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Venus Optics unveils Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D lens for mirrorless APS-C cameras

23 Mar

Venus Optics has officially announced the Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D lens: the “world’s widest F2.8 lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras.” Featuring a 113° angle of view, fast F2.8 aperture, and a Zero-D design that promises “close to zero” distortion, the 9mm (13mm equivalent) lens promises to deliver ‘extreme’ specs in a portable package that weighs just 215g.

The Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D is the third lens in Laowa’s Zero-D lineup, and like the others it promises “close to zero” distortion despite its ultra-wide angle focal length. This is achieved using an optical design of 15 lens elements in 10 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and 3 extra-low dispersion elements.

From the press release:

The extreme 113° angle of view and ultra-fast f/2.8 aperture allows photographers to create impressive astro-photography shots with ease. It also gives photographers a fast and wide-angle option for landscape photography and low-light shooting.

The Laowa 9mm F2.8 Zero-D is designed for APS-C mirrorless cameras, and will ship in Fuji X, Sony E, and Canon EOS-M mounts starting in “early April,” at a suggested retail price of $ 500 USD. Scroll through the gallery below to see a few official sample photos from Venus Optics, then head over to the Venus Optics website to learn more or pre-order one for yourself.

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Press Release

Venus Optics announces the Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D, the World’s Widest f/2.8 Lens for APS-C Mirrorless Cameras

Featuring a 113° Angle of View, Ultra-fast f/2.8 aperture, close-to-zero distortion, 49mm filter thread & less than 0.5 pounds in weight, this is a perfect ultra-wide option for still & videographers.

Anhui China, Mar 21, 2018 – Venus Optics, the camera lenses manufacturer who had previously launched a number of unique Laowa camera lenses, is proud to announce the world’s widest rectilinear f/2.8 lens for mirrorless APS-C cameras, Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero- D.

Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D is the third member of the Laowa ‘Zero-D’ line-up and they all feature an excellent control of the optical distortion which is commonly appeared in ultra- wide angle lenses. This new lens is an ultra-wide & ultra-fast prime lens with a 35mm equivalent focal length of around 13mm. Despite the extreme specifications, Venus Optics has successfully minimized the weight of the lens to less than 0.5 pounds (215g) and 2-inch (53mm) long. This compact and light lens comprises of 15 elements in 10 groups with 2 pcs of aspherical elements and 3 pcs of Extra-low dispersion elements. This optical design successfully minimizes the distortion and chromatic aberrations to its lowest but at the same time, delivers a superb optical performance from corners to corners.

The extreme 113° angle of view and ultra-fast f/2.8 aperture allows photographers to create impressive astro-photography shots with ease. It also gives photographers a fast and wide-angle option for landscape photography and low-light shooting. For videographers, the compact size of this lens is friendly to the use of gimbals or even handheld shooting without much of shaking. The lens is designed with a 49mm filter thread which gives additional portability for screw-in filters. It comes with both Sony E, Fuji X & EOS-M mounts.

Availability

The Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D is currently available to pre-order in the official website of Venus Optics (http://www.venuslens.net/) and their authorized resellers. Recommended Retail Price in US (without tax) is USD 499/pc. Pricing may vary in different countries. The first 100 orders will get a set of Laowa 49mm filters for FREE (CPL + UV + ND1000). Shipping is expected to start from early April.

Specifications

Focal Length: 9mm

Max Aperture: F2.8

Angle of View: 113°

Format Compatibility: APS-C

Lens Structure: 15 elements in 10 groups

Aperture Blades: 7

Min. Focusing Distance: 12cm

Max Magnification: 1:7.5

Filter Thread: 49mm

Dimensions: 60 x 53mm

Weight: ~215g

Mounts: Fuij X, Sony E, Canon EF-M

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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NEA report reveals photography industry’s contribution to US economy

22 Mar

A report from the National Endowment for the Arts sheds light on the photography industry’s contribution to the US economy. The report breaks down data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), revealing that the arts overall contributed more to the US economy than warehousing, agriculture, and transportation at $ 763.6 billion.

