Olympus’ M.Zuiko 14-150mm f4-5.6 zoom, the 28-300mm equivalent super-zoom for its Micro Four Thirds Pen system, is the subject of the newest lens review over at Imaging Resource. Those of you who’ve been in photography a bit will know that super zooms, that have to contains optics that switch from wide angle to super-tele, are always a bag of compromises. If you’re wondering just how Olympus managed those compromises in this budget lens, hit the external link.
› posts tagged ‘pen’
Panasonic To Update All Its M43 Cameras, Too
So, remember last week when we said Olympus was updating its entire Micro Four Thirds line-up? Well, Panasonic announced today that it would, too. Just, next month. What’s it going to offer? Glad you asked, gives me a good rhetorical foil to post the following:
Firmware ver.1.2 for DMC-GF1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Firmware ver.1.3 for DMC-GH1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Availability of AF performance in FHD (full HD) movie recording mode with Four Thirds lenses that are compatible with contrast AF
- Improved AF performance in movie recording with LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm / F2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-ES045)
- Improved modulation accuracy of flash
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Firmware ver.1.5 for DMC-G1
- Improved operation menu for image stabilizer ([OFF] will be added under [STABILIZER] only when LUMIX G VARIO 14-42mm / F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS014042) is attached)
- Improved modulation accuracy of flash
- Improved AF (auto focus) performance with lenses of other manufacturer
Again, keep your peepers peeled for that next month.
Crumpler Mornings and Walkabout Evenings
So, before we all go and forget I’m a Crumpler fan, this was a rather Crumpler morning as I swung up onto my bike, through my 7 Million Dollar Home full of this evening’s kit over my shoulder, and dangled a lightweight Crumpler tote full of essentials (water and food, so, literally essentials for once) off the handlebars and put some pedal action in to catch a ride with Nick (remember kiddies, carpooling is good for everyone, and the environment.)
Which leads us to the evening plans. Whatever idiocy and confused dates Nick mentioned in the last post, tonight is the next photo walkabout. That’ll be going down at 6:45pm at Coxhall Park in Carmel, Indiana. Grab a camera, grab a buddy, share a ride and come up and see us. Spend some time. Take some pictures. Feel free to show up early. Explore. Make mistakes. Take some winners.
So, if you’re reading this in the Indy area, make it out. Come on, make our day.
Olympus Pen System Gets Firmware Update
Olympus has pre-announced (seriously, guys, what’s up with pre-announcing firmware these days? How’s that even work) new firmware for the entire Pen system due out one hot week from today (that’d be April 22, don’t say I ever made you do math on a weekday).
From the press release:
CENTER VALLEY, Pa., April 15, 2010 – Olympus today announces the release of new firmware that improves auto focus performance for still images and high-definition (HD) video recording for the Olympus PEN E-P1, E-P2 and E-PL1 cameras. The firmware update will also enable the menu and recorded image to be displayed on the E-P2 and E-PL1 LCD while the VF-2 electronic viewfinder is in use.
The firmware update improves the autofocus speed for the E-P1, E-P2 and E-PL1’s still image capture with all Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds lenses. In addition, the update improves auto focus tracking in continuous auto focus (C-AF) mode when shooting movies and using the new M. Zuiko Digital™ ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 and M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 lenses. These lenses are Olympus’ first movie and still [picture] compatible (MSC) lenses and are optimized to achieve accurate and silent auto focus while shooting HD videos.
“This firmware update makes the popular PEN series cameras even more functional for photo enthusiasts and movie-makers alike,” said John Knaur, senior marketing manager, PEN & E-System, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “The improved auto focus speed will make it even easier to capture outstanding, high-quality images and HD videos.”
The new firmware will be available on Olympus’ Web site starting on April 22, 2010. Click on the following link to learn more about the update and gain access to the firmware updater application:http://www.getolympus.com/penupdate.
The M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 lens will be available in May 2010, and the M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 lens will be available in June 2010.
