Apple Aperture Version 1.0.1 Update
Apple has just updated their imaging software which addresses a number of issues related to reliability and performance. It also delivers improved image export quality and metadata handling. Some improvements are including white balance adjustment accuracy and performance, image export quality, book and print ordering reliability, auto-stacking performance, and custom paper size handling
Canon PIXMA iP8500 - Review @ BIOS Magazine
Christian Harris at BIOS Magazine has just reviewed the Canon PIXMA iP8500, a printer with Canon’s ChromaPLUS print technology utilises eight coloured inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Black, Red and Green which produce vivid colours, reduced graininess and better contrast photo quality when compared to many pigment-based inks used in some other photo printers.
In conclusion BIOS Magazine wrote that Output from Canon’s Pixma iP8500 looked excellent in tests, with a broad dynamic range and sharp detail rendering in bitmaps. It rendered excellent curves and sharp text on coated paper, making it a good candidate for proofing page layouts. It also offered surprisingly full range of tones in the reds and oranges, as well as lots of detail in both shadows and highlights in landscapes dominated by grass, trees, and other greenery. If anything, saturation for these tended to be a bit too brilliant. Skin tones were warm but acceptable and relatively accurate. On the downside, text and graphics quality were more than acceptable, but not impressive on regular paper. Print speed was moderate, outputting at a rate of around 3.5ppm for monochrome text and 0.6ppm for colour photographs.
ACDSee 8 – Review at PopPhoto Magazine
Debbie Grosman reviewed the ACDSee 8 Photo Manager at PopPhoto Magazine and wrote:
“For total beginners, ACDSee 8 may be all you need; you can do a good job fixing pics simply and keep track of all those images you’ve been snapping. For seasoned enthusiast, the program is a thorough tool that’s fun to use to manage your images, repair your snapshots, and figure out which ones you’re going to put the time into fixing in earnest. For everyone, the speed and simplicity of the interface makes working with the program a simple pleasure”
Adobe Camera Raw 3.3 Beta
Adobe has released the new version of camera raw plug-in replaces the original Camera Raw plug-in that was installed with Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 and 4.0 software.
Support for the following cameras has been added in this update.
• Canon EOS 5D
• Canon EOS 1D Mark II N
• Olympus E-500
• Olympus SP-310
• Olympus SP-350
• Olympus SP-500UZ
• Pentax *ist DL
• Pentax *ist DS2
• Sony DSC-R1
ColorWasher for MacOS X
October 25, 2005 - The Plugin Site (www.thepluginsite.com) is pleased to announce Version 2.0c of ColorWasher for MacOS X, a plugin for correcting the colors, contrast, exposure and saturation of 8bit and 16bit photos. It works with various graphics applications, e.g. Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Illustrator, Fireworks, Painter, Canvas, Photoline and GraphicConverter. ColorWasher takes photo correction to a new level of accuracy and speed. With its help even beginners are capable of doing photo corrections within seconds that only experts were able to produce in the past.
Wacom Intuos3 6×11 Pen Tablet
Wacom Technology Corporation’s new Intuos3 6×11 pen tablet is specifically designed for photographers, designers and artists who are using multiple monitors or a widescreen display like the 23” Apple® Cinema HD display. The Intuos3 6×11 features an active area with an aspect ratio (height-towidth) that is a great match to the screen aspect ratio of either a widescreen display or two standard displays used together. This provides optimal pen control and efficient use of the entire tablet.
Epson Stylus Photo R240
Epson introduces the Stylus Photo R240 Series, a stylish home photo printer specifically designed for novice digital camera users. Featuring a colour preview display for ease of use, high quality photographs can be created more quickly and cost-effectively than at the photo-lab.
The Epson Stylus Photo R240 Series features an intuitive interface and colour LCD preview screen, enabling you to navigate the printer’s features easily. The screen and interface work together to allow you to select, view and then print your photos with ease. Photos can be printed direct from a memory card, via PictBridge or with a USB enabled digital camera, so there is no need for a PC.
Main Features
Canon PIXMA iP5200
Steve has posted his review on Canon PIXMA iP5200 at Steve’sDigicams.com and wrote:
“For everyday text and color document printing tasks the Pixma iP5200 is an excellent printer and very fast. It’s also very quiet and the built-in duplexer (two-sided printing) is great for web page or document printouts and saves lots of paper. It’s also great for printing double-sided photo albums, sales flyers, catalogs or whatever. The top and bottom paper trays are a real convenience, use the auto sheet feeder on the top for plain paper and the covered cassette for photo paper where it’s kept away from dust and etc. What I do is put my most-used 4×6-inch photo paper in the cassette and then drop in the bigger, letter-size sheets of photo paper in the upper feed when needed. If you’re on a printing spree, both the top and bottom trays can be loaded with up to 150 sheets of plain paper each and the printer can be set to auto-switch trays when one goes empty.
Canon’s photo printers are still the fastest of the fast. The iP5200 cranks out 4×6″ borderless prints in about 36 seconds when connected to the computer. When connected to a camera in Pictbridge mode it makes the same 4×6″ print from a 7-megapixel image in 1:33. It makes a full-size 8.5×11″ borderless glossy print in the highest quality possible in just 2:10 from the computer — via PictBridge it took 3:15. “
Apple Aperture Article by Rob Galbraith
Rob Galbraith has written quite interesting article focussing on the new Apple Aperture, a new professional photo workflow application.
“Two things have lifted us out of a gloomy funk regarding the potential quality of Aperture’s RAW conversions:
First, Apple is promising that the conversions for certain cameras have been optimized, and have said as much as in the promotional materials for Aperture. The list of optimized cameras includes all Canon digital SLRs back to the D30, all Nikon digital SLRs back to the D1, plus the Olympus E1 and Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D.
Second, Apple has used as a reference for their own colour rendering the colour produced by the camera makers’ RAW conversion software. In chatting with Apple’s Schorr about this, he gave the specific example of comparing Nikon Capture’s rendering of NEF files to Apple’s rendering during Aperture’s development phase. He also stressed that camera maker colour was not the end goal, but rather an important step along the way towards building what are promised to be good-quality colour conversions from Aperture. We like camera maker colour as a rule, and in some instances we love camera maker colour, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear the Apple thought it important to be at least partly guided by this in designing their new colour processing.”
Studio Flash Lighting Tips
Jack Neubart wrote an interesting Studio Flash Lighting Tips article at Shutterbug. He explained that it’s not necessary to buy everything at once. In fact, many pros succesfully work with only one or two lights. Moreover, he also wrote tips on matching your lights and lighting accessories to your needs:
