Posted 11/05/09 at 01:30:00 PM by Mark Edward Soper

RAW mode, a feature of virtually all digital SLR cameras and an increasing number of high-end point-and-shoot cameras, enables your camera to capture all of the image data in your photographs in full quality without distortion caused by JPEG data compression. RAW files enable you to repair white balance and color temperature problems, solve exposure problems, and adjust color intensity and other settings far better than you can with JPEG files. Unfortunately, you must use software that supports RAW files to optimize your picture and export it to a format you can use for other purposes, such as JPEG or TIFF.

Thankfully, you don't need to spend a fortune on software to edit RAW images. Or be a hardcore digital photography buff, either. 

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Posted 10/20/09 at 04:04:06 PM by Bart Salisbury

On the very day that Canon introduces the EOS-1D Mark IV camera, filmmaker Vincent Laforet releases the first movie produced on the camera: Nocturne. What’s amazing about Laforet’s short movie is that it was shot at night, in an urban setting, making use only of available light. On his blog Laforet writes: “Here is the main point that I hope you take into account: the short film you are about to watch was shot in pretty much the very worst light that I could possibly find in an evening urban landscape. I did not chose “pretty lighting” in a mall or under neon signs. That would have been cheating in my book.” The result is impressive.

But then so to is the EOS-1D Mark IV. It comes with an Advanced Photo System High Definition (APS-H) sized 16.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, dual DIGIC 4 image processors, and--wait for it--ISO speeds from 100 to 12,800. The ability of the camera, which is primarily for taking still pictures, to handle low-light situations and provide high quality noise reduction is evident from Laforet’s film. (Although Laforet does confess to cleaning it up a bit with Stu's Magic Bullet Colorista software.) The EOS-1D’s video ability includes HD movies with manual exposure control, shooting between 1080 at 30 frames per second, down to 480 at 60 frames per second.

Equally impressive is the EOS-1D’s price-tag. Canon’s suggested retail price is $4,999, and that’s only for the camera body. I’m thinking my hidden Scorsese is going to have to remain hidden a bit longer. In the meantime a 1080p version of Nocturne can be found at SmugMug.

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Posted 09/02/09 at 09:46:42 AM by Mark Edward Soper

Canon fired the latest salvo in the hotter-than-ever digital SLR wars this week, introducing its new EOS 7D. The $1699 (body-only) EOS 7D includes some now-familiar features, such as APS-C image sensor size (1.6x crop factor), 3-inch LCD with Live View, and Full HD Video.

The 7D boasts an 18MP image sensor and ISO expandable to 12,800, but that's just the beginning of what makes it bigger, faster, smarter, and stronger than previous mid-range Canon DSLRs. For the rest of the story, join us after the jump.

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Posted 08/04/09 at 12:00:00 AM by Gordon Mah Ung

There’s possibly nothing more confusing than trying to buy a new SDHC card. Do you buy Class 2 or Class 6. Do you care about the “X” rating and should you pay for spring for a premium card? Frankly, even geeks can get confused when faced with a selection of 14 different SDHC cards of varying sizes and ratings – none of which readily make sense. Fear not, we waded through the specs and grabbed a selection of cards for testing to see what really matters.

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Posted 05/15/09 at 10:00:00 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Windows 7 has the potential to be the most imaging-friendly version of Windows yet developed. Windows 7 makes viewing JPEG and other common file formats easy, displays exposure metadata, and supports more viewing options than Windows XP, while offering better performance than Windows Vista. However, to get the maximum benefit from Windows 7, digital photographers will want to make two additions:

• Installing RAW image support for their DSLR
• Installing a photo organizer and editor

Wondering how to get RAW support for 64-bit versions of Windows 7? Not sure which free program (Windows Live Photo Gallery or Picasa) is better at fixing common digital photo problems? Looking for the best solution for organizing your rapidly growing digital photo collection? Join us after the jump for the answers.

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Posted 10/22/08 at 03:35:05 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Microsoft has released an updated technology preview of its cool Deep Zoom Composer tool for Silverlight 2. As we reported back in July, Deep Zoom Composer gives you the ability to display multiple high-resolution thumbnails, zoom in for a closeup, and pan back again. You can use Deep Zoom Composer to create mosaics (as in our original story), or to bring a new level of interactivity to online collections (as the Hard Rock Cafe has done).

If you want to give it a try, install the latest version of Silverlight 2 beta first, then install the Deep Zoom Composer technology preview 0.9.0005. Deep Zoom Composer runs on Windows XP SP2 or SP3 and Windows Vista, and requires a 2GHz Intel or AMD processor, at least 1GB of RAM, and a Microsoft DirectX 9-capable video card with at least 256MB of video memory.

See  the Teaching Ideas and Resources blog at MSDN for more information about this and other imaging tools from Microsoft.

Join us after the jump for your comments, and don't forget to share links to your creations!

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Posted 10/21/08 at 06:29:44 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Flickr's rolled out a new home page design that's intended to make it easier to see what's happening with your Flickr account and on Flickr in general.

Here's what's new:

1. The Your Photostream section now shows your five most recent uploads 
2. Your Photostream also has a toggle to show recent activity (such as comments from friends, your replies, and pictures selected as favorites). Don't want any more comments on a particular item? Click its Mute button.
3. Click More Recent Activity to see other activity and change activity settings.
4. The Your Contacts section now shows more photos.
5. The Your Groups section now shows the most recent photos from your groups.
6. Want to reduce page clutter? Click the double arrow icon next to a section title to close it, or click it again to open it.
7. There's now a new Explore module on the home page that displays the latest activities.
8. The latest entry at the Flickr Blog and the latest Flickr Tip occupy the right margin of the page, along with more ways to use your photos.

Haven't logged in for awhile? I think you'll like the changes. Join us after the jump and let us know if you agree - or not.

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Posted 10/20/08 at 03:32:52 PM by Mark Edward Soper

If you're a Compact Flash user, life's not been fair to you lately. You've seen CF stalwarts like Nikon and Canon turn their backs on this longtime favorite in favor of the new kid on the block, SDHC, in their newest DSLRs. Buy a new camera, and you make your collection of CF cards obsolete. Meanwhile, you've watched SDHC and its kid brother, SD, dominate the deals in your favorite big-box electronics superstores' weekly tabloids. And, just to add a cherry on the top of your cake of frustration, you've been thinking about how cool it would be to use wireless file transfer with Eye-Fi cards, but Eye-Fi is also in the tank for SD. Oh, and did I mention that "Compact" Flash is now the bulkiest flash memory format?

For all these reasons, Synchrotech's introduction of the CFMulti CompactFlash Type II to Eye-Fi + Multi-Card Adapter has come at a very good time. While CF adapters for SD cards have been around for awhile, the CFMulti also supports newer flavors such as SDHC and MMC+ as well as SD and any old MultiMediaCards (MMC) you have floating around. Plus, it's the first adapter to support Eye-Fi cards, albeit with a reduction in range. See the CFMulti and Eye-Fi FAQ for details and a list of tested cameras.

For more thoughts on the advantages of adding CFMulti to your gadget bag, and your chance to comment, join us after the jump.

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