December 2011 news and reviews

British newspaper The Guardian has published a video interview with Oscar-winning documentary maker Errol Morris about the nature of truth in photography. In it he talks about whether photography can be honest or truthful, and wonders what's outside the frame. The video is illustrated with some examples taken from his book 'Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography' and discusses the power of 'iconic photographs' and the meanings they develop, divorced from context. (via PetaPixel)

The thing that impresses me most about good architectural photography is its ability to imbue inanimate subjects - buildings and other manmade structures - with a life and soul of their own. Five prof. photographers who specialize in architectural photography kindly agreed to give me interviews.

Just Posted: Our review of the Canon PowerShot S100. The S100 is the latest in Canon's range of pocketable photographer's compacts, building on the success of the popular S90 and S95. This most recent model offers a more ambitious 24-120mm equivalent, f2.0-5.9 zoom in front of a Canon-made 12MP 1/1.7" type CMOS sensor, marking a much bigger advance than in the last update. Is it another step towards the perfect pocket shooter or has the camera giant over-reached itself? Find out in our review.

Offices and homes of executives connected to the Olympus accounting scandal have been raided by Japanese police. The move comes after a report commissioned by the company showed that losses of $1.7bn had been concealed for over a decade. However, the company did successfully file its amended accounts by the December 14th deadline imposed by the Japanese stock exchange to avoid being delisted. These restated accounts showed significantly reduced assets, and the company is now rumored to be planning to issue more shares in an attempt to raise money.

Panasonic, Samsung, SanDisk, Sony and Toshiba have announced they are working on a 'security solution' for the Secure Digital format - a move more about transferring paid-for content onto mobile devices than about photography. The system will associate cards with content buyers, so that rights-owners feel they can allow those buyers to move copyrighted Blu-Ray and downloaded HD content onto the cards. Or, in marketing speak: 'enables the effortless consumption of online and offline content across multiple device platforms.'

We've rounded-up the latest Mirrorless cameras, breaking them down into user groups and highlighting the standout models. Having used all the current crop of cameras extensively, we summarize their main strengths and weaknesses. So, which Mirrorless models should you be considering and just what do you get for your money?

DxO Labs has launched DxO Optics Pro v7.1 for both Mac and Windows. The latest version of its Raw converter and lens correction software adds support for an additional five cameras: the Sony A65, Panasonic DMC-G3 and the three latest Olympus PENs. The additional support for these cameras, with several lens combinations means Optics Pro is able to support more than 5,000 camera/lens combinations. As a special offer, both the Standard and Elite versions will be available at around a 30% discount until December 24th.

Paris-based software maker Oloneo has launched version 1 of its HDRengine high dynamic range photo software. Built around what the company claims is 'the fastest HDR engines available today' it allows real-time tone mapping and HDR manipulation. The software supports 380 Raw formats and works on them in 32-bits per channel to ensure image quality retention. Oloneo HDRengine is available at an introductory price of $59/€59 through the company's online store or can be trialed for 30 days for free.

Just published: A Mirrorless camera primer. Mirrorless cameras have been on the market for a little over three years but now, with most of the major players now involved, we thought it was a good time to try to make sense of the market. In advance of our end-of-year Mirrorless roundup, we try to explain one of the most interesting developments of recent years.

Sony has updated the firmware for its NEX-3, NEX-5 and NEX-C3 cameras to offer support for the LA-EA2 SLT-style autofocus A-mount adapter. Firmware version 05 for the NEX-3 and NEX-5, and version 02 for the NEX-C3 are now available from your country's Sony support site.

To showcase the talent and imagination shown by our Challenge hosts and entrants, we're once again running a 'Challenge of Challenges,' to find the dpreview.com Picture of the Year. This year we've made a couple of changes to the way we run this annual event. We've whittled more than 1700 challenge winners down to a more manageable 100 - selected by the dpreview editorial team. And for the first time, we're offering not only a prize for the winning entry, but also for the 'best' voter. Check out the details after the link, or jump directly to the challenge and get voting!

