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George
Mann's
Digital
Soup
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Click here for Feature Articles
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See all the NEW 8 Megapixel Prosumer cameras here
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Adobe InDesign CS
PageMaker Edition Now Available - Seminars being held in South East
Asia
The new release includes a full version of Adobe InDesign CS software
plus an innovative PageMaker Plug-in Pack which includes designer
templates, keyboard shortcuts and training materials designed to make
switching to InDesign CS, the award-winning layout and design software,
easy for designers, educators and business users. Customers who already
have InDesign CS can order and download the PageMaker Plug-in Pack
directly from Adobe.com.
"As a former Adobe PageMaker user, I'm thrilled to now have exceptional
PageMaker features like numbered and bulleted lists within InDesign CS
PageMaker Edition software," said Scott Citron, principal of Scott
Citron Design. "This is just one example of features previously
available in PageMaker that have now been applied to InDesign CS to
make both current InDesign users and those upgrading from PageMaker
more productive than ever."
With the addition of the PageMaker Plug-in Pack customers can now
repurpose layouts in older documents with conversion support for
PageMaker 6.0 documents, as well as 6.5-7.x and QuarkXPress 3.3-4x
files. In addition, the ALAP® InBooklet® Special Edition
plug-in automatically rearranges a document's pages at print time into
an imposition with complete control over margins, gaps, bleeds, creep
and crossover traps. Other features include automated bullets and
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InDesign CS to match PageMaker 7.0 shortcuts.
The Adobe PageMaker Plug-in Pack adds more support for PageMaker users
when considering the switch to InDesign CS. Over 80 new professional
templates help solve the blank page syndrome for designers, educators,
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Diti Katona of Concrete Design Communications, Earl Gee of Gee + Chung
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HarperCollins and Sean Adams of AdamsMorioka. The templates are based
on real world projects such as advertisements, business cards,
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Templates Guide, an interactive PDF that includes video interviews with
the designers, "how to" tips for advanced design features, and
background on the real world projects behind the templates.
The PageMaker Plug-in Pack includes a specialized training DVD
entitled: Total Training Presents: Migrating from Adobe PageMaker to
InDesign CS. This training series, led by Adobe software expert Brian
Maffitt, helps users migrate their documents and software knowledge
from PageMaker to InDesign CS. Additional written instruction manuals
and interactive Adobe PDFs that address training issues specific to
PageMaker users are also included.
PageMaker users will find familiar features such as Story Editor, an
integrated word-processing functionality, standard in InDesign CS.
InDesign CS also supports PageMaker workflows, Mac OS X Panther and has
native file support for Adobe Photoshop® CS and Illustrator® CS
assets. PageMaker users, who want more advanced design capabilities
such as drop shadows and superior typographical and editable
transparency controls, will find Adobe InDesign CS meets these
requirements.
Pricing and Availability
Adobe InDesign CS PageMaker Edition for Mac OS X and Microsoft®
Windows® is immediately available to customers in the United States
and Canada through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at
www.adobe.com. This version is available to licensed users of Adobe
PageMaker (any version) and is available for the estimated street price
of US$349 (must supply a valid PageMaker serial number at install).
InDesign CS PageMaker Edition will be available to educators (with any
registered version of PageMaker) for the estimated street price of
US$219. For more information please visit:
www.adobe.com/products/indesign/pm_ind.html.
Customers who already have InDesign CS can order and download the Adobe
PageMaker Plug-in Pack from the Adobe Store for US$49. The Adobe
PageMaker Plug-in Pack is expected to be included with the Adobe
Creative Suite Premium Edition and Creative Suite Standard Edition in
Spring 2004. For more information about the Adobe Creative Suite,
please visit: www.adobe.com/creativesuite.
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Secrets of
Professional Publishing and Prepress: Moving from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X
version 10.3
What separates the desktop publishing
Power Users from the rest of the pack? It's the tricks of the trade
that let them use the software fluently – in ways even the engineers
didn't think possible. This seminar will show you how to implement Mac
OS X in Publishing and Prepress.
This seminar is meant for professionals specializing in prepress and
publishing.
Organized by Apple.
Principal speaker: Chuck Weger from USA.
Mon 23 Feb,
Singapore
Wed 25 Feb, Malaysia
Fri 27 Feb, New Delhi
Mon 1 Mar, Mumbai
|
Simplicity Redefined - Adobe InDesign CS Pagemaker Seminar
Thu 11 Mar -
Bangkok, Thailand
It has never been more simpler.
With the latest Adobe® InDesign® CS PageMaker® Edition, the
exclusive upgrade combines the full version of Adobe® InDesign®
CS, and the Adobe® PageMaker® Plug-in Pack. You will have
familiar PageMaker tools and templates to ease your transition to
Adobe® InDesign® CS.
You’re invited to sign up for thie eye-opening FREE seminar where
you’ll be totally convinced that Adobe® InDesign® CS
PageMaker® Edition really is the easiest upgrade you’ll make this
year.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Adobe PageMaker users
This is a FREE seminar and please note that "Free registration is at www.maccenter.co.th/pagemaker.html".
|
Friday - February 20, 2004
Getting a grip
on the speedy Nikon D2H Digital Single Lens Reflex.
 This camera is so fast that if it was shooting film, you
would think twice before picking it up. My first impression when
looking in the viewfinder and poising my finger over the shutter
release button was, "wait I'm not ready yet, how many shots did I just
take?" I kid you not, this camera practically takes pictures when you
just even think about taking a picture.
Camera start-up time is near instantaneous and for all practical
purposes it is instantaneous. If you are frustrated with digital
photography because all the missed pictures due to shutter lag, try
this camera. If you can justify the over US$3,000. cost of the Nikon
D2H camera body, you will never miss a shot due to shutter lag again.
There are three shutter release settings, Single, Continuous Low, and
Continuous High. Continuous Low is configurable from 1-7 frames per
second, Continuous High is a blistering 8 frames per second. Like most
everyone I
always thought, oh well nice for the professional sports photographers
but I don't have a need for that kind of continuous frame rate. Boy was
I wrong, the first time you try this camera in a portrait session with
one of your kids, you will all of a sudden realize that you will never
have to make an excuse about flinching eyes again. A burst of ten or
twenty frames will get you much better pictures of any kid (or grownup)
who can't sit still for even a second.
