November 18th, 2009

Carl Zeiss upgrades F-mount lenses for Nikon

Posted by Rachel King @ 2:21 am

Categories: Camera accessories

Tags: Nikon Corp., Photograph, Lense, Taxes, Financial Planning, Finance, Rachel King

Carl Zeiss recently unveiled a new line of upgraded F-mount lenses: eight ZF.2 lenses with electronic interfaces (CPU) inside.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 12th, 2009

New DVDs store digital photos for centuries

Posted by Janice Chen @ 6:06 am

Categories: Announcements, Camera accessories

Tags: Digital Photograph, Disc, Photograph, Cranberry DVD Vault Option, DVD, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Janice Chen

Though many people still back their irreplaceable digital photos to CDs or DVDs, they’re really not a long-term solution. The dyes and reflective layers of conventional recordable CDs and DVDs can deteriorate in two to five years depending on environmental factors. A new long-lasting DVD technology aims to dramatically increase that lifespan by using physical etchings on a rock-like substance to record data.

Makers of the Cranberry DiamonDisc (who exclusively license the technology from Millenniata for the consumer market) claim a shelf-life of 1,000 years, and while the claim obviously can’t be proven, testing based on ECMA International standards indicates the discs will indeed last as long as there are drives that can read them (i.e., most standard DVD drives).

A single 4.7GB DVD (which holds about 2,000 photos) will set you back $34, and unless you want to cough up $4,995 for your own Cranberry Disc Writer (which comes with 150 blank discs), you’ll have to upload or mail your files to Cranberry to have them burned onto a DVD and mailed back to you. A Cranberry DVD Vault option provides a duplicate disc that is kept in a secure storage vault by Cranberry (and costs $89 annually for up to 25 DVDs).

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Digital SLR camera accessories

Posted by Janice Chen @ 9:32 pm

Categories: Camera accessories, Digital Photography, Gadgets, Holiday Gift Guide

Tags: DSLR, SLR, Accessory, Camera, Janice Chen

There’s probably nothing a digital camera enthusiast likes better than gear and gadgets, which makes shopping for your favorite shutterbug a cinch.  If you’re looking for a great holiday gift for someone who already has his or her dSLR of choice, one of these dSLR camera accessories — ranging in price from about $33 to $118 –  will have them smiling for the camera.

SanDisk Image Mate All-in-One

Every digital camera user should have a fast memory card reader for quick and convenient image downloading, and the SanDisk Image Mate All-in-One ($33) is a great match for the dSLR shooter. It not only supports all the popular memory card formats (SD, SDHC, mini SDHC, micro SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro Duo, xD Picture Card, and CompactFlash), but it also lets you perform card-to-card transfers when you insert cards simultaneously — so you can transfer from SD to CompactFlash, for example. I like the sleek design and the slick way the silver tripod base attaches magnetically, so you can easily detach the reader from the stand and pop it in your bag. Plus, it’s not just a pretty face: the card reader can transfer files up to 34 megabytes per second (when using a high-speed SanDisk Extreme IV 45 MB/s Compact Flash card).

[Read the review] [Check prices]

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October 28th, 2009

How to find a quality film scanner

Posted by Rachel King @ 5:58 am

Categories: Camera accessories

Tags: Epson, Photograph, Canon CanoScan 8800F, Scanners, Hardware, Peripherals, Rachel King

While most photographers (at least, avid amateurs) have made the jump to digital photography these days, many of us still have boxes of film negatives lying around. And with older formats, having them scanned and printed at photo shops can be quite expensive, especially if you have a lot of photos you want scanned. If you’re scanning several dozens or more for a project, you might want to consider getting a film scanner for your home office. Today’s question is related to just that:

I am currently doing a documentary of all 85+ years of my Grandad’s history. He has brownie film from way back when, and I need a reasonable way of scanning them.

I have looked at a few flatbed usb scanners and was wondering if these that handle that type of film would work. I would rather go this route than paying the only local studio that does this at $2 per negative. Especially as these are non replaceable.

Many Thanks,
Joseph

To see my response, Read the rest of this entry »

October 23rd, 2009

Sony's new digital photo frame includes built-in photo printer

Posted by Janice Chen @ 4:21 pm

Categories: Camera accessories, Digital Photography, Gadgets, Photo Printers

Tags: Sony Corp., Printer, Digital Photograph, Photograph, DPP-F700, Janice Chen

It’s no secret that there are millions of digital photos that never see the light of day. They languish on hard drives, flash memory cards, photo CDs, and other digital media, never to be printed or shared. And though some lucky shots get distributed via photo sharing and social networking sites, the days of snapshot prints that you can pass around to your friends and family are dwindling.  Sony Electronics is trying to stem the tide with its new S-Frame DPP-F700 digital photo frame.

The DPP-F700 is an all-in-one digital photo frame that not only displays photos on a 7-inch widescreen LCD, but also prints out 4×6-inch snapshots, using a built-in dye-sublimation technology printer. And when Sony says all-in-one, it means all-in-one: you can use the device to do some basic photo editing, such as enlarging, reducing, cropping, and adjusting sharpness, brightness, contrast and hue, as well as print out calendars and other predefiined image templates.

