Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Friday, 27 January 2012

Welcome to the 466th Digital Photography Review newsletter. Nikon 1 system reviewed It's been hard to avoid the marketing campaign for Nikon's 1 system (though readers outside the US are at least spared Ashton Kutcher's enthusiasm), a different approach to mirrorless cameras that aims to offer point-and-shoot users the kinds of capabilities that their compacts have always lacked. The idea is to have a small, fast read-out sensor that's capable of phase-detection autofocus, to produce a camera that will always capture the action. Our testing showed that both the Nikon J1 and V1 do indeed focus quickly and that their image quality holds up remarkably well in low light. But there's more to a camera than just that, and we made some interesting discoveries that you'll want to know about if you're thinking of buying into the system. Click here to read our full review. Sigma COO talks about mirrorless and future plans Not all the mirrorless action has related to Nikon, though. We spoke to Sigma about its recently-announced Digital Neo prime lenses for Sony's NEX and the Micro Four Thirds system. COO Kazuto Yamaki pointed out that Sigma's DP series helped show there was a market for large-sensors in small bodies and promised exciting products for loyal supporters of the company. Click here to read what he had to say. And, lest you think Sigma is the only third-party lens maker to reflect on the sales successes of mirrorless, Tamron and Tokina have announced they will be making lenses for Micro Four Thirds. Meanwhile, a rather interesting copyright ruling in the UK has generated some lively debate on the site. If you've ever wondered where inspiration ends and copying begins, you may be surprised by the ruling. We've got plenty more to come over the coming week - including an interview with a Nikon executive about the 1 system, our review of the Nikon CoolPix P7100 and, of course, any products being announced in the run-up to the CP+ show in Yokohama. So keep those browsers tuned to dpreview. Richard

News updates Metabones and Conurus create Canon EF to Sony E-mount 'smart adapter' Published on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 5:59:51 PM GMT Canadian lens interface experts Conurus and Sino-Japanese adapter maker Metabones have created an electronic 'Smart adapter' for using Canon EF lenses on the Sony NEX's E-mount. The adapter is manual focus-only but allows control of aperture and the use of the image stabilization on Canon IS lenses. Full lens information, including focal length, aperture and lens IS is reported back to the camera for EXIF, allowing the use of all P,A,S and M modes. The adapter also features a 'Wide Open' button that opens the aperture up for fine focusing, with the lens otherwise stopped-down to the chosen aperture, giving accurate depth-of-field in live view. It will cost $399. Read full story → Mamiya and Leaf brands and lineups consolidate Published on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:18:38 PM GMT Medium format makers Mamiya and Leaf, both partially owned by Phase One, are to co-brand their operations and co-ordinate product development. The two companies' products will be sold as a single product line to create a comprehensive medium-format system. Digital backs will still be branded as Leaf, which Phase One and the Israeli company's managers bought from Kodak in 2009. Camera bodies and lenses will still be made by and branded as Mamiya, the Japanese manufacturer in which phase One has a controlling stake. However, all marketing and support efforts will be brought together, and product development integrated. [Story corrected to clarify that the move comes from the individual companies, not Phase One] Read full story → Panasonic updates firmware for GX1 and 100-300mm F4.0-5.6 Mega OIS Published on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 7:15:50 PM GMT Panasonic is offering updated firmware for its DMC-GX1 enthusiast Micro Four Thirds model, and its 100-300mm telephoto lens. The GX1 update adds a series of interface and function improvements, including enhanced auto white balance and continuous autofocus. Meanwhile the 100-300mm lens' image stabilization is improved. The firmware will be available at the end of January. Read full story → Sigma Interview: 'we must prepare a camera for our loyal customers' Published on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 9:31:57 PM GMT 'We have to prepare a camera [for our loyal customers],' said Sigma COO Kazuto Yamaki when we spoke to him at the CES 2012 trade show. In the interview, he explained: 'I personally feel bad that some of our loyal customers couldn't [afford] the SD1' and promised that, in addition to making 'exciting' future products, the company would do all it can to reduce manufacturing costs. Yamaki also explained the approach it has taken with it Digital Neo lenses for mirrorless cameras. Click here to read the full interview. Read full story → Kodak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Published on Thursday, January 19, 2012 7:28:28 PM GMT As film giant Kodak files for bankruptcy protection, everyone from photographers to economists is