One of the odd things about Professional Level cameras is that they are
actually easier to use than the feature packed Prosumer cameras and all
but the most basic Point and Shoot cameras. Why? Because Professional
Photographers have to work quickly, and often in adverse conditions,
Professional Level cameras have almost all their controls on the
outside of the camera and they have to be easy to adjust (even while
wearing gloves in cold weather).
Prosumer and other feature rich lower level cameras have most of their
functions embedded in menus that require you to navigate multiple
levels of choices with small and often difficult to control
multi-function buttons. One reason is of course the desire for a
smaller camera with a cleaner cosmetic appearance. Professional Level
cameras are large, heavy and have buttons and switches covering most of
their exterior.
Because of this over abundance of buttons, switches and dials, most
Professional level cameras look very cluttered and messy, the D2H has
been designed so well though that it looks right, even the first time
you see it and when you pick it up it immediately feels right in your
hands. I never got this feeling from the earlier generations of Nikon
digital SLRs.
Just so you don't get the wrong impression and think that this is just
a case of infatuation with a large expensive toy, I have used all
models of Nikon manufactured Digital SLRs made so far on commercial
assignments, and a fair number of the Nikon Professional DSLRs
manufactured by Kodak, including the current Kodak DSC-14n. The D2H is
in an altogether new class. It is actually the first Professional Level
Digital SLR from Nikon that has been designed from the ground up to be
a digital camera and not a film camera model that has had a digital
back attached to it.
The viewfinder of the D2H is a true 100% optical fixed level
pentaprism. It is probably the best viewfinder I have ever used and
just as comfortable with glasses as without (and diopter adjustment).
The eyepiece cover is locked into place when the eyepiece shutter is
opened, preventing it from being lost. Many viewfinders are awkward for
some reason or another, your nose bumps into buttons and switches, the
LCD gets in your way, etc., but the D2H viewfinder feels perfect for me.
Right now you must be thinking, this is an unusually positive report
from George, isn't there anything wrong with this camera? Well since I
am just talking about the external interface of the D2H right now there
is one thing that bothers me but it is really minor and not an issue
for long. This camera does not have a FireWire interface but rather
uses USB 2, this is somewhat awkward for most current Macintosh users
but within another year we will all probably have upgraded to new
Macintosh computers that have USB 2 ports.
What makes up for the lack of FireWire for the true speed shooters (the
journalists who this camera was designed for) is the optional WiFi
connection that allows you to download while shooting, to a server with
an Airport (or other WiFi device), or to a single computer (like a Mac
PowerBook with an Airport antenna installed).
More about the Nikon D2H in the next edition of George Mann's Digital
Soup .....................
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| See all the NEW 8 Megapixel Prosumer cameras here |
Saturday - February 14, 2004
2004 - The year
of the US$999, 8 million pixel, all-in-one, prosumer
digital camera
Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Minolta all have an 8 million pixel
super camera either on the store shelves or on the way. Latest by mid
March you will be bombarded by advertising and sales promotions to get
you to buy one of these cameras. Judging by the interest on on-line
digital camera forums, a lot of these cameras will be sold.
For the most part the cameras themselves are really not completely new
as they have been around for a few years in lower resolution models.
Canon being the exception in that they have come out with a completely
new camera design, mainly due to the fact that they did not offer a
fixed lens prosumer camera in the last few years.
1. Sony Cyber-shot
DSC-F828 -
2/3" CCD, 28-200mm, F2.0-2.8, Zeiss T*
2. Nikon CoolPix 8700 - 2/3" CCD,
35-280mm, F2.8-4.2, Nikkor ED
3. Canon PowerShot Pro1 - 2/3"
CCD, 28-200mm, F2.4-3.5, L-series
4. Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom
- 2/3" CCD, 28-140mm, F-2.4-3.5, Zuiko lens
5. Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2
- 2/3" CCD, 28-200mm, F2.8-3.5, GT lens
(+AS)
-------------------------
Sony was the first out the gate with their sleek black DSC F828. This
camera is the fourth generation camera in this series - F505, F707,
F727, and now the F828. The DCS F707 was the first Sony camera to sport
a long zoom lens, a 5 million pixel sensor, and an electronic
viewfinder in addition to an LCD screen. The camera was revolutionary
and quickly became the most desired camera of it's time.
The DSC F828 has been receiving a lot of criticism on the on-line
forums due to higher levels of image noise, chromatic aberrations, etc.
Some of the criticism is probably deserved but a lot of it has to do
with increased competition from other manufacturers and unrealistic
consumer expectations.
--------------------------
Nikon has decided to upgrade their immensely popular CoolPix 5700 with
the same 8 million pixel Sony sensor as that found in the Sony DSC
F828. Whether Nikon (or Sony) have solved any of the image noise
problems is yet to be seen. The biggest disappointment so far with this
(not yet released) camera is the lack of true wide angle at the lower
end of it's 8x zoom lens.
(I have played with a pre production camera and it feels just as good
as it's predecessor, but I must admit I was somewhat disappointed that
Nikon has only made minor under-the-skin improvements and ignored the
call for a wider angle lens and more manual controls.)
Nikon is undoubtedly concentrating on the release of the D70 digital
SLR body (which also sells for $999.), but they might lose out on a
market that they practically owned at the moment.
--------------------------
Canon has surprised everyone (including Nikon I think) with their new
PowerShot Pro1. Unlike most other camera manufacturers, Canon seems to
be able to focus on a large number of completely different projects at
the same time. The PowerShot Pro offers an 8 million pixel CCD sensor,
a Canon L-series f2.4 to 3.5 28-200 equivalent zoom lens, and RAW file
format.
The camera looks like it is based on their popular G series of cameras
and at the same time is very similar in design to the Nikon CoolPix
8700, but
maybe most important of all it comes with a more wide angle view at the
bottom end of the zoom range. It looks like Canon did their homework
and
built a camera that a lot of people are going to buy.
