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Archive for July, 2017

Sigma announces pricing and availability of 14mm and 135mm T2 Cine Prime lenses

14 Jul


The 14mm T2.0 will cost $ 4999 when it starts shipping later this month.	The 135mm T2.0 will also ship in late July, for the same price.

Sigma has announced pricing and availability for its new Cine Prime lenses. The 14mm and 135mm T2 primes will be available later this month for $ 4999 each, or as part of two and seven-lens kits for $ 10,499 and $ 24,799 respectively.

Press Release:

Sigma Announces Pricing and Availability for the 14mm and 135mm T2 Cine Prime Lenses, Shipping This July

Full-frame sensor compatible, high-speed prime lenses bring Sigma’s esteemed Art lens technology to cinema cameras; the 14mm T2 FF and 135mm T2 FF begin shipping late July for a retail price of $ 4,999.00 USD each

Ronkonkoma, NY – July 13, 2017 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading still photo and cinema lens, camera, flash and accessory manufacturer, today announced the availability of two brand new cine lenses: the Sigma 14mm T2 FF and 135mm T2 FF, which will both begin shipping late July 2017. Compatible with full-frame image sensors, these high-speed cine prime lenses are available for EF, E and PL mounts. They are available as individual lenses for a retail price of $ 4,999.00 USD each, or as part of two and seven lens sets for retail prices of $ 10,499.00 USD and $ 24,799.00 USD respectively.

Go fast and wide with the Sigma 14mm T2 Cine Prime
The Sigma 14mm T2 FF Cine Prime lens is the world’s first and only to offer an incredibly fast T2 at this ultra-wide angle focal length for full frame sensors. Bringing remarkable optical performance to the art of capturing moving images, the Sigma 14mm T2 offers cinematographers the opportunity for robust cinematic expression.

Resolving power like nothing ever seen before with the Sigma 135mm T2 Cine Prime
The Sigma 135mm T2 FF Cine Prime offers astonishing rendering performance unmatched by almost any lens on the market. Retaining the optical performance of Sigma’s original Art lens for the still photographer, this exceptional lens enables cinematographers to enjoy the highest image quality for shooting movies.

Both lenses offer the following benefits and capabilities:

Bright, T2 full frame maximum aperture
Capable of resolving up to 8K
Available in Canon EF, Sony E & PL Mounts
180-degree focus rotation

The Sigma 14mm and 135mm lenses are fully compatible with full frame sensors. The addition of these lenses to the Sigma cine lineup expands the FF High Speed Prime Line to a total of seven lenses, from a super-wide 14mm to a brilliantly sharp telephoto 135mm.

Pricing for individual lenses and lens sets
The newest cine lens offerings from Sigma will be available individually as well as in sets for the following retail prices.

Individual lenses:
Sigma 14mm T2 FF – $ 4,999.00 USD
Sigma 135mm T2 FF – $ 4,999.00 USD

Two lens set with case:
Sigma 14mm T2 FF, 135mm T2 FF and a protective lens carrying case – $ 10,499.00 USD

Seven lens set with two cases:
Sigma 14mm T2 FF, 20mm T1.5 FF, 24mm T1.5 FF, 35mm T1.5 FF, 50mm T1.5 FF, 85mm T1.5 FF, 135mm T2 FF, and two protective lens carrying cases – $ 24,799.00 USD

The Sigma 14mm T2 FF and 135mm T2 FF Shipping Late July
The Cine 14mm and 135mm lenses and sets will begin shipping late July 2017 for EF, E and PL mounts.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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VSCO adds free ‘Oakley’ photo filters to iOS and Android apps

14 Jul

VSCO has teamed up with eyewear brand Oakley to launch new photo presets that replicate the company’s lens technology. These presets are free and available for both the Android and iOS versions of the VSCO app, enabling anyone to alter their photos to create scenes seemingly viewed through a pair of Oakley glasses.

The new photo presets are collected under the ‘Oakley PRIZM Series,’ and they can be found by opening the app and navigating to its store.

The free pack contains a total of three image filters called ‘Oak1,’ ‘Oak2,’ and ‘Oak3.’ VSCO says these presets are best used with landscape and outdoor adventure photography; however, they’re only available for a limited, unspecified duration so jump on it if you want to add that… sunglass touch to your photos.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Mattest & Flattest: Blackest Paint You Can Buy Turns Solids into Voids

13 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

In a weird ongoing war over the blackest black and pinkest pink in the world, a new contender has hit the market — and unlike Vantablack, anyone can purchase some to make really dark artwork (great for black holes!).

