Well, it looks like the best view of this year’s eclipse on August 21st is going to go to NASA. They recently announced that they’ll be chasing it with WB-57F jets. For most of us here on planet earth, the eclipse will last around two and a half minutes in total. You can see here how to capture it from the ground. For the NASA scientists aboard the jets, though, it will last over seven minutes....
Instagram users are reporting a new scam on the app. Reportedly, they have been getting messages from random Instagram accounts claiming to have edited their images “for hours.” The scam is targeted at everyone, and if you’re a photographer, pay special attention. According to Yahoo!, Instagram users are getting messages that all have a similar script. The sender tells them that they have edited their photos, adding “this took me three hours to make....
We’ve seen some of the algorithms that can enhance low-quality photos. The researchers from Oxford University and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow have developed a new approach for restoring damaged or low-quality images. Instead of training the neural network with thousands of photos, their system called Deep Image Prior works everything out from the original image. And without any previous learning, it turns a pixelated or damaged photo into a hi-res one....
Ricoh has introduced their newest DSLR camera, Pentax KP. On the first sight, it’s just another DSLR. But it has a unique feature: ISO of 819,200. Yup, you read it right. This tiny titan can see in the dark. It’s equipped with 24.32MP APS-C CMOS sensor, and features 5-axis in-body image stabilization for maximum sharpness. Pentax KP is lightweight and compact, but apparently quite powerful when it comes to working in low light....
I have been using both the Nikon 14mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye for a while now, and I have been noticing that the images from the 14mm are very very similar to the images from the 16mm fisheye after a lens correction has been applied. Of course, there is one very big difference between these two lenses: the Nikon AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8 ED lens costs $1891....
It’s funny how the Internet rumour mill sometimes seems to work. Some random person makes an off-hand comment to somebody. That somebody then relays it on to somebody else. Then it gets sent to some online publication, perhaps with a slight embellishment or two to make it sound more interesting. Then, before you know it, half the world is reporting that Nikon are firing 10% of their domestic workforce in Japan....
Nikon announced their XQD cards back in August 2018, but they’re now finally in the USA, just in time to become obsoleted by the wave of CFexpress cards being released by everybody else. It only seems to be available in 64GB capacity, and not the 120GB previously reported, but they are showing as available right now to pre-order from B&H for $129.95. The release comes just at a time when SanDisk, Delkin, ProGrade, Wise and Lexar have just released their CFexpress cards for order (in the case of SanDisk) or pre-order (everybody else), offering 3-4x the speeds of Nikon’s (or anybody else’s) XQD cards....
Nikon has just announced Coolpix P1000: a compact camera that boasts the world’s highest optical zoom ration of 125x. The lens covers a range of focal lengths between 24mm and 3000mm (35mm equivalent). And if that’s not enough, there’s also 250x digital zoom, which will give you an equivalent focal length of 6000mm. Coolpix P1000 features a 16MP backside illuminated CMOS sensor and a built-in Nikkor lens. As mentioned earlier, the lens covers a 24-3000mm equivalent zoom range, which can be handy, but also tricky for handheld shooting when zoomed in....
There have been a few issues reported with the Nikon Z7’s video capabilities. Talk of banding and pixelation that come as a result of how the Nikon Z7 captures full frame 4K. DPReview has just posted the below test footage, though, shot with the Nikon Z6 and it shows that it’s a very different animal, getting much closer to the Sony A7III in terms of quality. They also have their usual side-by-side comparison of a still frame grab from the Nikon Z6 and Sony A7III in their various shooting modes....
Norway has introduced a new law aimed to tackle unrealistic and potentially dangerous beauty standards. From now on, any social media post made for promotional purposes has to clearly state if the photos or videos in it were altered. Those who don’t do it will be fined or even end up in jail. I stumbled upon this information while browsing through Stories on Instagram. I saw it at Kritički, a brilliant profile dedicated to critical thinking, breaking taboos, and tackling various social issues....