----------------------------
Olympus has their fingers in every slice of the digital camera pie but
had overlooked the all in one prosumer, electronic view finder market
for the last few years because they thought that they had that covered
with their E-10 and E-20 series cameras. Unfortunately they thought
wrong and so have had to make a quick adjustment by redesigning their
5060 wide angle range finder type prosumer camera into an electronic
viewfinder camera and squeezing an 8 million pixel sensor into it.
Unfortunately they did not seem to have enough time to come up with a
compatible 8x zoom lens so are still stuck with a relatively short 5x
zoom (28 to 140 equiv.). The Olympus C-8080 camera looks fairly
solid though and will more than likely
find a sizable audience of faithful Olympus buyers.
----------------------------
Minolta may finally be coming back into focus as a serious camera
manufacturer for photo enthusiasts. They have made a lot of advances in
the prosumer market with their A1 prosumer camera by offering manual
zoom and anti-shake technology for low light situations. Now that they
will be offering 8 million pixels resolution they will be in a head to
head race with Sony, Nikon, Canon and Olympus for the prosumer crown.
Glowing preliminary reports are giving Minolta Dimage A2 a good chance
to compete strongly against the more established digital camera brands.
It will be nice to see Minolta competing once more, even if under the
unwieldy name of Konica Minolta. I would like to see them tone down the
futuristic 'ergonomics' a bit though. I don't really want to be seen
taking pictures with something that looks like I stole it from the
props department of the Jetsons cartoon series.
-----------------------------
It will be interesting to see who starts lowering their prices first
because it stands to reason that with five manufacturers pushing 8
million pixel prosumer cameras at basically the same US$999. price,
something has to give.
My guess would be that Sony will be unaware of any competition and hold
their price for the next six months, and when nobody is looking they
will surprise everyone with something completely new. Nikon will be so
busy selling their D70 Digital SLR cameras that they won't even notice
that their CoolPix 8700 cameras are not selling. Canon will probably be
the most aggressive in terms of advertising and might be the first to
sell their 8 million pixel prosumer at $899. Olympus will continue to
be confused as to why no one is switching to their cameras, but come
out with a longer zoom lens model later in the year. And Minolta will
have to come down from their current 1,099. immediately, to compete at
all, but do real well with people who either presently or in the past
owned a Minolta film SLR. If Minolta drops their price far enough they
might be a real contender.
More news on the way ............................
|
| See all the NEW 8 Megapixel Prosumer cameras here |
Thursday - February 12, 2004
Digital
Photography Industry is in Overdrive - time to lock up the steroids
before someone gets hurt.
The Photo Marketing Association is having a wing ding in Las Vegas and
although new digital camera announcements have been leaking out for
over a month, today the dam burst and a slew of new products hit
the trade floor.
All I can say is WOW, some companies are going to do real well this
year and others are obviously going to go broke. The market can not
support this much new equipment at one time. It is overwhelming for me
and the poor consumer is just going to go nuts trying to figure out
what to buy. I expect a couple of months of total confusion with huge
numbers of new users on the already overcrowded internet bulletin
boards that specialize in digital photography, they will all be asking,
"what camera shall I buy?"
Canon, Nikon and Sony are the heavy hitters of the moment. In the top
ten most popular cameras of the last few years, nobody else has even
come close. Canon being the most consistently on top and with the most
winners, but always in danger of being outdone by Nikon or Sony for the
top spot. Whenever anyone challenges them they always seem to be able
come out with a similar but slightly more powerful or feature laden
model very quickly.
Canon seems to be driven by somewhat of the same zeal for number one
status in everything they do as Microsoft. Nikon just plods along
claiming that they will only release a new product when it is free of
defects and superior to all other products on the market. Sometimes
this tactic works (most often in their top of the line professional
products) but on the consumer end they often fail to get the point and
foolishly refuse to provide what the public is asking for. Sony
operates in a different time and space from everyone else but manages
to surprise everyone at least once every couple of years.
--------------------------
Nikon: You've seen the previews already (or just scroll down the page).
Nikon is just about to release the US$ 999. Nikon D70 Digital SLR body,
the strongest weapon they have aimed at Canon in years and Canon will
find it difficult to answer directly because their Canon Digital Rebel
300D costs the same but just doesn't look or feel as solid, the Canon
features fall short, all in all the battle for the under US$1,000. DSLR
has been won by Nikon for at least the next six months, if not the
entire year.
There are other Nikon releases but some are disappointing like the 8
million pixel upgrade to a very popular but ready for major cosmetic
and feature surgery CoolPix 5700 - now CoolPix 8700. It will sell well
to new Nikon customers or people upgrading from lower end CoolPix
cameras but current CoolPix 5700 owners are disappointed. But we will
assume that Nikon wanted to make sure that they upgrade to the new
Nikon D70 Digital SLR.
The Nikon CoolWalker Portable Image Storage Device and Nikon Picture
Project software are really nice innovations and Nikon is to be
applauded but they are the kind of accessories camera manufacturers
have to start providing in the digital era of photography.
There are several new low end CoolPix cameras which I will review as
soon as they are provide to me, but they are not earth shattering
evolutions of a somewhat boring line of consumer cameras, just attempts
to keep the loyal Nikon customers happy. The question from a Nikon DSLR
user being, "do you have a thin high resolution camera for my wife",
the answer being "yes we do the CoolPix 4200 and 5200." Never mind that
Casio, Sony and Pentax have smaller cameras with larger LCD's, that the
wife would like better, Nikon has a Nikon solution for loyal Nikon
customers. And they are good cameras, with good lenses, just a little
old fashioned.
---------------------------
Canon: As anyone can tell from reading this web site, I am a Nikon user
and prefer Nikon cameras in most situations (familiarity, comfort,
etc.). But I must admit that Canon makes a lot of very good cameras. At
the moment I am testing a Nikon D2H (the latest high speed nikon made
for Sports photographers and anyone else who needs extreme
responsiveness from their DSLR).
Canon has just come out with the EOS-1D Mark II camera to compete with
the Nikon D2H. The most obvious difference between the two sports
shooters is the 8 million pixel resolution of the Canon as opposed to
the 4 million pixel resolution of the Nikon. Nikon people are of course
giving a lot of the same type of rebuttal that Apple marketing people
give when confronted by questions about the speed difference between
PowerPC and Intel processors.
