Digital Shutters

Coinciding with the November 17 release of the James Bond movie “Casino Royale�, Sony has announced an exclusive ‘007’ model of its Micro Vault USB stick.

The latest Bond flick, starring what-his-name (not Moore, not Brosnan…what’s his name again?), goes back in time and retraces the beginnings of the world’s most famous secret agent, and how he always gets entangled with the world’s dangerous madmen and the sexiest vixens.

The Casino Royale edition of the USB stick is finished in piano black, featuring the signature ‘007’ logo. The product comes pre-loaded with the English language version of the movie trailer and four high-def (1920 x 1080 pixels) wall paper images.

Well it turns out there are actually a lot more James Bond gear from Sony. Take this 007 TX Spy Gear bundle VGN-TXN007, for example, featuring a Sony Vaio laptop, a slim Sony camera, a suitcase, etc.,

which are of course just the usual stuff with a “007� on it.

Where, oh, where was Agent Double-0-Seven when the exploding Sony batteries happened? He could have saved Sony a great bundle had he come in time to stop those from happening.

And, can he take on Jason Bourne who is more manly and tough despite his amnesia?

[Via: PhotographyBLOG]

James Bond, 007, Casino Royale, Sony Micro Vault, spy, gear

The Web is a-buzz with a rumored Nikon D40 coming out real soon, apparently targeted at the lower end of the digital SLR crowd. Nothing official yet, but the specs seem to suggest a 6.1-MP CCD image sensor, 3-point focusing, 2.5-inch LCD, ISO 200-1600, 3 metering modes and USB 2.0.

Positioning it even lower than the D50, Nikon seems to be aggressively covering all the bases if the rumored D40 turns out to be true. The hierarchy now for Nikon’s entry-level DSLRs seems to be: D40, D50, D70, D80 and finally the D200, a finely meshed line-up that would catch all beginning photographers who graduate from P&S to some serious photography.

Currently, the bottom class of entry-level DSLRs is populated only by the Pentax K110D and Samsung GX1 (which is made by Pentax too) so it is not yet an overly crowded segment. The D40 could be a good move by Nikon. Unless, of course, Canon’s older EOS 350D would drop in price and join the fray.

And if Canon does that, Nikon could counter by dropping prices too on their D70s and prices could spiral down to the benefit of P&S consumers who now would want to try their hands on digital SLR photography. I say cheers to Nikon’s D40! Please come out real soon.

[Via: AllenGeorge.com]

nikon, d40, d70, d80, digital, photography, SLR,

Fodor’s has published travel books and guides for years and years and they have always been a big help for harried travelers looking for quick directions and tips on great destinations.

Their online presence at www.fodors.com duplicated this helpfulness to travelers, who of course invariably carry that ubiquitous camera. And to help these travelers take better pictures while they’re at it, Fodor’s has made available an online guide to taking good photographs.

Their “Focus on Photography� was created with the assistance of author and photographer Jeff Wignall, and it provides nearly 100 easy-to-follow tips, with accompanying photos, covering every aspect of travel photography.

So if you are a traveling shutterbug, go see “How to Take Travel Pictures Like a Pro�. It’s an easy read; just browsing through it makes one feel like a better photographer already. Me, I particularly liked the lesson on composition, “Taking Pictures Through Frames.� Love it.

Photo courtesy of Fodor’s & Kodak

[Site: Fodors.com]

fodor’s, travel, photography, tutorials, camera

This one belongs to the whadda-heck-why-not department and it’s not for you or me. But, hey, who says we can’t have fun looking at it, ha?

It’s just a 2GB USB stick…with a price tag of $800! Hold your fire, let’s just ride on this one for a while and enjoy what we can.

The Mottainai (spit it out on the second syllable) USB Key, according to SolidAlliance who made it, is a work of art and a tribute to Japanese craftsmanship. It includes some crystals (yes, the ruby-like things you see) from Statsuma Kiriko, a major Japanese crystal glassmaker. Its gold-plated case is made of bronze. What? I pay $800 and I don’t get real rubies and real gold?

And only 2GB? I thought we’ve reached 8GB on these things already?

