May 162013
 

Our friends at Think Tank Photo just announced an exciting new Test Drive program and the release of a new version of its monster rolling camera case, the Logistics Manager™ 30.

 Logistics Manager 30 2

With the Test Drive program you get to try out any of Think Tank’s very popular Retrospective® soft shoulder bags for 30 days for free!  Should the shoulder bag meet your needs, then your credit card will be charged at the close of the trial period.  Should it not meet your needs, return it within the Test Drive time period and your card won’t be charged.  The Retrospective series was created as an homage to classic photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank.  Designed for the photographer who wants to remain inconspicuous in any situation, its “old-school” look mixes with “new-school” features giving tribute to the days when bags were visually simple but highly functional.  It comes in nine models and three colors.  This offer is good only on shipments to U.S. addresses.

Click here to take advantage of the Test Drive!

 RETRO7PS GEARSHOT 2

And, Think Tank just released a new version of its largest rolling camera case, the Logistics Manager™ 30.  Its roomy internal dimensions of 13.75”W x 27.5”H x 8.25 – 10”D (35 x 70 x 21 – 25.5cm) allow it to hold multiple combinations of cameras and lenses, lighting gear such as strobes and reflectors, and accessories of all kinds.  Use this link and you will receive a free gift with your orders from Think Tank.

 

Click here to order your Logistics Manager™ 30.

 

And don’t forget, there is free FedEx ground shipping on all U.S. orders through May 31, 2013.

Apr 302013
 

Zeiss officially unveiled their new autofocus lenses for compact system cameras. The new lenses will be available for pre order on May 7 and Zeiss expects them in stores by May 29. 

 
Dubbed “Touit”, the lenses will start with a pair of autofocus prime lenses; a 12mm f/2.8 and a 32mm f/1.8. These lenses will be offered in Sony E-mount (NEX) and Fuji X-mount. Both those camera lines sport APS-C sensors which means the effective focal lengths are 18mm and 48mm respectively. A 50mm Makro lens is expected later this year.
 
Touit?
To quote the Zeiss Lens Blog:

But where does “Touit” come from? This illustrious name was found through to intense international selection procedure. We Followed a concept did is Already well established in the automotive industry: Selecting Certain themes for product names. As for example, one well-known German carmaker names its automobiles after types of winds and currents. We decided to derive the future names of the lenses from the Latin names of birds. That fits well, as Usually birds have excellent eyesight and can take unusual perspectives. Birds are so diverse and lively animals. Further More, the Latin names all have an attractive sound and are common in many languages and cultures.

Ummm, OK. Named after birds. Could be worse, I suppose.

 
Touit is pronounced like the English “do it.” Touit stands for good visibility, agility, mobility and diversity, qualities Which words aptly describe the new ZEISS lenses for mirrorless camera system. Touit The name comes from the band-tailed parrots. This bird is very small and agile, and its plumage is deep green. The Touit parrots live in Latin America and the Caribbean in a wide range of different habitats, from damp Iceland-tropical regions to lowland rainforests to thorn-bush savanna and even high in the Andes Mountains at altitudes of up to over 20,000 feet.
 
The first two focal lengths in the Touit family wants to be the Touit 08/02/12 and 08/01/32 Touit . The names of the optics concept thathave been used in product names until now (for example Distagon or planar), as well as the symbol denoting the T * anti-reflective coating, will continue to appear on the front ring of the lenses. “With the Touit series, we are starting a completely new naming convention,” Explains Martin Dominicus, Head of Marketing of the Carl Zeiss Camera Lens Division. “Our lenses will not only be Unmistakable For Their imaging performance, manageability and product design. Their name so will give this family of lenses a very unique identity. “
Apr 172013
 

Valhalla, N.Y., April 17, 2013 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation today announced the launch of the FUJINON XF55-200mm (83-300mm*1) F3.5-F4.8 R LM OIS, the first XF telephoto zoom lens for the X-Series Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera System that includes the award-winning FUJIFILM X-Pro1 and FUJIFILM X-E1. The all new XF55mm-200mm (83-300mm) F3.5-F4.8 gives photographers a fast aperture across the entire zoom range and outstanding image stabilization for sharp, high resolution images.

“We know that adding this newly designed, advanced telephoto zoom lens to our XF lens line-up will allow photographers who are using our premium X-Pro1 and X-E1 cameras to gain even more shooting flexibility, and also have cutting edge optical technology at their fingertips that enhances the way they capture images,” said Go Miyazaki, president and chief operating officer, FUJIFILM North America Corporation.XF55 200mm OIS FRONT sideways

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Apr 082013
 

NAB 2013, Las Vegas, USA – April 8, 2013 – Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, a beautifully designed, pocket sized digital cinema camera that includes powerful features such as Super 16mm sized 1080HD sensor, super wide 13 stops of dynamic range, built in SD card recorder for Apple ProRes, lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW capture and active Micro Four Thirds lens mount, all in an attractive compact design for only US$995.