Photography and photo-finishing services in particular contributed $ 10.2 billion of that in 2015, with the industry experiencing a 2.9% average annual growth from 2012 to 2015. The industry’s total production, according to the NEA, were 97.7% made up of arts and cultural goods.

The arts industries as a whole employ 4.9 million people across the nation, and they boast a positive trade balance of $ 20 billion. Further breaking down the numbers, the NEA says the arts added 4x more to the nation’s economy than agriculture, also exceeding warehousing and transportation by $ 200 billion. Jewelry, movies, and television fueled the trade surplus, while web publishing and streaming, architectural service, performing arts, and design saw the fastest growth.

The National Endowment for the Arts offers a tool for viewing the economic contributions of each art industry individually.

Via: PDN

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google reportedly to acquire Lytro for $40 million

22 Mar

Lytro first appeared on the scene in 2011 with its unique light field cameras that allow for refocusing of an image after it has been captured. However, after the concept failed to catch on in the consumer space, the company decided to abandon this market and focus on Light Field video solutions for professional users.

More recently the inevitable happened and Lytro discontinued the pictures.lytro.com platform, which had allowed Lytro users to share their refocusable ‘living’ light-field images with others online and through Facebook.

Now TechCrunch reports tech giant Google is about to acquire the company. According to unnamed sources, Google will pay approximately $ 40 million for Lytro’s technology and patents. According to the same sources, some Lytro employees have already left the company.

Lytro’s technology could be very useful for Google’s ventures into the rapidly growing area of virtual reality where it is competing with Facebook’s Oculus and a number of other players. A recent example of Google’s VR activities is the “Welcome to Light Fields” app on the digital distribution platform Steam. According to the app description, users can “experience real-world reflections, depth, and translucence like never before in VR.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony a7 III studio scene published

21 Mar

The Sony a7 III is a 24MP full frame mirrorless camera with a BSI CMOS sensor. It’s the third generation of Sony’s entry-level full frame camera but it comes with a significant number of the features and improvements introduced with the pro sports a9 model.

On paper, at least, the specifications look like an impressive all-rounder, with very little in the way of corner-cutting to keep the camera down to a certain price or capabilities omitted to avoid cannibalizing the sales of more expensive models.

Key Features:

  • 24MP full frame BSI CMOS sensor
  • 93% AF coverage (693 phase detection points, 425 for contrast detection)
  • Oversampled 4K/24p video taken from full width 6K (cropped-in 5K for 30p)
  • In-body image stabilization
  • 10 fps continuous shooting
  • 2.36m dot OLED viewfinder
  • AF joystick
  • Touchscreen
  • Larger, ‘Z-type’ battery
  • Dual SD card slots
  • USB 3.1 Type C

Stills

The move to a BSI CMOS sensor, combined with the adoption of the latest technologies, such as dual gain design promises improved low light performance, compared with the somewhat under-performing chips in the previous models.

The Eye AF function, which finds and focuses on eyes within the scene makes extremely simple to shoot in-focus portraits.

Video

The a7 series is the last in Sony’s lineup to receive 4K video capture, but gets one of the best implementations, as a result. It can read the full width of its sensor (roughly 6000 x 3375 pixels) then process and downsample the footage, resulting in higher detail levels than would be possible shooting with a 3840 x 2160 pixel sensor. This

Beyond this, the a7 III has all the other video support tools and features Sony tends to include: focus peaking to aid manual focus, zebra warnings to help guide exposure and the ability to display a corrected preview when shooting Log footage.

Ergonomics

The a7 III gains the same body as the a7R III, giving it a more substantial grip and an autofocus joystick on the rear plate. There’s also an extra custom button on the left rear shoulder. By default this acts as a ‘Protect’ button for ensuring your favorite images don’t get deleted but there’s also the option to assign it to rate images, with a menu option to select how many rating steps are used.

As with the other recent Sonys, you can assign different functions to each custom button for stills and playback (and video?)

There’s also a touchscreen, primarily used for setting the AF point, either as a touchpad, when the camera is to your eye, or for direct selection when it isn’t.