This is a strange one. Apparently, the Olympus OM-D Webcam Beta software that Olympus released to allow you to use your Olympus OM-D mirrorless camera as a USB webcam has ceased to function. As of January 1st, 2021, it just quit working without warning. And, sure, you can change your computer’s clock to trick it, but then that can potentially cause other issues if you want to actually use it....
Panasonic has announced a major firmware update for the Panasonic GH6. The new Version 2.0 firmware adds a couple of features that customers have been asking for since the camera was first announced. Namely, 4K 60fps ProRes 422 HQ capture internally as well as full resolution 5.7K and 4K DCI RAW over HDMI output at 60fps and 120fps respectively. And for anamorphic shooters, you also get 5.8K and 4.4K RAW over HDMI....
A new patent spotted by Canon News shows a lens mount that looks similar to both Canon’s EF and EF-M mounts but is actually neither. The web translation of the patent is a little confusing. The patent seems to suggest, though, that this mount could be some kind of hybrid compatible with both full frame EF and EF-M mirrorless lenses. We all knew, really, that a new mount would likely be coming with a full frame mirrorless Canon....
This is something that I really wish more manufacturers would do. Pentax has released Software Development Kits (SDKs) for their range of DSLRs allowing programmers write apps to communicate with them for the desktop, iOS and Android devices. This would allow anybody to be able to make software to talk with Pentax DSLRs, and without any kind of hacks or reverse engineering. There are four SDKs being released allowing developers to create apps for a number of platforms....
The resurgence in film’s popularity in the last few years has been a wonderful thing. Large format photography is only just starting to see the the kind of reawakening that 35mm experienced, but it is definitely making a comeback. For those that are already shooting 4×5, your life might be about to get a little easier (although it may not once you realise the cost). The newly announced Pentax Film Duplicator 4×5 lets you digitise your film from 35mm up to 4×5 negatives using a simple DSLR....
Former presidential photographer Pete Souza has found himself in the familiar role again. This time, he photographed the fictional president Frank Underwood from House of Cards. Kevin Spacey plays the president in this popular Netflix series, and he played the role perfectly in front of Souza’s lens. Souza, Spacey and Michael Kelly (who plays chief of staff Doug Stamper) were hitting the iconic landmarks of Washington D.C., taking photos for “presidential” portfolio....
Rock en Seine is one of the main music festivals in France. This August, photographer Pierre-Louis Ferrer was invited to cover the 16th edition of the event. There was no dictated theme: the photographer had complete freedom to give his vision of the festival. He chose to stay true to his usual photographic style, so he shot the festival’s atmosphere in infrared. As a result, he created unique, funky, and even eerie festival images we don’t get to see every day....
In the modern digital world, what is it that fascinates us about photography techniques that died out maybe a hundred years or more ago? Whatever it is, you can satisfy your desires a little bit with this video featuring wet plate photographer David Rambow, who walks us through his thoughts and process when working in this medium. The wet plate process dates back to the mid 19th century, and started to die out in the 1880s by a dry glass plate process, to overcome the limitations of wet plate photography, but this introduced us to what we now call grain....
Virginia-based photographer Jason Hirschfeld recently lost his life while taking photos from the top of a parking garage. The 48-year-old man fell from 80 feet (24m) height, and lost his life in a freak accident that is yet to be examined. The tragedy happened on Saturday at the downtown Norfolk parking garage. The police got a report shortly after midnight, and paramedics could only pronounce Hirschfeld dead at the scene....
Most of the cameras that have been on the Moon have reportedly stayed there. So, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find one here on Earth. Or is it? Photographer and space camera maker Cole Rise managed to find Gene Cernan’s missing camera from Apollo 17. And no, he didn’t have to fly to the Moon to get it – it has been in a museum in Switzerland. Cole published a great article about his search for Gene Cernan’s missing Moon camera....