 Blackmagicpocketcinemacameraangle

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Mar 242013
 

SAPPHIRE Technology, the leading manufacturer and global supplier of graphics solutions based on AMD technology, has just announced an exciting new graphics accelerator compatible with the Apple Mac Pro series of desktop computers.

Exclusive to SAPPHIRE, the HD 7950 Mac Edition is based on AMD’s latest Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. This highly acclaimed architecture delivers a significant graphics performance boost for Mac Pro users in a wide range of applications including gaming, audio or video editing and content creation. For example, gaming frame rates are increased by over 200%, general benchmark performance increased by around 30% and graphics intensive benchmarks increased by as much as 300% compared with the NV 8800GT commonly used in these machines (SAPPHIRE internal data).

Sapphire radeon 7950 mac

The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Mac Edition is equipped with 3GB of the latest GDDR5 memory, and its Dual Asynchronous Compute Engines (ACE) deliver up to 2.87 TFLOPS Single Precision compute power. It provides hardware support for Open GL 4.2 and Open CL 1.2 as well as AMD HD3D technology and APP acceleration.

AMD’s GCN architecture supports a number of advanced post-processing and scaling operations. These include de-blocking, de-noising, automatic de-interlacing, Mosquito noise reduction and edge enhancement as well as advanced image quality enhancement technology, such as adaptive anti-aliasing and 16x angle independent anisotropic texture filtering. The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Mac Edition features AMD PowerPlay technology which provides automatic power management during operation and ensures low power consumption under idle conditions.

Flexible display support

Cutting-edge integrated display support includes two mini DisplayPort outputs with a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 per display under MacOS X. The card also features a 3GHz HDMI 1.4a port. This output also supports a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160.

Finally, there is a Dual-link DVI port with HDCP, which supports a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600. As this is a DVI-I port it can also be used with the older style VGA monitors, with adapter supplied. The card supports two display outputs to be used at the same time, allowing dual monitor configurations to be used for increased productivity.

The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Mac Edition is compatible with Apple Mac Pro models from 2010 and later with an available PCI-Express x16 slot. Two six-pin power cables required are supplied with the card. A driver disk is provided which enables the card to be used with Mac OS X 10.7.5 (Lion), 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) or later.

The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Mac Edition can also be used in the latest PC architectures. It has Dual Firmware support via a simple Firmware (Dual BIOS) switch. In one position the Sapphire HD 7950 MAC Edition supports Mac OS X/Windows under non-UEFI compliant mode and in the other it supports Windows with UEFI hybrid firmware enabled. A Windows driver disk is also included.

Dualfirmwareswitch

Under Windows, additional features are supported, including hardware acceleration of video decoding, HDMI audio pass through and additional display resolutions.

For further details please visit www.sapphiretech.com

All trademarks acknowledged.

Mar 062013
 

Waukegan, Ill. – March 6, 2013 – Fotodiox (www.fotodioxpro.com), a leading lens adapter and accessories manufacturer and distributor, today introduces the RhinoCam, a camera system that, for the first time in the digital age, puts the power of a full-size 645 medium format back into the hands of virtually any photographer. Utilizing the Sony NEX camera sensor, RhinoCam enables photographers at any level to capture the dramatic detail and sharpness only available with a sensor three times larger than even a high-end full-frame 35mm sensor. The first release from Fotodiox’s new Vizelex line of premium high-end camera systems and adapaters, the RhinoCam delivers stunning 140+ megapixel images while offering photographers their choice of low-cost sensor options and classic lenses.Rhinocam

[Image Courtesy of SonyAlphaRumors]

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Mar 052013
 

Copenhagen, March 4, 2013 — Phase One, the world’s leader in open-platform, medium format camera systems and solutions, today announced the Phase One IQ2 series: three new full-frame 645 format digital camera backs with high-speed wireless connectivity and 13 f-stops of dynamic range, plus new options to meet specific photographic goals. Building on the IQ digital back platform, the first choice of many of the world’s leading photographers, the technical advances in the Phase One IQ280, IQ260 and IQ260 Achromatic go beyond delivering ultra-high megapixel resolution to introduce greater mobility and workflow flexibility for professional photographers.

IQ280 IQ260 IQ260ac

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Feb 142013
 

leica-logo.pngLeica will be opening it’s newest store in Miami, FL (technically it’s in Coral Gables, FL) at 372 Miracle Mile. The festivities begin on February 22, 2013 at 6 PM. The following Saturday Leica Store Miami will be hosting a Leica S System Demo Day starting at 10 AM. I, for one, am very pleased to see this happen as it will save me a lot of travel time (the next nearest Leica Store is in West Palm Beach). I will have another update when I visit the store.

