Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Tuesday, 30 October 2012

	Digital Photography Review Newsletter Tuesday, 30 October 2012 The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 300,000 subscribers
Welcome to the 451st Digital Photography Review newsletter. Pentax K-30 reviewed... It's taken a little bit longer than we hoped, but we've just published our in-depth review of the Pentax K-30. As has become something of a tradition for Pentax, the K-30 offers a solid, photographer-focused feature set. It may be less expensive than the much-loved K-5 but it gives up very little in terms of specification - it has a 100% viewfinder and a level of weather sealing unique at this point in the market. Is that enough to compete in this popular part of the market? Read our review to find out ...with more on the way. The K-30 is just the first of a series of reviews we're pushing hard to bring you in time for the Christmas/holiday season. We've been adding elements to our forthcoming Nikon D600 review and have started to publish sample galleries from the enthusiast compacts we hope to test soon. The resumption of lens reviews is also just days away. Enthusiast compacts receive exposure We've also published a samples gallery from the Nikon P7700 - one of the handful of exciting enthusiast compacts announced in the last couple of months. It retains the 28-200mm equivalent range of the P7100 but has a lens that's a stop brighter, throughout that range. Our sample gallery, which we've added to our hands-on preview, gives a taste of what it's capable of. Another of the current generation of fast-lens, 1/1.7" sensor compacts is the Panasonic DMC-LX7. The latest in a well-respected line, the LX7 gains a CMOS sensor and more user-control than ever. We've published a review of this latest Lumix in collaboration with Jeff Keller from The Digital Camera Resource Page. Click here to read the review. Major processing software updated There have also been two major software updates in the past week, with both Phase One's Capture One Pro and DxO Labs' DxO Optics Pro being updated. Optics Pro 8 gains a 'Smart Lighting' tool that influences image contrast as well as brightness, along with a variety of other updates, while Capture One Pro 7 undergoes an even greater overhaul. It gains a new processing engine and more comprehensive digital asset management functions built on Phase One's experience with Media Pro.
News updates Nikon D600 Preview updated with resolution and menu pages Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 12:34:45 AM GMT Updated: We've just added our resolution and menu pages to our hands-on preview of the Nikon D600. These latest pages have been added to the preview as we work towards the full review. Our final analysis of the D600's image quality will come later, but for now, click through to see for yourself how Nikon's newest 24MP DSLR performs against our resolution chart in both JPEG and Raw modes.  Read full story → Connect: Using your tablet as a photographic light source Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:36:02 AM GMT Connect: When you're not using it to browse the web, show off your photos or check your e-mail, have you considered using your tablet computer as a light source for photography? It may not offer a high-speed sync mode but, with an inexpensive app, it can open up some creative opportunities. Read full story → Canon update for EOS 5D Mark III to offer uncompressed HDMI output Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 3:16:49 PM GMT Canon has announced it will be releasing a firmware update for the EOS 5D Mark III that will provide uncompressed HDMI output for videographers. It will also enable autofocus using lens / teleconverter combinations with an effective aperture of f/8, using the camera's central cross-type AF points in a similar fashion to the recently-released EOS-1D X Firmware 1.1.1. However EOS 5D Mark III owners will have to wait until April 2013 before the new firmware becomes available.  Read full story → Low-res iPad Mini and updated 'Retina' iPad released in Apple refresh Published on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 7:25:19 PM GMT Apple has announced an new 'Mini' version of the iPad with a 7.9 inch, 163ppi display. The iPad Mini's display offers a quarter of the pixel count (1024 x 768 pixels compared to 2048 x 1536) of its 9.7", A6 processor-equipped cousin (simply called 'iPad'), the fourth generation of which was also unveiled at an event in San Jose, California. The iPad Mini has created a lot of buzz, but photographers might be disappointed that its screen resolution is lower than the cheaper Google Nexus 7 tablet, which offers 1280 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 217ppi. Read full story → Nikon announces 1 V2 - a more photographer-friendly, 14MP 1 series camera Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 4:01:00 AM GMT Nikon has launched the 1 V2 - a more enthusiast-focused 1-series camera built around a 14MP sensor. The V2 adds a built-in flash and mode dial and more extensive front grip. It can shoot at up to 15 frames per second in combination with its hybrid AF system. It also has a configurable 'F' button to give faster access to key camera settings. The V2 uses a processor that lives up to the latest Expeed 3A billing. It also retains the V1's original list price of $899 with 10-30mm kit zoom. Nikon has also announced an accessory SB-N7 bounce-able Speedlight for the 1 System. The V2 will be available from late November, with the SB-N7 following in January 2013. Read full story → Nikon launches 70-200mm f/4 VR telezoom with claimed 5-stop stabilization Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 4:01:00 AM GMT Nikon has launched the much-rumored AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR, a lighter and more affordable tele-zoom with a claimed 5 stops of image stabilization. This is delivered by what the company terms 'third-generation VR,' which we're told is not a successor to VRII. The lens joins Nikon's range of constant f/4 lenses, alongside the 16-35mm f/4 and 24-120mm f/4, and includes both nano crystal coating and a ring-type AF-S motor to give full-time manual focus override. At $1400 the lens is priced relatively closely to the Canon equivalent's list price - as is the $224 optional tripod ring. Read full story → Nikon announces development of three 1 Nikkor lenses Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 11:06:42 AM GMT Nikon has announced that it is developing three additional lenses for its 1 System mirrorless cameras. The 32mm f/1.2 will offer a classic short telephoto 'portrait' option, equivalent to an 86mm lens on the 35mm full frame format. The 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 VR is an image-stabilized, 18-35mm-equivalent wideangle zoom. Finally the 10-100mm f/4-5.6 superzoom will offer a similar 27-270mm-equivalent range to Nikon's existing 1 System powerzoom, but in a smaller package with a mechanical zoom ring. Full specifications, price and release date are yet to be revealed. Read full story → DxO Labs unveils Optics Pro 8 with Smart Lighting Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 1:00:00 PM GMT DxO Labs has announced DxO Optics Pro 8, a major update of its image processing tool incorporating 'DxO Smart Lighting.' The company's Smart Lighting tool influences both image brightness and contrast using a single slider and will attempt to recover both highlight and shadow detail. Meanwhile a selective tone tool makes it easy to apply different changes to the highlight, mid-tone and shadow regions of an image.The software also allows the configuration of multiple output options. It also gains more lens/body optical correction profiles, with DxO aiming to double the current 10,000 combinations by the end of 2013. The software comes with the customary introductory pricing valid until November 15th. Read full story → Connect: What do reviewers make of Microsoft's Surface laptop/tablet hybrid? Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 9:06:14 PM GMT Connect: Microsoft has taken a different approach to the tablet market with its Surface, by including a fold-out keyboard. The device isn't formally available until Friday but various tech bloggers have already had a chance to play with the Windows RT-based machine. What are their first impressions and should photographers take interest? Read full story → Apple Raw update brings support for 11 cameras, including D600 and RX100 Published on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 11:05:02 PM GMT Apple has issued Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 4.01, adding support for 11 cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11. The update includes support for many of the latest cameras including the Nikon D600, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100, Canon EOS-M and Panasonic G5. Many of the latest enthusiast compacts, including the Canon G15 and S110, and Panasonic DMC-LX7 are also covered, though there's still no support for recent high-end Fujifilm models. Read full story → Phase One releases Capture One Pro v7 Published on Thursday, October 25, 2012 11:00:00 AM GMT Phase One has announced Capture One Pro 7, the latest version of its image processing and workflow tool. The latest version is based around an entirely new image processing engine and gains digital asset management tools, developed from the company's experience with its Media Pro software. The software's tethered shooting option now gains live view for some DSLR models. The software will cost $299/€229 with significant discounts for upgraders from previous versions. Read full story → Samsung NX 12-24mm to cost $600, 45mm F1.8 around $300 Published on Thursday, October 25, 2012 5:30:22 PM GMT Samsung has announced US pricing for the 12-24mm F4-5.6 ED wide-angle zoom and 45mm F1.8 mid-telephoto prime for its NX system. The lenses - announced at Photokina - will cost around $600 for the wide-angle zoom and $300 for the 45mm F1.8. Oddly we're told there are no samples of the 45mm F1.8 at the show where they're being 'unveiled', so we can't know if it's any closer to the promised 'ultra-professional look and feel' than the inexpensive-feeling early examples we saw at Photokina. Read full story → Hands-on with the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Published on Thursday, October 25, 2012 6:21:44 PM GMT We've been one of the first publications to get a chance to handle Nikon's AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR. The example we used is officially pre-production, so we weren't able to shoot samples with it, but it had the build and handling of a finished model, so we were able to form some initial impressions of this long hoped-for F4 tele-zoom lens. Read full story → Hands-on with the Nikon 1 V2 - 14MP mirrorless camera with built-in EVF Published on Thursday, October 25, 2012 7:30:09 PM GMT We got the chance to grab some hands-on time with Nikon's latest 1-Series mirrorless interchangeable lens camera - the 1 V2. It gains a 14MP sensor, built-in flash and more conventional control points than its predecessor. Here we give our first impressions of Nikon's smallest 'serious' interchangeable lens camera. Read full story → Just Posted: Nikon Coolpix P7700 real-world sample images Published on Friday, October 26, 2012 1:17:48 AM GMT Just Posted: We've just added a 36-image sample gallery to our hands-on preview of the Nikon Coolpix P7700. We've been using a production P7700 for a few days and as we work out way through the necessary studio and real-world shooting we've created a sample gallery to show you what the camera can do. Our gallery contains images shot in a range of different conditions, both indoors and out. Click the links below to go see our full hands-on preview of the P7700 now updated with with real-world samples.  Read full story → Panasonic FL360L wireless flash for use with GH3 - more details Published on Friday, October 26, 2012 7:41:34 PM GMT DCWatch has provided more details of Panasonic's DMW-FL360L - the company's first wirelessly controllable flashgun. The feature is designed to work with the company's recently-announced range-topping DMC-GH3. The bounceable flash has a guide number of 36 (m at ISO 100) and includes a flip-down wide-angle converter to provide coverage for an 8mm (16mm equivalent) lens' field of view. It also features an LED continuous lamp for video work. US pricing isn't available but is expected to cost around £250 in the UK and ¥30,000 ($376) in Japan. (via DCWatch) Read full story → Just Posted: Pentax K-30 full review Published on Monday, October 29, 2012 7:28:17 PM GMT Just Posted: Our review of the Pentax K-30 16MP DSLR. The K-30 continues a Pentax tradition of building cameras around a strong photographer-friendly feature set. It may be less expensive than the much-loved K-5 but it gives up very little in terms of specification - it has a 100% viewfinder and a level of weather sealing unique at this point in the market. Nor does it skimp on software features, including intervalometer, distortion correction and image processing filters. So do these features add up to the perfect mid-level DSLR? Read our review to find out. Read full story → Connect: Beamr app uses JPEGmini to make high-res images sharable Published on Monday, October 29, 2012 7:56:38 PM GMT Connect: The Beamr app allows full-res iPhone and iPad images to be shared as virtual magazines. We spoke to Dror Gill, Chief Technology Officer of ICVT about the way it uses the company's JEPGmini technology to make file sizes manageable and how this is just the consumer-facing beginning. Read full story →
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Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Thursday, 11 October 2012

	Digital Photography Review Newsletter Thursday, 11 October 2012 The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 300,000 subscribers
Welcome to the 450th Digital Photography Review newsletter. Introducing connect.dpreview.com This week saw the launch of connect.dpreview.com a mobile, social and connected photography site from dpreview.com. Mobile photography and the ability to share images across social networks have helped foster a vibrant and creative new genre of photographic arts - one that is having a profound effect on the way we all shoot, share, discover and enjoy photography. Connect will explore, explain and embrace the social, mobile, app-driven, connected side of contemporary photography. Simon Joinson, Editor-in-chief Let me start by extending you a warm welcome to Connect, a new website dedicated to the technology, community and culture of 'mobile photography', including smart phones, tablets, apps, connected cameras and the creativity and community, brought to you by the team behind Digital Photography Review. With billions of images being shared by millions of smart phone photographers around the globe, the world of photography is experiencing an explosion of creativity and engagement that hasn't been seen since the first consumer digital cameras arrived almost two decades ago. This time it's different though. It's about the power of the snapshot to tell a story, to build a community, to record the mundane as well as the remarkable. It's about people who don't even think of themselves as photographers never stepping out of the door without a camera. It's about photography's power to connect. And that's why we're here. Click here to discover connect.dpreview.com
News updates Accessory Review: Nimbus Cloud Dome Published on Thursday, October 04, 2012 9:02:49 PM GMT The Nimbus Cloud Dome is a plastic bell-shaped light diffuser designed to allow you to capture evenly-lit images of small objects using a smartphone. Aimed at avid eBayers, online jewelry retailers, Craigslisters and macro photographers, the Cloud Dome provides a surprisingly versatile - and very compact - solution for shooting small subjects with your phone. Click through for the full review.  Read full story → Nikon D600 Preview Updated with Noise & Noise Reduction Samples Published on Thursday, October 04, 2012 11:14:05 PM GMT Updated: We've just added a noise and noise-reduction page to our hands-on preview of the Nikon D600. We've got a production sample D600 in the office, and over the coming weeks we'll be adding test pages to the preview as we move towards the publication of a full review. Our final analysis of the D600's image quality will come later, but for now, click through to see for yourself how Nikon's newest DSLR measures up to its competitors in terms of noise in both JPEG and Raw mode.  Read full story → AT&T brings Samsung Galaxy Camera to USA, but at what cost? Published on Thursday, October 04, 2012 11:34:39 PM GMT US mobile carrier AT&T has become the first network to announce that it will be offering Samsung's Galaxy Camera - the first truly camera-like device to include a cellular data connection. The version being offered is being described as 4G but AT&T has confrimed it will use an HSPA+ connection, rather than the faster 'LTE' system that is more widely accepted as '4G.' Prices and details of data plans are also unspecified at this point. (via Engadget) Read full story → Adobe expands DNG format with inclusion of smaller, Lossy DNG option Published on Friday, October 05, 2012 8:52:36 PM GMT Alongside its ACR and Lightroom updates, Adobe has extended the specifications of the DNG format, including the creation of a more compact, Lossy DNG option. The format has also been extended to respect in-camera cropping and allow for the inclusion of full HDR data and the non-image areas around merged panoramas. We spoke to Lightroom Product Manager, Tom Hogarty, about the changes made in v1.4 and the reasons behind them. Read full story → Book Review: The Practical Zone System for Film and Digital Photography Published on Saturday, October 06, 2012 11:03:47 PM GMT First developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer, the Zone System is one of the most enduring methods for understanding - and mastering - exposure. In the fifth edition of his well-regarded book 'The Practical Zone System for Film and Digital Photography' Chris Johnson explains why the Zone System, developed as paradigm for film shooters, can also be easily applied in the digital age. Adam Koplan takes a look. Read full story → Aptina details 1" sensor for mirrorless, bridge or broadcast-video cameras Published on Monday, October 08, 2012 2:17:11 AM GMT Sensor maker Aptina has released more details of its two most recently-announced chips, including a 10MP, 1"-type sensor that uses its dynamic range-boosting DR-Pix technology. The company, which also makes the 1" sensors used in the Nikon 1 System cameras, is making this new sensor available to the wider market. It has also provided more detail about an 18MP 1/2.3" compact camera sensor that can shoot 1080p video with three different crops at up to 120 frames per second. Read full story → Getty Images' Flickr licensing deal reaches 1/2 million images Published on Monday, October 08, 2012 5:57:40 PM GMT Getty Images' scheme for licensing images from the photo sharing site Flickr has added its 500,000th image. The half-millionth image was shot by system engineer and photo hobbyist 'Jiangang Wang' for Tianjin, China, of the Minato Mirai development in Yokohama, Japan. The licensing deal, started in June 2010, allows Flickr members to offer their images for licensing by