News broke out earlier this week that Canon intends to release a new firmware update for the highly praised 5D Mark II. One of the primary reasons for the new firmware is the updating of video functions to allow users to shoot HD Video in Manual mode. This has been one of the big gripes with Mark II owners because the video currently uses an automatic mode while shooting video. This has led to some creative workarounds for those that wanted to gain more control over the lens aperture while filming. One such workaround included purchasing a small adapter ring to fit Nikon lenses with manual aperture rings onto the Mark II body. Sacrilege perhaps but necessary for getting that coveted shallow depth of field footage. For more details on the new firmware update, check out the story over at CNET News. By the way, the firmware update is said to be scheduled for a June 2 release.
This one is from my buddy Scott Kelby who was telling me about his troubles last week in trying to get Nikon Camera Control Pro to function properly at one of his seminars. During the seminar, one of the attendees turned him on to a completely free application for the Mac to shoot tethered to Nikon cameras called Sofortbild. I downloaded it late last week and did some tests and I’ll be darned if it didn’t work like a charm. It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that Nikon Camera Control Pro does but if your intention is to just shoot and have your images move right to a folder on your Mac, you just can’t go wrong. The application currently works with the Nikon D3x, D3, D700, D300, D200, D90, D80, D60, D40x and D40. It doesn’t work with the D5000, D1, D100, D70, or D50. If you are a Mac user and want to give it a try, you can find the download link here.
Earlier this month, Alien Skin, the developers of Bokeh (one of my favorite plug-ins), released a new plug-in for Photoshop called Snap Art. Snap Art is all about turning your images into traditional looking pieces of art like pencil sketches, watercolor, oil painting and more (I know, these are filters already in Photoshop but the Alien Skin effects are much more realistic). Anyway, the big news isn’t necessarily how good the plug-in is but how it is now able to integrate into the CS4 customizable panels. Panel customization is new to CS4 and it is probably the future for gaining access to your favorite plug-in filters. Alien Skin has made this new Snap Art panel available for download on their site for free. Of course you do need to own the plug-in for it to do you any good. For more info on the custom panel and Snap Art, check out the Alien Skin web site.
There’s a new web site for photographers to sell and showcase their photography called Wozofoto. Each day visitors can purchase a new photo from a different photographer. It’s a fun way to make great photography more affordable for the art-appreciator and it gives photographers extra exposure and the opportunity to profit from their photography.
Photographer David duChemin, author of the fantastic new book, Within the Frame
That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend and don’t forget, if you haven’t signed up already, head to the Worldwide Photowalk site and find yourself a photowalk for July 18th.
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>>Earlier this month, Alien Skin, the developers of Bokeh (one of my favorite plug-ins), released a new plug-in for Photoshop called Snap Art.
Actually, Alien Skin introduced Snap Art several years ago. Just recently they released the UPGRADE to it, Snap Art 2. I’m a real fan of this software. The new Version 2 is much faster, and adds new pre-sets, and has organized the pre-sets into a much more useful way. The panel for CS4 is icing on the cake that also adds a new feature to create multiple mini versions of a photo converted into each one of the painting styles. This is a great time saver!
My latest painting is here (view it large to see detail): http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbhaber/3571564095/