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Archive for June, 2008

Olympus SP 570 UZ review

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Olympus SP-570 UZ digital camera review : In August 2005, Olympus introduced the very first camera from the new SP-5 series; the SP-500 UZ camera. At the time it was a Megazoom camera that certainly featured high specifications; six Megapixels, a maximum ISO of 400 and an optical zoom with a 38-380mm range. Three years later, the fifth model of the SP-5 series lays before me; the Olympus SP-570 UZ, the most recent Megazoom model by Olympus.

Evolution of the Olympus SP-570 UZ
Looking at the specifications, we clearly see the evolution this model underwent. Instead of six, there’s now room for ten Megapixels on the small image sensor, and the sensitivity of 6400, albeit with a limited resolution, surpasses the ‘high’ 400 ISO setting of that of its predecessor. The optical zoom lens also went through a real change; now offering a 20x optical zoom, resulting in a huge focal range (26-520mm) which is a powerful magnification factor even for the enhanced photographer.

Digital camera developments
In only a few years time the digital camera has undergone considerable changes and is, in fact, still going through this process. It looks like this trend will continue for a while. We are not always happy with the changes, but all in all it is a logical evolution. As long as the quality is ensured and improvements are visible, there is no reason to moan. Though it is a good motivation to keep a finger on the pulse, since a manufacturer’s marketing department sometimes tends to overdo it. One example that goes for nearly every brand is the race for the highest ISO setting possible. The latter is hardly ever useful in practice and only looks good on paper. Although Megazoom cameras tend to lean towards the features of digital SLRs, they are in fact compact cameras with the smaller sensors that come with these.

Olympus SP-570UZ Megazoom digital camera
The Megazoom digital camera market remains interesting to the manufacturer. While a number of manufacturers have left this concept alone in order to focus fully on their DSLR cameras, a considerable group of consumers really seemed to appreciate this Megazoom camera. The features; compact, lightweight and super zoom, form a powerful combination to give cameras like the Olympus SP-570UZ the right to exist.

Olympus SP-570 UZ camera review
The Olympus SP-570 was introduced in January of this year, just before the PMA 2008 in Las Vegas kicked off, and only recently became available to the consumer. Thanks to all its setting possibilities and all-round capacities, the Olympus SP-570 UZ camera seems to be the perfect alternative to a D-SLR camera. It’s a camera that is easy to take with you at all times. Read the following


Source: www.letsgodigital.org

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Down with the Fish

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008


“In front of a tiny school in the small fishing village of Akumal”. Mexico. Taken by Mostly Lisa

Source: planetearthdailyphoto.blogspot.com

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ACDSee Photo Editor 2008

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 is an easy-to-use digital design and layout software application. New features include faster processing times, more custom creative tools and options for resizing, cropping and masking. “ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 has all the tools, inspiration and clear instruction users need to turn digital photos into truly captivating keepsakes.” said Mark Franklin, executive vice president for ACD Systems. ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase for $49.99.

ACDSee Press Release

ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 Enhances Creativity with New Design Options

VICTORIA, British Columbia – June 11, 2008 – ACD Systems International Inc. today released ACDSeeв„ў Photo Editor 2008, the next version of its easy-to-use digital design and layout software created especially for avid photographers and scrapbookers.

Evaluated by more than 3,700 ACDSee users, new software features of Photo Editor 2008 include:

* Faster processing time
* More custom creative tools and options for resizing, cropping and masking
* Quick optimization for the Web and advanced printing functions
* Artistic effects that can be added, modified or deleted at any time
* “Trim to shape” feature for quick-and-easy use of design templates
* Advanced journaling and text curving capabilities

“We are committed to designing products that fit the needs of our users, so we encourage them to be involved in the beta testing process,” said Mark Franklin, executive vice president for ACD Systems. “As a result, ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 has all the tools, inspiration and clear instruction users need to turn digital photos into truly captivating keepsakes.”

