Feb 13
Do you code in your sleep? Do you count in binary? (not an essential requirement). Do you also share a passion for photography? Do you want the dubious pleasure of working alongside the rest of the dpreview team on what is arguably the most exciting photography website in the world? We’re looking for two web development engineers with a solid grounding in Visual Studio, ASP.NET 2.0, Javascript and SQL Server 2000 / 2005. These positions will be at our office in London (UK).
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Phase One has been busily updating its Capture One RAW workflow software and has released versions 3.7.8 and 4.0.1. These releases add new cameras to the compatibility list and fix bugs in previous versions. Full details after the jump.
Delkin showed some interesting new products - and a few familiar ones - at PMA 2008. The ImageRouter is a daisy-chainable four slot CompactFlash reader which is designed to offer the busy professional a more efficient method of transferring large amounts of data from multiple cards. The Dual Universal Charger shouldn’t require much explanation; it has two charging positions and may be adapted to a plethora of different battery designs through the use of customized charging plates. The SensorScope inspection and cleaning solution gets an overhaul for 2008 and for those to whom exterior condition is as important as the image itself the Snug-it Pro camera skin range will keep easily-damaged casings from attracting knocks and scrapes. Media-wise, Delkin now has SSD (Solid State Drive) hard-drive replacements in ExpressCard 34 format and capacities of 4, 8 or 16 GB. Additionally flash media is now available in 16 GB capacity as 305x CF or Class 6 SDHC. Last but not least, there are new Pop-up LCD shades for the Canon EOS 40D.
Tamron announced yet another lens at this year’s PMA show, the SP AF70-200mm F/2.8 Di LD (IF) MACRO. This fast telezoom gets in close thanks to its 0.95m minimum focus distance, realizing a magnification ratio of 1:3.1 at 200mm. Plenty of coatings keep stray light to a minimum whilst a removable tripod mount and clutched focus ring (Canon and Nikon only) help speed up operations. Canon users will see the lens first with release scheduled for March. Nikon, Sony and Pentax fittings will follow.
Kodak has announced a new sensor which promises to improve the efficiency of CMOS designs with extremely small photosites. The new technology is to be offered initially in 1/4" format suitable for mobile phone cameras but should be scalable to larger formats should the concept prove successful. Conventional designs count electrons which are generated when light hits the silicon from which they are constructed but this new chip works in roughly the opposite fashion, reversing the ‘polarity’ of the silicon in order to measure the ‘holes’ which remain when electrons are generated. The Kodak KAC-05020 also incorporates Kodak’s TRUESENSE Color Filter Pattern which adds panchromatic (transparent) filters to the usual Red Green and Blue, further improving luminance sensitivity. Click through for the lowdown. Updated with further details.
Fujifilm has released firmware v.1.01 for its Z10fd and Z100fd digital compacts. The updates speed up the power on cycle of both cameras when using xD-Picture Cards, enables camera to computer transfer when using 4 GB media in the Z10fd and tweaks the underwater whitebalance of the Z100fd. Click through for the links.
Leica has announced plans to offer a major upgrade to its M8 digital rangefinder camera. Consisting of a new shutter - promising lower noise and vibration during exposure - and a protective sapphire glass LCD cover, the service may be pre-booked from March 2008 with the program due to commence as of August on a first-come-first-served basis. An additional two years of warranty cover is included and Leica has said it is investigating future upgrades including changes to the digital capture system - not least a possible sensor swap. Get the full details after the jump.
PMA 2008: PMA may be over but that doesn’t mean we’ve finished working, yesterday we had our hands on an early Sigma DP1 and have produced a quick gallery (just 20 images) shot around Vegas. As expected the DP1’s images are beautifully sharp (thanks to its Foveon X3 sensor) and it continued to deliver good images up to its maximum ISO 800. For those unfamiliar the DP1 becomes the first compact, fixed lens camera to feature a large sensor (in this case approximately ‘Four Thirds’ size; 20.6 x 13.8 mm). Dive into our gallery and see if a DP1 deserves to make its way into your camera bag.