Software maker ACD Systems has announced acdVideo Converter and ACDSee Duplicate Finder - two tools for videographers and photographers. Duplicate Finder is a Mac-only app that identifies duplicate copies of files, even if the filenames differ. Meanwhile acdVideo Converter will convert footage into several popular formats to make them easier to share. acdVideo Converter is initially being offered for $14.99 while Duplicate Finder is $4.99 if bought before January 9th 2012.

Just posted: Our in-depth review of the Sony Alpha NEX-7. With its 24MP APS-C sensor and high-resolution EVF encased in a compact body with lots of external controls, the NEX-7 is one of the most desirable cameras of the year for the enthusiast photographer - on paper at least. But at a body-only price around $1000, it's far from cheap. So does it live up to the expectations and hype? Read our 28-page in-depth review to find out.

Unified Color has announced second-generation versions of its HDR Expose software and its 32Float HDR plugin for Photoshop. The latest versions add color dodge and burn tools, and tone curve adjustment, all the while using the company's 32-bit colorspace that separates color and luminance information to avoid color shifts when changing brightness. The latest version also includes presets, which can be created and modified, to speed up the blending process. Version 2 also gains the ability to batch merge images, using one of these presets. A free 30 day trial of both the 32 Float v2 plugin and standalone HDR Expose 2 software is available.

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 3.6 and Camera Raw 6.6. These are final versions of updates that were originally posted as 'release candidates' on the Adobe Labs site, and are available for immediate download. The latest versions provide RAW support for 9 additional cameras, including the Canon Powershot S100, Fujifilm X10, Nikon 1 V1 and J1, Panasonic DMC-GX1, Samsung NX5 and NX200, and Sony NEX-7, alongside over 30 new lens correction profiles. 

Photographer and Photoshop professional Jean Miele demonstrates advanced retouching techniques that eliminate wrinkles and blemishes in much less time than you'd expect. In this article he shares tips on creating effective layer masks. He also shows how to use the red channel data from your image to create smooth, natural looking skin tones.

Tamron has announced the 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III VC superzoom for the E-mount used on Sony's NEX cameras. The lens, which comes in two colors, makes it the first third-party manufacturer to offer an autofocus lens for any mirrorless camera system. Unlike the existing, DSLR version, the E-mount lens uses a stepping motor designed specifically for working with contrast-detection AF. The lens offers an image-stabilized 27-300mm equivalent field-of-view on the NEX and comes as an alternative to the Sony 18-200mm. Sales will start in Japan on December 15th.

Leica has announced the V-Lux 3, a 24x superzoom with 12.1MP CMOS sensor. The camera has a 4.5 - 108mm F2.8-5.2 image stabilized lens, equivalent to 25-600mm in 35mm film terms. The camera is also capable of 1080p60 video capture with stereo sound and 12fps shooting at full resolution. Unlike the otherwise similar Panasonic DMC-FZ150, the Leica comes with both Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements. It will be available from January 2012. We've been using a production V-Lux 3 for a few days and have prepared a samples gallery that will be published shortly.

Just Posted: Leica V-Lux 3 samples gallery. We've published a selection of images from the V-Lux 3 superzoom that was announced today. We've put together a selection of 38 images, shot in a variety of situations and using a range of camera settings to give an idea of what the camera's 24x lens and 12MP CMOS sensor can do.

Sony USA has said the NEX-7 will begin to ship this month to some customers who pre-ordered it, following a halt in production cause by flooding in Thailand in October. Production is still limited but the company says it will 'aggressively pursue all efforts to restore full capacity' for the NEX-7 and other affected models (which is thought to include the NEX-5N, A65 and A77).

The Compact Flash Association has announced the development of the XQD memory card format. The smaller XQD format is based around the PCI Express specifications, allowing write speeds of 125MB/sec and beyond. The association says the first example cards will be shown at the CP+ trade show in Japan, in February 2012. No details of capacities or which camera makers are likely to support the standard are given.

Panasonic has released its promised firmware update for the DMC-GH2, enabling 24Mbps video to be captured at 1080p30 (25p for European units). Firmware also makes a number of other changes including the option to deactivate the touch screen control (which we suspect videographers in particular will welcome). The download is available now from the company's website.

