CameraSky Australia

The EXILIM EX-N20 features a surface with a textured, leather-like finish that fits comfortably in the hand, delivering an understated look that appeals to those who appreciate a dignified, “classic” look. The lens ring and grip piece are coordinated in a matching metallic silver finish that adds to the classy aura of the camera. 

Three color variations - Havana Brown, Venice Blue and Marrakesh Red - are available. TheEX-N20 camera has a CCD with an effective resolution of 16.1 megapixels, and a wide-angle 26mm, 5x optical zoom lens. All three camera models offer advanced shooting features such as Premium Auto, which automatically analyzes the scene to choose the best settings and performs image processing, and Make-up function for taking beautiful photos of faces. Available at CameraSky Australia website.

Rollei has launched its second Full HD car camera, the Car DVR-100. Featuring a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor and 3mm wide-angle lens, the Rollei Car DVR-100 comes with a built-in 3-axis accelerometer, an integrated LED light, a 2.4" LCD screen and an internal lithium-ion battery. 

The Rollei Car DVR-100 will go on sale from the end of June for a recommended retail price of €109.95.

Anyone who picks up a photography magazine lately will soon realize there is no shortage of photo editing software available. Which is a great thing for photographers. But how do know what is the best photo editing software for you?

           Shown below are some of the most popular photo editing programs, along with descriptions on their use, as well as the photographer they are targeted towards. They range from free photo editors all the way to professional level. If your new to digital photography, try some of the free options first. Many professional photographers work with 2 or more pieces of software. So don't limit yourself to only one.

Sanyo's VPC-CG20 Dual Camera is an affordable way to capture 1920 x 1080i HD video and 10MP stills. In addition to high def video quality the CG20 also offers up a pistol grip design, flash memory recording options, and user-friendly creative control features.

             The VPC-CG20 records to Eye-Fi wireless SD cards. Eye-Fi lets you send your JPEG videos and stills to your Bluetooth enabled computer for instant transfer of files. The camera is also compatible with SD/SDHC cards and high capacity SDXC memory cards that can hold more than 64GB worth of data. Available at CameraSky Australia website.

Starring in a comic strip isn't just for superheroes anymore. Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced the launch of Canon PIXMA Comix, an interactive new application found on the Canon U.S.A. Facebook page, that empowers fans to create fun, personalized photo comic strips to print and share with friends or share socially.

Highlighting the Full HD Movie Print technology found in My Image Garden software, this application brings users' adventures to life.

If you're looking to purchase a DSLR macro lens for the first time, it's easy to get confused by the range that is available. Here is a run down of the best macro lens for Canon and Nikon Digital SLR cameras.

Best Canon macro lens

For Canon Digital SLR camera's, there are 3 popular choices.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens

SIGMA 50mm f2.8 EX Macro 1:1 Lens for Canon SLR digital camera's

Best Nikon macro lens

For photographers who use Nikon SLR camera's, there is:

Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens

Nikon 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor Lens

Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras

What is the best macro lens? Which one should you buy?

Ideally, if you own a Canon DSLR camera, then the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens is currently the best glass for both insect and flower photography. While the best Nikon macro lens is the 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens. Here are two example images.

Successor to the Nikon Coolpix L25, the Nikon Coolpix L27 is equipped with a CCD sensor with an effective pixel count of 16.1 million pixels, a 5x optical zoom Nikkor lens, a 2.7-inch TFT LCD monitor, and HD 720p movie recording.

The 5x optical zoom lens built into the camera covers the wide-angle 26mm to 130mm (equivalent in 35mm format) range of focal lengths. Nikon makes the L27 available in five colors: black, silver, red, white or decorative purple and it comes equipped with four exposure mode options. These are Easy Auto mode - where the settings are determined based on the scene you're shooting - Smart Portrait, Auto mode and Scene Selection mode. The latter offers 18 modes including portrait, sunset, pets, food and close up. Available at CameraSky Australia website.

Leica has placed a teaser on its Facebook page for a new 'Mini M' camera to be launched on June 11th, that apparently will slot into its range between the M rangefinder and the X2 fixed-lens compact. It's given no other details, and we don't yet know what's coming, but we think it could make sense for the company to produce a full-time live view version of the M Typ 240, using the same sensor but with the expensive rangefinder assembly removed.

This would result in a 24MP full frame mirrorless camera that would be able to use almost any manual focus SLR or rangefinder lens ever made, without a field-of-view crop.

Method 1: The number one tip I can give for achieving vivid colors in photography, is to focus on something green, then underexpose by 2/3rds before taking the shot. This tip alone, changed my digital SLR photography ten fold. You won't photograph vivid colors unless you first have the exposure right. I won't go into detail on this page, as I've already written about the technical side of doing so over at: Photography Tip For Exposure. 

Method 2: Another way to get vivid colors in photography is to tweak a couple of manual settings on your digital SLR camera called 'Saturation'. This is a well known technique used by experienced photographers. Unfortunately, it's also one that's overlooked or never realized by many beginners first starting out with DSLR cameras.

