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2013 Raja Ampat Entry Tag contest has a winner Photo

2013 Raja Ampat Entry Tag contest has a winner

Many congratulations to Nicholas Samaras of Greece who achieved the most votes in a very hotly contested result. His design will be worn on every diver’s BCD that visits Raja Ampat in 2013, and he can choose his prize of a minimum 8 day trip to Raja Ampat with one of the contest’s sponsors.

The contest was extremely close this year with less than 300 few votes between the first three ranked tags. In fact, all the shortlisted entries proved very popular with the public vote. Many congratulations to all the entrants, and especially of course to Nicholas.

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Canon releases firmware update for EOS 7D Photo

Canon releases firmware update for EOS 7D

After the major firmware update released last month, Canon has announced a further update for the EOS 7D. Predictably, this aims to fix a number of issues with the V2.0 release including: A phenomenon in which the camera stops working when the auto power off setting takes effect, a bug in which the maximum number of images that can be captured in a burst may be less than the actual number displayed in the viewfinder and some errors in the message displayed on the LCD screen when saving RAW images developed in the camera.

The 2.0.3 update is available as a free download for EOS 7D owners.

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Google acquires Nik Software Photo

Google acquires Nik Software

Nik Software has announced that it has been acquired by industry giant Google. The company, that makes a range of conventional image editing plug ins and software, also produces Snapseed, an iOS based image editing and sharing app that many see as a potential rival to Instagram. The latter has over 100 million users worldwide and Snapseed only 9 million however. Analysts have pointed out that this may also impact on the way images are shared via Google’s social media site, Google+.

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Canon introduces Project 1709 Photo

Canon introduces Project 1709

Canon has introduced a new cloud-based image management platform. Quirkily entitled Project 1709, it is in a beta phase, and the company is currently encouraging people to register their interest. It aims to store “a lifetime of images”, allows for image tagging, EXIF viewing and has deep integration with Facebook. Accepted file formats, costs and the actual rollout schedule are still to be announced.

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Canon unveils three new Powershot models Photo

Canon unveils three new Powershot models

Canon has released a series of new Powershot compact cameras. There are updates to its “G”, “S” and “SX” series cameras, with new models being the G15, S110 and SX50 HS. The G15 has a 28mm wide-angle f/1.8 to f/2.8 lens, Canon’s HS SYSTEM where the camera’s DIGIC 5 image processor and newly designed Canon 1/1.7-inch 12.1-megapixel High-Sensitivity CMOS image sensor work together to enhance low-light image quality at a maximum ISO speed of 12800. Canon has also announced the release of the WP-DC48 Waterproof housing. Lastly, it shoots 1080p Full HD video and will be available from October at $499.99.

The S110 also has a 24mm wide-angle f/2.0, Canon’s HS SYSTEM with the same maximum ISO speed of 12800. Canon will also offer a housing for it, the WP-DC47. The camera will be available from October at $449.99.

The PowerShot SX50 HS has a 50x optical zoom (24-1200mm) and 24mm wide-angle lens with Optical Image Stabilization. The camera has 1080p Full HD video with an optical zoom while recording. It will be priced at $479.99.

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New micro 4/3s lenses from Olympus Photo

New micro 4/3s lenses from Olympus

Also at Photokina today, Olympus has announced that it will release two new lenses for its micro four thirds cameras. The BCL-15mm f8.0 Body Cap Lens is just 9mm thick with three glass lens elements in three groups and gives a single focal length of 30mm (35mm camera equivalent). It has a fixed f8 aperture and hence a shallow depth of field, is compatible with manual focusing using a lever and capable of close-up shooting as close as 30 cm.

Of more interest perhaps is M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 Macro prime lens originally announced in February. This gives a single focal length equivalent to a 120mm lens on a 35mm camera. Its closest focusing distance is 19mm and it has an Extra-low Reflection coating.

The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 Macro will be available from October priced at £429. The BCL-15mm f8.0 Body Cap Lens’ availability and price are still to be announced. Lastly, Olympus is working on a fast 17mm f/1.8 wide-angle prime, dates and prices also to be announced.

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Olympus announces new PEN EVIL cameras Photo

Olympus announces new PEN EVIL cameras

Olympus has added two new models to its PEN EVIL camera range. The new models are known as the E-PL5 and E-PM2. Both feature the 16.1-megapixel High-Speed Live MOS Sensor and new TruePic VI image processing engine as used on the OM-D E-M5. This gives them both a maximum ISO of 25,600, which combined with three modes of in-body image stabilization should ensure good low light capabilities.

Olympus has also released three new PEN lenses that are of potential interest to underwater photographers. Please stay tuned.

Both cameras will be available from October with the E-PL5 retailing at $649.99 and the E-PM2 at $549.99.

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Panasonic LUMIX GH3 released at Photokina Photo

Panasonic LUMIX GH3 released at Photokina

As part of the roll out of new cameras at Photokina, Panasonic has launched the LUMIX GH3 EVIL camera. With features aimed at videographers, the camera produces 1080 50p (60p in USA) AVCHD video at 28 Mbps or 760p/60i/30p/24p output, All-I or IPB compression options (at up to 80 or 50 Mbps respectively) and timecode support. It has a new 16.05 megapixel Live MOS sensor and Venus processing engine, with a native ISO range of ISO 200 to ISO 12800. Flash sync speed is 1/160 second.

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Canon announces the EOS 6D Photo

Canon announces the EOS 6D

Canon UK has announced the release of its new full-frame SLR, the EOS 6D. The camera has the EOS 6D features a newly-designed 20.2 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor and a native ISO range of ISO 100-25,600 (extendable to 50-102,400). It also has in camera HDR processing and a new 11 po9nt AF system, with enhanced low light capabilities. Video recording is 1080p30 (25).

The EOS 6D’S pricing and availability are still to be confirmed.

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Olympus and Sony to form partnership Photo

Olympus and Sony to form partnership

The blog 43 Rumors has published a translation of a piece from NHK newsweb which suggests that Olympus and Sony are planing to form a partnership. The 43 Rumors translation is::

“Sony and Olympus announced yesterday, September 14, that they have entered into exclusive negotiations to conclude a capitalistic partnership. Olympus discussed with several potential partners but eventually chose Sony. Sony will invest ¥50bn (i.e. €485m or $640m) in Olympus. Olympus and Sony will set up a joint-venture to develop medical devices of the next generation, such as high definition endoscopes with video and 3D technology. In order to leverage Olympus’s business of digital cameras, which is in a slump (literally: 不振), Olympus and Sony will promote cooperation and jointly develop some components. Both parties expect to sign a definitive agreement within a month.”

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