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SanDisk heightens camera speed

How fast your camera shoots is due in part to the memory card it uses. Even the cleverest mechanical artistry is not enough if it's hampered by a sluggish write speed.

For that reason pro photographers would certainly appreciate the 8GB Extreme III SDHC, a drugged-up storage card for faster transfer speeds. Though the emphasis is on speed (read/write speed of 20MBps), there're some hardware and software extras. The bundled MicroMate is a USB 2.0 reader that can turn the card into a mass storage device or a card reader while the included RescuePRO software is … Read more

'Rock Band' set list is hit heavy

If you're one of the millions of people who have shed your dignity to rock out to Guitar Hero and you've been waiting to find out what songs would be included in Harmonix Music System's forthcoming Rock Band, wait no more. I've got you covered.

We're talking dozens of hit songs here, and mostly not the sound-alike covers included in many of these kinds of games.

The track list starts with the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, continues on with David Bowie's Suffragette City, the Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, Metallica'… Read more

Canon has fix for high-end SLR autofocus

An adjustment to one mirror should fix an autofocus problem that has tarnished the debut of Canon's high-end EOS-1D Mark III camera, the company said Thursday.

"We're pretty confident this countermeasure will resolve the issue completely," said Chuck Westfall, a Canon spokesman and tech guru. "It feels nice to have a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and know it's not another oncoming train."

The $4,500 camera, geared chiefly for photojournalists who can appreciate features such as its 10.5-frame-per-second shooting ability, had won accolades for most of … Read more

New carping about high-end Canon SLR focus

Photographer and consultant Rob Galbraith isn't alone in griping that the autofocus feature in the new $4,500 Canon EOS-1D Mark III is a step down from that of its predecessor, the 1D Mark II N.

Seattle Times sports photographer Rod Mar posted two blog entries last week criticizing the camera. He complained of fuzzy artifacts in his two brand-new models after photographing several games.

"Believe it or not, Canon's new flagship camera...has trouble focusing. And it isn't a rare, isolated problem," he said in the first blog entry. "The camera has trouble … Read more

At DigitalLife's press kickoff, everyone just wants to play 'Guitar Hero III'

On Tuesday night at an event space across the street from the Jacob Javits Convention Center, DigitalLife convention parent company Ziff Davis Media held its press kickoff event, but it might as well have been a Guitar Hero III party.

Members of the media could obtain their semi-coveted credentials; New York City technology commissioner Paul Cosgrave gave a brief talk officially designating September 24 to 30 as "Digital Technology Week"; and a set of "Hot Five" featured products--Trend Micro's Internet Security Pro, electronic music company M-Audio, the HD DVD Alliance, the Ford Sync voice-activated … Read more

GPS receiver on a keychain

As the tech industry has finally come close to combining all major functions into single handheld devices (phone, camera, media player), GPS often remains the odd man out. But until that technology gets absorbed into uber-devices as well, there's at least one practical alternative: a GPS keychain.

It's obviously not the most sophisticated device of its kind, but Proporta's Freedom Keychain GPS SiRF III is "the world's most compact and neatest GPS receiver available," according to The Gadget Blog. The company says it can handle 20 satellite channels at a time for 10-hour stretches, … Read more

Ogling the innards of new Canon SLRs

Cameras have always been marvels of miniaturization, but with the switch to digital technology, engineers have had to squeeze electronics and computers into camera bodies already filled with mechanical and optical components.

Most folks only see the outsides of cameras, but the insides can be works of engineering art, too. Canon's latest SLRs, the $8,000 EOS-1Ds Mark III and $1,300 EOS 40D, are a good case in point.

Here are some of the views I found most interesting.… Read more

Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark III reaches 21 megapixels

Though most of its thunder has already been stolen by the Canon EOS-1D Mark III, studio photographers have been awaiting the announcement of its high-res, full-frame sibling, the EOS-1Ds Mark III. Coming in November for about the same price as the 1Ds Mark II--$7,999--the replacement model is faster and higher resolution than the old, with the body and technology enhancements of the Mark III generation.

  1Ds Mark II 1Ds Mark III 1D Mark III Resolution 16.7 megapixels 21.1 megapixels 10.1 megapixels Continuous shooting 4fps32 JPEG/11 raw 5fps56 JPEG/12 raw 10fps110 JPEG/30 … Read more

Canon says new firmware improves 1D Mark III autofocus

Canon will release new firmware for its high-end EOS-1D Mark III digital SLR by the end of the month, including a fix to an autofocus problem, but a prominent camera tester said the update didn't fix the problems he's been having.

The new firmware improves images viewed on the 3-inch LCD by applying a stronger sharpness setting; corrects a "rare" problem in which a selection dial wouldn't respond; fixes Italian and Chinese menu errors; and most prominently, "improves the consistency" of autofocus in some conditions.

Specifically, version 1.0.9 of the firmware &… Read more