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July 22: nik Software releases ColorEfx Pro 3.1, adds support for newest version of Aperture, Nikon Capture NX 2, and 5 new filters. A free upgrade for registered owners of 3.0, and a nice way to get the filters for both NX2 and Photoshop (including Elements) in one package.
July 8: Data Robotics Announces next generation Drobo: Features Firewire 800 Interface, Faster Processor (they claim 2x throughput) and a larger quieter case fan. Price remains the same (which means the current version has been instantly discounted). You can Read all the Details for yourself.
July 2: Updated firmware for Nikon D300 & Nikon D3. Lots of important fixes and some new menus and features in v2.00 for the D3, and a fix for the "battery indicator blinky" problem in v1.03 for the D300.. D300 for Windows, D300 for Mac, D3 for Windows, D3 for Mac.
July 1: Nikon introduces the Full Frame D700 D-SLR: With features similar to those found in the popular D300 but a full frame sensor like that found in the D3 the D700 will appeal to those looking for a full-frame "pro/prosumer" camera without the size, price and weight of the D3. Read the Full Release. The D700 also keeps the helpful sensor cleaning function of the D300 in a full frame camera. It is expected to be available in late July for about US$3000.
July 1: Nikon Introduces SB-900 SpeedLight Flash: Faster, more powerful and with an awesome 17mm-200mm zoom range the new flash also features improved control layout, upgradeable firmware and an optional "Water Guard" for waterproofing. List price is $499 and it is expected to ship in August. A new SD9 battery pack takes 8 AA batteries and reduces recycle time for a full discharge to 1 second. We suspect these will be "must haves" for many pros. Read the full press release.
July 1: Nikon Introduces two new Perspective Control Lenses, the PC-E Micro NIKKOR 45mm f/2.8D ED and PC-E Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/2.8D lenses, expanding a series of lenses that allow photographers to effectively correct perspective and/or depth-of-field to push creative boundaries. These new Perspective Control (PC) lenses correct linear distortion in order to better replicate images as seen by the human eye, including straightening the converging lines of rectilinear objects such as buildings, while also introducing welcome command over depth-of-field. Lenses are expected to ship in August for just over $1700 each.
June 26: B&H has a great deal on the D300. You can get a D300 + the killer new 70-300 AF-S lens for a total of $2029. Normally the lens alone would be $500, so you're effectively getting the D300 for $1500.
June 24: New versions of PhotoRescue available for download: Added new raw file formats, improved movie recovery, and variable sized thumbnails. Download for Windows or Download for Mac. Current users can install the update over their existing version. New users can register the download for the bargain price of $29.
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June 13: Treat your Images to a Backup for Father's Day: Seriously, if you're not already making an online backup of your images, it's worth thinking about. External & Network Attached Storage has never been cheaper. High-end options are Netgear's ReadyNAS (now under $1000 for 1TB) & Drobo(now under $500 empty) but there are even a few bargain basement options as well. |
June 6: DxO releases Optics Pro 5.1: Mac
Users Can now get the features of
Version 5, and the
Windows version is updated with new Cameras including the
D60 and 1DS Mark III. Upgrade is free to users of 5.0.
June 5: DPS
6-06: New Product Round-up: Lexar Dual Slot UDMA Reader, WRP
MP-7 Photo Bag/Backpack, Samsung 320 GB Laptop Internal Hard Drive, Nikon
Capture NX 2
June 3: Nikon introduces Capture NX 2: Chock full of great new editing features, including an Auto Retouch brush & Shadow/Highlight command as well as dual-monitor support. There is a 60-day trial version available from Nikon USA. NX 2 retails for $179 or $109 for current users of Capture NX. We're particularly curious what readers think about the upgrade policy, so let us know.
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May 23: DPS 6-05: Special Issue on the Burma (Mynamar) Cyclone Nagris Disaster, Photos of the Area & Relief Effort, and a Way you can Help |
May 20: Orphan Works Copyright Legislation is once again heading towards a potential Train Wreck for Photographers. Read Lawrence Lessig's analysis & interesting alternative, or catch up on what the ASMP thinks the effect could be on photogrpahers. Then hop over to our Photo Business forum and let us know what you think about Lessig's proposal or about the legislation in general.
May 5: Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) Speaks Up on proposed Orphan Works Legislation.
May 1: Canon releases firmware 1.2.3 for Caon EOS-1D Mark III. Improved AF & several custom function enhancements.
April 27: Orphan Works Copyright Bill is in Congress again. Will it further damage photographers' dwindling image licensing revenues. Some editorials are convinced the sky is falling. Let us know what you think or hear what others think in our Photo Business forum.
April 26: Practically Free Compact Flash Offers: B&H is selling 8GB 300x Lexar CF cards for $169 with an $80 rebate. That is $89 net for one of the world's fastest cards. Offer only good until April 30.
April 25: DPS 6-04: South Texas Trip Report + Exclusive Tips for making your Photo Subjects POP off their backgrounds, complete with sample images
April 21: Take better photos with your Point & Shoot with these 8 handy tips we wrote about for PC Magazine. The tips are all online.
April 18: Nikon withdraws D3 Firmware Update--Can cause Image Corruption when shooting NEF files at 14-bit Depth. Users are requested to not install the update or not shoot in 14-bit mode if they already have updated until Nikon can correct the issue with another firmware release. Details on the Nikon USA site.
April 10: Nikon 'Zooms' In On Performance With the New COOLPIX P80, an 18x Zoom Compact Camera: New 27-486mm 10MP Zoom with VR to be released in April for a suggested price of $399.