Fujifilm has said it will attempt to address the problem of X10 images showing 'white discs' with a firmware update in response to customer concerns. The company statement comes in response to our enquiries about the problem, and confirms the phenomenon is caused by sensor 'blooming.' It claims the camera is working within prescribed tolerances and that the problem is not uncommon in other cameras but says that it plans updated firmware to 'lessen the effects' of the blooming. We have prepared a quick test of the issue (which we will cover in greater depth in the full review), showing the effects of Fujifilm's suggested ways of mitigating the issue.

Update: We have published a report on the effect of firmware v.1.03 on the orbs issue (Feb 25th 2012) 

Legal action should be taken against the responsible members of a board of directors that was 'rotten to the core,' says the independant report into financial irregularities at Olympus. The report confirms the use of an elaborate scheme to move around $1.7 billion investment losses from the 1990s off the company's balance sheet. Those losses were then disguised as excessive transaction fees when Olympus bought other companies, and in write-downs on the value of newly purchased assets.

Leica has announced a firmware update for its M9 and M9-P full-frame digital rangefinders. Firmware v1.176 addresses what the company says is a rare fault that can occur when formatting some SanDisk memory cards. It says it has tested 'all types' of SanDisk card and that the latest firmware guarantees their proper function.

Adam Koplan takes a closer look at Steve Simon's 'The Passionate Photographer.' Seasoned photojournalist Simon has deep knowledge of photographic technique and, as a veteran teacher and podcaster, he is adept at explaining its facets. The book is structured as 10 steps toward becoming a more powerful photographer and along the way the author addresses both the art and the craft of creating a gripping photo.

Sony has published details of two OLED displays, giving more detail about the electronic viewfinders used in its SLT A65, A77 and NEX-7 cameras. The displays are based on white LEDs shining through color filters, rather than direct-emitting colored LED technology, helping them to offer higher resolutions combined with 90% coverage of the NTSC color gamut. The company also claims a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 - ten times greater than that offered by its latest WhiteMagic rear LCD screens, also detailed in the company's latest semiconductor newsletter. Their appearance in the newsletter is likely to mean they are available for sale to other manufacturers, raising the prospect of other makers' cameras appearing with high-resolution OLED EVFs.

The crowd-funded universal camera trigger, TriggerTrap, has gone into production its creator has announced. TriggerTrap is a light, laser and sound-sensitive programmable camera trigger with built-in time-lapse function. It also has an auxilliary input and is built around Arduino open-source architecture, meaning it can be programmed to trigger a camera in response to almost any electrical input. The TriggerTrap is compatible with a large range of cameras, via cable or infra-red communication, it will be available from February at a cost of $125.

Photographer and author Ellen Anon explains how to add textures to your images for a more 'painterly' effect. She takes you step-by-step through the process of combining and blending individual image layers in Photoshop. She also provides helpful tips and resources, whether you want to create your textures from scratch or begin with pre-existing material.

Sigma is launching a non-stabilized version of its 17-50mm F2.8 EX DG HSM for Sony and Pentax. The lens replaces the existing OS versions for these two mounts, for which most cameras have built-in stabilization. The latest version will be available from December 9th. The Japanese recommended selling price remains the same as for the OS version.

Olympus' former CEO Michael Woodford has resigned his position as director of the company and called for a shareholder meeting to dismiss the rest of the board. The company's share price had started to recover some of the 88% value it had lost in the weeks since Woodford was removed as CEO for highlighting unusual payments by the company (he remained a director). Since then the company has admitted using these payments to cover up losses on earlier investments. An independent committee established by the company has reported it has found no evidence of the rumored involvement of organized crime syndicates in the deals. However, three board members, including the President and Vice-President have resigned over the issue. (via Reuters)

Joanne Carter of theappwhisperer.com examines eight leading portfolio apps currently available for Apple's iOS. Smartphones and tablets can be useful for photographers in all sort of ways, but its easy to overlook one of the things that they're best at: showing off your images. So which app should you use to show your best shots in their best light?