Getty. If Getty chooses to accept the request, the photographer can choose how to license their images, at rates comparable to Getty's other images libraries. Read full story → Just Posted: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 sample images Published on Monday, October 08, 2012 11:17:21 PM GMT Just posted: Sony RX1 real-world sample images - now updated with high ISO samples. We've had the chance to shoot with a near-production RX1 and have started to put together a samples gallery. These are some of the first full resolution independent samples to be taken with an RX1. We've shot a range of subjects, both in good light and in low light at high ISOs. As usual we've included a range af apertures and focus distances too. Read full story → Lytro provides more exposure control and additional colors Published on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 3:00:00 PM GMT Lytro has announced an update that provides greater exposure control for its Light Field Camera. It will also be offering the 8GB version of the camera in two addition colors - Moxie Pink and Seaglass that will be availble from Target.com/CityTarget stores and the Lytro website respectively. The update, that will be available to all existing customers, adds a manual mode, that provides control over shutter speed and ISO (aperture always being wide open). If you decide to specify both parameters, it becomes possible to apply exposure compensation and apply the camera's built-in ND filter. Read full story → Announcing connect.dpreview.com Published on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 7:22:14 PM GMT Today sees the launch of connect.dpreview.com, a mobile, social and connected photography site from dpreview.com. Mobile photography and the ability to share images across social networks have helped foster a vibrant and creative new genre of photographic arts - one that is having a profound effect on the way we all shoot, share, discover and enjoy photography. Connect will explore, explain and embrace the social, mobile, app-tastic, connected side of contemporary photography. Click through for more details and a link to the new site.  Read full story → DxO launches DxOMark Mobile - device IQ analysis as used on Connect Published on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 8:38:58 PM GMT DxO Labs has announced 'DxOMark Mobile' - its assessment of mobile phone image quality that will support mobile device reviews on connect.dpreview.com. In its first group of tests, DxO has found that the best contemporary mobile devices (in this case the Nokia 808 PureView, with its large sensor) will out-perform a 5-year-old high-end compact camera. And when it comes to video, the Samsung Galaxy SIII will trump last year's Canon PowerShot S100. DxOMark Mobile will analyze 14 aspects of mobile imaging and produce a final score that will be comparable to existing DxOMark figures. We'll be reporting DxOMark Mobile figures alongside our overall scores in connect reviews. Read full story → A sneak peek at our forthcoming camera test scene Published on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 11:59:19 PM GMT As part of the development of connect.dpreview.com we've created a more advanced, more detailed test scene, which will be launched on dpreview.com soon. The new scene is roughly eight times larger (in area) than the existing test, allowing us to test to even higher resolutions than before, amongst other improvements. Click through for more details. Read full story → DxO Optics Pro 7.5.5 Elite adds Canon EOS-1D X and Nikon D600 Published on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 1:00:00 PM GMT DxO Labs has announced Optics Pro v7.5.5, with support for the Canon EOS-1D X and the Nikon D600. The latest version of the company's raw processing and optical correction software also adds support for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5 and DMC-LX7. Support for the two full-frame DSLRs comes only in the 'Elite' edition of the software, while the Panasonic support is also included in the standard edition, that costs around half as much. As usual, the upgrade is free to existing Optics Pro 7 users and recent purchasers of Pro 6. Read full story → Just Posted: Sony Alpha SLT-A99 samples gallery Published on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 11:24:03 PM GMT Just Posted: Full-size, real world samples from the Sony A99. We've been shooting with Sony's latest full-frame flagship camera down in San Francisco and Monterey, California as part of a Sony press trip - our first opportunity to get hold of a production-standard camera. We've put together a samples gallery taken in a variety of lighting conditions and at a range of apertures and featuring multiple subjects. Click through to see how the 24MP camera performs. Read full story →
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