looking back at the company that was, for so long, synonymous with American photography. The company has entered the US 'Chapter 11' process by which a court oversees its restructuring and protects it from its creditors as it attempts to reorganize into a profitable business. However it emerges from the process, Kodak will never again be the photographic titan it was during the film era. This has prompted many retrospective articles, including a heartfelt and personal piece by New York Times writer and photography blogger David Gonzalez. Read full story → Olympus updates PEN E-P3, E-PL3 and E-PM1 firmware for power zooms Published on Thursday, January 19, 2012 11:18:11 PM GMT Olympus has issued updated firmware for its latest PEN models to better cope with the recently launched Micro Four Thirds power zoom lenses. Firmware v1.2 is supposed to result in a more accurate display of focal length on the camera display, in EXIF data and in playback. Firmware can be downloaded either via the Olympus camera software or by using the 'Digital Camera Updater' utility downloaded from the company's website. Read full story → Article: Landscape Photography Primer Published on Friday, January 20, 2012 12:05:39 AM GMT Professional photographer Carsten Krieger introduces the practice of landscape photography, looking at the various equipment choices and composition options that any budding landscape shooter should be familiar with when embarking in this popular genre. He also explains the importance of pre-trip research and planning to put you in the right place at the right time. Read full story → Eye-Fi contests SD Association's Wireless LAN standard Published on Friday, January 20, 2012 6:14:48 PM GMT The legality of the SD Association's Wireless LAN standard for SD cards is being challenged by wireless SD maker Eye-Fi. The company says the standard, announced at CES, uses elements of its intellectual property that it hasn't agreed to license. 'Essential Eye-Fi patented technology would be violated by anyone implementing this draft specification.' Eye-Fi says the SD Association's own process for approving the standard has not been completed and the draft standard should not have been announced. Read full story → Adobe: upgrades available for individual CS3 and CS4 packages Published on Friday, January 20, 2012 6:50:45 PM GMT Adobe has clarified that its upgrade offer for CS3 and CS4 owners does apply to users of individual Creative Suite programs, such as PhotoShop. Our earlier news story has been corrected to recognize this. Read full story → Just Posted: Nikon 1 V1 and J1 review Published on Friday, January 20, 2012 8:27:12 PM GMT Just Posted: Our review of the Nikon 1 V1 and the simpler J1. Nikon's first foray into the mirrorless market has produced two point-and-shoot targeted small-sensor cameras, the V1 and the J1. The more expensive V1 offers an electronic viewfinder and higher-resolution screen, while the smaller J1 features built-in flash and significantly lower price tag. Nikon's decision to use a small, 10MP sensor (with the speed benefits that can bring) caused vigorous debate when the cameras were first announced but this hasn't stopped the company's vast marketing effort persuding a lot of people to buy them. So, after painstaking investigation, we ask: 'are the Nikon 1 cameras any good?' Read full story → Exhibition Review: Yul Brynner - A Photographic Journey Published on Sunday, January 22, 2012 7:38:32 AM GMT As well as starring roles in films such as 'The King and I', and 'The Ten Commandments', Yul Brynner was an accomplished photographer whose subjects were some of the most acclaimed actors of the 20th century. 'A Photographic Journey', in London's The Little Black Gallery showcases some of his most famous images, and Matt Golowczynski went along to take a look.   Read full story → Technique Article: Automating Photoshop Published on Monday, January 23, 2012 8:35:52 PM GMT In addition to its powerful editing capabilities, Photoshop's actions and batch processing tools can help increase your productivity by performing tasks with little or no user intervention. Photographer and author Ellen Anon explains how to make the most of this automation, taking you step-by-step through the process of recording individual actions and incorporating them into automated routines that can be applied to multiple images in a single go. Read full story → Sony redesigns back-lit CMOS for improved smartphone cameras Published on Monday, January 23, 2012 11:59:00 PM GMT Sony has developed CMOS designs to offer improved performance on small sensors and is planning three such sensors for smartphones and similar devices. The 'Stacked CMOS' design builds on the backlit CMOS idea by building the light-sensitive photo element on top of the processing circuitry, rather than combining them in a single layer. This creates a greater light-sensitive area while also making more space for processing circuitry. The company has also demonstrated two feaures that use the extra circuitry space of the design. Read full story → Japanese news service lends support to Olympus OM rumors Published on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 12:52:57 AM GMT Kyodo News International, a