Canon introduces their latest next generation EOS 1D digital SLR camera today, the EOS-1D Mark IV, with features such as a massive 16 megapixel CMOS sensor, dual DIGIC 4 imaging processors, 14 bit A/D data conversion, and the widest ISO range to date from Canon. Here’s what you need to know about the new digital SLR:

• New 45-point Area AF sensor including 39 cross-type AF points with f/2.8 support plus new AI Servo II AF with improved algorithm.
• ISO 100 – 12800 (expandable to L: 50, H1: 25600, H2: 51200, H3: 102400) for shooting from bright to dim light with low noise levels.
• EOS HD movie capture with manual exposure control and multiple frame rates (1080: 30p (29.97) / 24p (23.976) / 25p, 720: 60p (59.94) / 50p, 480: 60p (59.94) / 50p).
• 16.1 Megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors for high image quality and speed – Dual DIGIC 4 processors provide six times the processing power of DIGIC III for full 14 bit A/D conversion at 10fps
• 10.0 fps continuous shooting up to 121 Large JPEGS or 28 RAW using a UDMA CF card.
• 3.0-inch ClearView II LCD monitor, 160° viewing angle, 920,000-dot VGA, reflection resistance with multi coating and high-transparency materials for bright and clear viewing.
• Magnesium alloy body with shutter durability up to 300,000 cycles and exclusive dust- and weather-resistance.
• Fully compatible with over 50 EF lenses and a wide range of EOS System accessories.
• 60 percent more pixels than EOS-1D Mark III
• Peripheral Illumination Correction function corrects darkening that can occur in the corners of images with most lenses when used at their largest apertures
• Record on CF Type I and II, SD/SDHC memory cards, UDMA Mode 6 CF cards and/or external media

The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV digital SLR will be available in the U.S. starting in late December and will be sold in a body-only configuration for an estimated price of $4999.

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Technorati Tags: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Digital SLR

OK.. so the new D300s is a bit expensive for the average consumer – that’s why Nikon also introduced last week the new affordable D3000 digital SLR camera. The camera features a new guide mode, a 10.2 megapixel resolution, and an extensive Retouch Menu for in-camera picture editing.

The full features and specs of the D3000 include:

• 11 point autofocus system
• EXPEED image processing
• Active D-Lighting system
• 3D color matrix metering II
• Guide Mode is an easy-to-use interface for newcomers to digital SLR photography providing step-by-step instructions
• Three inch 230K dot LCD display with easier-to-read font size
• 3D Subject Tracking
• In-camera retouch menu allows users to apply effects to images
• Capture images in NED (RAW) format
• Stop-Motion Movie Mode
• 10.2 megapixel CCD image sensor
• ISO range from ISO 100 to 1600
• Supports Eye-Fi memory card functions

The Nikon D3000 will be available later this month for a price of $599.95.

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Technorati Tags: Nikon D3000 Digital SLR

Nikon introduced their latest digital SLR camera last week – the Nikon D300s. The camera features the friendly features of the D300 while improving and enhancing the speed, versatility, and agility of the camera. Features of the D300s include the following:

• 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor
• 51 point autofocus system
• 7 frame per second continuous shooting
• Record HD videos at 720p at 24 fps
• External stereo microphone input
• Dual card slots supporting CompactFlash, and SD cards separately
• One button Live View
• Quiet Shutter Release mode
• Active D-Lighting bracketing
• Three inch 920K dot LCD display
• Multiple focus modes including single point AF mode, and a dynamic area AF mode
• Face Detection System lets users zoom in on a human face in playback mode on the LCD monitor
• 1005 pixel 3D color matrix metering II
• Scene Recognition System (SRS)
• EXPEED image processing
• Low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200
• Magnesium Alloy Body
• Dynamic Integrated Dust Reduction System using ultrasonic process to remove dust in front of the image sensor
• 4 preset image capture preferences ( Standard, Neutral, Vivid and Monochrome) and 9 user customizable settings controlling Sharpening, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation and Hue.
• In-Camera image editing

The Nikon D300s will be available in late August for an estimated price of $1799.95.

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Technorati Tags: Nikon D300s Digital SLR

Here’s some interesting news coming from the digital photography front. Canon announced earlier this week the development of the Hybrid Image Stabilizer (IS) – the “world’s first optical image stabilization technology that compensates for both angle camera shake and shift camera shake” designed for interchangeable single lens reflex (SLR) camera lens. This new IS will be featured in new SLR camera lens coming from Canon before the end of the year.

The new Hybrid IS technology optimally compensates for both angle and shift camera shake. Angle shake and shift camera shake is depicted as follows:

According to Canon:

“The new Hybrid IS technology incorporates an angular velocity sensor that detects the extent of angle-based shaking and is found in all previous Canon optical image stabilizer mechanisms, as well as a new acceleration sensor that determines the amount of shift-based camera shake. Hybrid IS also employs a newly developed algorithm that synthesizes information from the two sensors to make optimal adjustments, thereby dramatically enhancing the effects of image stabilization during shooting, including macro shooting, which had proven difficult for conventional image stabilization technologies.”

