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I’ve added a new page to collect reviews of the Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi digital SLR.

As always, feel free to email me any link recommendations.

Filed under: Canon, Equipment
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Pentax has just released firmware version 1.01 for the K100D digital SLR.

Fixes and features:

• Support for SDHC memory cards (SD cards larger than 4 GB)
• Focal length input into the Shake Reduction menu can now be displayed accurately in Pentax Photo Browser 3

See Pentax’s K100D Firmware v1.01 web page for download and installation instructions.

Filed under: Firmware Updates, Pentax, Software
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DPReview has just published their Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Review.

This camera is the product of the Konica Minolta/Sony joint development deal last year, and the subsequent withdrawal of Konica Minolta from the camera business altogether.

The DSLR-A100 features:

• 10 megapixel CCD
• Konica Minolta lens mount (now called Alpha Mount)
• in-body Anti-Shake (now called Super SteadyShot)
• anti-dust system
• eye start AF
• 40 segment honeycomb pattern metering
• 2.5″ rear LCD

The A100 gets a pretty good review, giving Sony a solid entry into the DSLR market.

We’ve also added a Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Reviews page.

Filed under: Sony
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Canon has released firmware version 1.1.0 for their EOS 5D and EOS 1D Mark II N digital SLRs.

Canon EOS 5D Firmware 1.1.0

• Enhancement of direct printing with specific printers.
• Correction of the communication errors that occurred when shooting with EOS 5D and EOS Capture software after shooting about 138 shots.
• Correction of the phenomenon in which the flash mode settings are changed from E-TTL to M (Manual) when EOS 5D is used in combination with Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 and Speedlite 580EX.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II N Firmware 1.1.0

• Enhancement of direct printing with specific printers.

Filed under: Canon, Firmware Updates
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Leica has announced a new system for marking their lenses with a 6-bit code, allowing the upcoming Leica Digital M camera to identify which lens is attached and to store the information in the image metadata. All new lenses will carry the coding, and Leica will offer a service upgrade to apply the coding to existing M series lenses, including discontinued models.

Details and press release are available at DP Review.

Filed under: Leica
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DP Review has posted their Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Hands-On Preview.

The press release for the DSLR-A100 is also available on the DP Review site.

Filed under: Sony
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Along with the D2Xs, Nikon has released a ‘pro’ version of their Nikon Capture Camera Control software, Nikon Camera Control Pro. Unfortunately, the press release is fairly scant on detail. This program is available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

The second new software product is Nikon Image Authentication Software, which enables verification of the authenticity of images captured with a Nikon D2Xs digital SLR. This ability is very useful for law enforcement and other government agencies, the media, insurance companies and has a variety of other business applications. Unfortunately, this program only runs on the Windows platform.

Further details and the press releases are available at DP Review.

Filed under: Business, Nikon, Software
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Nikon has announced the D2Xs, an improved version of the D2X.

The main improvements include:

• larger 2.5″ LCD monitor
• electronic viewfinder masking in high-speed crop mode
• longer battery life
• black and white mode
• 3 custom tone curves
• save and load settings, even between cameras
• image authentication system compatible

Filed under: Nikon
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Pentax has announced two new 6.1 megapixel digital SLRs, the K100D and the K110D.

Features of both cameras include:

• 2.5 inch 210,000 pixel LCD
• 6.1 megapixel APS-C sized CCD
• 16 segment multi-pattern metering
• 11 point autofocus
• ISO 200 to 3200
• PENTAX KAF mount compatible with PENTAX KAF2, KAF and KA mount lenses
• 1/4000 second top shutter speed
• uses SD memory cards

The K100D also features a CCD-shift Shake Reduction system.

I’m just glad that Pentax seems to have finally ditched the stupid *-ist camera naming system!

Technorati Tags: pentax, digital slr, dslr, digital camera

Filed under: Pentax
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digLloyd has discovered a great way to speed up batch processing in Canon Digital Photo Professional on computers (Mac or Windows) with more than one CPU: DPP Batch Processing Performance Tip.

Looking at the CPU utilization graph when batch converting RAW files with DPP, digLloyd could see that not all of his available processing power was being used. They then figured out that starting more than one batch process at a time would make better use of the CPUs, processing the same total number of RAW files in less time.

This is a great trick for getting more done in less time, but it’s disappointing that Canon’s software doesn’t automatically make better use of multiple CPUs and/or cores. A little bit of software engineering would go a long way!

Filed under: Canon, RAW Files, Software
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