January 24, 2008

1-23-08-pentax_k20d.jpgRumor no more. Today Pentax officially announced the K20D, and the K200D digital SLR’s.

The 20D with a 2.7″ live view screen, a 14.6 mp sensor dust removal, and iso 3200 it may not shake up the industry but does seem like a solid piece of gear for just about 1300.00

The 200d the 20D’s little brother still specs out with 10.2 mp, 2.7″ screen, and dust removal. You only get iso 1600 on this which seems a bit low for today market but at 800 bucks it again a pretty solid camera.


Pentax is also scheduled to launch some new lenses which is great since glass is so important. There not a Canon, or a Nikon but competition is great and they seem to be a growing force. If they can just advance their technology a touch faster they can really start putting heat on the bug boys!

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January 23, 2008

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New SLR’s have been foreseen from Pentax over the past few months and the rumors keep growing. The two new models are said to sport bigger screens, more megapixels and all kinds of neat stuff. More over on Engadget.

It’s thought that Pentax will get official with these by the end of the month. The above shot from LivedoorBlog is in Japanese so unless you can read it, we’re out of luck on those exact specs but they look like pretty solid offerings.

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January 20, 2008

In a recent press release, OnOne software makers of popular photo plug ins such as Genuine fractals, Mask Pro & others, have announced their acquisition of Liquid Resize Technology. This may sound boring but it’s actually pretty amazing. In two words.

Rather than a normal resize, which distorts your image if you apply a size other than one that matches the original aspect ratio, Liquid Resize finds uses a technique called “Seam Carving” to add information to areas that DO NOT distort the critical subjects in then image. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime the video below shows it in action!

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Whats this all mean to us photographer. Hopefully it means that we can finally resize images without always having to concerned about the aspect ratio of the image. OneOne has stated that the software should be available for purchase sometimes in 2008. Pretty cool stuff!

 

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January 14, 2008

Ah the everlasting debate of what camera is the best.

Most of us have been involved in it at some point. Nikon and Canon are thus far in the lead of others, but who knows what the future will bring with competition on the rise.

Luminous Landscape just ran a very long, and very superb article. Not a bash the other brand article but a refreshing comparison of features, ergonomics, and capabilities of Canon & Nikon systems. The author who was actually a Canon shooter, went a bought a complete Nikon system to see how he felt about the two brands.

Most of you know that I (Gavin) am a Canon shooter, and this article really helped me see some differences (I have never shot Nikon) that was not aware of. Will I be switching to Nikon anytime soon? No, but I do have some more respect for Nikon, and know some things that both brands have over the other.

The battle rages on…

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January 13, 2008

Click Button To Listen, PPS #41 Sweet Clarity. Getting more vivid photography!
To download mp3 podcast, right click above link, and “Save As”
Podcast subscription feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/prophotoshow
Todays Host…
Gavin Seim ~ Seim PhotographySeim Effects

 

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Show Notes and links…
Photoshop Elements 6 for mac is now available. (correction from show. It is not actually shipping yet but available tor order) Pentax may be working on an electric viewfinder based a a DP-review forum thread.

Gavin is working on a Black and White Lightroom presets collection, and you can download the free Christmas Glow action and Visual Razor II free sharpening action over at Seim Effects.

During our discussion of making clear images we talked about Gavin’s 5 tips to getting clearer images article. As well as the podcasts on making HDR portraits. We also discussed using a Spyder to get your monitor color correct.

You can discuss things we talked about in the show on the PPS #41 forum thread.

Lastly here’s that image we talked about during the show. It was taken at 1/60th, F4.0, ISO1000, with a Caon L 17-40 and a 580EX flash. I set the flash to about 1/16th power to allow enough light to freeze the bride and groom, but not so much that the sparklers were washed out…. Till next time, Gavin Seim

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