Compared to its peers:

Sony a7m3 Sony a7m2 Sony a7Rm3 Nikon D750 Pentax K-1 II
MSRP (body only) $ 2000 $ 1700 $ 3200 $ 2300 $ 2000
Pixel Count 24MP 24MP 42.4MP 24MP 36.4MP
CMOS type BSI FSI BSI FSI FSI
Cont. shooting rate (fps) 10 10 6.5
Rear LCD res
Rear LCD articulation Tilt up/down Tilt up/down Tilt up/down Tilt up/down Tilt up/down
Viewfinder magn. 0.78x 0.71x 0.78x 0.70x 0.70x
Viewfinder res (dots) 2.36m 2.36m 3.69m N/A N/A
Highest video res UHD 4K/30p 1080/60p UHD 4K/30p 1080/60p 1080/30p (as 60i)
Max bitrate 100 Mbps 50 Mbps 100 Mbps ~24 Mbps ~20 Mbps
Mic / Headphn Yes / Yes Yes / Yes Yes / Yes Yes / Yes Yes / Yes

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DJI Phantom 5 leak hints at interchangeable lens camera system

21 Mar

A pair of images show what may be the upcoming DJI Phantom 5 drone featuring an interchangeable lens camera. The drone model hasn’t yet been announced and details about it aren’t yet officially available. However, leaks and rumors surrounding the drone have increased in past weeks, one of the most recent coming from Twitter user OsitaLV.

A drone said to possibly be the DJI Phantom 5 is featured in two tweeted images. The drone itself is mostly blurred, the only exception being a dark armature and what appears to be a silver or grey body. The drone’s camera, however, is featured front and center, appearing to reveal the presence of an interchangeable lens system.

The same user claimed in a later tweet, “DJI said that the leaked photo of the [Phantom 5] is a customized drone for designated users, not for sale.” The user expressed skepticism about that claim, but no official statements have been made. OsitaLV again tweeted a leak later on, that one a sketch featuring a drone said to be the Phantom 5.

An interchangeable lens camera isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. In October, DJI introduced the X7 camera, a Super 35/APS-C system created specifically for aerial use. Rather than build on an existing platform, DJI engineered its own camera, lens mount, and four cinema primes for the system at launch. Though we usually think of DJI as a drone company, it’s now a camera company as well, and it’s reasonable to assume it will leverage that expertise across additional products.

According to the tweet containing the image above, the DJI Phantom 5 drone features an aluminum shell, a plastic GPS antenna cover, and plastic landing gear. The leaker’s credibility as a source isn’t clear, however. It’s expected that DJI will announce the Phantom 5 model later on this year.

Via: PhotoRumors

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nimbus Data ExaDrive pushes SSD capacity record to 100TB

21 Mar

Only a few weeks ago Samsung set a new record for SSD-drive capacity with its latest 30TB model. The achievement didn’t stand for long; US company Nimbus Data just shot past Samsung’s benchmark with the launch of a gargantuan 100TB drive.

The company says the “ExaDrive DC series raises the bar in SSD power efficiency, density, and write endurance”. At a 85% lower claimed power consumption than the competition (0.1 Watts/TB) the new drive is the world’s most efficient SSD which, according to Nimbus, means a 42% reduction cost of ownership per terabyte.

With a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours, or over 285 years, longevity of the drive should be ensured as well but the the ExaDrive’s selling point is of course capacity. According to the Nimbus press release the drive has “capacity to store 20 million songs, 20,000 HD movies, or 2,000 iPhones worth of data in a device small enough to fit in your back pocket.” As a photographer you’re unlikely to ever run out of space, even when shooting high-resolution Raw files or recording 4K video footage.

The ExaDrive DC100 comes with the same 3.5″ form factor, SATA interface and plug-and-play capability as most standard hard drives, allowing for easy installation. The ExaDrive DC100 will be available this summer. No pricing information has been provided yet but given it’s targeted at datacenter use the new drive likely won’t be cheap. More information is available on the Nimbus website.

