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Leica goes medium format with its new DSLR

Leica has announced a new medium-format DSLR camera and lens system, the Leica S2. The S2 uses Kodak's 37.5MP CCD sensor with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The sensor measures 30x45mm--56 percent larger than a 35mm full-frame sensor, which measures 27x36mm, and smaller than the 36x48mm sensor found in some other medium-format digital backs.

The S2's body is dust and moisture sealed, with Leica's new S-system bayonet lens mount, for the new line of S series lenses. The new line of lenses will feature metal construction and weatherproofing. The S2 body will have a focal-plane shutter … Read more

Phase One announces lenses for its pro camera

Phase One is fleshing out its transformation from a maker of high-end image sensors for others' cameras into a maker of full-on cameras.

At the Photokina camera show in Germany, the company announced "successful alliances" with Leica Camera, Mamiya, and Hartblei to bring third-party lenses to its Phase One 645 camera system, and it said it will begin selling several lenses of its own by the end of the year. Those lens models are a 28mm f4.5, a 45mm f2.8, an 80mm f2.8, a 120mm f4.0, a 150mm f2.8, and a 75-150mm f4.… Read more

Featured Freeware: Me.dium

Me.dium is a free social networking tool for Firefox and Internet Explorer with a twist. It lets you browse the Internet alongside your friends, and even make new ones.

The interface is modern without being obnoxious. A sidebar and a toolbar appear in your browser window. The top panel of the sidebar is a map that lets you view what sites your friends are visiting. The bottom panel of the sidebar lets you view your friends profiles and send messages. Me.dium will definitely appeal to Facebook users because you can send messages directly to your Facebook friends from … Read more

Got $18,000? Grab a Hasselblad camera while it's cheap

Is Hasselblad feeling some pressure from the more plebian realm of 35mm SLR cameras?

That's the thought I had when I got a promotional e-mail from the high-end camera maker offering a 31-megapixel H3D-II and an 80mm lens for $17,995--a lower price, the company is eager to note. The tagline of the promotion: "If you thought you couldn't afford a Hasselblad, think again."

Those of you who aren't photographers for Vogue advertisers or astronauts taking snapshots of the moon might not be familiar with the Hasselblad name, but it's a prestigious brand … Read more

60MP is the new 50MP

Less than two weeks ago, Kodak announced its new 50MP medium-format sensor, and only a few days ago Hasselblad announced its H3DII-50 camera based on it. The Hasselblad H3DII-50 became the highest resolution digital camera back, but it didn't last long; it was a short stay at the top.

Phase One has now announced its P65+ digital back and P65+ camera system with a whopping 60MP sensor. It is the first full-frame 645 film-format-sized sensor, measuring 40.4mm by 53.9mm. The current crop of 39MP backs, and the new Hasselblad 50MP back, measure 36mm by 48mm. Having a … Read more

Me.dium delves into social search using new Yahoo API

In-browser social network Me.dium is expanding its services Wednesday night with the launch of a new social search tool. It pulls in regular old Yahoo results as part of the company's freshly announced BOSS platform (see news story here), while combining them with social results from other Me.dium users.

Me.dium founder David Mandell is calling the new system "Crowd Rank" and says it's not about how content links with other content, but how it links up with other users who are visiting these sites. Based on the data from people with the Me.… Read more

Kodak's 50-megapixel medium-format sensor

update: 7/10/08: I made some errors in the original post, which I've corrected, plus added Kodak's comment.

You thought Sony's 24-megapixel CMOS was high res? Well, as Kodak's announcement on Tuesday of a 50-megapixel CCD shows, there's always room for more--pixels, that is.

Granted, that's a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison. Sony's chip is designed for full-frame dSLR cameras, those with a sensor the size of a 35mm film frame (24x36mm), which generally go into pro-level handheld cameras. In contrast, Kodak's KAF-50100 CCD is 49.1x36.8mm, for medium-format … Read more

Me.dium takes away a feature, adds better one to replace it

Browser side-bar chat and friend app extraordinare Me.dium has just released a new version this afternoon. I met up with founder David Mandell at last week's Web 2.0 Expo to chat about the new functionality, which he says is a very early version of Me.dium's next big thing. This big thing is actually a small change--your friends and their presence in the app, which is now taking the focus.

Previously Me.dium's claim to fame was meeting random people at sites you visited. Now it's all about your friends and improving the ways … Read more

Social browsing app Me.dium ready for IE 8

Social Web surfing tool Me.dium is one of the first apps ready for Internet Explorer 8 beta, which Microsoft unveiled at Mix '08 in Las Vegas Wednesday.

The browser add-on enables users to chat with each other and see which Web pages they're visiting. This release takes advantage of new WebSlices and Activities features within IE 8.

With WebSlices, users can subscribe to dynamic updates of specific parts of Web pages they visit, with new content displaying within the Me.dium sidebar.

Activities capabilities enable users to bring up maps or Web searches of highlighted text on a … Read more