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Lexar Announces own 600x UDMA CF

Around the end of the month, Lexar will be keeping up with the neighbors and releasing 600x speed CF cards in 8, 16GB sizes with 32GB on the way later. They’ll be shipping with a new ExpressCard reader that supports up to 133 mbps transfer speeds when slotted into a Mac or PC’s, ahem, express card slot.

With the D3s sporting a 48 RAW image buffer, the 5D Mark II, 7D, and 1D Mark IV all featuring HD video in varied frame rates and the 1D Mk IV shooting ten stills a second- high speed data transfer will obviously not go out of style any time soon.



Olympus EP-1 Official, Cuter Than Baby Seals

So, the internet rumormill ground out some mighty fine bread and I walked in today to be bombarded with news about Olympus new “digital Pen”, the Micro Four-Thirds “EP-1″ camera. Available in Jody-pleasing black or Derek’s-girlfriend-pleasing brown trim, it’s not so much bigger than the Panasonic TZ series cameras, but packs the imager and IS module from the E-620 for a mighty 12 megapixels and up to 4 stops of image stabilization on any lens you want to smack on there.

Pricing is still a hop-and-a-skip from official, so more on that in a bit, but also at announcement we have a 17mm (34mmEFL) f2.8 pancake and a new and even tinier 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 zoom, a hotshoe-mounted VF for the 17mm prime, and a new low-power, slimline flash unit. Which I reckon is enough to call it a system.

Rest assured, one of these will eventually find its way into my bag. Check pictures below, you can peruse the specs here in a bit once I get them up on the site.



Acratech’s Fancy GP Ballhead

Acractech GP Ballhead

Acractech GP Ballhead

OK, product spotlight time. I haven’t done one of these in a while, but it’s been a while since I stumbled across something cool like this. So, from the school of thought that goes “Hey! The top camera tripods cost me like 400 bucks, I need a ball head that rivals that.” So, here’s the Acratech GP, a nice $390 or so ballhead, but this one i think earns every single dollar they’re asking for it.

First, there’s the “mundanity”, which says the sucker can hold 25 pounds “at any angle”– remember that, we’re coming back to it in a moment. It weighs less than a pound, and takes Krik/Arca style plates. All very cool, but maybe not open-my-wallet-shell-out-390 cool.

Except, see how the degree scales are printed right side up and upside down as well? I wandered about that when I first saw it. Turns out, you can take the quick release off and mount the head upside down as well, giving you a nice panning, level head. Perfect for putting macro rails on. Flip it around the other way and you’ve got a ball head, but weight, with gimbal action. That’s right. It’s a ball head, it’s a pan head, it’s a gimbal. That’s pretty A-OK with me. Saves space inthe luggage, that’s for sure.

I don’t think we have these in yet, but that just means they’re coming. Me, I’d say if you want a ballhead worthy of a product highlight from me, I’d go with. How’s that for faux arrogance, eh?



Good news for Apple and Nikon P6000

The big gripe has been RAW compatibility for the Nikon digital camera P6000.  Up until now, the RAW file was only supported by Windows, or the new plug-in for Photoshop on the Apple platform.

Today, Apple has released the new RAW update 2.3 for iPhoto ’08 and Aperture 2.  The new update supports RAW files for the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90, Sony Alpha A900 and the Nikon Coolpix P6000.

This is big news for Apple users.  I have heard a lot of complaints about compatibility for the P6000.  This should address a lot of those issues.



Niftiness Built In Continued

Last time I started talking about some of the innovations to be found in modern cameras that go beyond the megapixel race and the arguments about noise, and I’d like to share a few more of these innovative ideas I think we sometimes forget to give weight to.

4. Sony’s Rotating Control Panel. I’ll likely always consider this a Sony innovation, even though I know other cameras seem to use it too (the Nikon D60, for example.) This feature is a logical expansion of a feature most cameras have anyway, namely a rotation sensor. Many cameras, in playback, will automatically rotate the image so it’s always the right way, even if you hold the camera in portrait mode. Sonys just do this for the control panel as well. I gotta says, I wish Olympus digital cameras had this, it’s just a pain reading all my settings sideways every time I shoot in portrait.

5. Sony’s Battery Status. This one is definitely an award-winner for tiny little details, but it’s one I’m envious of. At the right are two low battery indicators, can you figure out which one is more useful? It’s a toughie, I know. It’s just such a great idea all around. Tell the user how much battery is left, inspired! I wonder if it’s a Sony patent thing, because the only problem I have with this is that it isn’t in every Canon digital SLR camera, Nikon digital SLR camera, Olympus, Pentax, or in general any digital camera that I pick up.

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