Canon also has a 12 million pixel high end camera the Canon EOS-1D, and
Nikon it saddens me to say does not actually have a high end camera at
the moment (unless you count the more than two years old D1X), the
Nikon D2X is still not in production and has not even been announced by
Nikon for release any time this year.
Canon has also just announced the Canon PowerShot Pro1 which is very
similar to the Nikon CoolPix 8700 but has a (35mm equiv.) 28-200 zoom,
which Nikon CoolPix 5700 users where hoping for in the new CoolPix 8700.
The low end of Canon's line is not that interesting to me but it is
also very capable, well designed and popular. Canon understands the
consumer and produces products that deliver.
---------------------------
Sony: I have always been a big fan of Sony products, their cameras
included and have owned a few of them, including the revolutionary
DSC-707. The newest version the 8 million pixel DSC-828 is
unfortunately getting a bad reputation for noise, chromatic
aberrations, etc. I am not sure that all this bad press is really
deserved and hope that I can test out the camera for myself at some
point.
Sony has a huge range of very good cameras but of special interest at
the moment is their version of the thin body with large LCD digital
camera. The Sony DSC-W1, has a 3x optical zoom Zeiss lens, 5 million
pixels, and a 2.5" LCD screen. Once you have used a Point and shoot
camera with a large LCD screen you will never want to switch back to a
small screen camera, it enhances the shooting and sharing experience
immensely. And very important it comes in silver or black. Around
US$400.
----------------------------
Olympus, Minolta/Konica, Pentax, and Casio (in the thin and fashionable
segment) are also trying hard to gain a bigger market share.
Olympus who have always had way too many camera models out at one time,
have again come out with a full frontal shotgun type attack. Olympus is unfortunately suffering from somewhat of an
identity
crisis that they can not get away from, they keep flip-flopping back
and forth from trying to
enter the professional digital camera market (totally unsuccessful so
far) and satisfying all the peculiar nich interests of amateur digital
photography enthusiasts.
One example being the ultra-zoom cameras that
have relatively low resolution CCD sensors but 10x optical zoom lenses.
The newest Olympus ultra-zoom is the C-765 Ultra Zoom, it has four
million pixels and a (35mm equivalent) 38-380mm. zoom lens. It's stated
new claim to fame is that it is now "the worlds smallest 10x digital
zoom camera". Another Olympus niche camera is the very similar but also
very different new C-770 Movie, it features a 10x zoom lens, four
million pixels and the ability to record 640x480 MPEG-4 video at 30
fps, at approximately 300 KB/sec.
Olympus really started the prosumer trend of slightly heavier, block
shaped, black bodied cameras, which was hijacked by Canon and Nikon
with the Canon G series and the Nikon 5000 series. At this point
Olympus has taken an aggressive step towards regaining the edge by
completely redesigning the series and coming out with a sexier and
curvier piece of black metal in the C-880 Wide Zoom.
The C-880 Wide
Zoom features 8 million pixels and a 5x zoom that goes from (35mm
equiv.) 28-140mm. We will have to test this camera to see how it stands
up to the similarly equipped new Canon PowerShot Pro1. Nikon has
stepped out to lunch on this category by only upgrading the processor
of the very popular CoolPix 5700 to 8 million pixels but leaving the
low end of the new CoolPix 8700's zoom lens at the not too wide 35mm
mark. Hard too tell who will win the hearts of new users on this battle
but I would bet on Canon.
----------------------------
Nobody knows exactly what Minolta/Konica is up to yet but they have a
lot of resources and some solid prosumer cameras already on the market.
The big question is when will they come out with a Digtal SLR system.
Both Minolta and konica have been very big players in the Single Lens
reflex market before, never too successful among professionals but very
popular among amateur photo enthusiasts and students with limited
budgets. Minolta was at one time the most popular inexpensive SLR film
camera in the US and Konica pioneered automatic exposure metering and
auto-focus lenses. No big announcements have been made yet but the PMA
show has just started.
(late update: Konica Minolta have announced a bunch of truely weird
looking cameras - the kind of stuff they used on the 70s show Space
Family Robinson - I will update with more information later. The most
impressive being the well known Maxxum 7 SLR which will come out as a
digital camera later in the year.)
-----------------------------
Pentax was once a very popular inexpensive professional SLR film camera
system (the alternate to Nikon F cameras) and like Minolta a favorite
of amateur enthusiasts and students. Every newspaper and publication in
the US had a bunch of them lying around for staff use (together with
the 'potato masher' Honeywell Pentax strobe of that time). Pentax seems
to be working on two digital camera fronts at the moment. The Pentax
Optio thin cameras, that are obviously intended to compete with the
Casio Exilim camera line (which use the same Pentax lenses), and the
Pentax *ist D SLRs that seem to be going nowhere at all. I have a
suggestion for Pentax: call your digital cameras something clever like
Pentax Spotmatic, revert to a manual focus, screw mount lens system,
and sell them at a lower price than any other DSLR camera presently on
the market.
-------------------------------
Casio is going to have a tough time this year, everybody is coming out
with thin digital cameras with large LCD displays (and at higher
resolutions than Casio has at the moment). There is still time for
Casio to make new camera anouncements but the newest announcement today
is really a joke. Casio announces it's first 'prosumer' model in years,
the Casio Exilim Pro EX-P600. The camera looks like a small house that
has been subjected to a poorly designed room addition by an incompetent
carpenter. The only thing remotely Pro about it is the 6 million pixel
sensor (but the camera does not support RAW image file format), the
zoom lens is a 4x Canon (did they have a falling out with Pentax?), a
bragging point is manual controls (but why?). This camera is a big
mistake. And just in case you get the impression that I don't like
Casio (look at my review of the Exilim Zoom EX-Z4, a great
camera that could have been improved on and hopefully still will be).