April 9: Photographer, Author, OP Editor at Large and all around good guy Rob Sheppard has started a new blog on digital photograph, definitely worth reading. It's online at photodigitary.com. His latest entry features some interesting notes on comparing the Olympus 4/3 system to the more popular Canon line.
April 4: Nikon pulls even with Canon in D-SLR Sales: Nikon's 3 million digital SLR cameras sold in 2007 almost caught up with Canon's 3.2 million units, a big change from Canon's large lead in 2006, with Nikon's unit sales growing 71% versus Canon's 30%. Full Details.
April 3: Considering 64-bit Windows Vista? You'll want to read the performance review on Extreme Tech first. Spoiler Alert: Unless you need the > 4GB memory support, 64-bit doesn't help much with performance in the real world (yet). Obviously performance should continue to improve as 64-bit applications become more mature and more common.
March 31: Adobe Launches Photoshop Express--Free online photo-editing, storage & community website. The Beta is public and you can Join Now. It features non-destructive editing (ala Lightroom) along with 2GB of free storage for your Photo Gallery, similar to the recent offering from Microsoft. Unlike other offerings from Google & Microsoft this one gets to leverage the Photoshop brand name, which certainly makes it unique.
March 26: Did Canon finally get it right? Rob Galbraith tackles the thorny issue of the AutoFocus on the Canon 1D Mark III and evaluates whether the newest "sub-mirror" fix and firmware update finally lay the issue to rest. Spoiler Alert: His conclusion is that it's better but still not as good as the 1D Mark IIN and that Canon is still quietly working on yet more in the way of a fix.
March 21: Apple releases Raw Update 2.0 for Mac, with support for the Nikon D60 and a dozen other models.
March 21: DPS 6-03: Top 10 Tips on how to Deal with Nikon D3 (or Canon 1D Mark III) Envy, plus a review of the very cool Maha MH-C801D Intelligent Battery Charger.
March 17: Adobe updates Camera Raw to 4.4 with support for the Nikon D60, Canon 450D and other cameras. Also profile fixes for extreme lighting conditions. Windows Download and Mac Download available. Note: There are some known bugs in this release, so if you don't need the new camera support you may want to wait a little. We'll post an update then things are "all clear."
March 12: Lexar brings High Performance UDMA to Windows Users--Bummed that you can't use Lexar's Firewire 800 reader on your PC? Now they have a cool Dual-Slot USB version (one slot for CF & one for SD/HC). Nice!
March 12: Windows Home Server will stay dangerous until at least June: Microsoft says it won't have a patch for the data corruption bug ready until at least then.
March 10: Nikon Service computers down: If you're having trouble approving your NPS service orders, it's not you. Their billing computers are down, possibly until Wednesday, so they can not approve any new work. They are still making approvaed (and presumably warranty) repairs.
March 6: e.Digital files Patent Infringement suit vs. Nikon, Casio, Olympus, LG and others for alleged infringement of their Flash-R patents. As there is more information on the details we'll keep you posted.
February 28: B&H has a limited number of the brand new Nikon D60 in stock. Click here to get yours now before they run out!
February 25: Getty Images "sold" to Hellman & Friedman for $2.4 Billion. In an LBO, the current management team under Jonathan Klein is expected to stay on and run the company for its new owners. The price is a 55% premium over their market value prior to the deal.
February 25: CNN has an interesting update on fake photo detection software being developed by Dartmouth professor Farid. We saw a demo of it last year at PSW and it is quite impressive. The article also mentions Canon's (but not Nikon's) image verification solution.
February 22: Microsoft Windows Home Server is still to be avoided for photographers: Various photo web sites have been singing the praises of Microsoft's new Windows Home Server, but persistent reports of serious image corruption issues including this one from DailyTech mean that it is too early to consider it for anyone who values their image archives. Some of the earlier reports are online here.
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February 17: Apple ships Aperture 2.0--Substantial speed improvements, lots of new features, and support for new cameras including the Nikon D3 and D300 (in fact you need to upgrade to 2.0 to get support for those cameras). Product Details.
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February 14: Nikon has released a firmware update for the Nikon D300. Version 1.02 corrects a rare issue where banding can occur in images with over 8s exposure time. You can get the Download for Windows or the Download for Mac, along with instructions.
February 5: Dave Black has posted a great and fun to read review of the Nikon D300. It largely corresponds to what we found when reviewing the D300 compared to the D3, but also includes some great images and his thoughts on which camera is right for you.
January 30: B&H has a few Nikon D3 camera bodies in stock, as well as a good supply of Nikon D300 bodies.
January 30: Panasonic launches a raft of new Lumix models including one which does 720p HD Video for only $349.
January 29: Images of Cambodia: Going beyond the Postcard is now online in DigitalPro Shooter newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2. Get ideas for how to make more out of your travel photo opportunities!
January 29: Nikon introduces entry-level 10MP D60 D-SLR with EXPEED chip, fast start-up, 3fps, support for SDHC & Eye-Fi cards. Available in February, price TBD. Read the Details
January 29: Nikon introduces 6 new Coolpix models (Coolpix L18, S210, S520, S550, S600, P60), with breakthrough low prices for 8MP to 10MP resolution, packed with features, and some even have a new "Food" mode and "Active Child" mode. Check out the details.
January 24: Canon introduces new EOS Rebel XSi, 12.2MP D-SLR with 3" LCD, LiveView and improved CMOS sensor for $800 MSRP. The XSi is also Canon's first D-SLR to use SD & SDHC cards instead of CompactFlash cards. It is expected to ship in April and will also be available with the 18-55mm "kit" lens for $900.
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