An automatic sensor rotates portrait- or landscape-format images appropriately and offers multiple playback options, such as single images, thumbnails, or slideshows with 10 built-in transitions.

The frame accepts most flash memory formats — including SD, SDHC, MMC, CompactFlash, xD-Picture Card, and of course Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro DUO cards — as well as USB input from your PC.

And if you actually just want your digital snaps to languish, there’s a gigabyte of internal storage that automatically downsizes your photos to store up to 2,000 images.

The frame/printer will sell for about $200 when it ships in January and is compatible with SVM-F series photo paper packs for Sony Picture Station printers. The cost of consumables per print varies from about 50 cents a print with the SVM-F40P pack (which includes 40 sheets of 4×6 paper and a printer ribbon for $19.99) to about 30 cents per print with the SVM-F120P (which includes 120 sheets of 4×6 paper and two printer ribbons for $34.99).

October 16th, 2009

FOTOBOX Plus creates slideshows from USB device

Posted by Rachel King @ 1:07 am

Categories: Camera accessories, Digital Photography, Software

Tags: Multimedia, Memory Card, Slideshow, Memory, Flash Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Rachel King

Honestech, a digital media software company, has just released FOTOBOX Plus, a USB device that enables the creation of multimedia slideshows from photos and videos. The gadget contains an integrated memory card reader and embedded PC software (thus, not compatible with Mac OS) with Flash memory, which can automatically run without any installation.

Designed for both novice and professional computer users, photos can be uploaded by inserting the memory card into the USB device, then uploaded via your computer to your photo-sharing website of choice. The FOTOBOX also allows photographers to choose to apply themes, background music and narration to slideshows.

For a video demo, Read the rest of this entry »

October 15th, 2009

For ZDNet readers, tripods are casual accessories

Posted by Rachel King @ 5:55 am

Categories: Camera accessories

Tags: Accessory, Poll, Camera, Rachel King

The majority of ZDNet readers don’t use their tripods often, according to an online poll opened on October 2. 24% of voters said they only use a tripod once or twice a year, and 20% said they use one every few months. Only 7% of participants said they use a tripod every single time. 809 people participated in the poll as of October 13. I don’t always tote my tripod along, mainly because it’s difficult to carry around with other equipment. However, there are many times I wished I had one because it would have save my pictures from inevitable camera shake and blur.

Do you agree with the results? Do you want to use your tripod more often, or is not really necessary for you? Or do you use natural props (like tables or fences) to stabilize your camera?

October 12th, 2009

Photoshop releases an iPhone app

Posted by Rachel King @ 6:00 am

Categories: Camera accessories, Digital Cameras, Digital Photography, Software

Tags: Apple iPhone, Adobe PhotoShop, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Rachel King

Adobe finally released a long-awaited iPhone application last week. Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone lets users edit pictures directly on their phone with a number of settings and tools found in the full version. Said features include rotating, cropping, using filter effects, and adjusting exposure, tint and saturation. Users can also back-up, organize and share up to two gigabytes of photos online after creating an account at Photoshop.com.

Photoshop’s full-fledged desktop software program sells for $599, so the free iPhone application is quite a steal.

If you own an iPhone, do you want to get the new Photoshop app? For those who have bought it, how do you like/not like it?

October 2nd, 2009

Poll: How often do you use a tripod?

Posted by Rachel King @ 6:02 am

Categories: Camera accessories

Tags: Camera, Rachel King

It is often recommended to use a tripod with your camera to avoid camera shake…but how many of us actually follow that advice? I like using my tripod, but carrying it around all the time is a real pain. How often do you use yours?

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October 1st, 2009

Fujifilm launches Real 3D W1 camera and 3D V1 viewer

Posted by Janice Chen @ 11:11 am

Categories: Announcements, Camera accessories, Digital Cameras, Digital Photography

Tags: 3D, Camera, Janice Chen

Though Fujifilm introduced its FinePix Real 3D technology and camera prototype a year ago, and announced the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1 point-and-shoot and the FinePix Real 3D V1 viewer globally back in July, the camera and viewer were officially launched in the U.S. yesterday.

According to Fujifilm, its Real 3D system comprises the W1 camera, the V1 viewer, and 3D prints from Fujifilm’s SeeHere.com online photo printing and sharing site. By using dual lenses set approximately as wide apart as human eyes (and two CCD sensors), the Real 3D W1 is able to capture three-dimensional still images and videos.  Rather than requiring 3D glasses for viewing the resulting stereoscopic images, stills and movies shot from the W1 camera can be viewed directly on the camera’s specially designed 2.8-inch LCD (with “Light Direction Control” to allow the 3D viewing effect), the Real 3D V1 viewer’s 8-inch LCD screen, as well as the 3D prints from SeeHere.com that layer a plastic lenticular sheet over the print to produce the 3D effect.

You’ll pay a lot for all of this awesomeness, though: the W1 camera is priced at $599.95, the V1 viewer is $499.95, and prints cost a whopping $6.99 a pop.  But if you’re willing to cough up the dough, the products are available immediately through www.shopfujifilm.com and coming soon to Nvidia’s Gear Store.