Stuart Semple’s blackest salvo to date in this pigment war is Black 2.0, which can create mesmerizing effects in real life that also translate to images and videos. In them, painted objects appear flat, or like voids rather than solids.

According to its creators, “its the most pigmented, flattest, mattest, black acrylic paint in the world,” a claim backed up by a lot of black-coated objects juxtaposed with lighter and brighter surroundings.

This pigment “was created in close collaboration with color chemists, specialists from the cosmetics industry and architectural coatings experts. It’s foundation is Stuart’s ‘Super-Base’ which enables this paint to hold more pigment than any other whilst drying to an anti-reflective, super flat finish.”

An implicit stab at the Vantablack exclusivity arrangement: “It has been developed in close collaboration with thousands of artists from all over the world. Their amazing insight, support and inspiration has formed this unique super-black paint for the benefit of all artists.”

Semple admits it’s not truly the blackest paint when compared to Vantablack, clarifying that it is just the blackest acrylic and blackest paint available to all artists, not just one who secured exclusive rights — note: this black is available to everyone but that artist (via MyModernMet).

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Pulitzer-winning photographer uses Volvo SUV’s built-in camera to shoot photo exhibit

13 Jul

Consumer vehicles are increasingly built with integrated cameras as part of safety systems, and the Volvo XC60 is no exception. The only difference? Volvo is using their car cam to capture a unique brand of photography.

Volvo recently tapped Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Barbara Davidson and Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors to create a first-of-its-kind photography exhibit called ‘Moments’ that features images taken by Davidson using the SUV’s built-in camera. “Through art we’re connecting [viewers] with really important technology that saves lives,” Davidson explains in a video from Volvo Cars, “and I think we’re bringing the technical world and the artistic world together.”

Pulling photos out of the car’s video feed, Davidson managed to create a unique set of photographs using the Volvo.

Davidson staged the shots, a process highlighted in Volvo’s video. Talking about this, Davidson explained, “I’m really using the car as a camera, and I’m framing it as I would frame with my 35mm camera. So it’s very similar to how I would work as a photojournalist.”

Volvo premiered the ‘Moments’ project on July 4th in London, and will be showcasing it in various parts of the world throughout 2017.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Palaces of Self-Discovery: Photos Document the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries

13 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Photography & Video. ]

Symmetrical photographs reveal the elegant geometries present in the architecture of some of the world’s most beautiful libraries, captured by Thibaud Poirier. The Paris-based photographer has traveled throughout Europe, visiting places like the Bibliotheque de la Sorbonne, the modern white Stadtbibliothek in Stuttgart, Dublin’s Trinity College Library and the church-like Biblioteca Angelica in Rome to highlight their classical beauty and make us all wish we were roaming around gazing at those rows of books right now.

“Like fingerprints, each architect crafted his vision for a new space for this sacred self-exploration,” says Poirier. “These seemingly minute details are everywhere, from the balance of natural and artificial light to optimize reading yet preserve ancient texts to the selective use of studying tables to either foster community or encourage lonely reflection. The selection of these libraries that span space, time, style and cultures were carefully selected for each one’s unique ambiance and architectural contribution.”

The photographer calls this library series ‘Palaces of Self-Discovery,’ noting that they provide the same kind of worship space and community interaction as a church, even while the act of reading is typically a solitary one. Within each of these buildings is countless opportunities to lose oneself in another place or time, take on another person’s identity and temporarily forget about all of our cares and worries.

The photos also offer something we couldn’t get from these libraries in real life: the chance to see them empty of people. Poirier seems to have gained permission to enter each library before or after opening hours to get his shots, further emphasizing the sense of solitary exploration. See the whole series at Thibaud Poirier’s website.

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Wacom announces new 4K 24-inch and 32-inch Cintiq Pro models

13 Jul

Wacom has preemptively unveiled two new Cintiq Pro models that will be launching in early 2018: the Cintiq Pro 24 and Cintiq Pro 32 models. The numbers refer to each model’s display size, representing a big increase from the current 13-inch and 16-inch Pro models.

Though neither model can be purchased at this time, Wacom explains that it will be sharing ‘behind the scenes details’ over the next half-year as a way to drum up both awareness and excitement for the upcoming Pro lineup expansion.

