Photography News

Since we keep getting told the economy is tight, here's a great offer from ACD Systems to lighten your load this Christmas for the photographer on your list.

If you buy their Photo Manager 2009 software for $59.99, you'll receive a second copy on CD to share or give to someone on your "nice" list. [MORE]

From Press Release:

Baseball, apple pie, diners, drive-ins, folk art. From its music to its main streets, America is defined by its history and its present, how we live and breathe within the fabric of our society. Enter the 2009 Tamron User Photo Contest and showcase your image of what makes America tick!

The Grand Prize Winner of the 2009 contest will receive a Tamron AF18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro zoom lens—the world’s first 15X ratio zoom— featuring Tamron’s new Vibration Compensation mechanism (a $599 value). [MORE]

Digital Anarchy announced this back in September but as CS4 has been rolling out the past few weeks, they just re-released this press release.

Essentially, if you're a user of Knoll Light Factory, you can now download an update that allows it to work under Vista 64-bit and Photoshop CS4. [MORE]

From Press Release:

Fashionable Camera Pouches with Minimal Bulk and Scratch Protection

M-ROCK Camera Bags Corp is pleased to introduce the Milan 661 and Paris 662 compact electronic pouches.

The Milan 661 holds point n'shoot cameras, cell phones, MP3 players and other compact electronics up to 1 inch deep and the Paris 662 offers a little extra room for slightly larger items. Both pouches provide stream-line and scratch free storage of your electronic item and are perfect for carrying in a purse or shirt pocket, with a fashionable appearance for a night out on the town.

The Milan 661 and Paris 662 come in glittery gold, silver or plain black and include soft scratch free lining, draw string and lock for secure closure.

The m.s.r.p. is $15.00 for the Milan 661 and $16.00 for the Paris 662. Both are available at http://www.m-rock.com and shortly at photographic retailers across the country.

Adobe Software has sweetened the deal for those looking to upgrade to the new CS4 suites/products with free shipping on all orders before December 1, 2008. Follow the link below for more info.

Additionally, you can download trial versions of all the CS4 individual products from Adobe's download site. Lightroom 2.0 trial is included here as well.

The de facto standard in HDR image creation, Photomatix Pro, has been upgraded to version 3.1 and as a bonus, HDRSoft has included a Lightroom plugin that allows seamless integration between the two apps.

Trial versions and upgrades are available at the More Info link below.

Included in this release: [MORE]

There’s an all-new look to getolympus.com.
Go check it out and enter a contest to win one of three big prizes: a five-night extreme vacation with airfare; an “All-American Rejects” concert package in New York City; or an E-3 Premium kit including an E-3 body, lens and wireless flash! [MORE]

"Objective measurements of RAW images are an essential basis for any analysis of digital cameras, but such measurements were neither possible nor available until now. DxO Labs has developed a new scale for digital camera image quality performance, called DxOMark Sensor, to serve as an additional tool to help photographers rank and compare digital cameras.

This scale is based on three underlying metrics, Color Depth, Dynamic Range and Low-Light ISO, each one tied to a real-life photographic scenario: landscape, studio & portrait, and photojournalism & sport." [MORE]

From Press Release...

November 17, 2008, Suresnes, France –GigaTribe www.gigatribe.com, the revolutionary free Web 2.0 file sharing software community launched today GigaTribe in the U.S. market. A FREE software community, GigaTribe lets you easily share entire file folders of photos, videos, music, and other files with your “tribe” of friends, family, and coworkers quickly and securely in a private, completely encrypted peer to peer (P2P) environment. GigaTribe will be introduced in the U.S. for the first time at the Euro Tech Showcase, held November 18-19, 2008 in Redwood City, CA.

Sharing large files or sensitive documents with friends, clients, and coworkers shouldn’t be as hard or as expensive as it is with other services, that can charge up to thousands of dollars a year. GigaTribe is entirely free, with the option of a GigaTribe “Ultimate” upgrade with more advanced features (such as faster downloads), priced at only $29.95/year. In addition, GigaTribe does not require any extra steps to share a file. Once you select which folders you want to share with your groups, those folders are instantly accessible to your friends. You can add new files to those folders or change those files at any time. There is no need for any additional steps, no uploading, no size limitations, and no security threat. [MORE]

Why wait until next Friday? Corel is giving you the chance to be thankful for some real savings well before the post-Turkey Day sales.

They are offering Paint Shop Pro PHOTO X2 at the 50% off price of $39.99. Other values include Painter 4 Essentials ($49.99 full), Ulead Photo Impact X3 ($39.99 full), and Photo Album 7 ($14.99).

Discounts for other Corel products are also included.

Additionally if you order before November 30, 2008, you'll get FREE SHIPPING.

Also check with Corel on Black Friday itself to see the special deal they are offering on the full version of the amazing Corel Painter X. It's their "Door Crasher" special.

Adobe has released an update to its Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in, available immediately as a free download on Adobe.com. Adobe Camera Raw 5.2 extends raw file support to an additional seven camera models, including the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Panasonic DMC LX3. This update provides several new enhancements including the Targeted Adjustment Tool for on-image refinements and output sharpening for print or screen output. Also, users now have the ability to create a snapshot of all adjustments made to an image as a bookmark for future reference.

In addition, Adobe has updated Camera Profiles, which are now available natively within Camera Raw 5.2 and DNG Converter 5.2. Camera profiles provide the visual starting-point for photographers using a raw processing workflow. Adobe supplies different styles of profiles while also providing the ability for customization. [MORE]

Delkin Devices, makers of the Sensor Scope as well as other cool photography accessories is having a Thanksgiving sale through Sunday November 30, 2008. Use the offer code HOLIDAY with you order to receive 25% off everything in the store. Additionally orders over $100 get FREE shipping.

Paul C. Buff company, the makers of the incredible and stylish Alienbees flash units are preparing to ship the CyberSync series of remote flash triggers. They offer a transmitter and either a battery or AC powered receiver. The CyberSync works with 16 frequencies and is FCC compliant unlike some of the import units found on ebay and other sites.

"It is important to note that non-FCC devices are illegal to use or sell in the USA and that users and sellers can be subject to criminal charges and/or confiscation." (EEP! I have one of these illegal units! Er... A friend does. A very DISTANT friend.) [MORE]