Proud Photography Blog

It is official three giants Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic) and Canon are joining forces to take the LCD world by storm.
On one hand Panasonic and Canon have both accepted to take 24.9% ownership of Hitachi Displays, and will use the investment to continue their advancement in LCD technology.
And on the other hand Hitachi’s small- to medium-sized LCDs and, OLEDs will be made accessible to Canon for its cameras and other products.
Furthermore,Canon will continue to develop various types of displays in order to realize cross-media imaging which is a sophisticated combination of imaging input and output equipment for data and still images that allows users to intuitively process images and information in any context in daily life or industry.
All of that sounds like some excellent news for the digital photography world and you can expect to see fruits off that alliance by March 31, 2008.

Japanese Company Ricoh Ltd has been hard at work to improve its GR Digital II premium digital compact camera.
Ricoh recently revealed the fruits of its labor which is the firmware v1.12.
This update improves image quality at lower resolutions and also fixes a couple of issues regarding the ADJ lever.
Additionally the lens will now initialize when you excite the macro mode therefore improving the focus accuracy.
v1.12 revisions are as follow:

* Improved an image quality in a small size (VGA etc.)
* Modified the following phenomena.
* If you operate the ADJ lever in the macro mode, display switching speed may change.
* If you operate the ADJ lever while compensating exposure, any keys will not work.
* When you exit a macro mode, the lens unit operating will become initialized in order to improve a focus accuracy.

Click here to download the Ricoh GR Digital II firmware v1.12.

In just couple of days it will be Christmas so here are some helpful tips for your Christmas photography needs.These guidelines and ideas are for digital camera owners who want to capture the big day:

1. Make a List and check it twice.
* Pack the camera
* Make sure your batteries are charged
* Have few extra memory cards

2. Create a DIY “Photo Booth”
Set up a portrait area of your own where you’ll take photos of your guest as they enter your house.

3. Capture the preparation stages
The actual Christmas meal or party is obviously the best part of the day, but there are other photographic opportunities, particularly in the preparations stages of the day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses Tokina Co., Ltd. had recently announced the release of the Canon Mounted Tokina’s AT-X M35 PRO DX 35mm F2.8 lens .The company is now revealing that it will be delayed.
The wide angle macro lens was supposed to be available on December 21st this year,but it was pushed back to the end of January, 2008 by Tokina, Japan.
The postponement is due to development difficulties relating to the focus system.
Nonetheless copies with Nikon mount are unaffected and will be released on schedule.

Panasonic has released version 1.1 firmware for its Panasonic DMC-L10 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-50mm f/3.8-5.6 Mega OIS Lens.
This update will improve AF, exposure and white balance as well as allowing shorter time between frames in single shot mode. Additionally the interface has been tweaked with the front and rear command dials now able to fine tune the white balance and the position of the magnified area in live view.

Improvements to v.1.1 are as follow:

1. Improved the performance of AF(Auto Focus) with Panasonic lenses. (Model Number L-ES014050,L-RS014150).
2. Improved the performance of AE (An accuracy improvement of Auto Exposure at night scene).
3. Improved the performance of AWB(Auto White Balance).
4. Shortened the minimum shooting intervals on the single shooting mode.
5. Enabled the Front/Rear dial operations in the fine white balance adjustment and the change of magnifying position on the MF Assist in Live View mode.

Here is the step by step procedure:
* STEP 1. Check the current version of firmware used by your camera.
* STEP 2. Download an updated version of the firmware and double click the downloaded file to decompress it.
* STEP 3. Copy the firmware file onto an SD Memory Card.
* STEP 4. Install the firmware update.

Note:
Please do not turn off your camera, or do not remove the SD Memory Card while updating your camera’s firmware.
Doing so can cause serious damage to your camera.
If the camera malfunctions after the firmware updating, please contact Panasonic.
The contact information can be found in your owner’s manual.

Click here to download the update and get additional information and explanation.

The Olympus company now makes it possible for the SP-560UZ superzoom digital camera to gain a wireless flash thanks its release of the firmware version 3.1.
The update  allows the camera to wirelessly control multiple Olympus flash units such as the FL-50R and FL-36R.
The firmware version is now available to download via Olympus Master 2 software.
Here is the manual for Shooting with the Olympus Wireless RC Flash System:

The wireless flash system enables you to take pictures using multiple wireless flashes.
The built-in flash is used to communicate between the camera and the external flashes.