This is only the start more
new product reports on the way ..........................
|
Thursday - February 5, 2004
Suicidal
motorcyclists, mediterranian photo tours, and einstein's legacy
Sorry on the delay of the latest news - I had a very bad automobile
accident a few days back and it has made it a bit difficult to do
everything I'm supposed to do. A motorcycle ran into my car head on
comming around a curve on the wrong side of the road. I was taking my
six year old son home from school at the time and very concerned that
my son was alright and that the motorcycle rider did not die. The
motorcycle driver was drunk and not wearing a helmet, so there was a
lot of blood and some tense moments. Luckily I had family nearby that
came to help me and lots of witnesses to attest to my innocense. (All
this is happening in the Thai countryside and many foreigners have been
thrown in jail for long periods of time plus fined heavily, under the
same circumstances). There was an attempt to extort money out of me,
but my wife's relatives (career military stationed at the nearby Naval
headquarters) saved the day by pointing out that the motorcyclist was
in the wrong and we could press charges if we wished.
I am OK now, my son is happy that I am not in jail and the motorcyclist
is recovering. Life in paradise can be nerve racking at times.
-----------------------------------------------------
Valletta, Malta - 2 February 2004 - Techie Tours announces a special
discount offer to all photography clubs and organizations. To learn the
exciting
details of our offer ask a club representative get in touch with Techie
Tours
by emailing: photoclub@techietours.com
Techie Tours offers digital photography workshops and photo safaris
for novice to advanced photography enthusiasts.
Learn more about Techie Tours at http://TechieTours.com
Techie Tours provides high quality IT workshops coupled with an
exciting
tour experience in the stunning Mediterranean locations of Malta and
Gozo.
We also arrange custom corporate conferences.
Contact:
Techie Tours
email: info@techietours.com
web: http://TechieTours.com
Phone/Fax: (356) 21 564636
-------------------------------------------------------
Charlotte, NC - 28.January.2004 - einstein’s legacy, LLC is pleased to
announce the release of Cinematics version 1.1. Cinematics is an
innovative media player that allows you to build and manage playlists
of digital movies on your Macintosh. This new release extends
Cinematics' functionality by adding features that enhance movie
playback, provide greater operational stability and ease of use, and
protect against any accidental data lose.
Cinematics v1.1 is a free upgrade for existing customers or may be
purchased for $25.00 (U.S. Dollars) from the online store at www.einsteinslegacy.com.
Users who wish to test drive the software may also download a 14-day,
full-functionality demo. Cinematics works best with Mac OS X
v10.2.3 (or later) and QuickTime v6.0.2 (or later) and requires a
monitor with a minimum screen resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels.
About einstein’s legacy
einstein’s legacy’s mission is to engineer innovative products for
creative professionals who use Macintosh computers. einstein’s
legacy, LLC was founded in 1993 and is located in Charlotte, North
Carolina. For more information, please visit our website at www.einsteinslegacy.com
or send e-mail to info@einsteinslegacy.com.
|
Wednesday
- January 28, 2004
Nikon takes comand of the lower end Digital
SLR playing field. Nikon D70 Digital SLR, CoolPix 8700, COOLWALKER
MSV-01 portable image storage device, and PictureProject image
management software.
Wow when I made these
predictions yesterday I did not know how right I was going to be about
some things and what interesting surprises Nikon came up with that I
had no idea they were working on.
1. Nikon D70 Digital SLR body
- yes, yes, yes and more. Nikon dug out their Canon stomping boots and
went hog wild. For less than US$ 999. you will be able to buy a DSLR
camera body that not only makes the Canon Digital Rebel look like a toy
but also demolishes the current US$1,500. Nikon D100. The only question
left now, is whether Nikon will keep the geriatric looking two year old
D100 in it's line-up.
1b. Nikon also came out with a special lens for the D70 - the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED, a
compact standard zoom lens with a highly practical wide-angle to medium
telephoto focal range, good cost performance, and optics optimized for
use with Nikon digital SLRs.
Nikon is offering a D70 camera body with 18-70mm lens package for
US$1,299.
Nikon Press Release with full
specifications of D70 system
 2. Nikon CoolPix 8700 well I was also
right on with this prediction for today but got the zoom range and
price wrong. The Nikon CoolPix 8700 is basically the same camera as
before but with functions tweaked except for the built in zoom lens
which is still (35mm equivalent of) 35mm to 280mm in range. This is
actually a great lens but like many other people who really like this
camera, I wish it was a bit wider at the low end.
The price for this new 8 million pixel 'prosumer' camera is US$ 999.
just like the D70 body. Well I said that Nikon would make it confusing
for first time digital camera buyers. My suggestion - buy both the D70
and the CoolPix 8700. The CoolPix 8700 is so small and light you can
carry it with you always. The D70 will give you access to all of
Nikon's incredible lenses and is for more serious picture taking
moments.
New 8.0
million pixel Nikon Coolpix 8700
3. Nikon D2x - nothing yet, there could be an announcement at the PMA
show in two weeks or maybe not till later in the year. Nikon is going
to be busy selling and manufacturing the above two cameras so they may
wait untill they get the D2x just right.
4. No word or sign of a D200 (D100 replacement) - some rumors say that
there will not be another replacement, that the D70 is it for the low
end DSLR range, that could well be.
5. No word or sign of a CoolPix 5400 replacement, I am still hoping for
a firmware upgrade that will allow for the RAW image file format.
 6. Nikon COOLWALKER MSV-01 - No
new CoolPix surprises yet but some real unexpected out of the blue
humdingers. Nikon was listening to my dreams and provided what I wanted
from Apple, the Nikon COOLWALKER MSV-01. A 30 GB hard disk drive,
portable image storage device. I won't go into detail today (I need to
get to sleep soon and have to go out of town on an assignment tomorrow)
but in a few days you will get the full story behind this new Nikon
digital photography accessory.
Image
transfer to the MSV-01 is extremely easy, due to its compatibility with
CompactFlash, Microdrive and even SD cards*. It is also capable of
supporting JPEG, TIFF, NEF (RAW), Motion JPEG, and WAV formats. Perhaps
most impressive of all, the MSV-01 is empowered with 30GB of hard disk
space, giving it the capability to store an incredible 10,000 images
(approx.)**. What?s more, its dimensions of approximately 81 X 130 X
35mm and light weight of approximately 350g make it comfortable to
carry anywhere and view images on its easy-to-view, built-in,
117,600-pixel, 2.5-inch color LCD.