Oh, this is not the first time that SolidAlliance came out with such atrocious bling. They did the Sake USB, the Takoyaki USB and a few other crimes before.

Incidentally, mottainai (spit it out once again on the second syllable) is Japanese for “what a waste!�

[Via: AkihabaraNews]

mottainai, usb key, flash drive, usb stick, SolidAlliance, bling

So, you’ve got your brand-new Nikon D80 or Canon EOS 400D digital SLR camera, and you’ve heard this buzz about the RAW digital format, but don’t know where to start. Well, if you just graduated from P&S (point-and-shoot, that is) and you wish to benefit from shooting in the RAW format, there’s an ebook you can turn to.

lynda.com has just released its “Photoshop CS2: Mastering Camera Raw,� authored by best-selling technology writer Deke McClelland. This will teach you key principles and techniques for mastering raw photography using the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in. From shooting, converting, and organizing raw files to developing and finalizing images using specialized commands, each capability of the Camera Raw plug-in is covered in depth.

The RAW image, which is the digital equivalent of a large-format negative, allows photographers to have greater artistic control and flexibility during the image-editing process, while still maintaining the integrity of the original raw file. Understanding RAW opens a whole lot of artistic and technical possibilities to the new photographer.

Quips Lynda Weinman, CEO of lynda.com, “The future of digital photography lies in the raw format. As cameras and computers become powerful enough to support this highest-resolution format, digital photographers will need to learn new skills. There’s no better guide to this new frontier than best-selling Photoshop author Deke McClelland.�

And when you’re done familiarizing yourself with RAW, go take it to the next level by learning about what a digital photographic workflow is. Apple’s Aperture does this. So does Adobe’s Lightroom, and a few other workflow software. Don’t limit yourself with Photoshop to just plant rabbit ears on Uncle Tony’s head. Learn RAW and the digital workflow to really, I mean really, become an accomplished digital photographer. You know, kid, you just might make money with that. Or become famous. Or both.

In the meantime, your first step is to learn RAW from Deke. Go ahead and do yourself a favor. Meet the guy. There’s some free video lessons here for starters.

Author Deke McClelland in his introductory video to Mastering Camera Raw.

lynda, raw, camera, photoshop cs2, dslr, adobe, lightroom, aperture

Light-emitting diodes or LEDs can replace conventional light bulbs in just two years. They are now getting cheaper and in just two years can match or exceed the cost-effectiveness of incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.

This is the assessment of Steven DenBaars, a professor of material science at the University of California Santa Barbara. Even more important, LEDs last about 100,000 hours, far longer than the filament bulb.

He said in about two years the cost of LEDs that can perform the equivalent lighting of one bulb will be about $20. “At $20 the payback in energy occurs in about a year,” DenBaars said. The rapid return on investment will occur in places such as stores and warehouses, where the light is on through much of the day. A year after that, LEDs will be even more economical for more places as costs continue to decline.

An LED is a solid-state semiconductor device that converts electrical energy directly into light. Unlike a light bulb which converts only 5% of energy into light and 95% as heat, the LED produces light without much thermal radiation, resulting in a very efficient “cold� light.

LED lighting has been adopted in many cities throughout the world, the most visible applications of which are the new traffic lights at road intersections and the tail lights and front lights of new cars.

Aside from the economic advantage of LEDs, environmental benefits are also cited because worldwide adoption of LEDs to replace ordinary light bulbs will alleviate the need to build coal-burning power stations.

In home applications, they can provide decorative lighting that can be varied according to one’s liking, aside from the capability to provide normal white light.

[Via: CNET.com]

LED, light-emitting diode, electricity, semiconductor, diode

Fujifilm’s S5 Pro digital SLR camera is taking center stage at the Fuji booth at PhotoPlus Expo 2006 in New York City.

The highly anticipated FinePix S5 Pro is geared towards the more demanding needs of wedding, studio and portrait photographers for a DSLR that hews closer to film photography image standards. The S5 Pro is addressing these needs with its greater dynamic range made possible by its unique Super CCD SR Pro image sensor and less noise thanks to its Real Photo Technology.