Canon is still working on the commercialization and inclusion of these lens into a wide range of products but you can expect something to come out for the SLR market before the end of the year.

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Technorati Tags: Canon Hybrid Image Stabilizer technology, Digital SLR

Eye-Fi announces the introduction of their latest wireless SDHC media card – the Eye-Fi Pro. The Eye-Fi Pro adds support for RAW image support and ad-hoc network support for peer to peer network connectivity without the need of a router. The company also announced today that all Eye-Fi card users can now select which photos or videos they want to transfer from their camera to the computer or the web using the new Selective Transfer feature.

Here’s what you need to know about the new Eye-Fi Pro card:

• 4GB SDHC Ccard
• Upload through Wi-Fi hotspots or set up an Ad Hoc network
• Upload RAW photos
• Automatic geotagging
• Send photos to any of over 25 popular sharing, blogging, and networking websites including Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, etc
• MSRP of $149.99

As for “Selective Transfer”, this is a new feature announced today which gives users more control over which photos and videos should be uploaded. All you need to do is “protect” or “lock” a file on your camera and then the Eye-Fi cards will automatically upload the file. Selective Transfer is free and available now for all Eye-Fi card users through the Eye-Fi Manager.

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Technorati Tags: Eye-Fi, Eye-Fi Pro, Wireless SDHC card

The PENTAX K20D digital SLR just got a little cheaper. PENTAX announced that effective immediately, the K20D boy, and two K20D lens kits will be reduced by $200 dollars. This means the MSRP for the K20D will now be $799.95 while the K20D with DA 18-55mm II lens kit will go for $879.95 and the K20D with DA 16-45mm lens kit will be $1199.95.

In addition to the price reductions, PENTAX will extend their free three year warranty (one year standard, and two years extended) to March 31st, 2009.

In case you forgot, the K20D features:

• 14.6 megapixel resolution
• Dust-proof and weather-resistant body
• PENTAX developed shake reduction
• 2.7 inch LCD monitor with 160 degree field of view
• PRIME image processing engine
• Custom image nodes with six preset options
• Advanced white balance
• 36 custom functions with 96 individual settings
• Expanded dynamic range
• 16 segment metering and 11 point AF with 9 cross sensors

Technorati Tags: PENTAX K20D price reduction

Remember the days of passing around a photo album? Come on.. you remember what that was like right? Flip through a small album while your friend next to you waits for you to finish up. Pass it on when you’re done and work on the next album.  Seems like a long time ago doesn’t it?

Well, the folks at Digital Foci are trying to revive the photo album by bringing it to the world of digital images with the announcement of the “Photo Book”. Think of it as a slim portable digital picture frame encased in a soft leather-like (a.k.a. it’s not leather) case. Powered by a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery, the Photo Book operates up to 2.5 hours, comes with an 8 inch 800 x 600 LCD color display, and a whopping 4 GB of internal memory.

Photo Book supports a number of picture transfer methods. You can transfer photos using a memory card or a USB flash drive OR you can connect the album directly to a computer via a USB cable and then transfer content that way. Memory card support includes CF, SD, SDHC, MMC, xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, and MSPRO.

You can organize your picture content by albums and choose a specific album to view on the Photo Book. Yes, it even supports slideshow views with a supposed “elegant page-turning effect” (we’ll reserve final judgment until we actually see that effect).

More importantly, the Photo Book supports RAW images from high-end digital SLR cameras (though remember – you’re dealing with a display that has a resolution of 800 x 600). Other notable features for the Photo Book include:

• Copy albums directly from memory cards for USB flash drives to internal memory without needing a computer.
• Displays each photo album with folder name and photo preview.
• Optional displays show photo file name and slideshow counter.
• Run automatic Full-Screen or Photo Book photo Slideshows with adjustable time intervals.
• Scroll photos manually with zoom and rotate functions.
• Supported image formats – JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, RAW image files from a wide selection of DSLR cameras.
• Automatic photo orientation based on EXIF data.
• Supported audio formats – MP3, AAC, WMA – music will play in the background during photo slideshow .
• Supported video formats – MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-4 SP.
• Built-in 1 channel, 1.4W speaker.
• Runs on rechargeable Lithium polymer battery with 2.5 hours of battery life.

The Digital Foci Photo Book will be coming out in May at a price of $189. Expect to find the Photo Book at places like Amazon.com and Adorama.com.

Technorati Tags: Digital Foci, Photo Book, Digital Pictures

In an effort to spur sales, PENTAX has announced a series of price cuts for its K series digital cameras. Here’s a rundown of how the price cuts will work and how long they’re effective for (provided via the PENTAX press release).

