RAU-TU

Just posted! Our Sony SLT-A33 preview samples gallery. We’ve already treated the A33′s bigger brother, the SLT-A55, to an in-depth review. No we’ve had a chance to get out and shoot with the slightly lower-spec A33 as well. It lacks the GPS module of the A55 and comes with a slightly lower sensor resolution but is otherwise almost identical to Sony’s top-of-the-range translucent mirror model. Have a look through our gallery and see for yourself what the Sony SLT-A33 has to offer in terms of image quality.

Toshiba has announced what it claims will be the world’s fastest SDHC UHS-I and the world’s first microSDHC UHS-I compliant memory cards. To be available in 32GB, 16GB and 8GB capacities, the SDHC cards will offer read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 80MB/s respectively. The microSDHC cards will be available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities with read and write speeds of up to 45MB/s and 20MB/s. The company says mass production of the SDHC UHS-I cards and sample shipments of the new microSDHC UHS-I cards will begin from November 2010.

Tamron has announced that it has cooperated with Adobe in the creation of profiles for the Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3′s Lens Correction feature. The latest version of the image-editing software will automatically fix distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting for all currently available Tamron lenses (no word yet on the latest 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC USD though).

Datacolor has announced the SpyderLensCal focus calibrator. The device allows photographers to measure the AF performance of their camera/lens combinations. On DSLRs with a micro-adjustment feature, this tool can be used to help determine the best values to set in the camera’s custom settings menu to correct front or back focus. SpyderLensCal will be available from September 6, 2010 at a suggested retail price of $59.

Panasonic has released 8GB and 16GB SDHC cards adhering to the SD association’s latest UHS-I specification. Both memory cards have maximum read speeds of up to 60MB/s and Class 10 speed specification complementing 3D and full HD video recording features of recently released cameras. Like the company’s ‘Gold’ line of memory cards, it features protection against power failures and a Super Intelligent Controller that cleans up errors preventing data damage. The memory cards will be available from November 2010.

Kodak has announced the ESP 9250 Wi-fi-enabled all-in-one inkjet printer with print, copy, scan and fax capability. It includes the company’s proprietary fade-resistant inks with what it claims the lowest total ink replacement cost in the industry. The printer features a 2.4-inch LCD, built-in templates and supports various memory card formats. The printer is now available at $249.99.

Sony has announced the Bloggie Touch MHS-TS20K pocket camcorder. It is built around the company’s 1/2.5" Exmor CMOS sensor, records Full HD video in MP4 format and captures 12.8Mp still images. It offers a 3 inch touchscreen LCD, 32mm F2.8 lens and a flip-out USB connecter that also charges the camera’s battery. It includes a 360 degree panorama lens adapter. Priced at $199.99, it will be available in pink, silver and black.

Carl Zeiss has introduced the Distagon T* 1,4/35 wide-angle lens in Canon EF (ZE) and Nikon F (ZF.2) mounts. This manual focus lens, with its large f/1.4 aperture, is made up of 11 elements in 9 groups. With an equivalent focal length of 50mm on APS-C cameras, it can be used on both digital and analog SLRs. Priced at €1385.71, the lens will be available in the first quarter of 2011.

Canon has announced it has developed the world’s largest CMOS sensor measuring 202 x 205mm. Approximately 40 times the size of Canon’s largest commercial CMOS sensor, it captures images with 1/100th the amount of light required by an SLR camera. Its advanced circuitry allows video recording at 60 frames per second with 0.3 lux illumination that according to the company is roughly one-half the brightness of a moonlit night. There is currently no information about the sensor’s resolution. This follows last week’s development announcement of Canon’s 120 megapixel 29.2 x 20.2mm APS-H CMOS sensor.

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 3.2, Camera Raw 6.2 and DNG Converter 6.2. These are final versions of updates that were originally posted as ‘release candidates’ on the Adobe Labs site, and are now available for immediate download. The latest versions provide final RAW support for sixteen recent cameras, including the Canon EOS 60D and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The updates also add more than 120 lens profiles and fix a number of bugs.

Olympus has announced what it calls the world’s smallest and lightest 600mm equivalent telephoto lens in the shape of M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75-300mm 1:4.8-6.7. Weighing 430 grams, the Micro Four Thirds system lens’ 18 element, 13 group design utilizes two Extraordinary Dispersion (ED) and 3 High Refractive (HR) glass elements to reduce chromatic aberration. It promises fast and silent focusing for recording movies. The lens will be available in black and silver from December 2010 for €899.

Sigma has announced its 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM image-stabilised fast telezoom is now available in Nikon F mount. Previously available in Canon EF mount, the Nikon version is priced at $2,470. The lens features a new optical design that uses two elements made of the company’s recently developed ‘FLD’ glass plus three SLD glass elements to reduce aberrations, a 9-blade circular aperture, and features full-time manual focus override. It also comes with an adapter for APS-C users.

US photographic trade body PMA and dpreview.com are conducting a survey looking for the views of dedicated amateur photographers. The five ten minute survey asks about your photographic use, the features you’d like to see in cameras and your use and experience of photo sharing sites and printing services (as well as helping us make dpreview a better place). It aims to get a clearer understanding of what committed non-professional photographers want from their cameras and related services and may even result in those things getting a bit better. Responses will be discussed at the forthcoming 6Sight conference. As a [...]

Cosina has announced it is joining the Micro Four Thirds system standard with Olympus and Panasonic. Users will now be able to use an extended choice of Cosina and Voigtländer-branded lenses with their Micro Four Thirds cameras without the need for adapters. To coincide with this announcement, Cosina has announced the availability of its Nokton 25mm F0.95 lens compliant with the standard. Priced at ¥95,000 (~ US $1125) it will be available from October 2010.

Canon has unveiled the EOS 60D mid-level DSLR, replacing the EOS 50D. However, following the launch of the EOS 7D, the 60D has been repositioned in the market, so isn’t a simple upgrade to its predecessor. Instead the 60D is a smaller camera featuring an articulated screen and plastic body shell and utilizing SD memory cards. It combines the 18MP CMOS sensor and 1040k dot 3.0" LCD from the EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) with the AF system from the 50D. Meanwhile it gains the 7D’s HD movie capability. We’ve had a chance to use a pre-production 60D so have prepared [...]

Canon has announced an updated version of its EOS E1 plug-in for Apple’s Final Cut Pro video-editing software extending support to the EOS 60D DSLR. Already compatible with the company’s EOS-1D Mark IV, 7D and 5D Mark II, the plug-in converts recorded footage into Apple’s ProRes 422 compression format at approximately twice the speed of Apple’s standard conversion and allows users to log and mark videos with timecode, reel names and metadata.

Nik Software has announced HDR Efex Pro, an HDR processing plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Apple Aperture compatible with both Windows and Mac. Based around its proprietary tone mapping technology, it offers number of presets and tools for selective fine-tuning, ghost removal and shadow/highlight recovery for both multiple and single images. The software installs as a 32-bit or 64-bit plug-in compatible with the applications as far back as Photoshop CS3, Lightroom 2.3 and Apple Aperture 2.1. HDR Efex Pro will be available from Autumn 2010 at a suggested retail price of $159.95.

Adobe has developed a set of three online tools as the primary way of interacting with its Photoshop.com online storage and editing site. The Photoshop Express Editor, Organizer and Uploader have been optimized to integrate with the company’s recently released Photoshop Express apps for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices and promise faster and ‘more intuitive’ uploading, editing, and organizing abilities.