Fujifilm USA is also showcasing its FinePix S3 Pro UVIR, the world’s first production DSLR camera capable of taking photographs in the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light spectrums. While it’s touted for scientific and forensic applications, the S3 Pro UVIR is actually a star performer in the art of infrared photography.

Also at the PhotoPlus trade show, Fujifilm will demonstrate its new Face Detection Technology found in its SLR-styled FinePix S6000fd and pocketable FinePix F31fd. Face Detection is one of the brightest new technologies in digital imaging, making it even easier for picture-takers to take quality photos of people.

The three-day PhotoPlus Expo 2006 started today at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

[Via: CameraTown.com]

fuji, finepix, s5 pro, s3 pro, uvir, s6000fd, f31fd, photoplus

The PhotoPlus Expo 2006 Photography & Design Conference reeled off today at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.

The trade show brings together over 200 manufacturers showcasing the hottest digital imaging products and technologies of the future, with hands-on opportunities in every booth. They will offer seasoned photographers, advanced amateurs and imaging professionals the tools necessary to stay ahead of the curve in the fast-changing world of photography and imaging.

Among the keynote speakers scheduled to address the PhotoPlus Expo are Tom Wujec who will speak on the studio of the 21st century and the future of professional photography; David Friend, director of photography for Vanity Fair, on how 911 changed the way we view images; and Joel Meyerowitz on the New York City Parks project.

There will also be photo exhibits on the floor, among them the winning entries in the ultimate travel photography contest, the World in Focus, with images highlighting Wilderness Photography, the Human Condition, Extreme Exploration, and Urban Landscapes.

The three-day PhotoPlus Expo 2006 ends on Saturday, November 4.

[Site: PhotoPlusExpo.com]

PhotoPlus, photography, trade show, imaging, design

While Windows XP enabled us 5 years ago to view our picture files easily, it really didn’t offer us a way to deal with our digital photos well. But now, as digital photography matured, Windows Vista anticipated the massive adoption of digital cameras and incorporated digital photo management right into the operating software.

Windows Photo Gallery in Vista offers us a tool to deal with our growing number of digital pictures effectively. It enables us to download our photos from cameras, organize and find these photos, do some basic fixes without using another image editing application, share our photos via email or slideshows and preserve these photos by storing them onto compact discs.

The Vista Photo Import wizard, however, is generating some debate about its propensity to import whole batches without giving the user the flexibility to select which pictures to download. Proponents of the idea say this is actually good because it forces the user to completely download a whole batch of pictures into one destination and not duplicate those pictures in several folders. Hey, Charlie, if you really need to skip some pictures and just download the ones you want, don’t use the import wizard; use Vista’s graphical file explorer instead.

The ability to tag pictures in Windows Vista is earning praise because it makes photo organization cleaner and searching for these pictures later will be easier. It places keywords into the metadata of the photo which makes it easier to search. The keywords may also be used as basis to name a photo album, which you can make in unlimited numbers.

Windows Vista Photo Gallery also enables some degree of digital image editing. Auto Adjust, Adjust Exposure, Adjust Color, Crop Picture and Fix Red Eye are the options made available by the Vista embedded application. If you don’t like what you have done, you can always hit Undo and your original image will still be there.

[Site: Microsoft.com]

microsoft, windows, vista, photo gallery, tags, keywords, photos

Sometimes you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try them. This certainly was the case with the DxO Optics Pro software because we just didn’t know what it was for. This software has been around for sometime but didn’t much catch our attention until we began to notice that DxO has been garnering one award after another. Then we began to wonder.

A few days ago, DxO Optics announced that its Version 4 of the software has been updated to include support for the new Canon Rebel XTi (EOS 400D) and Nikon D80 digital SLR cameras. That’s when we found out that DxO Optics Pro v4 is the award-winning digital image correction software for optics, geometry, noise, exposure and color.

The software takes into account the brand and model of the camera used in taking the picture, as well as the type of lens used before it applies its algorithms to the photo. It basically does its thing based on data about a camera’s optics, and delivers an enhancement that is a vast improvement to the image.

This example applies geometric correction to the photo.

To see how Dxo Optics Pro works, head on over to their website for a quick flash demo and see if this is for you. You may also download the multi-awarded application from there.

[Site: DxO.com]

DxO, optics, image editing