Hardware details for the Pro 24 and 32 models haven’t been provided at this time; however, Wacom does say that both models will offer 4K edge-to-edge displays with ‘maximum color accuracy’ and a billion colors. Both models will also feature Pro Pen 2 technology.

The smaller of the two models, the Pro 24, will be priced at $ 2,000, while the larger Pro 32 will be $ 3,300 at launch next year.

Wacom encourages interested consumers to sign up for email updates at any of the following websites:

USA (English) wacomcintiqpro.wacom.com/en-us
Europe (English) wacomcintiqpro.wacom.com/en-eu
Japan (Japanese) wacomcintiqpro.wacom.com/ja-jp

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Bic Camera will soon accept Bitcoin at retail stores throughout Japan

13 Jul

Bic Camera, a major Japanese consumer electronics franchise, will soon begin accepting Bitcoin payments at its retail stores throughout Japan and at select Kojima shops, according to local publication Nikkei.

Support for the digital currency could be introduced in Bic Camera stores as early as this month, though select locations in Tokyo already accept the payment option. Since introducing that initial support back in April, the retailer saw immense popularity, prodding it to expand the support to all of its locations.

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has become an increasingly popular way to buy goods, and though its support was largely relegated to the dark web in its early days, many companies have since added support. Back in 2014, for example, Dell announced that it would accept Bitcoin through its Dell.com website, and many companies have followed suit with similar announcements—including Microsoft, Newegg and more.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon releases several firmware and software updates, adds new features to the D5

13 Jul

Nikon has pushed out several updates today, increasing its D5 firmware from version 1.10 to 1.20, its D500 firmware from version 1.00 to 1.12, and its Coolpix B700 firmware from version 1.2 to 1.3. In addition to updating camera firmware, the company also updated its ViewNX-1 software from version 1.2.7 to 1.2.8, and its Camera Control Pro 2 software from version 2.25.0 to 2.25.1.

All of the updates are minor with the exception of the D5 firmware update, which brings a substantial number of changes including new features and a handful of bug fixes. The full change-logs for each update are listed below.

The updates are available via the following links:

Nikon D5
Nikon D500
Nikon Coolpix B700
Camera Control Pro 2
ViewNX-i

D5 Firmware Version 1.10 to 1.20:

Added two new AF-area modes: group-area AF (HL) and group-area AF (VL). The user selects a row (HL) or column (VL) of focus points; when AF-C is selected for focus mode, the camera will give priority to the point in the selected row or column containing the subject closest to the camera.
Updated the photo info display to show the color temperature for photos taken with Auto selected for white balance.
Added an Exif tag listing the difference between the local time zone and UTC, part of the Exif 2.31 specification.
Added the support for the following features of AF-P lenses:

If the standby timer expires after the camera has focused, the focus position will not change when the timer is reactivated.
In manual focus mode, the focus indicator in the viewfinder (or in live view, the focus point selected in the monitor) will flash to show that infinity or the minimum focus distance has been reached by rotating the focus ring.

Changed the checks performed when Clean image sensor > Clean now is selected in the SETUP MENU. We recommend that you perform image sensor cleaning after updating the firmware.

Fixed the following issues:

The higher the amount of Active D Lighting selected when optional flash units were used with auto aperture (AA), non-TTL auto (A), or distance-priority manual (GN) flash mode, the more the resulting images would be underexposed.
Changes to exposure (including exposure compensation) would not be reflected in the photo live view exposure preview while the display was zoomed in.
Photo live view display WB could not be selected in the i-button menu while the exposure preview was displayed in photo live view.
Taking long bursts of photos with On selected for Network > Options > Auto send would sometimes drastically slow the recording of data to the memory card.

Reduced the amount of time needed to connect to hidden SSIDs when WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK is selected for Authentication.
Updated some help text.

Notice

Users of the software listed below will need to update to the following versions to support the changes in this firmware update:

Camera Control Pro 2 version 2.25.1 or later
ViewNX-i version 1.2.8 or later

Coolpix B700 Firmware 1.2 to 1.3

Fixed an issue that prevented the camera charging when connected to an AC charging adapter with Off selected for Charge by computer.

Nikon D500 Firmware 1.12 to 1.13

Fixed an issue that interfered with pairing or resulted in unreliable connections when the camera was used with the Android edition of the SnapBridge app.

