Dptips :. Digital Photography Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

This Olympus SP-350 is packed with powerful manual features, but its performance and photo quality lag behind the competition’s.

Olympus has just announced the latest firmware upgrade for its 4/3 digital SLR the E-500. Version 1.1 adds three new features. The first increases the time between when the button is pressed and when the camera reverts back to the current mode to eight seconds. Once the new firmware is installed users will also be allowed to select a WB OFF option. And finally, a new security step now warns users that when erasing RAW and JPG files of the same picture both images will be deleted. To download the new…

Casio has today posted firmware version 1.02 for the Exilim Zoom EX-Z750. The minor update adds Revive Shot mode to the BEST SHOT scenes. Revive Shot was included in the list of scene modes for the last camera that Casio announced, the slim line EX-S600, and is designed to refresh faded colors of old album photos.

PC World - Apple’s new high-end photo-editing software delivers tools like those the pros use to work with film.

Two professors at the University of Rochester in New York have designed a prototype CMOS chip that uses a fraction of the energy used today, captures better images and can run for years on a single battery. Mark Bocko, professor of electrical and computer engineering and assistant professor Zeljko Ignjatovic, are also working to incorporate further technology that will compress the image with far fewer computations than current compression techniques. It’s likely that the technology will be tested first in…

MacCentral - For the last several years, digital photography has played an
increasingly important role in the conference sessions at Macworld Expo. Several new
photography features have been added for the upcoming show in January,
including a class on Apple’s Aperture post-production application.

Canadian Press - PARIS (AP) - China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest exporter of a broad category of electronic goods, including computers, mobile phones and digital cameras, the OECD said Monday.

After shooting a bunch of great images, you have to get them onto your computer. Given that most cameras come with a USB cable, it would seem that this should be an easy problem to solve. But there are other options you really should consider….

When asked about the secret of his success, the great photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt said “f/8 and be there”, meaning selecting the aperture with the best balance of speed and depth of field, together with being in the right place at the right time.

Proud papas no longer carry wallet-sized pictures of their offspring in their billfolds. In exponential numbers, they pull out their mobile phones amongst friends, make a few clicks, and cycle through the recent snaps of Johnny at the soccer match or Johnny playing with the family dog.

Just posted! Samsung’s 8MP, 15x ’super zoom’ bridge camera boasts a lot of ‘world firsts’ including the largest LCD on a digital camera (3.5 inches), world’s longest zoom on a high-end camera and world’s largest capacity lithium-ion battery. The Pro815 sports a Schneider-Kreuznach lens and boasts a color data LCD screen for waist-level shooting, 2.5fps continuous mode and a wealth of photographic features. But is it enough to for Samsung to compete with the big boys? Read our full review after the link to…

Upon first look, the Dodge and Burn paddles in PhotoShop are tempting tools, but using them straight-up is a great way to pulverize the pixels in your original image.

Nikon has announced that further batch numbers of the rechargeable lithium ion EN-EL3 batteries used in the D50, D70, D70s and D100 are being recalled. Some batteries may be defective and can overheat while being charged. All owners of Nikon cameras that use this battery are asked to carefully recheck their batteries with the new batch numbers which are listed on the next page. Faulty batteries will be replaced free of charge.

Sigma has announced a 10-20mm DC lens is now available for Konica Minolta and Pentax mounts. The super wide angle F4-5.6 EX DC lens is designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras and is suited to cameras with APS-C-sized image sensors. Special features include a new multi-layer lens coating, three pieces of Special Low Dispersion glass and three aspherical lens elements. It also has a minimum focusing distance of 24cm at all focal lengths.

Just posted! Our in-depth review of the groundbreaking Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1. The R1 is the first all-in-one (fixed lens) digital camera to feature a large APS-C size sensor, in this case a ten megapixel CMOS unit. Obviously if you can’t remove the lens then you’d expect it to be good, and in this case it is, a bright and sharp 24 - 120 mm equiv. with a maximum aperture of F2.8 to F4.8. See how the DSC-R1 performed in our tests and how it compares to the competition, read our review in full!

Following the news that Adobe completed the acquisition of Macromedia (3 December 2005), the company has now announced three new product bundles for design, video and web solutions. The Adobe Design Bundle includes Creative Suite 2 Premium with Flash Professional 8 software; the Adobe Web Bundle brings together CS 2 Premium and Studio 8; and the Adobe Video Bundle offers video solutions coupled with Flash Professional 8. The Adobe Design Bundle and Web Bundle are available now priced UKP 1381 and…

Compared to the 1Ds a few years back, the $3,299 price tag of the 5D is huge step in the right direction. The 16mp $8,000 Mark IIDS is still a hard pill to swallow. (A pro complaining about camera prices is nothing new. I once witnessed Helmut Newton ribbingly complain about the price of a Hasselblad body at a Los Angeles camera store. Helmut Newton!)

On any given day of my digital photography teachings, I’m sure to be asked “What is monitor calibrating and why calibrate? Isn’t that for pros and big-time print houses?”

About a month ago, Nikon posted an updated firmware version of for the D2x. While I never really experienced any problems with my camera with the original firmware, I have now had time to test out the new version and am happy to report that Nikon has indeed made a good thing even better….

Pentax has announced its first DA Fish-Eye ED IF lens. The optic has a focal length of 10-17mm and aperture of F3.5-4.5. The lens is designed exclusively for use with the Pentax *ist D series and will capture fish-eye imagery with a 180 degree angle of view. The image circle of the lens will match the image recording area (23.5mm x 15.7mm) of the *ist D series to ensure precise optical performance ideally suited to the camera’s digital imaging characteristics. The lens will ship in January 2006 for around…