Direct printing is possible
without the need for
a PC through support of PictBridge. It can also be easily hooked up to
a PC (Mac OSX is supported) using the included cable for swift image
transfer via Hi-Speed USB
2.0. And because it is compatible with both CompactFlash and
Microdrive, images can be easily handled by shops offering print
services.
Nikon
Coolwalker - Portable Image Storage Device
7. Nikon PictureProject - I
know I didn't have a number 7. yesterday but I also didn't expect for
Nikon to come out with their own version of iPhoto (and it supports RAW
image files). I don't know anything much about Nikon PictureProject
image management software yet, but it looks like a very interesting and
ambitious undertaking. I will of course try to get a copy as soon as
possible for review. Windows and Mac OSX are both supported.
To be continued
...............
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Tuesday
- January 27, 2004
Tomorrow Never Comes
but I Believe in Yesterday, new Nikon cameras on the way.
Nikon is releasing their new D-70
Digital SLR and/or something else tomorrow. The rumor mills are
saying that the D70 is going to maybe be better than the D100. Well
let's hope so. None of the Nikon
D100 users like to hear it but the D100 is not a perfect camera and
the possibility that a newly developed US$1000. camera might be better
than the two year old presently US$1500. D100, is more than likely, it
better be.
The sensor is reported going to be a 6.1 million pixel Sony CCD of the
same model as what is in the D100. OK let's remember that this is
electronics that we are talking about and all of us in the computer
field know that two years ago was a long time ago in electronic circuit
years. So the same 6.1 million pixel Sony CCD is not really the same
6.1 million pixel Sony CCD.
A lot of people just don't like the fact that what they have is no
longer the best, they would actually rather that all development stop
right after they make a purchase and start up again shortly before they
are ready for their next purchase. In the photo forums the argument
that is heard over and over again from people who own last years model
and want people to buy the same camera is, "if you wait until next
month you will miss taking hundred of pictures with this great camera."
A hard line of logic to argue with but all the same I would usually
rather wait and see what is just over the hill.
The Digital Camera possibilities for Nikon between today and the PMA
show in two weeks are:
1. Nikon D70 DSLR body - as far as I see it a cheaper, lighter and more
capable replacement for the D100 no matter how much it hurts the D100
user to hear it.
2. Nikon CoolPix 8700? - (not sure about the name) but it will be an 8
million pixel replacement for the CoolPix 5700 which has aprox. 6
million pixels. This camera will piss off all current owners of the
CoolPix 5700 and all current owners of the D100. New camera buyers will
be delighted but they will also be confused.
Should they buy the D70 body or the new CoolPix (8700?), which will
more than likely come with an (equivalent 35mm) 28 to 220, 8x optical
zoom lens. They will not understand why the lower resolution D70 is
considered a better camera, especially when the new Coolpix (8700?)
will also be more expensive (probably about US$1,200) than the D70
body. Nikon will be in seventh heaven over the confusion and a lot of
people will buy both.
3. Nikon D2x - Nobody knows what to expect with this camera and Nikon
has been misleading everyone on purpose for several years. Will it be
CCD, or some version of CMOS? Will it be full frame or the DX (2/3 of
35mm size) format that Nikon DSLRs are now using? Will it be under or
over 10 million pixels? And strangest rumors of all will it be the top
secret F6 that will have both film and digital capabilities?
4. Will there be a mid level range 8 million pixel D200? This one is a
total mystery to all.
5. Will Nikon continue the CoolPix 5400? For which Nikon never
delivered on the promised RAW firmware update and was one of the first
new camera models I have ever seen that sold for less than it's used
predecessor (the much beloved CoolPix 5000) which is still commanding
high prices on eBay.
6. What strange new CoolPix surprise will Nikon spring on us? The
CoolPix line has been the most innovative camera line ever devised by
any camera manufacturer and has failed as often as it has succeeded,
but I believe that Nikon will keep surprising us no matter what the
cost.
To be continued ...............
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Monday - January 26, 2004
I love Apple too
much. Calling Olympus Professional, is
there anyone home?
A reader has agreed with me that Kodak (once known as the Great Yellow Father)
is fast becoming as relevant as Ma Bell (hard to believe that there was
once one phone company and that live operators made our calls for us,
and listened to everything we said), but chastised me for saying unkind
things about Apple and behaving just like the idiots I was complaining
about. Or was he calling me an idiot? (yes I admit it I have a tendency
to stretch the truth and exaggerate the facts, but the difference
between those idiots and myself, is that I am a professional idiot)
I really love Apple
from the bottom of my core (I have been using Macs and promoting their
use for 18 years) and I would love nothing more than to work for Apple
(really sincerely, if anyone from Apple is reading this, please hire
me, I want to work on Professional Photo Marketing Solutions for you,
let me be the guy who interfaces with Nikon, Canon, Olympus, etc.). It
just worries me when everyone is saying only nice things about Apple,
it just isn't natural. And let's face it, this last Keynote is
really easy to make fun of. Even the notorious Rumor Sites are behaving
and in some cases chastising each other for spreading rumors.
What is going on? Has Apple paid everyone to behave? I hadn't heard and
nobody sent me a check. And yes I realize that it will be great
(someday) to have G5 PowerMacs
that actually run at speeds comparable to Intel PCs, but this is how it
should be. It is embarrassing to keep
having to say to my Intel PC using friends, "the speed of the processor
doesn't tell the real story, ........."
When I refer to no radical developments this year because Apple is
concentrating on the Music Market, I am talking about video and photo
storage devices, tablet PCs, a desktop CPU that actually fits on a
desktop (a smaller PowerMac), Professional Photo Software, an "Office
Killer" AppleWorks, the kind of stuff that the rest of us really want,
but at the moment seem to be afraid to ask for. The current message
seems to be, "stay real quiet and Apple will provide, if you speak up
they will hold the products back". Nonsense, the products will come on
the market when they are ready, rumors or not.
Actually I think the whole iPod and
on-line music business is really great too. It is fantastic that
Apple is being so successful at the moment. Even the Garage Band thing
is really far out and makes me wish I was a teenager again, but I'm a
photographer so I want things that make my life easier and more fun.
And I was only half kidding about wanting to see Paul Mcartney on the
Apple Board of Directors. Wouldn't it be great if Apple Computer bought
a large chunk of Apple Music and Paul Mcartney (and maybe even Ringo)
sat on the Board of Apple Computer. Then we would have the real makings
of a Garage Band.