The Fujifilm FinePix HS50 EXR is a new super-zoom compact camera with a 42x lens that offers a massive focal range of 24-1000mm.

The combination of these two technologies enables a high sensitivity to ISO 12800, fast continuous shooting up to 11fps, and the integration of EXR Auto to automatically provide optimum shooting settings depending on the scene in which you are photographing. Available at CameraSky Australia website.

Samsung has released the source code for its NX2000 and NX300 cameras as open source. Along with the open source release, Samsung is also providing build instructions for each camera. You can find the open source downloads at Samsung’s website.

This downloading service shall not affect nor extend any warranty or disclaimer which Samsung makes in each of Samsung’s products in which the Source Code (or object/executable code based thereon) is incorporated.

Many Nikon and Canon lenses now come with vibration reduction (Nikon) and image stabilization (Canon) options that you can either turn on or off. The advantages of VR and IS, is that you can achieve sharper photographs when hand holding your camera, especially in darker lighting.

This is very useful for times when it's not feasible to use a tripod. For example, sporting events, museums or photographing moving animals like birds or fish. Those who have tried to photograph a flying bird while their camera sits on a tripod will understand the frustration. This is when you'll want to turn on vibration reduction and image stabilization, then hand hold your digital SLR camera. 

The M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4-5.6 is Olympus's third lens for the Micro Four Thirds system to reach the market, covering the wideangle end of the spectrum. It was first announced at the same time as the E-P2 in November 2009 (alongside a forthcoming 14-150mm superzoom), with more details appearing coincident with the E-PL1's launch in February 2010. Its headline feature is undoubtedly its miniscule size - it adopts the same collapsing design as Olympus's Micro Four Thirds 14-42mm kit zoom to realize dimensions of just 2.2" x 1.9" (57 x 50 mm) when retracted, and an extremely light weight of 5.5 ounces (155g). This makes it the smallest wideangle zoom lens on the market by some considerable margin.

The lens's optical formula is clearly strongly related to that of its Four Thirds cousin, the Zuiko Digital 9-18mm F4-5.6, which we reviewed (and liked) in February 2009. If anything, though, it's even more exotic - the 12 element, 8 group design now utilizes two dual-surface aspheric elements to form the front cell, and Extraordinary Dispersion (ED) and High Refractive (HR) glass elements are employed to combat chromatic aberration. The focusing is internal, and takes a leaf out of Panasonic's book by using a single element for maximum speed; it's also designed to provide silent operation for movie recording. 

In a brief note on its Japanese website, Sigma has announced that it will be releasing its highly-regarded 35mm F1.4 DG HSM 'Art' lens in Sony and Pentax mounts on 31st May. It's also announced that the Nikon-mount version of its 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM 'Sports' telephoto zoom will go on sale at the same time.

We gave the 35mm F1.4 our Gold Award when we reviewed it back in December, for its combination of exceptionally good optics and solid build at a price rather lower than the camera manufacturers' equivalents.

A Photographer’s Guide to Depth of Field (DOF) is the first photography downloadable guide from ‘Light Stalking’, but don’t let that fool you! It might be their first guide, but it’s full of excellent advice for beginners.

It starts off explaining why Depth of Field is important, showing stunning visual examples with each point. It then goes on to discuss how to apply good DOF principles to your photographs, camera presets and depth of field in post production.

Unlike other free tutorial guides, you’re not required to hand over your email address or personal details. Simply download the PDF file and start reading. To download your free PDF guide explaining depth of field, visit: http://www.lightstalking.com/dof/

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 Full Frame Compact Digital Camera is the world's first fixed-lens digital camera with a full-frame sensor. This large 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor enables DSLR-quality imaging in a point-and-shoot form factor (4.5 x 2.6 x 2.8" / 11.4 x 6.6 x 7.1 cm). In addition to 24MP JPEG or RAW still images, the RX1 will also shoot Full HD 1080p video at 24 or 60fps. The 35mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* lens features a wide maximum aperture of f/2.0 with 9 iris blades, for reliable low-light performance and shallow depth of field with attractive bokeh (background blur). The multi-layered T* coating minimizes ghosting and flare caused by light reflection.

For framing and playback, the camera features a large 3" Xtra Fine LCD monitor with a 1,229k-pixel resolution. The screen uses WhiteMagic technology to improve visibility in bright daylight. The RX1's sensor works with the BIONZ image processor to enable the camera to autofocus at high speed. Manual focusing is also available, and the camera has three distinct manual control rings for aperture, focusing, and macro. Available at CameraSky Australia website.

We’ve covered Magic Lantern firmware and the new Canon 5D Mark III raw video feature lately. However, one thing we haven’t touched on is how using and installing third-party firmware on your DSLR affects your camera warranty. 

Udi over at DIY Photography contacted Canon, Nikon and Panasonic to see what they had to say about using third-party firmware on their cameras. In short, Canon says that using Magic Lantern firmware won’t void your warranty, while both Nikon and Panasonic say that installing a third-party firmware will void your warranty.

Of course, if your Canon camera is bricked by the Magic Lantern firmware, Canon would charge for the repairs.