Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tamron Launches A Fun New Way To Share Stories, Pictures, And Points Of View

Tony Donaldson | 01/21- 02:07 PM

ShareItWithTamron.com provides a unique and fulfilling way for picture-takers to expand their creative horizons with an interactive blog-style sharing site

January 15, 2010, Commack, NY – Tamron, the innovative, high-performance lens company, has just announced a new, user-friendly way for everyone from casual shooters to serious shutterbugs to showcase their prized images, share them with like-minded enthusiasts, tell the fascinating stories of how they were created, and get valuable feedback that will help participants take their photography to the next level. To access this innovative, interactive blog-style sharing site, users just go to http://www.ShareItWithTamron.com where they can answer regularly posted questions with a blog comment that includes the respondent’s relevant photos and the stories behind them. The kick-off question is a midwinter classic: “Just how cold is it really? Show us your ‘freeziest’ winter shots and tell us all about the latest temps where you live or vacation.”

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Monday, November 02, 2009

Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise

Tony Donaldson | 11/02- 01:45 PM

Think Tank Photo Releases the Cavernous Urban Disguise ® 70 Pro Shoulder Bag

Santa Rosa, Calif. – For the photographer carrying two regular or pro size DSLRs with lenses attached to each camera body – or even a 70-200 f2.8 lens attached to any camera body – Think Tank Photo announces the release of the cavernous Urban Disguise ® 70 Pro.  This is a briefcase style gear bag for traveling in style and protecting camera equipment without attracting attention as an obvious camera bag.  The interior accommodates a host of camera configurations that enable photographers to keep all their gear secure in one bag.

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Saturday, October 31, 2009

New Lensbaby products

Tony Donaldson | 10/31- 02:09 PM

Lensbaby adds a fisheye and a soft-focus lens to their lineup

New additions to the Lensbaby Optic Swap System expand a photographer’s creative possibilities
Lensbaby announces today the addition of the new Fisheye Optic and Soft Focus Optic to the Lensbaby Optic Swap System. Each new optic is available for use with the Lensbaby Composer® and Muse®*. In addition, the Soft Focus Optic is compatible with the Lensbaby Control FreakTM.
“With the introduction of these new optics, Lensbaby is moving beyond the realm of selective focus to offer photographers a Creative Effects SLR lens system, with 6 different optic options. The Fisheye and Soft Focus Optics, unlike earlier Lensbaby optics, do not feature a sweet spot of focus,” said Craig Strong, Lensbaby President and Co-Founder. “The new Fisheye Optic transforms a Lensbaby Composer into a fun fisheye lens and the new Soft Focus Optic creates images that are overall soft and diffused, much like a classic Imagon portrait lens. The Lensbaby Optic Swap System now offers three selective focus optics, and three optics that provide even more options for creative photography.”

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

CANON EOS-1D MARK IV DIGITAL SLR CAMERA

Scott Gentry | 10/20- 01:27 PM

The ultimate multimedia solution

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., October 20, 2009 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, is proud to introduce the next evolution in the EOS 1D series of cameras: the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Digital SLR camera. The EOS-1D Mark IV is a high-speed multimedia performance monster with a 16-megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 4 Imaging Processors, and 14-bit A/D data conversion, all at 10 frames-per-second (fps), with the widest ISO range Canon has produced to date. This new camera also features 1080p Full High-Definition video capture at selectable frame rates packaged in Canon’s most rugged and durable professional camera body.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Mamiya Debuts DM22 Digital Camera for Under $10K

Scott Gentry | 10/20- 01:23 PM

Elmsford, NY – October 20, 2009 – Mamiya, synonymous with professional photography, has introduced a new 22MP, 36x48mm digital camera selling for $9,995. The Mamiya DM22, slated for November delivery, is the perfect choice for photographers when 35mm-sized DSLRs are not good enough. In fashion work, studio product photography, industrial/scientific or other demanding photographic specialties, medium format photography is in many people’s eyes hands-down the winner over 35mm-based digital. The DM22 is the affordable way to achieve that superiority.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Nikon Announces D3s

Tony Donaldson | 10/14- 07:49 AM

More than just subtle improvements to the amazing D3.