Journalists interested in more information, review units and high-resolution images of the Olympus PEN series cameras, M. Zuiko Digital lenses and E-System accessories should contact Jeff Hluchyj, Mullen Public Relations, (617) 226-9939 or jeff.hluchyj@mullen.com, or Jennifer Colucci, Olympus Imaging America Inc., 3500 Corporate Parkway, Center Valley, PA 18034, ph: (484) 896-5719 / (800) 622-6372 orjennifer.colucci@olympus.com, or visit the Olympus website: www.getolympus.com.
Nikon Reportedly Recipient of Two Red Dot Awards
So, via Imaging Resource is a press release from Nikon talking excitedly about it’s two Red Dot awards. The Red Dot awards are some design awards that take the idea of design pretty seriously, appearance, ease-of-use, the ease with which one can pick it up and figure it out, etc..
Anyway, Nikon apparently won some awards for the Coolpix S1000pj point-and-shoot with the LED projector, and for the D5000 entry-level DSLR. Not that I can verify this independently, since Red Dot’s site hasn’t updated with this year’s winners. It does look like this won’t be Nikon’s first time winning a Red Dot, the D3 won one last year.
Olympus Posts Slew of E-PL1 Videos
Olympus, maker of tough, waterproof point-and-shoots and DSLR’s that I’ve been famously known to run under a sink and stand-on at parties, only to then photograph the onlookers, and co-pioneers of the mirror-less compact interchangeable lens camera frontier, sent us an email today telling us about their new YouTube video spots about their E-PL1.
These 11 short videos are aimed to help you all through the various highlights of the E-PL1, and to help explain what it offers over regular compacts (‘point and shoots”), or the full-blown DSLR boat anchors like I carry. So, if you’ve got a few minutes and an interest in one of the hottest new camera types in decades, why not hop over and watch a few?
P100, other Coolpix point and shoots announced
Today Nikon announced their refresh for the Coolpix line by adding the P100, L110, L22, and S3000, S4000, S6000, S8000 compacts. The P90 is to cede to the P100, and it looks like it’ll be a doozie of an upgrade. The Nikon Coolpix P100 will have a 10.3 megapixel back-lit CMOS sensor and a 26x optical zoom (26mm-678mm equivalent) Nikkor ED lens. It’ll also be able to churn out 10fps at 10MP, and near 120fps at 1.1MP. No idea how the 3200 ISO setting will perform yet, but maybe you won’t need to use it given the sensor-shift VR system. There’s a host of other software functions to make “minimal user intervention shooting” produce good looking pics. It’s also got a macro focusing distance of .4″, though no word on what the maximum reproduction ratio. Oh right, 1080p HD video is also on the menu.
If you’ve got to use AA batteries and don’t trust this new-fangled back-lit CMOS business, then step down to the L110 and take your pick between black and red. Your glass is 15x optical from 28-420mm (equivalent), supported by sensor-shift VR image stabilization and a max ISO of 6400. It also has the first ‘cyanotype’ color setting I’ve seen a manufacturer brag over. Ta da. It takes 12.1MP stills and 720p HD video (at 30fps).
The other AA offering is the L22, weighing in at 12MP with a modest 37-134mm equivalent focal range. The L22 has a ‘Big, Bright 3.0-inch LCD’ with an anti-glare coating and a maximum ISO of 1600.
The 000 (Tri-aught?) range of Coolpix this time around are the S3000, S4000, S6000, and S8000. The S3000 (for Style yeah) wields 12.0MP, a 27-108 equivalent focal range, a 2.7″ LCD, some firmware functions to correct for red-eye, florid, staggering friends who neither smile nor cease blinking, and a maximum ISO of 3200.
Next up is the S4000, which looks to succeed the S230 and put a 3.0″ touch screen in your hot, little hands for things like touch-shutter (which sounds like an alt-rock band who should be opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket) and touch-AF. Beyond that it records 720pHD movies, and sidles on up to 3200 ISO. It also has a cyanotype color mode.
The S6000 appears with 14.2MP, a 28-196 equivalent Nikkor ED glass lens, and spits 4fps for up to 45 frames in Sports Continuous mode. It also features the “make your friends look good without trying” firmware functions.
The S8000 crowns the Tri-Aught sorority with a 14.2MP sensor, 10x optical zoom with Nikkor ED glass (starts at 30mm equivalent), a 3.0″ VGA display at 921,000 dots, and Optical VR Image Stabilization and a close focus distance of .4″ in Macro mode.