Powerful Layout Tools
With ACDSee Photo Editor, users don’t need technical expertise or a graphic design background to design artistic layouts. Templates created by top designers Andrea Gold, Maggie Lamarre and Vicki Stegall are starting points to inspire creativity. Users can also design their own layouts to save as templates for future use.

For image creativity, users can experiment with Dynamic Adjustments, which features 70 effects including Sepia and Gaussian Blur. These effects can also be modified without making any permanent changes to the original image, providing freedom to switch the order of the effects, add new effects and delete effects. Users can also crop images with shape tools, create their own contour with the Trim to Shape feature and blend images together using masks.

Advanced Text Features
To enhance layout versatility, ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 offers a variety of options for text integration. Custom text paths allow users to use drawing tools to create paths that can follow elements within the layout.

To complete projects even faster, preset text paths in designs including brackets, flowers or spirals are just a click away. With custom text shapes, words can even be wrapped inside of more than 400 shapes, or users can create their own. They can also add large journaling blocks into these shapes with ease.

Easy To Use
Other top features included in ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 are the built-in “How-to” guides for every activity. These guides allow users to fully utilize all of the software features with detailed and easy-to-follow instructions. The software also seamlessly integrates with ACDSee™ 10 Photo Manager, the company’s tool for viewing, organizing and managing growing photo and digital design collections.

Pricing and Availability
ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase for $49.99 (USD) at http://www.acdsee.com. Current ACDSee Photo Editor users and owners of other ACDSee products can purchase the program for $34.99 (USD) and users can bundle it with ACDSee 10 Photo Manager for the combined price of $79.98 (USD).

About ACD Systems
Headquartered in British Columbia since 1993, ACD Systems International Inc. (TSX: ASA) is one of the world’s leading developers and marketers of digital imaging software, including the renowned ACDSee image management tool and Canvas, an advanced cross-platform technical illustration and graphics program. ACD has delivered value to a global marketplace through Internet distribution and through partnerships with manufacturers and developers. ACD has millions of consumer and business users and over 33,000 corporate customers including many Fortune 500 companies. For further details, please visit us at our corporate web site: http://www.acdcorporate.com/.

ACD, ACD Systems and ACDSee are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACD Systems Ltd. in Canada, the United States, or certain other jurisdictions. Trademarks of ACD Systems Ltd. are used under license by ACD Systems of America, Inc. Canvas is a trademark or registered trademark of ACD Systems of America, Inc. in Canada, the United States, or certain other jurisdictions. Trademarks of ACD Systems of America, Inc. are used under license by ACD Systems Ltd.

Other trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of their respective owners.


Via: feeds.feedburner.com

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Canon has today announced an update to its mid-range Speedlite 430 EX flash – the Speedlite 430EX II. The new model offers 20% shorter recycle times, a silent recycle process to minimize distraction and a new quick release and locking mechanism amongst other new features. When attached to an EOS camera the Speedlite 430EX II detects the sensor size and adjusts its angle of coverage accordingly.

Press Release:

The Speedlite 430EX II: fully controllable flash for every occasion

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 10 June 2008: Canon today announces the latest addition to its EX Speedlite flash unit range, the Speedlite 430EX II. A high-powered compact flash, the Speedlite 430EX II has a guide number of 43 (m/ISO 100 at 105mm) and an inbuilt wide panel to allow coverage suitable for wide angle lenses to 14mm.
Replacing the Canon Speedlite 430EX, the Speedlite 430EX II offers fast, silent recycling and full control via the menu system of compatible EOS cameras. It is ideal for both amateurs and professionals seeking a versatile, all-purpose flash.

New features
For maximum flexibility and ease of use, the Speedlite 430EX II incorporates a number of new features. Recycle times have been reduced by approximately 20%, with the recycle process performed silently to minimise distraction. A new metal mounting foot with redesigned connection pins provides ultra-stable communication between the camera and flash; for rapid connection to the camera, a new quick release and locking mechanism is also incorporated.
Used in Manual mode, the Speedlite 430EX II offers settings in 1/3 stop increments for increased precision of operation. Plus – when used with compatible EOS cameras – every setting on the Speedlite 430EX II can be controlled via the camera menu system, allowing rapid, intuitive alteration of settings.

System flash
The Speedlite 430EX II is a key component of the integrated flash system for both analogue and digital cameras, and is fully compatible with the distance-linked E-TTL II system found on recent EOS cameras. It can also be used as a slave unit when combined with a master unit in a wireless flash setup.

White balance compensation
Slight variations in a flash gun’s voltage and brightness can destabilise white balance in respective frames during continuous shooting. The Speedlite 430EX II compensates for this by transmitting colour information from the flash to the camera. This information is then used to optimise the white balance setting for each individual image. This function works with the camera set to Auto WB or Flash Mode.

Matching sensor size
When mounted to compatible EOS digital cameras, the Speedlite 430EX II detects whether the sensor is full frame, APS-C or APS-H. The flash’s zoom position is then automatically adjusted, optimising flash coverage and the amount of charge needed per shot. 

Fully featured for full control
Other features on the Speedlite 430EX II include 1st and 2nd curtain flash synchronisation, exposure compensation, and an expanded range of nine custom functions.

Accessories
The Speedlite 430EX II can be used with the following optional accessories: the Canon OC-E3 off-camera shoe cord and the Speedlite bracket SB-E2. Featuring a handy quick release/locking mechanism, the OC-E3 adds wired, short-range positioning flexibility to the Speedlite 430EX II. The Speedlite bracket SB-E2 is designed specifically for wedding and press photography and allows the     Speedlite 430EX II to be mounted to one side of the camera – removing the harsh, unnatural shadows that can occur to one side of the subject when shooting in portrait orientation with a camera-mounted flash.


By: www.dpreview.com

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Magnum’s David Hurn to give talk

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Magnum’s David Hurn, a self-taught photographer, is to give a talk about his career at the Atlas Galley in London on 12 June.

Hurn’s photographic work during the 1960s and the influence of the film on modern cinema will be covered. Hurn was the official photographer on the set of the 1967 movie.

A selection of prints from will be for sale.

The talk takes place at the Atlas Gallery, 49 Dorset Street, London W1U 7NF. The event starts at 6.30pm.

Entry is free. For details call 020 7224 4192

Souce: www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

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Product Review: ColorMunki From X-Rite

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

To paraphrase an old Beatles song, "Everyone has something to hide except me and my ColorMunki!" What do I mean? It is the hidden colors that exist in your photo, and because of any number of reasons, don't show up either on your monitor and/or on your printer, because they are not calibrated correctly and together. That is what the ColorMunki can do.

ColorMunki is the latest offering in the profiling and calibration market from X-Rite corporation and it brings some exciting capabilities to the prosumer photographic market as well as to the graphic design community. There are three models of ColorMunki, the ColorMunki Create, the ColorMunki Design, and the ColorMunki Photo.

Just what is a ColorMunki? In the case of the latter two, it is a full circle calibration and profiling product that makes round tripping from your monitor to your printer affordable to non-professional photographer and designer. It runs on Windows 2000, XP Vista with a Pentium IV/Athlon XP or better, or Mac OS X (10.4 or higher) G4 or higher processor, you need a powered USB port, a color monitor with 1024×768 or greater resolution, 16-bit video card (24-bit recommended), 512 MB RAM, and 300 MB of hard-drive space.

There are really two types of ColorMunki. One is geared for Photographers and the other two are targeted to graphic designers and illustrators. The version that I am reviewing is for photographers and is called the ColorMunki Photo.

The ColorMunki functions in two main areas. One is for monitor calibration and the other is for printer profiling and calibration. Anyone who has worked with photographs for any length of time is familiar with the problem with getting the image from the camera, through the computer and on to the printer and having it come out reasonably close to looking like what like what you shot.

One thing to note is that because of the fact that my screen and printer are calibrated differently than yours, there is no way for me to display my results and guarantee that you will see anything close, so all that I can do is explain the process. The company who makes ColorMunki has been making profiling devices for many years and is well established in the professional market and so they bring a lot of respect and reliability to this new device.

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From: feeds.blogcritics.org

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DxO Optics Pro v5.1

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

DxO Optics Pro v5.1 is now available for both Windows and Mac platforms. Version 5.1 offers considerable improvements in stability and extra features, including a more flexible Pace Interlok protection that doesn’t require installation of an Interlok driver. DxO Optics 5.1 also now supports 3 new cameras and 35 new DxO Modules, including the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D and Nikon D60. In addition, to celebrate DxO Optics Pro’s 4th birthday, and the arrival of version 5.1, all customers purchasing an upgrade to DxO Optics Pro v5.1 and activating it before 1st July 2008 will receive DxO Film Pack for free.

DxO Labs Press Release

New: DxO Optics Pro v5.1 Mac and Windows
Version 5.1 marks an important step forward in the evolution of DxO Optics Pro and is now available to both Macintosh and Windows users.

Macintosh users are going to be able to discover the much-awaited features of version 5 like the latest generation RAW convertor allowing reproduction of very fine detail, even at high ISO settings, and the dust removal tool.

In comparison with the previous 5.0.x versions, 5.1 brings Windows users considerable improvements in stability and extra features, including a more flexible Pace Interlok protection that doesn’t require installation of an Interlok driver.

Support for 3 new cameras and 35 new DxO Modules
DxO Optics Pro v5.1 supports 3 new cameras:

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III with 15 lenses
(Elite Edition)
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D with 8 lenses
(Standard and Elite Editions)
Nikon D60 with 9 lenses
(Standard and Elite Editions)
and other new DxO Modules.

Click here to see the complete list

Special DxO Optics Pro 4th anniversary offer
To celebrate DxO Optics Pro’s 4th birthday, and the arrival of this version 5.1, we’re delighted to offer DxO Film Pack free to all customers purchasing an upgrade to DxO Optics Pro v5.1 in the DxO on-line store or from a photo dealer, and activating it before 1st July 2008.

DxO FilmPack exists as a plug-in for Photoshop or DxO Optics Pro, or a stand-alone application, reproducing very accurately the colour and grain of traditional films onto digital images, thereby allowing you to capture all the magic of film in your digital images.

Click here for more details


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smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mm F4 AL[IF] SDM

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Pentax has launched a consumer-level standard zoom lens for its range of digital SLRs: the slightly unwieldily named smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mmF4AL[IF] SDM. The lens offers the useful equivalent zoom range of 26-107mm combined with a maximum aperture of F4.0 and Pentax’ SDM system which uses a supersonic motor for focusing. The latter is only compatible with Pentax’ latest DSLR offerings – the K20D, K200D, K100D Super and K10D. On all other bodies focus mode will default to manual focus.

Press Release:

smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mmF4AL[IF] SDM A standard zoom lens offering approximately 4.1X zoom ratio, designed exclusively for PENTAX digital SLR cameras

HOYA CORPORATION is pleased to announce the marketing of the smc PENTAX-DA 17-70mmF4AL[IF] SDM interchangeable zoom lens, designed for exclusive use with PENTAX digital SLR cameras. This standard zoom lens covers the most frequently used focal lengths between wide-angle and telephoto ranges, and offers outstanding operability and well-balanced image description.

Major Features
1. Approximately 4.1-times zoom ratio covering from wide-angle to moderate-telephoto ranges
When mounted on a PENTAX digital SLR camera body, this zoom lens offers an approximately 4.1-times zoom ratio covering the focal-length range from 26mm wide angle to 107mm telephoto in the 35mm format. It offers the most frequently used focal lengths in day-to-day photography, making it ideal for a host of casual applications, including scenery, snapshot and portraiture.