Press Release:

Nimbus Data launches the world’s largest solid state drive – 100 terabytes – to power data-driven innovation

ExaDrive DC series raises the bar in SSD power efficiency, density, and write endurance

Irvine, CA, March 19, 2018 – Nimbus Data, a pioneer in flash memory solutions, today announced the ExaDrive® DC100, the largest capacity (100 terabytes) solid state drive (SSD) ever produced. Featuring more than 3x the capacity of the closest competitor, the ExaDrive DC100 also draws 85% less power per terabyte (TB). These innovations reduce total cost of ownership per terabyte by 42% compared to competing enterprise SSDs, helping accelerate flash memory adoption in both cloud infrastructure and edge computing.

“As flash memory prices decline, capacity, energy efficiency, and density will become the critical drivers of cost reduction and competitive advantage,” stated Thomas Isakovich, CEO and founder of Nimbus Data. “The ExaDrive DC100 meets these challenges for both data center and edge applications, offering unmatched capacity in an ultra-low power design.”

Optimized to Maximize Flash Storage Capacity and Efficiency

While existing SSDs focus on speed, the DC100 is optimized for capacity and efficiency. With its patent-pending multiprocessor architecture, the DC100 supports much greater capacity than monolithic flash controllers. Using 3D NAND, the DC100 provides enough flash capacity to store 20 million songs, 20,000 HD movies, or 2,000 iPhones worth of data in a device small enough to fit in your back pocket. For data centers, a single rack of DC100 SSDs can achieve over 100 petabytes of raw capacity. Data centers can reduce power, cooling, and rack space costs by 85% per terabyte, enabling more workloads to move to flash at the lowest possible total cost of ownership.

Plug-and-Play and Balanced Performance for Diverse Workloads

Featuring the same 3.5” form factor and SATA interface used by hard drives, the ExaDrive DC100 is plug-and-play compatible with hundreds of storage and server platforms. The DC100’s low-power (0.1 watts/TB) and portability also make it well-suited for edge and IoT applications. The DC100 achieves up to 100,000 IOps (read or write) and up to 500 MBps throughput. This equally-balanced read/write performance is ideal for a wide range of workloads, from big data and machine learning to rich content and cloud infrastructure.

“The release of such a high capacity flash device that is fully compatible with HDD form factors opens up the opportunity to turbo charge big data platforms while at the same time improving reliability, significantly reducing device count, increasing data mobility, and lowering the TCO of multi-PB scale storage platforms,” said Eric Burgener, research vice president of Storage at IDC. “Devices of this class will allow flash to cost-effectively penetrate a broader set of use cases outside of tier 0 and tier 1 applications.”

Superior Reliability and Complete Data Protection

The ExaDrive DC100 is protected by an unlimited endurance guarantee for 5 years. By doing away with confusing drive-writes-per-day restrictions, the DC100 offers peace of mind, reduces hardware refresh cycles, and eliminates costly support renewals. Embedded capacitors ensure that buffered data is safely protected if there is a sudden power loss. Encryption, multiple ECC processors, and a secure-erase feature ensure data security. The DC100 offers a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours.

Availability, Certifications, and Pricing

The ExaDrive DC series includes both 100 TB and 50 TB models. It is currently sampling to strategic customers and will be generally available in summer 2018. Nimbus Data has qualified the DC series in storage and server enclosures from major vendors. Pricing will be similar to existing enterprise SSDs on a per terabyte basis while offering 85% lower operating costs. Overall, the ExaDrive DC series will cost 42% less per terabyte over a 5-year period compared to existing enterprise SSDs. This TCO advantage factors in the superior endurance, balanced read/write performance, power savings, cooling savings, rack space savings, component reduction, and lower refresh costs.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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RIP Canon’s Chuck Westfall, 1952-2018

20 Mar
Chuck Westfall, pictured in front of our studio test scene on a visit to DPReview to show us the EOS 7D Mark II, in 2014.

We were sad to learn that Chuck Westfall, 35-year veteran of Canon USA and friend of the site, passed away last week. At the time of his death he held the position of Product Planning Advisor for Canon’s Imaging Technology & Communications Group.

After DPReview moved to Seattle in 2010, Chuck became our primary point of contact for technical questions and product briefings on high-end products in the USA. His pride in Canon’s portfolio of cameras and lenses and his very genuine love of photography was undimmed, even after more than 30 years at the company. During this time he played a key role in the development of countless flagship products, both film and digital.

A legendary figure within our industry, probably the nearest Chuck ever came to being a household name was as a result of the briefly-famous ‘fake Chuck Westfall’ blog of the late 2000s – which could not have been further from the character of the man himself. The real Chuck Westfall was polite, reserved and unfailingly professional.

While we didn’t work with him for as long as some of our US-based peers (we’d recommend reading Dave Etchells’ heartfelt tribute at Imaging Resource) all of us at DPReview have benefited from Chuck’s expertise in one way or another. He didn’t talk about his illness and it didn’t stop him working; he was a welcome presence at product briefings and trade-shows until relatively recently, and he will be greatly missed by everyone here at DPReview.

Remembering Chuck Westfall

Barnaby Britton, Senior Editor

The first time I came across Chuck Westfall was in 2000 or 2001, when researching the purchase of my first professional SLR. Being a student, I couldn’t afford the then-current EOS-1V, so I had my eye on a (much) used EOS-1. I sent off for archived magazine camera reviews from the late 1980s and 90s (remember when you could still do that?) and spent hours searching around in obscure corners of the Internet for any information about that long-discontinued model.

During the course of my research I dug up an incredibly detailed technical paper on the EOS-1’s flash metering and autofocus systems. In terms of informational content, it was far more informative than any review I’d been able to find, while still being readable. The author was Chuck Westfall.

Although it was years before we met in person, the way that paper was written said a lot about Chuck as a person.

Chuck Westfall, pictured with photographer Adam Jones during the filming of DPReview’s first long-form ‘field test’ video, featuring the EOS 7D Mark II, in late 2014. I took along an original EOS D30 as a conversation piece, and to shoot behind-the-scenes images.

During my time with DPReview I have met and spoken to Chuck on countless occasions about Canon’s latest digital cameras. In late 2014 I spent a few days with him in Montana, during the filming of a long-form video that featured the then-new EOS 7D Mark II. I had limited access to the camera before the shoot, and his help was invaluable when it came to navigating the camera’s menu systems and custom options, while (equally as important) speaking coherently about them on-camera. I took my treasured EOS D30 along to shoot some behind the scenes images of the production, and I peppered Chuck with questions about his memories of the early days of digital imaging at Canon – a hugely important period when it seemed like new technologies were being unveiled almost every week.

For as long as I knew him professionally, I never stopped asking him Chuck about the cameras I used to aspire to owning when I was still a kid. Cameras like the T90, the EOS-1, the D30 and Canon’s first-generation professional DSLRs. I’ll miss those tangents, which invariably came in the middle of what should have been an interview or a briefing about some or other new Canon camera or lens.

Chuck was a key figure at Canon during one of the most important periods in the company’s history, and his breadth of experience was just one of the reasons he was so valuable both to Canon, and to the journalists and analysts that he worked with. If you’ve shot with a Canon camera at any point in the last 30 or so years, the chances are that you’ve benefited from his expertise. We’ll miss him.

Please note that comments have been enabled on this article to enable our readers to share their memories of Chuck. Please be respectful.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nikon D850 Filmmaker’s Kit includes Atomos Ninja Flame, three lenses and two microphones

20 Mar

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Nikon looks to be positioning its D850 as a serious video rig with today’s announcement of a D850 Filmmaker’s Kit. The kit includes the camera body, three AF-S Nikkor lenses (20mm F1.8G ED, 35mm F1.8G ED, 85mm F1.8G), an Atomos Ninja Flame external recorder, ME-1 shotgun and ME-W1 wireless mics and an extra EN-EL15A battery.

Purchased separately, these items cost nearly $ 6300, so the kit’s MSRP of $ 5499 is a nice discount. The Filmmaker’s Kit will be available for purchase in late March.

Press Release

For the U.S. market, Nikon Inc. is excited to announce the all-new Nikon D850 Filmmaker’s Kit, a custom bundle specifically designed for content creators and filmmakers looking to take full advantage of the D850’s extensive video capabilities and controls. The key component of the kit, the award winning Nikon D850 offers incredible features, including full-frame 4K UHD video capture at 24/30 fps, 8K and 4K time-lapse, focus peaking, zebra stripes, HDMI output and enhanced audio control.

The Nikon D850 Filmmaker’s Kit will include three prime NIKKOR lenses which are ideal for content creation, and exhibit the clarity and sharpness needed for 4K Ultra HD video; AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED, AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED, and the AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G. The kit will also contain an external 4K Atomos Ninja Flame recorder/monitor (with power kit, docking station and coiled HDMI cable).

The Nikon D850 Filmmaker’s Kit will be available in the U.S. for the suggested retail price (SRP) of $ 5,499.95 and will go on sale at the end of March 2018.

The Nikon D850 Filmmaker Kit includes the following:

  • Nikon D850 DSLR (with supplied accessories)
  • AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED lens
  • AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G lens
  • AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED lens
  • Extra EN-EL15A battery
  • ME-1 Stereo Microphone
  • ME-W1 Wireless Microphone
  • Atomos Ninja Flame External Recorder (with supplied accessories)
  • Custom foam inserts (can be used in hard case for transporting, hard case sold separately)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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New Oppo flagship R15 comes with iPhone X-style design and portrait lighting

20 Mar

Chinese manufacturer Oppo has unveiled its latest two high-end Android smartphones, the R15 and R15 Dream Mirror Edition. The new devices are among the first of likely very many Android devices to be launched with an iPhone X style camera notch at the front this year. There is also a tall 6.28″ screen with 19:9 aspect ratio and 1080 x 2280 pixel resolution. The device comes with a metal frame and glass at front and back.

The R15 doesn’t only come with the iPhone X’s camera notch, though. It also borrows a face unlock feature from the X and the dual-camera comes with a portrait lighting mode, similar to what we’ve seen on Apple’s latest models.

In terms of camera specifications, the R15 features a main camera with a 1/2.6″ 16MP Sony IMX519 sensor and F1.7 aperture. The secondary lens comes with a 5MP resolution and F2.2 aperture. It is used to generate a bokeh mode and, according to OPPO, the new setup is capable of automatically recognizing up to 120 scenes and adjusting the camera settings accordingly, thanks to built-in Sony AI.

In the processing department the R15 runs a Helio P60 chipset with octa-core CPU and features 6GB of RAM. 128GB of storage and a 3,450 mAh battery are on board as well.

The Oppo R15 Dream Mirror Edition swaps the Helio chipset for a Snapdragon 660 but comes with otherwise very similar specs. That said, there is one important difference in the camera module: instead of the standard model’s 5MP sensor, the Dream Mirror Edition’s secondary camera comes with a 20MP sensor and fast F1.7 aperture, making it look very similar to the unit used in the 5T model of Oppo’s sister company OnePlus.

Scene recognition and portrait lighting modes are the same as on the standard R15, however. Both new models will be available from April 1 in China. The R15 will retail at CNY 2,999 (approximately $ 475), while the Dream Red model will set you back CNY 3,299 (approximately $ 521). There is no word on international availability yet, but we would expect the new devices to become available outside China at some point.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Alien Skin offers Exposure X3 update

20 Mar

Alien Skin has released a significant update for its Exposure X3 image editor, adding greater precision to adjustment tools and more printing capabilities, among other improvements.

Called the Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update, this software version introduces hue, luminance and saturation controls for individual colors. New white balance presets and adjustment in Kelvin values is now available, and workflow when copying images from a card to a collection has been improved. Along with new watermark adjustment options and added keyword functions, the update expands camera support and adds pre-sets to match Fujifilm’s film simulation modes.

Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update is available now; current owners of Exposure X3 can download the update for free. Exposure X2 and earlier customers can upgrade for $ 99, while new customers will pay $ 149.

We’ve been given an early look at the update – take a look at our Exposure X3 review.

