RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Older’

Video: Canon explains how its new RF lens mount is better than smaller, older mounts

18 Jun

Canon Imaging Plaza, an official Canon YouTube channel dedicated to showing off the latest Canon technologies and cameras, has shared a video highlighting the benefits of its new full-frame RF lens mount and the advantages it has over older lens mounts, such as its own EF mount.

The four-and-a-half-minute video uses CGI renderings and example images to show off the various benefits Canon’s RF mount offers and the technology that goes into its RF lenses.

A rendering comparison from the video showing how the light can be better controlled through elements when the elements are able to be placed close to the imaging sensor.

The narrator addresses the shorter back focus distance and larger diameter mount, which allows Canon to move the rear-most elements in lenses closer to the sensor, which helps to minimize chromatic aberration and allows engineers to get more creative with lens designs. Having the rear-most lens elements close to the sensor creates its own problems though, which leads the video to Canon’s SubWavelength Structure Coating (SWC) and Air Sphere Coating (ASC) technologies, which are designed to minimize ghosting and flaring in images.

A comparison shot from the video that shows how the shorter back focus distance and larger diameter mount can yield better image quality—especially near the edges of the frame—thanks to better aberration control.

The video also mentions the additional contacts found in the RF lens mount, which are designed to increase the bandwidth of data and power that flows to and from the lens through the camera.

While this video is clearly about Canon’s RF mount, the pros (and cons) of larger-diameter lens mounts and shorter back focus distances also apply to Nikon’s new Z mount, which is both larger in diameter (55mm to the RF’s 54mm) and features a closer flange focal distance (16mm to the RF’s 20mm).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Video: Canon explains how its new RF lens mount is better than smaller, older mounts

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Adobe Creative Cloud no longer offers most older Lightroom and Photoshop versions

11 May

Adobe Creative Cloud no longer offers customers access to most older versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. The company announced its decision to limit Creative Cloud download availability via its Adobe Blog this week, stating that subscribers can now only download the two most recent major versions of both Lightroom and Photoshop.

The direct download access is provided through the Adobe.com website and Creative Cloud desktop app. According to the company, the ‘vast majority’ of Adobe CC customers are already using the two most recent major release versions of both applications.

By forcing the remaining users to make this transition, Adobe says it can ‘ensure peak performance and benefits across Windows and Mac operating systems.’ This change means Adobe CC subscribers can only download Photoshop versions that start with ’19.x.x’ and ’20.x.x,’ and Lightroom versions that start with ‘7.x.x’ and ‘8.x.x.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Adobe Creative Cloud no longer offers most older Lightroom and Photoshop versions

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.4.6 update brings detect and convert feature for older media files

26 Mar

Apple has pushed out Final Cut Pro X update (version 10.4.6), that adds the ability to automatically detect and convert any legacy media files that will not be compatible with future versions of macOS, as well as numerous bug fixes and improved features.

Last year, Apple began warning its users that older video formats and codecs relying on QuickTime 7 would no longer be supported by future macOS releases due to the 64-bit transition. Though legacy media files remain compatible with macOS Mojave, updating a Mac system beyond Mojave in the future could prove problematic for filmmakers who have content in older formats.

In a note about this potential issue on its website, Apple warns users to convert their incompatible media files before upgrading to the next major macOS version after Mojave. The newly released Final Cut Pro X 10.4.6 simplifies this requirement by detecting and converting these files into a format that will remain compatible with macOS in the future.

In version 10.4.6, Final Cut Pro users who open a library or import content will see a window listing any incompatible media files the software found. Users can immediately convert these files by clicking ‘Convert’ in the window. Copies of the converted content are created in Apple ProRes format and stored in the library’s media storage location. Existing clips in the library are then relinked to the converted files.

There’s an exception for Motion projects, however, with Apple warning that Final Cut Pro won’t detect incompatible media files in these projects. Instead, users will need to open the project in Motion, after which point a message will appear warning if any incompatible media is present. In that case, the user would need to convert it using QuickTime Player or Compressor.

Media conversion aside, Final Cut Pro X version 10.4.6 brings several relatively minor bug fixes and improved reliability when sharing videos directly to YouTube.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Apple Final Cut Pro X 10.4.6 update brings detect and convert feature for older media files

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Firmware update fixes AF-issue with Panasonic lenses on older OM-D and PEN cameras

19 Dec
Panasonic Leica DG Elmarit 200mm f/2.8 POWER OIS. lens

In these times of extremely fast product development cycles manufacturers often seem to forget about ongoing improvements and support for older models, instead trying to convince consumers to upgrade and spend their hard-earned cash on the the latest models.

Olympus is now showing that it is a company that is not ignoring its legacy customers. The camera maker has announced firmware updates for a whole bunch of older PEN and OM-D Micro Four Thirds cameras, the OM-D E-M5 and E-M10 as well as the PEN models E-P5, E-P3, E-PL6, E-PL5, EP-L3, E-PM2 and E-PM1.

