Underexposed

• Olympus E-430 rumor: Photography Bay - "Rumors and photos of an alleged Olympus E-430 have surfaced on the web." If true, the wacky, swoopy design breaks new ground for an SLR.
• Nikon D300 firmware 1.02 fixes rare issue - Nikon says this addresses a problem that "in rare cases, caused vertical bands (lines) to appear in images captured at shutter speeds slower than 8 seconds."
• Corbis makes marketing push for its microstock site SnapVillage | about the image - Corbis says it will now start to "aggressively target customers, including introducing its first advertisements, launching direct marketing activities and expanding its search engine marketing."
• Nikon Canada cuts price on D40, D80, D200, 80-400mm F/4-5.6 lens - Lower prices on the old SLRs.
• Big privacy changes at SmugMug - Don MacAskill - SmugMug responds to privacy concerns. "Your new galleries, photos, and videos are more private, and secure, than ever before."
• Sigma issues firmware update for SD14: Digital Photography Review - "Sigma has released firmware v.1.06 for its SD14 Digital SLR. The update improves the accuracy of the custom white balance and the review image quality on the LCD and includes another couple of minor modifications"
• A wealth of Lightroom tutorials - John Nack - "Digital photography experts Rob Sheppard and Tim Grey have created a wide range of Lightroom tutorials for the Adobe Design Center." There are also lots of third-party tutorials.
• Legal Primer for Open Source and Free Software - Software Freedom Law Center - How programmers can deal with the legal system "with a minimum of cost, fuss and risk...a starting point for lawyers and risk managers for thinking about the particular, at times counter-intuitive, logic of software freedom." V1.5 copyright (!) SFLC.
• The return of the Yashica brand with new digital cameras - 1001 Noisy Cameras - "Four new Yashica-branded digital cameras to go on sale in the U.K. around March 1, 2008"
• Unphotographable: a text account of pictures missed - "This is a picture I did not take of..."
• Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen's lavish severance package - Along with stock and other benefits, "a cash payment in an amount equal to the product of (i) the sum of his salary and target bonus, multiplied by (ii) 2 plus 1/12th for each year of completed service with Adobe (not in excess of 12)."
• Naked Light beta 2.1 - New rev of a Mac OS X graphics app. "This release is more focused on bug fixes, but also features some speed ups and an unfortunate speed regression (one speedup is still too buggy to be used)."

• Shark chomping a Nikon D80--Sea & Sea underwater housing review. A review of an underwater SLR housing in the Bahamas turns a Nikon D80 into a chew toy for a tiger shark.
• LiMo Foundation Selects Wind River Technology as Development Foundation. LiMo (Linux for Mobile phones) Foundation endorses Wind River for its programming tools. No surprise, given that Wind River is a member.
• Time shows 'happiness on the job' statistics. Journalists: 35.7 percent say they're happy. PR people: 39.5 percent. Programmers: 30.1 percent. Photographers: 20.8 percent. Clergy are at the top: 67.2 percent.
• DCRP Review likes Nikon D300. Jeff Keller likes it, says it matches or beats Canon 40D, notably with lower high-ISO noise. An interesting bit I missed from earlier: frame rate drops to 2.5 fps when shooting 14-bit raw images. He thinks it underexposes a bit and could use a bit of image sharpening.
• Linux Kernel Developer Ted Ts'o Joins Linux Foundation as Chief Platform Strategist. Ts'o has been a Linux kernel programmer for ages. Among other things he's dealt with e2fsprogs and Kerberos.
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 Review: Digital Photography Review. DPreview looks at Panasonic's latest SLR, decides it's so-so: "capable of stunning output in raw mode, but...hard to give a wholehearted recommendation to because Panasonic insists on bundling it with an over-priced kit lens..."

• Novell Financial Results for Fourth Fiscal Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2007. $22 million was from Linux Platform Products, up 69 percent year-over-year
• Photoshop Insider » Nikon D300 Review by Scott Kelby. The Photoshop guru likes the D300. Autofocus, lower noise, sensor cleaning, HDMI output. Wants: noise as low as the D3. "The only thing that I can think of that my D2Xs has, that my new D300 doesn't have, is High Speed Crop Mode."
• Auto Adjustments; Always, Never, Occasionally?--O'Reilly Digital Media Blog. Are photo auto adjustments finally getting worthwhile?
• Scary Santa pictures. 178 photos of various children crying on Santa's lap. Holiday cheer my left hind foot. Thank heavens my parents never made me do this.
• Google Zeitgeist 2007. Google's Zeitgeist reflects the fleeting popularity of search terms. Alas, Sudoku has faded from 2006 :(
• Sun releases Netbeans 6.0. New features include the ability to code not just Java software, but also C, C++, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript. Open-source software.
• Google Developer Podcast: Android with Dianne Hackborn and Jason Parks. BeOS and Palm coders talk Android.
• Google Code Blog: Embed charts in Web pages with Google APIs. Cool embeddable chart feature. I couldn't figure out how to define data sets on first glance, though.
• Books: None of the Above: Books: The New Yorker. Malcolm Gladwell reviews James Flynn's "What Is Intelligence?": "An I.Q., in other words, measures not so much how smart we are as how modern we are."
• 451 CAOS Theory » Open source fashion?! Nah.. The fashion industry picks up on the fashionable term "open source."
• JBoss Founder Marc Fleury Joins Appcelerator Board of Advisers. Outspoken JBoss ex-CEO can't stay out of the fray after all.