------------------
The Photo Marketing Association (PMA)
is holding their annual convention and exhibition, starting on February
12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike this year's MacWorld San Francisco, the
PMA convention should prove to be quite a popular venue for new product
announcements. Nikon will be
launching at least one new camera body, if not two or three. Canon will more than likely
launch three or four new camera models of their own.
Sony will have to
launch something new, but most Sony photographers will hope that it is
an improved version of their new 8
million pixel DSC-F828 (unfortunately it is too soon for that but
there will probably be a firmware upgrade of some sort). There will of
course be resolution upgrades from Sony for a number of cameras.
Every camera manufacturer is going to move up an average of one million
pixels per camera in their line-up this year. 4 million pixels will
soon be considered the low end and six million pixels the high end, of
consumer cameras. Professional camera manufacturers will have to at the
least announce that they will break the 10 million pixel barrier this
year, to remain in the ball game.
Olympus
will probably have more lenses and a higher resolution announcement for
their 5 million pixel E-1
interchangeable lens SLR system (some rumors also suggest a lower
cost version) and keep trying to convince everyone that it is a real
professional system, just like Nikon and Canon. Olympus wants very
badly to be accepted by professional photographers and since Minolta, Pentax and Sigma are unable to mount much of
a challenge these days, they do have a chance.
Olympus has been trying to become the third professional SLR
manufacturer ever since they first came out with the OM-1 almost 30
years
ago. The only problem in those days was if you treated it roughly,
which Nikon and Canon professional camera users were able to do, it
would disintegrate in your hands. Everybody liked the OM-1 cameras but
they were just too fragile. Make it smaller and it will not be as
strong.
The Olympus cameras that I always thought were really interesting were
the one piece, non removable lens, 35mm film SLRs. They were
inexpensive and
good for throwing into a bag for a family outing or taking somewhere
where they might not survive, like a river raft trip or dirt biking in
the desert. When digital
cameras first came on the market I was sure that Olympus was going to
adapt those cameras for digital use, they were fairly sturdy and looked
futuristic.
Olympus chose instead to design their digital cameras from the ground
up (like the whole camera thing was brand new to them) and came out
with smaller, and for my taste much too fragile cameras, for digital
use. For a while they were the leaders but only by default, everybody
else was still asleep and thinking that digital imaging was just a fad,
that it could never replace film. (Olympus does have a number of very
well designed and also some very rugged cameras in their present
consumer lineup.)
A few years later Olympus got serious and launched the E-10 and another
year or so later the E-20, they were sturdy cameras that looked
professional, but they were non interchangeable lens cameras
so had limited professional appeal. Resolution is 4 million pixels
for
the E-10, and 5 million pixels for the E-20 but by then Nikon and Canon
had joined
the professional digital camera game, with interchangebale lens cameras
based on their regular line of film SLRs.
Now we have the very competitive but also completely new and therefore
unknown, Olympus E-1
interchangeable lens
system. Olympus needs to be extremely aggressive about marketing
the E-1 system. They will have to give complete camera systems to a
large number of professional photographers, around the world, for
extended periods of time, to build any sort of professional brand
awareness. People need to see them in use,
clients have to be convinced by seeing results.
At this
point the camera is almost invisible but has a growing and devoted
following. I would like to take the E-1 system
for
an extended review period myself and report on it in detail, but so far
Olympus has ignored all my requests for a review unit. If anyone from
Olympus is reading this, please
contact me.
To be fair some of my emails to Olympus were answered but only to
forward me on to
some other person (in Singapore) who then ignored all further
correspondence (this has happened several times). An E-1 System for a
few months and an invitation to a Formula
1 Event as the guest of Olympus, would of course make up for the
unfortunate oversight.
To be continued .........
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Sunday - January 25, 2004
What is digital
soup? Why I love/hate Kodak, Photo forums are full of rude idiots.
OK. First things first (nothing better then stating the obvious right
up front). In the old days when we used to get wet making photographic
prints, we used trays, tanks and pre-mixed bottles of chemicals to
process our film and photographic prints, developer was the first
chemical used - we referred to it as the soup. When entering a darkroom
shared with other's you would ask, "is the soup fresh today?" So let's
get to the fresh soup.
Kodak has
announced cuts of 15,000 jobs in the next three years and
already cut 20,000 jobs in the last five years. By 2006 Kodak expects
to have less than 50,000 employees worldwide. On a recent trip to the
Kodak headquarters in Thailand, I saw only about twenty employees in a
building that could easily house hundreds. Maybe they should be
thinking about selling some of their real-estate holdings (on second
thought, they probably are).
I used Kodak film 99% of the time for the last 45 years, I loved
Kodachrome 64 and hope that someday I will own a digital camera that
will give me the same satisfaction as I got from going over my
Kodachrome 64 slides. I think a lot of photographers would pay for a Digital SLR body
that will give Kodachrome 64 quality, even if is
limited to shooting at ASA 64 only.
The camera manufacturers, including Kodak, have made a big mistake
listening to the on-line rantings of loud mouth imbeciles. You go onto
any of the popular digital photo forums and they are full of rude
children (I don't know what age they are, but they are children and
they are extremely rude) complaining about things they do not have a
clue about and demanding impossible solutions.
For instance, camera manufacturers are all eagerly following each other
over the edge of a cliff, designing lenses that zoom from super wide
angle to super telephoto (the masses demand it). But take a look at
the
forums, is anyone thanking the manufacturers? No, they are full of
complaints about chromatic aberrations, soft edges, lack of critical
focus, etc., etc. They are not only complaining they are indignant and
using loopholes in American consumer protection laws, to non-stop test
and return equipment that does not live up to their ridiculous
expectations.
Another example, some camera manufacturers are now producing cameras
that have imaging sensitivity adjustable from 100 ASA to 1600 ASA (we
used to have to buy five different films and prepare special soups to
handle this range). So is anyone thanking the foolish engineers who
have designed these incredible cameras? Not the online forum
inhabitants, they are complaining non-stop about digital noise and
other aberrations that are of course going to occur when you try to
shoehorn an elephant into a pair of size 10 Nikes.