The update fixes an AF-malfunction that could occur when using one of the cameras listed above with one of two Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lenses, the Leica DG Elmarit 200mm F2.8 POWER OIS and the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm F2.8-4 POWER OIS. If you own any of the affected Olympus/Panasonic camera/lens combinations you can find download links for the new firmware on the Olympus website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Firmware update fixes AF-issue with Panasonic lenses on older OM-D and PEN cameras

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Adobe won’t support older operating systems with its next major Creative Cloud update

29 Aug

If you’re not one to update your computer gear often, you might want to reconsider. Adobe has issued a notice future releases of Creative Cloud programs will no longer support older versions of MacOS and Windows operating systems.

‘As we prepare for our next major release of Creative Cloud, we wanted to share some information on updated operating system requirements,’ says Adobe. ‘To take advantage of the latest operating system features and technologies, the next major release of Creative Cloud will not support Windows 8.1, Windows 10 v1511 and v1607, and Mac OS 10.11 (El Capitan).’

Adobe notes all past and current versions of Creative Cloud applications will continue to work on the aforementioned operating systems. Creative Cloud Desktop — the management application for all Creative Cloud apps — will continue to be supported on Windows 7 or later and MacOS 10.9 (Mavericks) and later.

According to Adobe, ‘focusing [its] efforts on more modern versions of Windows and Mac operating systems allows [it] to concentrate on developing the features and functionality most requested by members, while ensuring peak performance that takes advantage of modern hardware.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Adobe won’t support older operating systems with its next major Creative Cloud update

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Google Camera mod brings Pixel 2 portrait mode to older devices

03 Jan
Portrait Mode on the Google Pixel 2

Google’s Pixel 2 comes with one of the best-rated smartphone cameras in the world, and is one of very few single-lens devices to offer a background-blurring, fake bokeh portrait mode. Unlike dual-lens setups, the camera uses machine learning and neural networking to generate a foreground-background segmentation on both front and rear cameras. On the rear, the Pixel 2 also uses depth data from the image sensor’s dual-pixel technology for this task.

Thanks to Charles Chow, developer of the Camera NX Google camera mod, the feature is now also available to users of the original Google Pixel as well as the Nexus 5X and 6P smartphones. Portrait mode was included in version 7.3 of the Camera NX app but, due to a lack of dual-pixel technology on older Google Android smartphones, uses the exclusively software-based approach of the Pixel 2’s front camera.

The developer says the functionality has so far only been tested on the Nexus 5X, although it should work on Nexus 6P and first generation Pixel phones as well. If you want to try Camera NX and the new Portrait Mode you can find all technical details and download links in Charles’ article on Chromloop.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Google Camera mod brings Pixel 2 portrait mode to older devices

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Apple admits to slowing down older iPhones as the battery gets weaker

27 Dec
Photo by Marcelo Silva

If you like to use your iPhone as a daily shooter, you may have noticed your older model (iPhone 6, 6s, and SE) slowing way down, making it far less usable. The good (or is it bad?) news is you’re not imagining it; it turns out Apple has purposely slowed down your phone’s CPU. But according to the Cupertino-based tech giant, the change is not meant to encourage an upgrade… it’s in your best interest.

This controversy began on Reddit earlier this month, when user TeckFire pointed out that his iPhone 6s had become very slow, only to speed back up again after the battery was replaced. TeckFire published Geekbench scores as proof, and other users followed suit, showing that Apple was more or less cutting performance in half—that’s not a small performance decrease:

You can imagine the initial response to these revelations. The headlines ran something like this: Apple is secretly slowing down old iPhones, are they trying to force users to upgrade to a new phone? We’ll never really know if Apple’s intent is nefarious, but according to the company itself, it most certainly is not.

In a statement to The Verge, Apple admitted to the slowdown, but claimed it was done in users’ best interest:

Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

You can read the full statement on The Verge, but the gist is simple: yes we’re slowing down older phones, but it’s not because we want to force people to upgrade, it’s a feature to ensure ‘the best experience for customers.’

Photo by Jun Seita

The unfortunate part of all this is that the explanation came after the controversy broke. If Apple had been transparent about this fact—explaining the benefits of a new battery and how the old battery could actually cause damage to your phone if the CPU was left to run at full capacity once the battery reached a certain performance threshold—iPhone users could have seen it as a positive. As it stands, it’s unlikely Apple’s statement/explanation will satisfy every old iPhone user out there.

Speaking of whom, if you’re using an iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, or iPhone SE and notice a performance slowdown, it might be time for a battery replacement. Apple charges $ 80 for the service (unless you want to do it yourself and void the warranty), and your phone’s CPU should start running at peak again after the upgrade.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Apple admits to slowing down older iPhones as the battery gets weaker

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Windows 7 – Need to Access Older Systems via Telnet?

13 Sep

Install the Windows 7 Telnet Client, or Better Yet, Try PuTTY.

If you need to access older remote systems via the Telnet protocol (which is a security risk as by default, all information including passwords is sent in clear-text without any encryption), you may have noted that Windows 7 does not by default offer a Telnet client … or so it seems.

If you need to use Telnet, here are a couple of options:…

Read more at MalekTips.
New Computer and Technology Help and Tips – MalekTips.Com

 
Comments Off on Windows 7 – Need to Access Older Systems via Telnet?

Posted in Technology