Alien Skin Software Announces Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update for Photographers

Update for Exposure X3 includes hue and luminance color controls – Kelvin-based temperature and tint controls – printing – enhanced watermarks, keywords, and side-by-side view – expanded camera support

Raleigh, NC (March 20, 2018) – Alien Skin Software today announced the release of the Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update, the latest version of their non-destructive RAW photo editor. The award-winning Exposure combines powerful organizational tools and accurate photo processing into a single intuitive solution. Enhancements to this latest version make Exposure the ideal solution for handling the full photography workflow.

Photographers can easily organize, edit, retouch, export, and print their photos using Exposure’s efficient workflow. Exposure’s intuitive design streamlines image management and backups. Its support of cloud-based storage enables multi-computer and collaborative workflows.

The Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update introduces numerous creative and organizing enhancements.

“This latest update to Exposure X3 provides photographers with additional creative and organizational control, and handles their printing needs as well,” said Alien Skin CEO Finley Lee. “Exposure’s speed, stability, and power makes it the fastest way for photographers to bring their vision to life.”

Improvements to the color controls enable photographers to adjust hue, luminance, and saturation for specific colors. In addition, users can can easily target specific colors in their image for detailed adjustments.

For RAW images that record white balance data, photographers can now specify precise Kelvin values to correct for lighting conditions and unwanted color casts. New white balance presets provide a quick way to set the Kelvin temperature for a specific type of light.

Photographers can now print their photos directly from Exposure. New print capabilities include numerous preview and margin options, output sharpening, integrated watermarks, grid capability for printing contact sheets, and more.

Collections see several refinements. New images copied from a photo card are now placed in a Last Copy From Card collection. Optionally, when copying images from their camera card, photographers can choose to add images to any existing collections. Also, when creating a collection, it’s possible to add any images that are currently selected.

Keywords have been improved with the ability to remove all keywords from a photo and to add and remove keywords from a set. It’s also now possible to import keyword sets from other applications like Lightroom.

Exposure’s watermarks now have new metadata options, a watermark preview in the Export dialog, and improved control when moving and rotating a watermark.

A number of miscellaneous improvements include expanded camera support, the ability to backup photos to a second location when copying images from a card, a six image side-by-side layout, a new uninstaller, 15 new presets that mimic Fujifilm in-camera film simulations, and more.

About Exposure

Exposure is a RAW photo editor that provides photographers with all the tools they need to complete their workflow: from first copying images to their computer, culling and organizing, creative edits and retouching, and finally exporting and printing.

Exposure’s beating heart is its advanced rendering engine, which handles the demanding task of accurate film emulation and provides exceptional processing quality and performance. Exposure handles the most sophisticated edits. Its extensive library of customizable presets makes hundreds of iconic film looks and other styles available to photographers. Extensive editing, layering, and retouching tools make it easy to refine images, as well as to blend subtle or bold creative looks.

Powerful organizing tools enable photographers to manage even the largest photo collections.

All of Exposure’s tools work together in a carefully designed, customizable user interface, resulting in a seamless workflow for a wide range of photographers.

Exposure also works as a creative editing plug-in with other editors, such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

Pricing and Availability

The Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update is available now from www.alienskin.com for $ 149. The update is free for current owners of Exposure X3. Upgrade pricing is available to owners of Exposure X2 and earlier versions for $ 99.

The Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update is also the centerpiece in the Exposure X3 Bundle. This integrated collection bundles Exposure with Alien Skin’s award-winning Blow Up and Snap Art tools to add high-quality upsizing and natural media special effects. It is available for $ 199. Owners of one or more of the current apps in the Exposure X3 Bundle can purchase for $ 119. It is free for current owners of the Exposure X3 Bundle.

A 30-day fully-featured free trial of Exposure is available. Visit www.alienskin.com/exposure to learn more and download the trial.

Host Requirements

The Exposure X3 Complete Workflow Update may be used as a standalone program or as a set of plug-ins. When used as a set of plug-ins, it requires one of the following host applications:

  • Adobe Photoshop CS6 or Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 or newer
  • Adobe Lightroom 6 or Adobe Lightroom CC 2015 or newer

System Requirements

  • Apple Mac: OS X 10.10 Yosemite or newer
  • Microsoft Windows: Windows 7 64-bit or newer
  • An Intel Core 2 processor or compatible
  • A monitor with 1280 × 768 resolution or greater

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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