This is also down to the company’s extremely versatile product portfolio. From easy-to-handle compact to extremely powerful flash memory sticks, there is something to suit every taste. And this applies to virtually any camera, whether analog or digital. Models specially tailored to digital cameras offer an integrated learning function, which, as a world innovation, underlines the development expertise of the in-house laboratory. Individual adaptation to the respective camera is achieved through this function. Further flash memory stick devices for digital cameras will also supplement the wide-ranging flash range in the future.

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