Japanese news service, is reporting that Olympus will introduce a 16MP camera based on its classic OM series. The news would tie-in with a recent Olympus press advert in the UK that highlighted the letters 'O' and 'M' in the text. The report suggests such a camera would sell for over ¥100,000 (around $1300) and feature 'high-speed autofocus and image stabilization functionality.' Meanwhile, Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei is reporting that Sony is considering investing in Olympus and forming a business alliance. Fujifilm which, like Olympus, has extensive medical interests is also rumored to be interested. Read full story → Lytro meeting suggests Apple looking beyond conventional photography Published on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 10:31:57 PM GMT Steve Jobs met Lytro founder Ren Ng to discuss the photographic aspects of Apple products, according to a new book about the company. Details are understandably sparse but, according to Adam Lashinsky's book 'Inside Apple,' Jobs asked Ng to prepare a list of three things he'd like Lytro to do with Apple. If nothing else, the story is interesting as it suggests Jobs was as excited by the Lytro and its effect on photography as the rest of the tech community has been. It also suggests Apple's approach to mobile photography might overlap with Lytro's aim of creating something fun, shareable and engaging, rather than attempting to replace conventional photography. Such an approach would certainly be in keeping with Apple's 'disruptive' approach to technology. (from 9-to-5Mac) [Updated with response from Lytro] Read full story → Similar, but not copied, image found to breach copyright Published on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 2:52:14 AM GMT Amateur Photographer magazine has published an interesting story about a copyright infringement case of similar, but not directly copied, images. The issue of copyright is thorny, contentious and often misunderstood but this case sheds some light on the current attitude of courts in the UK. Despite significant differences between the two images (there was no implication that the second image was a duplicate of the first), the court found that the second image copied substantially from the 'creative expression' of the first (that is the elements that can be protected by copyright in the original image, including a consideration of the composition, lighting and processing of the image). Read full story → DxO Optics Pro v7.2 extends Panasonic G-series support and adds Canon S100 Published on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 2:00:00 PM GMT DxO Labs has added the Canon S100 and Panasonics' GF3, G2 and G1 to the list of cameras supported by its DxO Optics Pro software. The cameras are added to both the Standard and Elite versions of the Optics Pro v7.2, that the company says are more stable than before. Version 7.2 also gains the ability to import Optics Pro v6 databases containing the image processing settings for existing images. Read full story → Pentax announces Optio VS20 20x zoom with twin shutter buttons Published on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 10:00:00 PM GMT Pentax has announced the Optio VS20, possibly the first compact camera with a second shutter button and zoom lever for portrait-orientation shooting. Beyond that it's a pretty well-specified 20x compact superzoom, featuring a 28-560mm equivalent zoom lens with sensor-shift image stabilization for its 16MP CCD. It's not the smallest 20x zoom camera we've seen but it manages to include a anti-glare-coated 460k dot 3.0" LCD and costs $249/£199, so it's not uncompetitive. Read full story → Tamron and Tokina join Micro Four Thirds Published on Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:17:48 PM GMT Tamron and Tokina have joined the Micro Four Thirds group, meaning all three major third-party lens makers are likely to produce optics for the system. No further details of their intentions have been given. The announcement comes just after Sigma announced its first lenses for both Sony's E-mount and Micro Four Thirds - both lenses that we think make more sense on APS-C than the Micro Four Thirds format. It will be interesting to see whether Tamron and Kenko Tokina develop lenses specifically for the smaller format. Meanwhile high-end video manufacturer Astrodesign has also joined the consortium, and released a Micro Four Thirds mount 4K video camera head. Read full story → High-end video maker Astrodesign joins Micro Four Thirds Published on Thursday, January 26, 2012 7:05:58 PM GMT Astrodesign, a high-end Japanese video manufacturer has signed-up to the Micro Four Thirds system. It offers a 4K camera system (including separate camera head, processor and control unit) that captures 3840×2160 4K video at 60p. The company suggests its use for movie and broadcast shooting, live monitoring of medical operations and other applications requiring super-high resolution video. While the move is unlikely to directly affect most Micro Four Thirds camera users, it could boost the system's position within the video industry, encouraging the creation of an eco-system of accessories for video makers using the system. Read full story →