imaging

Scoping out the micro world

They're not the highest tech at the show, nor are they the easiest to find--I tripped over a couple in the furthest reaches of the exhibits--but I find myself intrigued by a couple of handheld digital microscopes I encountered while killing time before a meeting. These gadgets connect to your system via USB and allow you to capture megazoomed (albeit not terribly high-resolution) closeups of life's minutiae.

The first, from well-known Celestron, seems like it'd be a great gift for the child prodigies in your life. Reasonably priced at $139.95, the Handheld Digital Microscope can record … Read more

Power Downloader finds a new online photo browser

With 2008 under way, Power Downloader knew it was time to get back to work. His first order of business would be to sift through e-mails that had piled up over the holidays. After scanning through the messages from various contacts around the world, Power came upon an e-mail from Francois Foto, one of Power's most trusted contacts from France.

After wishing Power Downloader a happy new year, Francois Foto mentioned that one of his new year's resolutions was to use his vast photo library in a some sort of project. One idea he thought of was to … Read more

Microsoft adapts Outlook for photographers

Microsoft has released a free Outlook plug-in to help photographers remember which equipment to bring to photo shoots they've scheduled with the calendar and contacts software.

The free plug-in, called Pro Photo Shoot, lets photographers create a list of their photographic equipment and then use a check-box list to pick what's needed for a particular appointment. Outlook produces a sorted list.

The software can be downloaded for Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

The software is part of Microsoft's gradual effort to appeal more to photography enthusiasts, an audience that historically has been one of Apple's most … Read more

Underexposed blog: links of the day

Best Seat in the House | The Seattle Times - I love Rod Mar's blog about shooting Seattle Seahawks football games. Interesting: lead photo printed with its crooked horizon. I also like to see when he uses his Canon 1D Mark IIN and when his 1D Mark III. He uses both, but with different lenses. Lies, Lies and Adobe Spies - Some carping about peculiarly masked IP address, actually owned by Omniture, that CS3 apps contact. See Adobe response here: http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2007/12/whats_with_adob.html Olympus raw codec for Windows Vista - Olympus joins Nikon, Canon, … Read more

Power Downloader: Best adventures of 2007

With the holidays over and only a few days to go in 2007, Power Downloader decided to take a look back at the year to relive some of his more exciting adventures. Always knowing which software to download in a given emergency is never easy, but having Download.com at his disposal definitely helps when on the trail of an Internet bad guy.

Looking through his case files, Power Downloader remembered the time when he had to get a new laptop computer. As with anytime Power needs to get a new computer, he knew he wouldn't be comfortable until … Read more

Windows Starter Kit

So whichever gift-giving deity you believe in has smiled on you this season and you're the recipient of a brand-new machine. Or maybe the computer gods have decided that December was the time for your PC to join that great server farm in the sky.

Either way, you're in need of some new programs. Free programs. You're in luck: CNET Download.com has compiled a brand-new Windows Starter Kit, complete with all that your freeware-coveting heart could ever desire. This year we bring you a Web Browser, an E-mail Client, Office and Productivity tools, Image Editors, Music and Video Jukeboxes, … Read more

Capture One 4 raw-image software released

Phase One, a maker of high-end digital-camera components, has released the first major update to its raw-image conversion software in years.

Capture One 4 includes a new user interface with maximum screen real estate devoted to the picture itself, better abilities to edit images' shadows and highlights, support for reading and writing Adobe Systems' Digital Negative (DNG) format, and the dark background that's currently popular as a way to get photos to stand out better.

The software costs $129, but upgrades are free. It runs on Windows XP SP2 and Vista and on Mac OS X 10.4.11 … Read more

Foveon still has a place in Sigma DP1

Sigma has delayed the release of its DP1 to revamp the high-end compact camera, but one thing that won't change is the Foveon sensor at its heart.

When Sigma said last week that it was changing the DP1's image processing "pipeline" to meet quality and performance goals and that the Japanese company "had to change some of the specifications that we had announced," I naturally wondered whether the changes might have evicted the image sensor.

Not so, according to Richard Turner, vice president of marketing and applications at the San Jose, Calif.-based start-up. … Read more

Power Downloader converts images to thumbs quickly

Recently Power Downloader was sifting through his daily e-mails when he came across a message from Francois Foto, his photographer friend from France. In the e-mail, Francois asked about Thanksgiving and what else Power had planned for the holidays, but at the end of his message he had a special request for PD. Francois was attempting to build a Web site of his photos so people could see his work, but wondered if there was a way to convert all of his larger images into uniform thumbnails. His initial searches for thumbnail products turned up so many results that Francois … Read more