Camera Control Pro 2.25.0 to 2.25.1

Added support for D5 “C” firmware version 1.20.
Added Group-area AF (HL) and Group-area AF (VL) options to AF-area mode (D5 “C” firmware version 1.20).

ViewNX-i 1.2.7 to 1.2.8

Added support for D5 “C” firmware version 1.20. Users can now:

View focus points for images taken using group-area AF (HL) and group-area AF (VL)
Use File and Camera Information to view the color temperature for photos taken using auto white balance

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Canon opens its ‘most advanced’ service & support center yet in Burbank

13 Jul

A photo from our tour of the Canon lens factory in Utsunomiya, home of the L-series.

Today, Canon officially opens the doors to its latest and greatest Professional Technology & Support Center, a state-of-the-art facility in Burbank, California. Canon is calling this facility its “most advanced cinema industry resource to date.”

“Evolving from what began at Canon’s original Hollywood facility, the new state-of-the-art Canon Burbank facility provides these customers with enhanced technical environments and accessible service and support,” explains Canon. “Canon Burbank is poised to support Canon’s clients’ productivity through a dynamic mix of product evaluation and testing, product & workflow training, industry events and expedited repairs.”

The center was built mainly to support the Cinema EOS community, speeding up service and support times for studio customers in LA, but stills photographers in the area will be able to take advantage of it like any other CPS center. Just don’t expect the workshops, demos, and software trainings offered there to be focused on still imaging.

DPReview is actually going to the grand opening today, and we’ll have more to share in the very near future. In the meantime, head over to the official Canon Burbank facility webpage and have a look around.

Press Release

CANON U.S.A. CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING OF ITS MOST ADVANCED CINEMA INDUSTRY RESOURCE FACILITY TO DATE

New Professional Service & Support Center in Burbank, Calif., Becomes Dedicated Location for Studios, Post-Production Facilities, Suppliers and Professional Organizations

MELVILLE, N.Y., July 12, 2017 – Continuing its support of professional clients in the filmmaking and still imaging communities, Canon today officially opened its doors to its newest Professional Technology & Support Center in Burbank, Calif. Evolving from what began at Canon’s original Hollywood facility, the new state-of-the-art Canon Burbank facility provides these customers with enhanced technical environments and accessible service and support.

Canon Burbank is poised to support Canon’s clients’ productivity through a dynamic mix of product evaluation and testing, product & workflow training, industry events and expedited repairs. Every aspect of the new facility’s design and operation was made in consideration of improving customers’ experience with Canon products from input to output, and in improving access to the highly trained Canon service and support team. Facility highlights include:

Enhanced on-site repair capabilities
Industry standard 4K projection and DI capabilities
Workflow Lab for software training and NLE workflows
Image lab for in-depth camera & lens testing, demonstration and troubleshooting
Fully equipped multipurpose room for training, events, demonstration and shooting
Immersive product showroom

“Since our 2011 launch of Cinema EOS, Canon has been steadfastly committed to exceeding the high expectations of our professional clients in the production community,” said Eliott Peck, executive vice president and general manager of the Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “Our new Burbank location represents the culmination of our commitment to listen to our clients, understand their needs and provide them with what they need to bring their artistic and passion projects to life. As Canon continues on its journey to support the production community and evolve with changes in this industry, our mission is now clearer than ever, to be a resource and a beacon for industry professionals.”

At Canon Burbank, customers may now take advantage of walk-in service Monday through Friday, with plenty of convenient parking. The location will feature a steady calendar of educational offerings from top professionals on the latest equipment and filmmaking techniques, the ability to color correct and screen content, and a lab for testing Canon cameras and lenses. The facility’s multipurpose room is also configurable for industry gatherings and special events..

The new Burbank location is yet another extension of Canon Professional Services’ (CPS) powerful support network for the region’s professional photographers, filmmakers, and videographers. CPS members are invited to visit Canon Burbank for all of their service needs, Canon Live Learning sessions, and professional training tailored to their needs.

For a virtual tour and more information on the Burbank facility – usa.canon.com/canonburbank

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† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Happy Trails – 19 Adventuresome Images of Hiking

13 Jul

Summer is here in the northern hemisphere and a great activity that many participate in is hitting the hiking trails. It goes hand in hand with photography as hiking takes you to little-seen places and gorgeous vistas like this: