Digital Photography Review Newsletter: Thursday, 20 December 2012

	Digital Photography Review Newsletter Thursday, 20 December 2012 The most popular weekly photography newsletter, with over 300,000 subscribers
Welcome to the 455th Digital Photography Review newsletter. Sony Alpha SLT-A99 review Sony's SLT concept, that allows full-time liveview and focusing during movie shooting has been as divisive as the semi-transparent mirror it's based around. So the announcement of a flagship, full-frame model built around the technology was a significant statement of Sony's faith in the idea. The SLT-A99 includes a handful of new features, including a depth-aware autofocus mode and a programmable focus limit mode, along with the full range of features Sony has been building into its recent cameras. What does this mean for the 24MP enthusiast powerhouse? Read our full review to find out. Enthusiast zoom compact roundup The enthusiast compact corner of the market has been resurgent in recent years and 2012 has seen some impressive additions. We've gather together the nine main current models, gone out shooting and tried to get the measure of them all. We've also tried to narrow-down the field, to help you make a decision, should you be looking for a second camera or you don't want to mess about with changing lenses. Click here to see how we got on. Fujifilm X-E1 preview extended We've done a lot of testing on Fujifilm's attractive enthusiast mirrorless camera, the X-E1 and had a chance to get plenty of shooting done. This has allowed us to extend our preview of the camera with a healthy chunk of test data and some informed first impressions. Click here to see how the X-Pro1's little brother gets on. End-of-year poll 2012 has been a great year for photographers, as some excellent cameras have been launched. There's been plenty of innovation and still more of the steady progression we've come to expect, leading to an impressive crop of capable cameras. Fujifilm did great things with its X-trans technology while Nikon (with a little help from Sony's semiconductor division), raised the bar with its D800 and the Mirrorless camera arguably came-of-age with the Olympus OM-D. But which was the stand-out camera for you? Help us wrap-up the year with a little seasonal frivolity by voting in our poll. Richard
News updates Adobe releases Lightroom 4.3 and Adobe Camera Raw 7.3 Published on Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:17:34 AM GMT Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 4.3 and Adobe Camera Raw 7.3. These are final versions of updates that were originally posted as 'release candidates' on the Adobe Labs site, and are available for immediate download. The latest versions provide RAW support for 13 additional cameras, including the Canon EOS 6D, Nikon D5200 and Sony DSC-RX1. The Mac version of Lightroom features a Develop module that supports Apple's HiDPI mode, that makes the interface easier to read on the 'Retina' panels used on recent Macs.  Read full story → BBC examines how fake photographs can change our memories Published on Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:38:02 PM GMT Manipulation of photographs is nothing new. For as long as cameras have existed, photographers have staged, retouched and combined images and passed them off as 'real'. Sometimes for artistic purposes, sometimes for fun, but sometimes for more nefarious purposes. The BBC has published a fascinating article on its international 'Future' site exploring the power that faked photographs have over us, and draws some alarming conclusions about our memories, and how easily they too can be manipulated. Click through for more information and a link to the full article.  Read full story → Connect Review: Shooting with the Samsung Galaxy Camera Published on Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:44:39 PM GMT The Samsung Galaxy Camera is the the most serious attempt anyone's yet made to build a truly connected camera. It's essentially a hybrid of the company's WB850F compact superzoom and its Galaxy SIII smartphone - combining the zoom range and larger sensor of the camera with the powerful processor, touch screen and Android operating system of the 'phone. But how much extra capability does this bring? Mobile photographer Oliver Lang takes a look. Read full story → Time magazine showcases Top 10 photos of 2012 Published on Friday, December 14, 2012 10:15:30 AM GMT Time magazine has published its Top 10 photos of 2012. As part of its end-of-year series including the 'most surprising pictures of the year' and the 'Top 10 Photographic Magazine Covers', this set includes the images that moved the team the most in 2012. "They all deliver a strong emotional impact — whether they show a child mourning his father who was killed by a sniper in Syria; a heartbreaking scene in a Gaza City morgue  or a haunting landscape of New Jersey coastline after Hurricane Sandy" says Kira Pollack, Time's Director of Photography. Click through to see what they chose. Read full story → Nikon marks production of 75 millionth Nikkor lens Published on Monday, December 17, 2012 11:49:36 AM GMT Nikon is celebrating the production of its 75 millionth Nikkor lens for its interchangeable lens cameras. The lineup currently consists of more than 80 kinds of lenses, including specialty Fisheye, Micro, and PC-E lenses for SLR cameras, as well as 1 Nikkor lenses for its Nikon 1 cameras. The lens series was introduced in 1959 with the launch of the Nikkor S Auto 5cm f/2. Read full story → DxO Optics Pro 8.1.1 supports Sony SLT-A99, Pentax K-5 II & Canon EOS M Published on Monday, December 17, 2012 2:00:00 PM GMT DxO Labs has updated its DxO Optics Pro software to version 8.1.1 with the addition of support for the Sony SLT-A99, Canon EOS M, Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIs. The latest update also includes over 300 additional camera/lens correction modules. The update is free for Optics Pro 8 users and is available immediately. New users can purchase the latest version with a 33% discount until December 25, 2012. Read full story → DxOMark introduces 'Perceptual MPix' score for lens sharpness Published on Monday, December 17, 2012 4:00:00 PM GMT DxOMark has introduced a new metric of lens sharpness that it's calling the 'Perceptual MegaPixel'. This is designed to give a simple, easily-understandable indication of how a lens impacts on the resolution of the camera with which it's paired. The measurement is based on standard MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) testing, but also takes into account the sensitivity of the human visual system to detail. The data can be explored over at the DxOMark website.   Read full story → What you need to know: Instagram's terms of service changes Published on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 5:50:51 PM GMT Photo-sharing service Instagram is making headlines for a change to its terms and conditions that appears to allow the sale of users' images. The updated terms of service talk in terms of letting other businesses or entities pay to display usernames, likenesses, and photos in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation. Understandably, some Instagram users are very unhappy, but do they need to be? Click through to read our quick guide to what the new terms and conditions mean for you.  Read full story → Samsung and Time Out announce contest for Londoners and New Yorkers Published on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 11:40:26 PM GMT Samsung and Time Out magazine have announced the ‘Share your Now’ contest. Participants can upload images they have captured of New York or London to a dedicated portal on the Time Out website. Each week, five entrants from each city will win a Samsung Galaxy Camera. When the nine-week competition closes on 4th March, Time Out will commission three winners from London, and three from New York, 'to share their take on their own city', using their Android OS-based camera. These final images will be featured on the front cover of region-specific Time Out magazines. The winners will also receive a free trip to the other city. A grand winner will be announced after readers vote for their favorite cover photo. The competition is open until 10 February 2013. Read full story → Instagram backs away from controversial changes to terms of service Published on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 11:55:50 PM GMT Instagram has backed away from controversial changes it planned to make to its terms of service. Co-founder Kevin Systrom has used the company blog to announce that the most sensitive phrase in the terms will be revised. The update would have given Instagram the right to sell user's images to third parties without compensating them. Systrom says this was never the company's intention. Instead, he says, wording will be developed to allow it to associate information such as users' profile images with commercial postings (as Instagram's owners, Facebook, do). Read full story → Just Posted: Enthusiast Zoom Compact Camera Roundup Published on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 6:10:49 PM GMT The holiday season is upon us once again and with all the sales and special deals around at the moment, this is a great time to start thinking about getting a new camera. Maybe for a loved one, maybe just as a treat to yourself. In this article, we'll be looking at the current field of enthusiast zoom compact cameras, and examining their relative strengths and weaknesses to help you make your buying decision. Click through for a link to our 12-page article. Read full story → Nikon patents revive the dream of a digital back for film SLRs? Published on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 8:41:16 PM GMT A patent filed by Nikon in Japan appears to revive the long-held dream of adding a digital sensor to an existing film SLR. The Japanese Engineering Accomplishment blog found the recently published patent that shows a mechanism for mounting and adjusting the position of a digital sensor on a rear door that could be used to replace the conventional film door. However, the patent only covers the mounting of the sensor relative to the film guides - it doesn't address any of the hurdles that have stood in the way of anyone realizing this long-discussed idea. (via PetaPixel) Read full story → 500px and the challenges of upscaling Published on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 9:18:30 PM GMT Photo sharing site 500px has become a popular venue amongst photographers - resembling in many ways the photography-friendly environment that made Flickr popular a few years ago. It faces a range of challenges as it grows - including the how to keep exposing great photography in the face of booming membership and attempts to 'game' its systems. Connect discusses these challenges and some clever cloud-based features about to be launched with 500px CEO Oleg Gutsol. Read full story → Dpreview Users' Poll: Best Camera of 2012? Published on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:21:08 PM GMT Well, hasn't 2012 gone by quickly? We're nearly at the end of another year, and 2012 was one of the busiest that we can remember, as camera manufacturers regained some momentum after the worst of the economic downturn and various natural disasters. This year saw a lot of innovation and movement at the top of the ranges of biggest camera manufacturers, making it a fantastic year for photo enthusiasts and reviewers alike (even if we are completely exhausted at this point). So at the end of an incredibly busy year we want to know which cameras stood out for you. Click through for a link to our end-of-year poll.  Read full story →
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