• Camera Test: Nikon D300 - - PopPhotoDecember 2007 - Camera of the year for PopPhoto. Likes: low noise up to ISO 3200, great autofocus, included raw-processing software.
• Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 G, tested on a Canon 5D - A rave review of Nikon's new full-frame, wide-angle zoom--on a Canon. Comparison to Canon 24mm prime lens and Sigma 12-24 zoom.
• Photo Business News and Forum: Nikon vs. Canon - A side-by-side comparison of the Nikon D3 and the Canon 1Ds Mark III, plus some closing words anticipating a higher-end D3x supposedly due in the spring of 2008.
• National Press Photographers Association objects to filming ban in national parks - Free-press objections raised during hearing on "New Fees for Filming and Photography on Public Land"; NPPA thinks Interior Department's proposed new regulations would expand restrictions on still photography, too.
• Weird Martian landscape textures - NASA's latest wacky views of Mars. Warning: big download.
• Adobe Labs: Adobe Flash Player 9 Update for Solaris Released on Labs - Adobe's Flash is for Solaris, too. One of those necessary pieces for the long-term health of the operating system.
• North American Mammals: Search Family Tree - Cool Smithsonian navigable family tree for North American mammals. Kim picked colored orchids for Ginger Smith.

Michael Reichmann just bought his way back into the Nikon fold with the $1,800 D300 SLR.

(Credit: Nikon)

One data point does not a statistical trend make, but Michael Reichmann is a pretty high-profile data point in the fight for SLR camera market share.

The photographer, instructor, and author of the Luminous Landscape Web site switched from Nikon to Canon in the late 1990s. But he said Monday he's resumed buying Nikon gear again, though not switched completely back.

"I had few regrets at the switch (to Canon) through the first seven years of this decade and the move to digital because it's my opinion that with its full-frame sensors and superior high-ISO noise capabilities, Canon had a clear edge," Reichmann said. "But with the introduction of the D300 and D3 a few months ago, I now believe that Nikon is back in the game--big time!"

That's a pretty strong endorsement, but bear one caveat in mind here: Reichmann, who also shoots with medium-format Hasselblad and Phase One gear and with high-cachet Leica cameras, isn't a typical photographer with a typical equipment budget. Most of us in the SLR realm think carefully about buying a single lens, much less multiple lenses, lens bodies, filters, flashes, and other accessories.

Reichmann said he just bought a D300 and several lenses and will shoot with it regularly. And when a higher-resolution full-frame cousin to the D3 arrives, he'll buy that, too.

"I feel that there is now going to be a huge resurgence in use of Nikon gear by pros and amateurs alike, and as a teacher and a writer it is appropriate for me to become much more familiar with what this platform now has to offer," he said.

Canon's EOS-1D Mark III

(Credit: Canon)

Shortly after Canon announced a hardware fix for autofocus problems affecting some of its high-end EOS-1D Mark III cameras, the leading SLR maker also has added a software fix.

Version 1.1.3 of the Camera's firmware "improves autofocus tracking" when shooting outdoors in bright environments or when shooting low-contrast subjects, Canon said. In addition, the firmware can speed the process of writing images to high-speed SD memory cards.

Canon's biggest rival for single-lens reflex cameras, Nikon, also released some new firmware for its brand new D3 and D300 models that endows them with the color performance of the earlier D2X and D2Xs professional models. The updates don't yet appear on the U.S. Web site, but DPReview has a handy list of European links.

Canon also announced in a service notice that it will begin repairs for affected customers beginning December 3 at a dedicated facility. The company will pay shipping both ways for affected customers and will install the firmware during the repair, but customers should brace themselves for a wait.

"Due to the anticipated volume, we ask for your continued patience and understanding during this process," Canon said in the notice. "We offer our sincerest apologies to our customers using these products who have been inconvenienced by this issue."

The repair involves adjusting a mirror used in the autofocus subsystem and affects some cameras built with an original mirror mechanism. Cameras with an updated mirror mechanism aren't affected; those models have serial numbers above 546561, but there are also 2,713 models with lower numbers (yes, I counted) on a Canon list (click for PDF).