Here is an illustration along with a step by step guide to using the wireless system :

1. Position the flash while referring to the “Wireless flash setup range”, and turn on the flash.
2. Press the MODE button on the flash to set it to RC mode, and set the channel and group of the
   flash. Set the group to A (the flash will not operate if B or C is selected).
3. Select [RC] from [FLASH] on the camera, and then set [CH1] - [CH4] to the same channel
   as the flash. (SP-560UZ Advanced Manual P.30 “FLASH Setting to use an external flash”)
4. Press [FLASH] button (Flash pop-up) to raise the built-in flash.
5. Select a flash mode. (Red-eye reduction flash is not possible in RC mode).
6. After shooting preparations are completed, take some test shots to check the flash operation
   and images.
7. Begin shooting while checking the charging completed indications of the camera and flash.

   Note:

   * Although there is no limit to the number of wireless flashes you can use, it is recommended that no more than three flashes be used to prevent flash malfunction due to mutual interference.
   * In RC mode, the built-in flash is used to control the wireless flash. The built-in flash cannot be used for flash shooting in this mode.
   * For rear curtain synchronization, set the shutter speed to within 4 seconds. Wireless flash shooting may not operate properly when using a slower shutter speed.

   Click here to update the Olympus SP-560UZ.

   Click here for the complete manual.

Samsung Electronics America Inc. has launched the Samsung SPF-83V which is a new 8 inch digital photo frame.The frame uses Microsoft technology which enables photographs to be viewed wirelessly from sharing sites such as Windows Live Spaces or from your PC of course. Additionally the 8-inch frame sports an 800 x 600 resolution display with a 500:1 contrast ratio and 200 nits of brightness.The Samsung SPF-83V frame also communicates with Windows Media Player and open standards such as RSS.Christopher Franey, vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America explained:

“Our latest digital photo frames, based on cutting-edge technology from the Microsoft Research labs, are easy to use and are one of the few offerings in the marketplace that offer a network approach to digital photo sharing.” The Samsung SPF-83V Digital Photo Frame is expected to come with 64MB of storage .This perfect little Christmas gift is priced at $230.

Fujifilm has upgraded its classic F30/F31fd digital camera to an F50fd camera.
The Fujifilm Finepix F50fd comes equipped with most of the features of its predecessor such as outstanding performance in low light but a wide range of improvements were made including a mechanical CCD-shift image stabilization system, an enhanced  face detection and a 2.7″ LCD monitor.
Nonetheless the most obvious changes are the 6 megapixels sensor that went 12 megapixel and the image stabilization system.
Additionally Fujifilm has switched to a more appealing and warmer color  which is silver and has moved from the boxy shape of the F30/F31fd to more curves and edges.The F50fd Aero’s design makes the camera appear slimmer.
The Fujifilm Finepix F50fd is available and is priced at $220.

Specifications include:

Face Detection 2.0 Technology built-in to the camera’s processor,Dual Image Stabilization (High sensitivity + CCD shift),2.7-inch TFT screen with 230.000 pixels,ISO 1600 sensitivity at full resolution,12 million pixels Super CCD HR VII sensor,3.0x optical zoom,IR Communication (IR simple™/IR SS™),VGA movie capture of 25 frames per second with sound,Micro thumbnail view (up to 100 thumbnails visible),5fps continuous mode (3MP, 12 frames max),Aperture and shutter priority modes.

Delkin Devices, Inc. has released the world’s fastest 16GB UDMA CompactFlash PRO card.

The CompactFlash Card boosts the capability of a 305x read/write speed (45MB/sec sustained).This is partly due to the fact that the CF card uses high grade SLC NAND flash modules, which allows the aforementioned large data transfer rates.

Best suited for the Canon 1Ds Mark III or D300 and D3x from Nikon,nonetheless it also works with non-UDMA shooters.
Additionally the card-to-computer transfer times are touted to be very low, especially when the card is used with the company’s UDMA enabled ExpressCard and CardBus adapters.

In conclusion the Compact Flash PRO 305x 16 GB seems to be well equipped to provide both very large data transfer speeds, as well as a storage capacity to match.

The 16GB UDMA CompactFlash PRO card is now available worldwide for $400.

Newman-Hyun has launched a new digital camera called the L1200 PMP.
The L1200 PMP is unique because it is actually an “MP4″ player with a 12 megapixel and 8X digital zoom camera.
The camera is conveniently placed on the edge of the device like a hinge, making it possible to swivel 180 degrees with the capacity of 30fps video recording.
Additional features include a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen that supports 260k colors and a built-in USB 2.0 .
Not forgetting an SD/MMC card slot for more storage, SD expansion, non-specific AVI video support, along with a variety of shooting modes and setting for that camera.
As a PMP it supports AVI videos with up to 24fps playback and MP3 audio files with JPEG .
The L1200 is also said to be equipped with TV Out and can be yours for just $132.
For that low price it’s worth it.