Nikon just announced the D3s, successor to the D3 body. It adds some interesting and potentially amazing features, including even more high ISO capabilities (up to ISO 102,400!) and HD video using the full frame sensor.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

LEICA D-LUX 4 ‘Safari’

Scott Gentry | 06/16- 08:30 PM

New special edition features olive green finish

Leica Camera AG, Solms, presents a new special edition in the D-Lux 4 series: the LEICA D-LUX 4 ‘Safari.’ Following the introduction of the Leica M8.2 ‘Safari’ at the beginning of this year, the LEICA D-LUX 4 ‘Safari’ is the first compact Leica camera with the same olive green outdoor look. This special limited edition will be available in August 2009.

A durable, waterproof carrying case is included with the camera to complete the set. It offers ample room for the camera and optional accessories for the D-LUX 4 collection such as a handgrip, optical viewfinder or flash. Additionally, the back of the case has a compartment containing a nylon “rain cape” that can be pulled out to cover the whole case and protect it from the elements.

The body of the LEICA D-LUX 4 ‘Safari’ features an anodised olive green surface finish which is particularly resistant to wear and guarantees long-term protection against inadvertent damage. Like all models in the LEICA D-LUX 4 series, the LEICA D-LUX 4 ‘Safari’ has a tough metal body manufactured exclusively from the finest materials.

Similar to the D-LUX 4, the ‘Safari’ edition’s technical features offer versatile options for any number of different photographic situations. With its high-performance lens, lightning-fast image processing, well thought-out controls and optional accessories, the D-LUX 4 ‘Safari’ is a genuine compact system camera.

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Thursday, April 09, 2009

Beachtek announces the DXA-5D XLR adapter for the Canon 5D MKII !

Bruce Dorn | 04/09- 03:32 PM

And the specs look very good indeed! 

If you’ve been following the maturation of the Canon 5D MKII as an HD video capture device, then you’ve probably heard about the camera’s limitations with regards to audio recording.

Yes, the 5D MKII does record audio via an internal microphone but that feature is so basic as to be nearly useless.  There is, thankfully, an “Audio In” jack but the camera’s compact form-factor has necessitated that this input be the tiny and sometimes unreliable 3.5mm mini-jack.  Most professional level audiophiles would much prefer the industry-standard XLR jacks but there just wasn’t enough room for these larger connectors.
Bummer.

Beachtek is one of the most successful manufacturers of XLR adapter for DV cameras and you can rest assured that I immediately tried one of their existing models with my own 5D MKII.  The earlier model I tested was a nicely designed and compact unit but functionally, no dice.  The previous iterations certainly worked to adapt my external mics to the new Canon HDSLR but sound quality suffered due to the camera’s internal (infernal?) Automatic Gain Controls.  To over simplify for a moment, when the AGC is active (which is all the time)  moments of relative quiet will inspire the AGC to ramp-up its levels to seek sounds that are not there.  This manifests itself in the form of pre-amp hiss.
 
Once again, bummer.

The newly announced Beachtek DXA-5D XLR Adapter addresses this short-coming by introducing an in-audible high-frequency tone on one channel; this stabilizes the pre-amps and the result is greatly decreased camera noise.
 
Cool!

The DXA-5D XLR adapter also features dual transformer-based XLR inputs with phantom power and built-in level meters.  There’s also a built-in headphone jack so one can finally monitor the audio and trim controls permit the user to dial-in proper signal levels.  Extra cool….
This XLR adapter includes a nice LCD display which shows the state of various switches and battery life and also shows audio levels from -54 dBu to -33dBu so verifying proper audio recording levels will be a snap!

Hybrid shooters who own good quality wireless receivers that terminate in the aforementioned 3.5mm mini-jack are also accommodated.  There is also an additional mic level output jack for those who wish to use an external audio recorder when super-quality audio recording is required.  I use the Sony PCMD1 and it’s a peach.  My Sony was a little bit on the spendy side when we acquired it but there are now many interesting options around.  Look at both Sonys and Olympus models as you shop….

I’ve been in conversation with the folks at Beachtek since the inception f this project and eagerly anticipate its delivery.  I hope to have one before the announced May 26th shipping date and will report my findings to you after a bit of real-world experience…

This great news for Fusion shooters and independent filmmakers alike!

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