SAN FRANCISCO--It looks like Nikon, having followed Canon into the market for high-end SLRs with full-frame image sensors, will continue the effort by offering lower-end models as well.

Nikon's $5,000 D3, due to ship in November, employs a full-frame image sensor.

(Credit: Nikon)

Nikon's $5,000 D3 camera, announced in August and due to go on sale in November, employs a sensor the size of a full frame of 35mm film. These FX-sized sensors offer higher sensitivity and a broader field of view than the smaller DX sensors Nikon has used in its SLRs until now. Nikon will develop new DX-based cameras, but the company will flesh out its FX line as well, said Steve Heiner, senior technical manager of Nikon SLR marketing.

"I think you'll see other FX products. It's a sensor size we're committed to," Heiner said at a meeting here with reporters.

Heiner wouldn't offer details about timing or models, but extrapolating from his remarks, it looks like Nikon will offer a lower-end full-frame model. Full-frame technology will spread to lower-end cameras, Heiner said. "We have seen so many technologies at the highest end that migrate downward," he said.

The digital SLR (single-lens reflex) market is hot, with electronics giants Sony, Samsung and Panasonic giving new competition to the traditional powerhouses Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax. One reason camera makers are pouring resources into the area is because profit margins and growth are better than with compact cameras; InfoTrends predicts that SLR shipments in North America will increase from 2.2 million this year to 3.2 million in 2011, while compact camera sales will peak in 2009. Another reason: SLR owners can turn into long-term customers because the incompatibility of other companies' lenses and camera bodies makes it expensive to change brands.

SLRs are costlier and bulkier than point-and-shoot cameras, but they offer much snappier response, better performance in low light, interchangeable lenses and the option of extensive manual control. SLRs are particularly popular with parents who are frustrated by the sluggish response time of most compact cameras.

A mid-range full-frame SLR could help Nikon counter Canon, whose full-frame models include not only the $8,000 top-end EOS-1Ds Mark III, to ship in November, but also the $2,300 EOS 5D that's been on sale for two years.

Asked specifically if Nikon plans a 5D equivalent, he wouldn't share specifics, but did add that it "doesn't take a rocket scientist" to see the D3 has tantalized some photographers who aren't served by the D3. "That leaves a lot of other photographers out there intrigued."

One complication of full-frame SLRs is lens compatibility. Because a DX sensor is physically smaller, it has a narrower field of view than an FX-based camera using the same lens. That means, for example, that a DX-based Nikon D300 with a 50mm lens will cover the same scene as an FX-based Nikon D3 with a 75mm lens. One effect of the change was that Nikon photographers buying early SLRs from the company had to buy new wide-angle lenses.

Most folks don't need to worry much about the different sensor sizes, but one group does: those in the DX market today who are candidates who could be interested in an FX camera in the future.

The image sensor in Nikon's D3 camera is just a hair smaller than a full frame of 35mm film.

(Credit: Nikon)

Those people, chiefly enthusiasts and pros, should think twice before buying a DX-specific lens. Although it likely will be lighter and cheaper than an FX-compatible equivalent, it'll work only in a limited way on FX cameras. (DX lenses won't necessarily shine light on the full FX sensor, so Nikon's D3 by default crops the image to a lower-megapixel DX-sized patch of the sensor.)

Nikon and Canon took divergent strategies with their full-frame SLRs. Canon made the move first, beginning in 2002, when many fewer professionals had made the move from film to digital. That meant that group was better able to preserve their investment in lenses geared for 35mm film.

Nikon, though, waited until 2007, at which point many Nikon pros had already had to purchase new lenses to cover the wide-angle limitations of 35mm film lenses combined with DX-sized sensors. So now Nikon's push is aimed more at the higher sensitivity of its FX sensor. A physically larger sensor means each pixel can be made larger for a given sensor resolution, and larger pixels are better at distinguishing the light coming through the lens from electronic noise in the sensor.

The Canon 1Ds Mark III has 21.1 megapixels, a tally that should appeal to studio or landscape photographers or others who need very large images. The D3 has 12.1 megapixels, but offers ordinary sensitivity as high as ISO 6,400 and high-range of 12,800 and 25,600. That's likely to appeal to sports photographers who have fast-moving subjects and to news and wedding photographers who must shoot in low-light situations.

One wild card in the SLR future is Sony, which got a running start in the SLR market by purchasing the assets of Konica Minolta. Its current Alpha A100 and imminent A700 models use smaller sensors, but some expect a full-frame option soon when the company releases a professional model in development now.

Update: I fixed a math error in the shutter description.

Nikon's D3 and D300 SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras, announced Wednesday, are complicated and expensive beasts, so few people outside a repair center or Canon's competitive intelligence unit are going to be cracking them open.

Happily, Nikon has provided a number of views into its new $5,000 D3 and $1,800 D300 cameras. Forthwith, a tour of what I find most notable. ... Read more