2. Extra-smooth, extra-quiet SDM autofocus system
Thanks to the incorporation of the PENTAX-original SDM system driven by a built-in supersonic motor, this zoom lens offers exceptionally smooth, quiet autofocusing operation. When mounted on an SDM-compatible PENTAX digital SLR camera body,* the focus mode is automatically switched to SDM-assisted autofocusing. Because this zoom lens has been developed exclusively for SDM-assisted autofocusing, it is designed compact and maneuverable despite the incorporation of the built-in supersonic motor.
* This lens is compatible with the K20D, K200D, K100D Super and K10D (with Ver. 1.30 or later firmware installed) camera bodies. When mounted on other camera bodies, the focus mode is automatically switched to manual.

3. Exceptional image description
Incorporating two hybrid aspherical (AL) optical elements in its optics, this zoom lens assures exceptional image quality, while effectively compensating various aberrations.

4. Maximum aperture of F4 over the entire zoom range
Since this zoom lens offers a maximum aperture of F4 over the entire zoom range, it lets the photographer use higher shutter speeds to minimize annoying camera shake — especially in telephoto applications — or reduce the depth of field to intentionally throw the background out of focus.

5. Digital SLR-exclusive optical design
From lens coating and curvature to the positioning of optical elements, the optics has been meticulously designed to optimize the lens’s digital imaging characteristics. The image circle is perfectly proportioned to the camera’s image-sensor size.

6. Other features
(1) Minimum focusing distance of 0.28 meters over the entire zoom range
(2) Inner-Focus (IF) system to eliminate lens extension and retraction
      during focusing operation
(3) Quick-Shift Focus System for instant switching to manual-focus operation
      without any focus-mode changes, after the subject is captured in focus
      by the AF system
(4) SP (Super Protect) coating applied to the front surface to repel dust,
      water and grease

Pentax lens specifications

Lens name Pentax DA 17-70mm F4 AL [IF] SDM
Lens mount PENTAX KAF3 mount
Focal length 17 – 70 mm
Maximum aperture f/4
Minimum aperture f/22
Lens construction 12 groups 17 elements
Closest focus distance 28 cm (0.92 ft)
Angle of view 79° – 23° (with PENTAX D-SLR camera body)
Aperture blades 7
Filter attachment size 67 mm
Maximum Magnification 0.31 x
Dimensions 75 mm × 93.5 mm (3.00in × 3.70in)
Weight 485g (17.1 oz.) without hood; 515g (18.2 oz.) with hood


By: www.dpreview.com

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A Gateway to the Worlds Above

Sunday, June 8th, 2008


Berea College Observatory, Kentucky. Taken by Virgil

Source: planetearthdailyphoto.blogspot.com

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Warning of planned site disruption

Friday, June 6th, 2008

Tomorrow we will be transitioning the entire site to a completely new rack of equipment at our new hosting provider. This process will begin at 9 AM GMT (31st May 2008) and will mean some disruption, primarily in the form of forums downtime (which may be up two hours). Once the switchover is complete it will take some time for the DNS changes to fully propogate and so you may for a short time be redirect to the new servers by URLs with the word ‘new’ in them, once all downstream DNS caches pick up the changes these URLs will begin to clear. Any issues with the site after the end of the switchover (about 12 PM GMT) should be reported using the Feedback page.

Updates:

  • 9:00 AM GMT: Forums temporarily closed
  • 9:08 AM GMT: Database backed up and transferred to new servers
  • 9:59 AM GMT: Database restored, maintenance and upgrading begins
  • 11:00 AM GMT: Database maintenance and upgrading taking longer than expected, ETA for forums now 12:00 PM GMT
  • 13:30 PM GMT: Database finally live, switching DNS and creating server redirections
  • 13:35 PM GMT: Site fully live on new servers

 


By: www.dpreview.com

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