Peter from the Leica Store Miami saw this post and sent me this additional information:

Our new retail location on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables will carry the full line of current Leica products, from the legendary M-System and the revolutionary Leica S line, to the full range of sport optics.

Leica Store Miami is not only a retail space, it is a place where we seek to ignite the spark of creative inspiration in photographers at all skill levels and from all walks of life. Our gallery will showcase a rotating exhibit of images, enabling customers to get an up-close look at how Leica has become a witness to history and a tool in creating the finest photographic art.

In addition, we will be hosting several in-house demos and workshops for professionals and enthusiasts seeking to discover or enhance their photographic skills. Workshops will be provided by the Leica Store Miami staff, Leica Akadamie, Magnum and other Leica professionals.

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Jan 072013
 

UPDATE – Adobe posting of CS2 Serial Numbers was not an attempt to “give away” their software. They had shut down the activation servers for those versions of the suite and were providing registered users an alternative method to activate their software. Too bad it went viral.

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated … You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2! What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don’t require activation but do require valid serial numbers are available. (Special serial numbers are provided on the page for each product download.) See <http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1114930>. You are only legally entitled to download and install with that serial number if you have a valid license to the product!           – Dov

Adobe announced today that their Creative Suite v2 will be available as a free download [link is down]. This move is both generous and infuriating as it forces current Mac users to run an old version of the Mac OS in a VM in order to access the software. Creative Suite v2 for Mac runs on PowerPC natively and under the Rosetta emulator on Intel Macs. However, Lion and Mountain Lion users (like me) will have to load up SL on a virtual machine. Running an emulator inside a virtual machine does not bode well for application performance considering that Rosetta was slower than molasses in January to begin with.

Some people will do all kinds of crazy things for free.

Adobecs2
Nov 072012
 

Ronkonkoma, NY, November 7, 2012 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world’s most impressive lines of lensescameras and flashes, is pleased to announce that the first lens of its new Global Vision lineup, the 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, is now available for the street price of $899.

A 35 14 large01

The 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, is designed for photographers who want to achieve creative, dramatic effects in their photographs. As the first lens released under Sigma’s new Art line, it will feature a new matte finish and overall new design concept, which includes a clearly defined category label on every new lens. This 35mm wide-angle lens with a maximum aperture of 1.4 ensures outstanding performance in low light, and a stunning bokeh background effect to emphasize the subject. “We’re thrilled to break into this category of lenses with a product from our new Global Vision,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “We’re confident that our A1 quality control system, coupled with the industry’s first USB dock, will differentiate our lens in the category. Since it’s so versatile – ideal for scenes including landscapes, portraits, close-ups and studio photography – we think that it will be a hit.” Other features of the new 35mm F1.4 DG HSM include:

  • One “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass lens and four Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass lenses to ensure exceptional correction of lateral and axial chromatic aberration, the latter of which cannot be corrected in post production
  • A floating inner focus system to provide extremely high optical performance for close-up photos
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating to reduce flare and ghosting and provide sharp and high contrast images even in backlit conditions
  • A HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) that ensures high speed, accurate and quiet AF
  • Rubber incorporated into the attachment part of the lens hood, and an improved redesign of the lens cap and AF / MF changeover switch have been improved
  • Thermally Stable Composite (TSC), which has high affinity to metal parts, that are housed internally, increases overall functionality, lifespan, and quality of the lens
  • rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image
  • A newly developed USB dock, which will be sold separately and exclusively for new product lines, can be paired with new Sigma Optimization Pro software to update the lens firmware and adjust parameters, such as micro focus adjustment

All of Sigma’s manufacturing – right down to molds and parts – is carried out under an integrated production system, based entirely in Japan. Sigma is now one of the very few manufacturers whose products are solely made in Japan. Every 35mm F1.4 DG HSM will be checked using Sigma’s own MTF measuring system, “A1,” as will all new lenses under the Global vision categories. This system uses 46-megapixel Foveon direct image sensors to pick up previously undetectable high-frequency details for quality control inspections.

The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM will be available in Sigma, Sony (D), Nikon (D), Pentax and Canon mounts.

To learn more about Sigma’s Global Vision, visit http://www.sigma-global.com. For information about Sigma Corporation of America, visit www.sigmaphoto.com. For more information about Sigma’s lenses, visithttp://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/lenses.

About Sigma Corporation

For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation’s expertise and innovation has driven the company’s core philosophy of “knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination,” with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 50 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Panasonic. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

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