Author Archive for jarrod

Canon releases new lens, EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Canon lens

Canon released a New lens along with the 50D announcement. I think this lens will be the ultimate travel lens for us Canon users. Nikon has had an 18-200 for awhile now and I’ve been on the look out for a Canon compatable clone for a long time. Now I’ll just grab one of these. No word on the pricing yet.

Compact, lightweight and a wide magnification range - this standard zoom lens features a wide focal length range from normal to telephoto equivalent to 29-320mm in the 35mm format. It features an Optical Image Stabilizer for up to 4-stops of effective correction even at full zoom. Since Canon’s optical image stabilization system is in the lens, not in the camera, you can see the stabilized, steadier images through the viewfinder. And the circular aperture can give beautiful background blur effects. This new wide zoom ratio EF-S lens delivers excellent high-speed performance at an affordable price.

Link to Canon’s site.


Jarrod Michael

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Wacom Releases New Cintiq Models

CintiqFamily_MainBanner_Products_V1 Wacom Releases New Cintiq Models

Cintiq Overview, from Wacom:

Wacom introduces two additions to the Cintiq family to give you options for working directly on screen. The Cintiq 12WX and the Cintiq 20WSX join the Cintiq 21UX as versatile interactive pen displays that combine the advantages of an LCD monitor with the natural feel and superior performance of Wacom’s patented, professional pen technology.

The Cintiq family of interactive pen displays continues Wacom’s tradition of delivering world-class productivity tools that make using a computer as natural as possible. By using a pen directly on screen, you work more quickly and naturally. All products in the Cintiq family share Wacom’s most advanced pen feature-set to provide world-class precision and control. This pen sophistication, combined with the ability to work directly on screen, make Cintiq products key to a digital experience that is closer to working with traditional materials and tools than ever before.

Pixel-level pen accuracy provides highly precise cursor control. The Cintiq Grip Pen features 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity on the pen tip and eraser for precise image editing, accurate brush control, and selective application of effects and filters. The result is an amazingly smooth, responsive on-screen experience that mirrors a traditional pen-on-paper feel. Additionally, the cushioned, contoured barrel of the pen has been designed to minimize grip effort for hours of comfortable use.

All products in the Cintiq family have textured, scratch-resistant surfaces and are completely flat edge-to-edge, allowing the hand to glide over the entire surface easily, and also have adjustable stands that allow you to angle or pivot the display to achieve optimal working angles. Strategically-placed, programmable ExpressKeys™ and Touch Strips let you zoom, scroll, and activate keyboard shortcuts for even greater speed.

Visit the Website here.

Click here to view the Cintiq Comparison Chart.

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Adobe: Online Photoshop coming this year

 Adobe: Online Photoshop coming this year


From Cnet


MONTEREY, Calif.–Adobe Systems has committed to shipping a beta version of its online image-editing tool, Photoshop Express, this year, and said it will be complete in 2008.

“By late this year, we anticipate having a beta version,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president for Adobe Creative Solutions, speaking at the 6sight digital imaging conference here. And next year, the online service will be “available to anyone,” he said.

Loiacono showed Photoshop Express running on an Adobe server connected over the Internet, he said. But when the average person experiences the software, it likely will be through partners such as Shutterfly or Photobucket, he said.

Unsurprisingly, Loiacono left unmentioned Flickr, which said in October it will use Picnik’s online photo-editing tools.

Photoshop Express is a profoundly important project, and Adobe’s schedule indicates that its repercussions are near-term and not academic.

For Adobe, the project is the spearhead of a transformation from a seller of boxed software to a provider of services in an increasingly rich Internet experience. And for the industry overall, it signals that Internet technology is maturing enough that companies are willing risk extending the brand of respected PC software to the network.

Photoshop Express, as its name suggests, isn’t a full-fledged version of Photoshop proper or even of its hobbyist-oriented sibling, Photoshop Elements. The intent is to reach a much larger audience than the company currently reaches with its higher-end boxed software products.

Read the full story here.

Until Next Time,

Jarrod Michael
Senior Editor
The Digital Artistry Blog
“Where Art & Technology Meet!”
www.digitalartistry.blogspot.com

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Apple Posts About Time Machine with Aperture

From Photoshop News.com

Apple has posted a TechNote for users of OS X 10.5 Leopard with Time Machine and Aperture. By extension, it also applies to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom users as well.

Issue or symptom

Running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Aperture is running may lead to inconsistencies in the Aperture database.

Products affected

Aperture
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Solution Continue reading ‘Apple Posts About Time Machine with Aperture’

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Lightroom and Leopard

LIGHTROOM

Lightroom users will have to wait a short time for an update. Adobe claims they will have a free update to Lightroom in mid November. So two weeks isn’t a bad wait at all. But if you are a hard core Lightroom user such as myself you will have to wait to put Leopard on your production machine.

The Lightroom Journal, produced by the Lightroom team has posted the following:

As noted in Adobe’s Leopard FAQ the current version of Lightroom 1.2 is not fully compatible with Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5. The good news is that we’ll be releasing an update in mid-November that will address key compatibility issues. In the interim, the following list describes areas where photographers may encounter problems with Lightroom 1.2 on Leopard: Continue reading ‘Lightroom and Leopard’

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An Aperture User Looks At Adobe Lightroom

From Fraser Speirs

Partly just because it was there and partly because I feel like I haven’t given it a fair crack of the whip, I spent some time yesterday and today with Adobe Lightroom.

For those who don’t care to read the minutiae, I’ll get to the point: In my opinion, Aperture vs. Lightroom is the same discussion as Canon vs. Nikon. Each has strengths and weaknesses, but it’s not a no-brainer decision either way. You’ll produce good results with both applications, and the real decisions come down to personal preference, and specific features that you may need for a very specific reason.

So, let’s dig in deeper:

Read the whole story here.

~ Jarrod Michael

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