Unfortunately these rantings seem to be read by people who determine
the future course of digital camera design. In many cases these are
people who are seeing their companies losing market share and are
desperate to hang on for as long as possible. So we will see a lot of
cameras that are smaller than physically possible to get good results.
Have longer lens zoom ranges than is physically possible, so we will
see a lot of bad results.
We will see cameras with ridiculous features such as the Samsung
Digimax U-CA3 which is advertised as "not just a camera" comes in
Techno Silver, Galaxy White and Space Black. It has a 3D Avatar loading
screen, MPEG 4 movie, 9x zoom (3x optical), multiple languages
(including Chinese and Thai), voice recording, a 3.2 Megapixel imager,
and takes lousy pictures. The "Avatar" interface is so convoluted in
design that if you don't read the manual, you will end up erasing every
picture you take, right after you review it.
There are of course some companies who are getting it right (some of
the time). Canon does it
by manufacturing every variable possible, some
of them very nice cameras (see I can say something nice about Canon).
Nikon does it by being very slow and methodical. Unfortunately they are
also very slow about removing obsolete cameras from their line-up (see
I can say something bad about Nikon).
A funny thing about the on-line forum idiots and Nikon. Recently Nikon
came out with a new high
speed/high sensitivity Digital SLR body, the
D2h. It has been so long since a new professional DSLR body came
out
from Nikon and there was so much hype about this camera on the on-line
forums that huge numbers of amateur photographers rushed out and bought
this camera body thinking that since it was the latest from Nikon that
it is also the top of the line. Some even complained about the lower
resolution but still had to buy the latest.
Both the currently available older D1x and the lower priced D100 Nikon
DSLR bodies have higher resolution capabilities than the new D2h.
If
the D2h had been launched at the same time as the upcoming D2x and the soon to be
released low end D70, very few people would have bough the
D2h (a camera that is designed for sports and low light photography).
Intentionally or unintentionally Nikon pulled a real fast one on the
"got to have the latest gadget crowd."
When the new D70 and D2x finally come out I expect to be able to buy a
second
hand D2h at a very low price. I can find use for an inexpensive low
light camera body.
To be continued ..........
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Saturday - January 24, 2004
Kodak is a
dying company, Nikon will soon have the best Digital SLR cameras again,
Canon
will continue to dominate digital camera sales, and Apple better put
Paul Mcartney on it's Board of Directors.
It is always hard to predict what will come next with any certainty, if
it wasn't so difficult, Kodak would not now be in the position of
laying off huge numbers of employees worldwide and shutting down old
technology factories while buying up new technology companies such as
Chinon, so that they can remain competitive, or even relevant.
My prediction is that Kodak will not be able to adapt. Their product
designs are clumsy and old fashioned, their distribution channel is
clogged with arrogant and obsolete management. They are at the moment
suffocating on their past and unable to reconcile with either the
present or the future.
One example is the recent announcement that Kodak will be discontinuing
their production of their 16 million pixel, Professional Digital Camera
Back, for 6x6 and 6x4.5 inch medium format cameras. Even if Kodak was
losing a thousand dollars per unit they should keep this product on the
market because it is the best and most well thought out professional
digital back available. This product alone is keeping the Kodak name
alive in commercial photo studios that shoot for the advertising
industry. Once it is gone, Kodak can kiss the advertising industry
photographers good by.
Some would argue that Kodak's future lies with their DCS-14n
Kodak-Nikon hybrid. Forget it, I have tested the camera extensively
and
it is a dog, I doubt that even the wedding and portrait photographers
(who Kodak designed it for) are taking it seriously. Besides the future
of Nikon Digital SLRs belongs
to Nikon, not Kodak. Serious professional
photographers are not going to buy into either Kodak or Fujifilm
Nikons, they will buy their camera bodies from Nikon. And if not Nikon
they will buy Canon bodies and
canon lenses,
everything else is and
always will be a sideshow.
Just so I don't get too much e-mail, I do know that Canon is more
popular than Nikon. I just happen to like Nikon better myself. Canon
will continue to be the number one digital camera seller and there is
no way that Nikon or anyone else will catch up in the near future. Much
the same way as Apple has no way of catching up with Microsoft unless
Bill Gates decides to split his company into a thousand pieces and
retire to a secret Polynesian island (Marlon Brando's might still be
for sale). Unfortunately there is more of a chance of Steve Jobs taking
up island life than Bill Gates.
Meanwhile, Apple is so busy
getting into legal problems with the
Beatles (once again), that we will probably not be seeing any radical
new computer developments for awhile. Irregularly spaced Speed Bumps, a
G5 PowerBook, aluminum iMacs, aluminum monitors, and maybe if we are
real good aluminum keyboards, and aluminum mice is probably all we will
see in new computer developments this year.
So to get back to guessing what is coming up in the near term future.
Nikon will be releasing their new
D70 Digital SLR in a few weeks. At
approximately US$1,000. for the body, Nikon will be able to sell as
many as they can manufacture. Considering that most purchasers will be
buying at least another US$1,000. in lenses for this camera either at
the same time or shortly thereafter, Nikon will be very busy
manufacturing and counting money for the remainder of this year.
Never mind that most of their CoolPix point and shoot digital cameras
do nothing but collect dust on camera store shelves, the D70 will be
sold out before camera stores can stock it and sold on eBay for higher
than suggested retail prices, even before they are ready to ship. Nikon
will sell more lenses this year than in the last two years combined.
This will actually clear their warehouses of all their lower priced
lenses which have also been collecting dust for some time.
If Nikon manages to come out with a close to (or even better, over) 10
million pixel D2x before June, it will also sell as many as it can
manufacture of that camera body, and all the high priced lenses they
can assemble for the next couple of years. Yes I predict a great couple
of years for Nikon, as long as they can deliver their new models on
schedule and keep the manufacturing from falling too far behind the
orders that will come in.
Canon will of course not like losing all the Nikon photographers who
switched to their cameras in the last year or so (for the higher
resolution), but will it hurt their bottom line? No way. Canon can
probably spit out more cameras in a month than Nikon can dream of
assembling in a year.
To be continued ...........
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