• Effective February 1, 2009, the PENTAX K20D digital SLR body alone and all other K20D body and lens configurations will have an in-store instant $100.00 Consumer Rebate.  This is for a limited time only and ends February 22, 2009.  PENTAX is also extending the K20D FREE Three Year Warranty (one year standard, two years extended) on all K20Ds purchased by March 31, 2009.
• PENTAX also reduced the price of the PENTAX D-BG3 Battery Grip to $19.95 ($129.00 value) when combined with the purchase of the PENTAX K200D digital body and any PENTAX lens by March 31, 2009.
• Purchasers of the PENTAX K2000 flash kit (PENTAX K2000 body, smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens, and the PENTAX AF200FG Auto Flash) will benefit beginning February 1, 2009 from a price reduction to $599.95 on this kit and three new configurations shipping to dealers in February 2009.
  • PENTAX K2000 two lens kit (PENTAX K2000 body, smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens, and an smc PENTAX DA L 50-200mm F4-5.6 AL lens) will be $649.95.
  • PENTAX K2000 single lens kit (PENTAX K2000 body, smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens) will be $549.95.
  • PENTAX K2000 body only is $499.95.
• The Limited distribution white PENTAX K2000 DSLR system with a double zoom kit (PENTAX white K2000 body, white smc PENTAX DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens, and a white smc PENTAX DA L 50-200mm F4-5.6 AL lens) will be offered at $679.95.

A quick check on PriceGrabber shows the K20D body to be available for as low as $742.95 at OneCall.com (on the “Featured Sellers” list) – though it’s not clear if the $100 dollar price reduction is already included in that price..

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Technorati Tags: PENTAX, PENTAX K20D, PENTAX price reductions

Taking high resolution panoramic images just got significantly easier thanks to the launch of the GigaPan Epic by GigaPan Systems. Utilizing technology from the NASA Mars Rover, the GigaPan Epic allows users to easily take “giga-pixel” panoramic images using almost any point-and-shoot digital camera.

The process itself is super-easy and straightforward.

• Attach your digital camera to the Epic robotic mount
• Set the upper left and lower right corners of the desired panorama
• Epic calculates how many photos you’ll need to take (it could be hundreds or even thousands of images mind you) and then automatically takes the images – organizing them in the correct rows and columns needed to capture the panorama
• Upload all of the captured images to your PC where the GigaPan Stitcher software automatically combines them into a super large panorama

You can then upload the giga-pixel, super immensely large image to GigaPan.org where users can view, zoom in/out of pictures using the GigaPan Viewer.

Need an example of what the GigaPan Epic can do? Check out this picture taken by professional freelance photographer David Bergman at the Obama inaugural address.

Play with the controls and see the incredible image he captured with the GigaPan Epic. Heck, if you were there maybe you’ll find yourself in the image! Yes.. I think it’s an awesome device.

Wondering what digital cameras are supported by the Epic? Check out this link to see a complete list of compatible cameras. If you have a larger point and shoot digital camera, then you might want to check out the GigaPan Epic 100 which will be available soon. All cameras supported by the Epic will also be supported by the Epic 100.

As for price, the GigaPan Epic is available now for $379 while the upcoming GigaPan Epic 100 will be priced at $449.

I might have to get a hold of that Epic at some point in the future! I’d love to take panoramic shots of the oceans out here in LA.

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Technorati Tags: GigaPan Systems, GigaPan Epic, GigaPan Epic 100, Panoramic Pictures,

Digital Foci announces their latest Picture Porter device – the Picture Porter 35. Featuring a 3.5 inch color screen, a multi-format memory card reader, and hard drive capacities starting at 160GB, the Picture Porter 35 is designed to be your “portable photo manager”. Take this device with you while you’re on the road and you won’t need a notebook anymore to offload your digital pictures. Simply snap your pictures and then transfer them to the Picture Porter 35. The device also supports RAW images with zoom, EXIF, and histogram data which allows you to examine your pictures in greater detail.

The Picture Porter 35 also comes with USB host functionality which allows you to attach external hard drives for secondary backups (great for those of you paranoid about losing your content). You can also perform functions such as slideshows, audio and video playback, record audio, and output audio and video.

Specs include:

• Supports CF, MMC, RS-MMC, SD, SDHC, miniSD, Memory Stick, MS PRO, MS Duo, MS PRO Duo, xD
• 3.5 inch color TFT LCD display with backlight and 320 x 240 resolution
• 2.5 inch SATA HDD
• USB 2.0
• USB Host capable
• Supports JPEG, GIF, TIFF, RAW
• Supports MPEG1, MPEG4, MJPEG
• Supports MP3, WMA 7-9, AAC
• Records in AAC
• TV Out in NTSC or PAL
• Mono microphone
• Built-in speaker
• 3.7V 2100mAh replaceable rechargeable Lithium Ion battery
• Measures 5.4 x 3.8 x 1.2 inches and weighs 14 oz with hard drive and battery

The Picture Porter 35 will be available this summer – MSRP has yet to be determined.

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Technorati Tags: Digital Foci, Picture Porter 35, Portable Photo Manager