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CENTER VALLEY, Pa., February 3, 2010 – The new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 is truly greater than the sum of its parts, with a surprisingly small camera body packed with technology normally found in bigger, bulkier and heavier professional Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras and High-Definition (HD) camcorders. This third-generation PEN is built for shutterbugs who always wanted better pictures and considered a DSLR, but were intimidated by the bulky size and complex interface. The new camera’s simple design and easy interface enable consumers to easily create amazing images never dreamt possible. It will make you wonder how Olympus managed to put all of these powerful features inside such a compact camera for only $599.99.

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Last year, Cosina’s Voigtlander division introduced a new lens in it’s SL II lineup: the Voigtlander Color-Skopar 20mm/3.5 Aspherical SL II. This tack-sharp 20mm wide angle lens produces stunning results and is a very good addition to any enthusiast’s lens collection.

Disclaimer: this review was made with a lens purchased from Cameraquest. No vendor/dealer attribution was involved in this review. All images except for the product shots were taken by the author using a Nikon D700 DSLR. All images shot RAW (12-bit NEF) and were developed using either Lightroom 2.5 or Aperture 2.1 on a Mac Pro (Jan 2008 edition) with 8-cores and 12GB of RAM running the latest version of OS X “Snow Leopard” at the time. All product images copyright 2010 Stephen Gandy All Rights Reserved and used with the author’s permission.

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Hasselblad brings Medium Format DSLR advantages to new generation of photographers with new H4D-40 camera.

The announcement of Hasselblad’s H4D line of cameras and True Focus technology heralded the beginning of a new chapter in the history of medium format DSLRs. Now, with the launch of the H4D-40, Hasselblad is announcing its intent to bring the advantages of Medium Format DSLRs to high-end 35mm photographers.

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Hasselblad confuses me. I signed an NDA (which I am honoring, BTW) that restricts me from discussing their new camera product, the H4D-40. I can say the name because I have two general emails from them stating it, their website states it, and Photo Pro Magazine in the UK has a print ad with the camera name and the launch date.

OK, I’m all for product secrecy before launch and everything, but why go through the motions if the company themselves (and their PR firm) blow the NDA?

What exactly have you legally bound me to do?

Not talk about the product? – You are doing that.

Not discuss technical details? – You haven’t sent me any. I can deduce them from other press releases and guess the missing bits.

Not show any sample images? – You haven’t sent me a sample camera to shoot with. I can assume that you tapped some of the Hasselblad Masters to showcase the product and they will undoubtedly produce some truly stunning images with it, but if you are going through the motions and expense of an NDA, send those of us who agreed to your terms a camera to test on our own, not in some controlled experiment.

NDA means Non Disclosure Agreement. It’s only meaningful if there is something to disclose. It’s not a tool to let the company make announcements before anybody else.

For those of you who want to register for the event, click on the picture above.

via Leica Rumors

Check back here for my own Leica M9 review next month.

It’s the new year and it’s Renaissance Festival time in South Florida! This year the Florida Renaissance Festival is taking place in two venues: first (and running through this weekend) is at Historic Virginia Key Park in Key Biscayne, FL and then next month at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach, FL.

The Renfest is great fun for the whole family and a wonderful opportunity to take photographs. I took my students on assignment there last weekend. Here is an Animoto slideshow of shots from the Key Biscayne Faire;

Leica Camera AG, Solms, extends their invitation to submit entries to their international photography competition for professional photographers, the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’.

Applications from interested photographers will be accepted exclusively online at www.leicaoskar-barnack-award.com between 15 January and 15 March 2010. The competition also includes the awarding of a ‘Newcomer Award’ that addresses all (prospective) professional photographers aged 25 and under.

An international jury awards the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’ / ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award’ to photographers whose unerring powers of observation capture and express the relationship between man and the environment in the most graphic form in a sequence of between ten and twelve images. Entry submissions must be a self-contained series of images in which the photographer perceives and documents the interaction between man and the environment with acute vision and contemporary visual style – creative, groundbreaking and unintrusive. All photo series submitted will be displayed in a specially dedicated online gallery on the Leica website.

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Cosina Voigtlander has announced a new version of it’s amazing Ultra Heliar 12mm f/5.6 lens. Now available in M-mount, this new version of the lens is rangefinder coupled and can be fitted with a 67mm filter. The lens has a 121 degree field of view but is not a fisheye lens.

Cameras such as the Leica M8/M9 will need to use an external viewfinder. For the M8, use a 15-16mm VF, for the M9 use a 12mm VF.

Specs

• Focal length / 12mm
• Lens / 8 groups of 10 elements
• Minimum Aperture / F22
• Angle / 121 °
• Number of diaphragm blades / 9
• Minimum focusing distance / 0.5m
• Work scope rangefinder / ∞ ~ 0.7m (depending on camera)
• Maximum diameter / φ74.6mm
• Filter Size / 67mm
• Overall length / 42.5mm ◎ Weight / 156g ◎ Mount / VM mount

The lens will be available in Japan starting Monday and retails for ￥ 85,000 ( ~ $932 USD ). I will contact Stephen Gandy (CameraQuest) regarding US price and availablity.

January 19, 2010 – For the ninth consecutive year, ten photographers have been awarded the coveted title of Hasselblad Master.

Hasselblad today announced the ten winners of its prestigious 2009 Masters Awards, one for each of ten categories: architecture, editorial, fashion/beauty, fine art, general photography, nature/landscape, portrait, wedding/social and up-and-coming artist. Given in recognition of his or her contribution to the art of photography, Masters Awards are judged on photographic ability in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength and technical skill.

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RED Scarlet and Bomb EVF surprise hands-on! — Engadget

The boys at Engadget got to fondle the upcoming RED Scarlet DSMC (Digital Stills and Motion Camera) thanks to “Ted from RED”. The unit in the video is a non-working prototype, but it does give you an idea of the form-factors being designed here.

Later in the video Ted mentions pricing (actually reasonable) and expected delivery dates (late Spring/early Summer for Scarlet) but stated that they are “very fluid”.

Video after the jump. Continue reading →