Olympus’ New PEN: E-PL1
So, if you read any of the same blogs I do, you’ll have already read about this many times by now, but for those of you who haven’t, or just really want my input on the matter, Oly announced a third sibling in the PEN line-up today.
This new one, the E-PL1, is already being billed as “the affordable PEN,” although in fact it’s the most mainstream of the three that sets it apart. It adds a pop-up flash, and retains the E-P2′s wonderful support for that hot shoe-mounted EVF. The core specs remain in the usual ballpark: 12.3 megapixels on a 4/3 sensor, in-body IS, art filters, and 720p HD video (now with a dedicated record button. Ooh, shiny).
The major changes really are in the design, which doesn’t really sacrifice anything to looks (although a Mr Charlie Sorrel over at Wired seems to be of quite the opposite opinion), with this camera clearly being the true entry-level PEN we’ve been waiting to see ever since it became clear the E-P1 wasn’t gunning for a pro market.
How can I tell? It’s the controls on the rear here. Gone are the “advanced” jog wheels, and enter a few buttons which leave it looking…. yup, like a modern point and shoot. Go ahead, click the image there to see them large. Again, and maybe it’s just my familiarity and love of the E-3 (itself widely known for having a friggin lot of buttons), but I’ll have to disagree with Mr. Sorrel’s assessment of this being a button-heavy mess here too. It’s controls are clearly designed to provide a smooth transition from high-end point and shoots.
Anyway, we’ll have more to come on this shooter soon, but, if you don’t need jog wheels and have been eyeing the Pen system waiting for a cheaper option, it looks like your time is finally coming.
Digital Photography School Gives an Intro to Creative Commons Licensing
So, it’s no secret that I lead a dual life–by day I’m the (not-so-) mild-mannered Roberts webmaster and head blogger. By night, I’m a practicing artist who’s probably slowly dying of some OMS-inhalation-related thing and almost certainly not getting my damage deposit back. So, the licensing of artistic works is something I’m concerned about a great deal off the clock, and for a lot of you I’m sure it’s something you worry about on the clock. I mean, cameras are used to make photography, yeah?
So, DPS has a short article about a service I actual use myself, called Creative Commons. Creative Commons gets thought of a lot as a sort of open-ride for people, signing away your commercial rights. And that’s not true. Sure, you can do that with Creative Commons, but you can not do that with them as well. CC works by asking if you want to allow commercial use, and then how you want to handle attribution. That’s pretty simple.
In the article, the author–Chris Folsom–says this little nugget, which I’ve been telling to friends, clients, and anyone who’ll listen for years:
Honestly, I don’t believe any licensing mechanism will keep people from stealing your images. If a photo is available to view on the internet, someone may use it regardless of whether you reserve all rights on the photo or not. Licensing your works under Creative Commons does not make it any easier or harder to infringe on your copyright.
And he’s pretty much right. I also don’t recommend watermarking images because people are going to use it anyway and a lot of reviewing professionals don’t want the image interrupted with your branding (I believe A Photo Editor has complained about this before). In the United States, artistic works belong to you the moment you make them anyway (for more details on the legal whatsits of that statement, and to find out how exactly it does work with cited statutes and not just ‘I’ve heard…”, go here: http://www.artlawteam.com/2009/09/articles/copyright-2/copyright-myths-debunked/ (if clicking that links gives you an error, highlight it, copy it, and paste it into your URL bar, their blog is having issues right now, but that’ll work).
So, CC s worth looking into, and Chris’ article below is a good intro. Give it a look, if you haven’t yet handled how you license your work.
Photo Quotage
Recently, it has become easier and easier to present anything that could be seen through our eyes in a photograph. However, I don’t really think a photograph can mirror reality; everything has multiple viewpoints, which depend on your personal insight, or your angle of view; perhaps what the photo shows us is something primal. I cannot deny that this is why photographs fascinate me so much. I like to intuitively find an image and let nature take its course.
-Chen Nong
More here: http://blog.sfmoma.org/2009/10/asian-photo-now1/