In the Blink of an Eye, National Media Museum calls for entries

The National Media Museum in Bradford is commissioning two artworks, worth up to £15,000 each for the successful applicants, to be included a leading exhibition, In the Blink of an Eye.

Press release:

The National Media Museum in Bradford has announced a £30,000 commission for the creation of two new-media artworks to be included in a major exhibition as part of Yorkshire’s regional cultural programme for London 2012.
 
Artists from the fields of photography, film, digital or computer based art are invited to get in touch by the deadline of May 16. Application forms and submission guidelines can be downloaded from here.
 
The exhibition, In the Blink of an Eye, opens at the National Media Museum in March next year. It will explore the themes of movement and motion, and is part of imove, a new and imaginative celebration of human movement, bringing together the best creative talent from the region to produce a programme of events designed to inspire the public in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. imove is funded by Legacy Trust UK, Yorkshire Forward and Arts Council England.
 
Submissions should engage with the exhibition theme and content, which will feature images and artefacts from the Museum’s National Collection, including works by Roger Fenton, Eadweard Muybridge, and Etienne-Jules Marey.
 
Colin Harding, Curator of the exhibition said: “We are incredibly excited to see what this submission process will produce and we are looking for imaginative, ambitious and inspirational artworks that respond to our continuing fascination with movement.”
 
“As a general guideline the proposals should aim to explore the ways in which art and science can be used to express movement, engage with key items from the National Collections of Photography, Film and Television, and use a range of new-media platforms to offer an interactive experience for visitors.”
  
The National Media Museum is part of the New Worlds partnership with the National Centre for Early Music, York; Alchemy, Leeds; Bradford Metropolitan District Council's Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport; Harewood House, Leeds and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds.
 
Up to £15,000 is available for each selected proposal, of which £5,000 allocated as a fixed artist fee, and up to £10,000 available for development and production costs. Collaborative proposals and artworks created by individuals or groups of artists are welcome. Applicants are required to be UK residents and cannot be in undergraduate study.

More information can be found here.

Westcott unwrap new 7ft umbrella

JP Distribution, the UK distributor for Westcott, a US lighting company (and not dissimilar to Lastolite) has announced a new 2.2m (7ft) umbrella, which will available in white, silver and white/black at £110 inc VAT each.

Press release:

Westcott Announce New 7’ Parabolic Umbrellas.
Big size; small price!
 
 
UK, 21st March 2011 - JP Distribution, the exclusive UK distributor for Westcott – one of the world leaders in professional photography and video lighting equipment - has announced the new range of Parabolic Umbrellas from Westcott.
 
We are excited to announce the launch of three new parabolic umbrellas to the Westcott line – White Diffusion, Silver and White/Black.  Each umbrella is 7’ (2.2m) and weights only 2.5 lbs (1.13kg). These parabolic umbrellas are constructed using 16 durable fibreglass ribs composite that offer added strength and durability over standard steel or aluminium frames. The custom-designed centre umbrella shaft is engineered with double the thickness of most umbrella shafts. This durable shaft has a standard 7mm tapered tip that fits into most photography equipment.
 
-          The 7’ White Diffusion Parabolic Umbrella (#4632) is an ideal solution for diffusing large areas of harsh light. 
-          The 7’ Silver Parabolic Umbrella (#4633) offers maximum light reflection.
-          The 7’ White/Black Parabolic Umbrella (#4634) offers a white interior that softens and broadens bounced light with a solid black backing to eliminate any potential for back spill light.
-          All come standard with a heavy-duty nylon carry case with shoulder strap. It is lightweight and ideal for travel.
 
Each umbrella (#4632, #4633, and #4634) has a very competitive SRP of £110 Inc VAT
 

More information can be found here.

Calumet Group has new Real owner

Calumet the pro-retailer and Bowens Lighting have announced a change of ownership. Calumet Group has been bought in its entirety by HS Real, a holding company based in the US.

Press release:

Calumet Group Has New Owner

 

Calumet Photographic Group, the $200m specialist photographic retailer and flash lighting manufacturer Bowens, has changed ownership.

After 11 years within Rubicon Partners, the London based investment partnership, which saw the growth of Calumet into a multi-channel digital products retailer, and Bowens into a multi-national manufacturer, Calumet Group has been bought in its entirety by HS Real, a holding company based in the US.

Colin Halpern, a British born, US based, entrepreneur will assume the chairmanship of the group with immediate effect. He has a wide ranging experience ranging from engineering, healthcare, property, car rental and fast food, in both the US and the UK.

There are already plans to invest further in the retail presence in Calumet in Europe and the US, and continue Bowens’ investments in the Far East. The initial elements of these plans will be executed during the remainder of 2011, and have progressed during the transaction period.

HS Real is committed to investment, permanent ownership of the group. It recognizes its potential for growth, and its unique position in the market place.

Calumet UK stores

Digital Anarchy out Beauty Box skin retouching plug-in for Aperture

Press release:

San Francisco, CA — March 16, 2011 — Digital Anarchy, a leading provider of cost-effective software for photographers and digital artists, today announced the availability of their Beauty Box skin retouching software for Apple’s Aperture. The plugin provides an automatic, easy and inexpensive way of smoothing skin and removing blemishes in photographs. Beauty Box Aperture 1.0 is fully compatible with Aperture 2 and Aperture 3 and works terrifically with processing large groups of images.

”The Beauty Box technology has won a number of awards,” said Jim Tierney, President of Digital Anarchy. “We’re very excited to bring this product to Aperture users and see how this tool enhances their productivity and portrait work.”

Beauty Box Aperture performs fast, automatic skin retouching and smoothing. The software automatically identifies skin tones and creates an intelligent mask that limits the smoothing effect to skin areas while keeping facial details razor-sharp. This process requires minimal input from the user and in many cases is fully automatic. Beauty Box Aperture gets its render speed from new technology from Toonamation, Inc. and takes advantage of GPU speed and nVidia’s CUDA. Whether it is used for a glamour shoot, senior portraits or just a personal photo, Beauty Box achieves a consistently professional result.

The practical features of Beauty Box Aperture include:

* Automatic Mask: Beauty Box uses face detection to identify the skin tones and create an automatic mask in just those areas.
* Smart Skin Smoothing: Smoothing controls like Amount and Radius intelligently adjust the skin smoothing.
* Batch Processing: Automatically smooth the skin in hundreds of images by tying Beauty Box into a batch operation.  
* Control Over Mask: Advanced Mask tools are available to make changes to the mask
* Sharpen Details: Use fine-tuning controls like Preserve Edges to preserve important details like hair, eyelashes and jewelry. 
* Add Skin Texture: Bring back skin texture, like pore structure, that can be lost because of the smoothing.  
* Fast Processing: Beauty Box uses GPU speed and nVidia’s CUDA to increase render performance.

 

Pricing and Availability

Beauty Box Aperture is regularly priced at USD $99. The product is on sale for $69 through April 15th, 2011. The skin retouching software works in Aperture 2 and 3. On Macintosh, the product runs on OS 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6. On Windows, the product supports Windows XP Home, Windows XP Pro, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit and Windows 7. Demo filters and samples are available here.

Adobe announce Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS, new Camera Pack

Press release:

Adobe Announces Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS with New Adobe Camera Pack for In-App Purchase
 
 
With more than 20 million customers and growing, Adobe Photoshop Express has achieved great popularity on iOS and Android devices. Photoshop Express offers easy, on-the-go support for capturing, organising, editing and sharing photos on popular social networks like Facebook, making it a must-have app for customers working with digital photos on new smartphones and tablets.
 
Adobe today announced the immediate availability of Adobe Photoshop Express 2.0 software for iOS devices. Available as a free download on the Apple iTunes Store, Photoshop Express 2.0 introduces a new Adobe Camera Pack for in-app purchase. This Camera Pack includes the following:
 
·         Reduce Noise: Even the best phone cameras can introduce small amounts of grain and speckling—called noise—into images. The Reduce Noise feature quickly smooths out those flaws to improve photos.
·         Self Timer: Set a camera timer to three or 10-second intervals to control when the photo is snapped and capture just the desired moment.
·         Auto Review: Ensure a good shot and delete it quickly if not. Auto Review provides a quick look at pictures before the action passes by.
 
The Adobe Camera Pack enhances the new camera workflow that debuted in Photoshop Express 1.5 for iOS and enabled customers to continuously and rapidly shoot photos directly in the app.
 
“Photoshop Express 2.0 and the new Adobe Camera Pack solve a problem for anyone who cares about the quality of their images,” says Jordan Davis, senior product manager for mobile imaging at Adobe. “Our new Reduce Noise feature fixes the graininess that often impacts photos, even those taken with high-quality phone cameras. It’s fast, accurate and puts professional Adobe Photoshop quality in the palm of your hand.”

Pricing and Availability

Photoshop Express 2.0 for iOS is available worldwide in English for free download from the iTunes store. The Adobe Camera Pack is available for in-app purchase for £2.39. Instructions for purchase are provided in the app.
 
Photoshop Express 2.0 requires iOS 4.2 or later. To use the Adobe Camera Pack, customers must have an iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPod Touch (3rd or 4th generation), or an iPad or iPad 2 (note that Photoshop Express does not include support for the iPad 2 camera at this time). For more information, visit here.

Lastolite announce Hotrod Octa Softbox

Press release:

Lastolite Announce New Hotrod Octa Softbox
 
March 15th 2011, Lastolite Limited, the world’s leading manufacturer of backgrounds and lighting control systems for the photo, video and cinema industry, has announced the launch of the new Hotrod Octa Softbox.

The new Hotrod Octa Softbox is for use with battery operated flashguns. The simple assembly means that the flashgun simply slides into a shoe mount attached to the adapter plate. The Octas are available in two different sizes and feature an inner diffusion panel and adapter plate with rods which supports the weight of the softbox.

Main Features and Benefits:
 
1.               Octa box for an alternative catchlight
2.               Simple assembly
3.               Slide on shoe mount for flashgun
 
 
Pricing and Availability:
 
AA    Available in two sizes – 70cm and 90cm, the Hotrod Octa Softbox is available now at SRP £150 and £168 inc.

For more information please click here.

Mitsubishi CP-D70DW dye-sublimation printer review

Roll-fed dye-sublimation transfer printers are often used in photo-kiosks but with their fast operation and touch dry photos, they’re also the printer of choice for event photographers.

Mitsubishi Electric CP-D70DW

Rating 4.5/5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Price
£1214 (£999 ex VAT) $1,399.95
Contact
Mitsubishi Electric; www.mitsubishielectric.co.uk www.mitsubishi-imaging.com
Needs
Mac OS X 10.5 or Windows XP later
Pros
Print quality, job times, low media costs, durability, build, noise levels
Cons
Noise levels, paper handling niggles, colour profile on request



Buy at Adorama Camera (US) at $1,279.95, plus mail-in rebate available. Buy at Amazon US (sold by Adorama).

Buy the Dual deck CP-D70DW at Adorama now at $1,939.95, plus mail-in rebate (was $2,950).



Introduction


Unlike the process of dithering liquid ink in an inkjet, dye-sublimation printers produce authentic continuous tone images with an analogous look like that of a conventional lab-produced print. They achieve this using thin cellophane ribbon with wax-like dyes that are heated to form a gaseous exchange of dye onto special receiving paper.

Typically, the ribbon has three (CMY) coloured panels of dye plus a fourth over-coating offering durable protection of prints from, moisture, UV and even greasy fingerprints.

Benefits like these are the main attraction for event photographers, and print costs are competitive. Early versions were literally no different to those used in retail photo-kiosks but the recent shift to more compact desktop models is proving attractive not least due to the reduction in size and weight, in many cases around half that of previous offerings.

Mitsubishi’s latest dye-sublimation printer, the roll-fed CP-D70DW is a compact desktop model weighting 12kg and capable of printing high-quality photos up to 6-inches wide at high-speed and with the minimum of fuss.

The £999 (ex VAT) CP-D70DW offers print sizes of 3.5x5-inch, 4x6-inch, 5x7inch and 6x8-inch, from three ribbon sizes. Popular with time-pressured event photographers a fourth size, 6x9-inch, mimicking the uncropped 3:2 format of DSLRs should have been released by the time you read this.

To avoid potential pitfalls such as mismatching of sizes, both ribbon and roll paper are sold together in media packs. Print capacity is quoted as 400x 6x4-inch sheets or 200 sheets at 6x8-inch per media pack and costs are some of the lowest for this type of printer at around 19p ex VAT (30 US cents) per 8x6-inch sheet.

If you’re wondering why you can’t print a 6x9-inch print on 6-inch wide paper, it’s because the ribbon patch determines the size of the print, matching the paper precisely, and simply isn’t physically big enough. While presumably the paper won’t change, Mitsubishi will have to produce new 6x9-inch ribbon and update the drivers.

Setting Up





Setting up is a quick and relatively straightforward affair. Unlike earlier offerings, the delicate ribbon is loaded first into a cassette tray making the installation process far simpler and risk free. Installing the paper is marginally more-fiddly but that’s to be expected. Plastic flanges must be inserted into either end of the paper roll while spacers are used for the smaller media sizes.

Inside the printer, however paper guides must be manually set for either the 5-or-6-inch wide media. It’s a pity this doesn’t take place automatically as this is easily overlooked, what’s more it’s crucial to prevent a paper-jam or misaligned print.

That said, media sizes are unlikely to be switched frequently, and then only when installing new packs where warning labels located inside are likely to remind. In terms of ease of access the front loading tray is a high spot, and even with the inevitable shift in weight, the printer doesn’t tip forward alarmingly like some rival offerings

Drivers





Windows drivers are included on the bundled CD but the Mac driver must be downloaded from the Mitsubishi Electric website. The Mac driver was originally written for Leopard (OS 10.5) though it runs well enough under OS 10.6. Colour management options a choice of either None (application managed) or Tone 1 (printer managed).

If using Windows for a printer managed workflow the driver has some additional colour control settings, to save time adjusting each image before printing. Bearing in mind most event photographers prefer to use the printer driver to colour-manage, the lack of additional colour correction options in the Mac driver seems like an oversight.

It’s not a deal breaker, though, especially as we would recommend using an application-managed workflow for more predictable colour. With just one media type available and no quality settings, only one colour profile is required so it’s hardly challenging. Mitsubishi don’t provide a generic profile but you can contact them directly for one free of charge, as I did.

Application-managed workflow via Lightroom is simple enough once you've been sent the generic profile (although if you've a spectrophotometer, you can make a profile yourself).

Lightroom makes colour management simple, in this case managed by the printer. But you must remember to change the driver setting for Color Conversion (above) from None to Tone 1.





In use with either a Windows machine or a Mac, accidentally selecting the wrong print size or layout for the media loaded from within an application (such as Lightroom, for instance) resulted in the print job being halted, seemingly to save unnecessary wastage. Ordinarily, choosing the wrong format for the media loaded has no real impact other than to waste a single sheet. Although slightly tiresome at first, as it’s not immediately obvious what the problem is, once corrected it was fine.


With a 29-second cycle for a 6x8-inch print, including 12 seconds processing time, job times were pleasingly short. And noise levels, something of a weakness of roll-fed dye-subs, were barely audible in standby mode rising to a reasonable 50dB at rest peaking to 70dB during output. Best of all though was the print quality.

With no real discernible difference using the default settings between the two colour management options, colour accuracy was excellent when compared with the Kodak test prints provided as part of the Colour Confidence / Kodak Professional Colour management Check-Up Kit.

Reds and oranges especially were pleasingly more vibrant though I suspect the brighter white base of the Mitsubishi paper over the test print (printed on Kodak Professional Endura) was the reason. This could also go to explain the entirely convincing yet slightly more neutral-looking mono (Black and White) output. Mono isn’t likely to be the first choice for event photographers but at least the CP-D70DW offers that as an option.


In terms of rivals, the front-loading DNP DS-40 is the most obvious competitor and offers both 6x8 and 6x9 inch prints and is slightly cheaper ($1,249.94 / £941 ex VAT) although the Mac driver has slightly ambiguous colour management options and it can’t quite match the Mitsubishi in terms of print quality. With the 6x9-inch media pack being the only real hitch*, the Mitsubishi CP-D70DW stands out in terms of build, ease of use, speed of operation, and picture quality, making it a solid choice for the event photographer.

* UPDATE (11 May 2011), 6x9-inch media is now available.

Rating 4.5/5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



Sales


Buy at Adorama Camera (US) at $1,279.95, plus mail-in rebate available. Buy at Amazon US (sold by Adorama).

Buy the Dual deck CP-D70DW at Adorama now at $1,939.95, plus mail-in rebate (was $2,950).

Media is not included in the price (unless it's part of a special promotion); you will need to buy media to be up-and-running. Please follow the link here (currently only special).

Thank you for using this site's links.

UPDATE 8 June 2011


We've had a few emails about UK stockists (please feel free to leave comments below instead - it's far easier). I've only had dealings with Mitsubishi directly, but I also know Photomart (based in London) is one of the UKs leading B2B retailers of dye-sub machines.

To buy the CP-D70DW at £925 ex VAT (£1,110inc VAT) from Photomart, please follow the link here.

Nikon issues update on earthquake, donates 100 million Yen

Nikon UK has issued an update to the statement announced earlier this morning by Nikon Corp, adding that the company has decided to donate 100 million Yen (£770,000 or $1.2M USD)) to the Japanese Red Cross Society in response to the tragic events.

To make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society, please click here.

Nikon would like to express its profound sympathy and condolences to the victims of the tragic earthquake in Northern Japan on March 11. No Nikon employees are reported dead or seriously injured although we are continuing to gather safety information on our personnel and family members.

Our group companies, including Sendai Nikon Corporation, Miyagi Nikon Precision Co. Ltd.,Tochigi Nikon Corporation, Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. and other subsidiaries as well as our plants suffered damage to some equipment and buildings (there is no serious damage to the buildings such as whole or half collapse). We are suspending operations there and continuing to evaluate further details of the damage. We are unable at this time to announce how soon the operations will resume due to the regional interruption of life-lines.

Nikon has set up an Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by the President (as of March 11th) and is currently endeavoring to normalize our business as early as possible through our BCM (Business Continuity Management) teams established in each in-house company.

Updates to the situation will be made available at regular intervals.

In response to this tragedy and to extend the immediate support to its victims and affected area, Nikon Corporation has decided to donate 100 million Yen to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

 

To make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society, please click here.

Nikon Japan issues statement on earthquake damage

Nikon Japan has issued a statement this morning concerning the welfare of its workers and damage to the plants in the affected region. We hope to hear more from Nikon UK later in the day (see related posts below for updates).

Notice on the damage hit by Major Earthquake in Northern Japan (Japan's Tohoku region)

March 14, 2011
The Nikon Group would like to express its profound sympathy and condolences to the victims of earthquake in Major Earthquake in Northern Japan (Japan's Tohoku region) on March 11. The effects to our group companies are as follows.
    
1.    Measures to cope with the situations
We have set up the Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by the President on March 11 immediately after the earthquake, and are taking the necessary steps. We are currently endeavoring to normalize our business as early as possible through our BCM (Business Continuity Management) teams established in each in-house company.
    
2.    Damage to our group companies

2-1. Damage to equipment and buildings
Our group companies, including Sendai Nikon Corporation, Natori, Miyagi Pref., Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd., Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref., Tochigi Nikon Corporation, Otawara, Tochigi Pref., Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd., Otawara, Tochigi Pref., and other subsidiaries as well as our Plants suffered damage to some part of the equipment and buildings. We are suspending operations there and continuing to evaluate further details of the damage. We are unable to announce how soon the operation will resume due to the regional interruption of life-lines although endeavor for restoration are under the way by some of our maintenance personnel.
    ◦    For the list of our group companies
    ◦    For the list of our plants

2-2. Damage to personnel
Injury is reported to some of our group employees. We are currently continuing to gather safety information of our personnel and its family members.

    3.    Forecast of effect by the damage to our business performances
We are concentrated in evaluating how the immediate damage by the disaster and controlled interruption of electricity started from March 14 will result in our group companies and business performances. We will advise our findings immediately when it is revealed that the damage would further expand.

 

To make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society, please click here.

Related posts

Nikon issues update on earthquake, donates 100 million Yen

Japan eathquake centers on Sendai, home of Nikon D3

Unboxing of Leica M9 Titan

An unusual unboxing video from DigitalRevTV of the Leica M9 Titan.  This was one of only 500 copies of this camera made.

Read our concise review of the slightly more ordinary standard M9 here.

Related posts:

Leica announce M9 Titan.

Leica X1 review 

Japan earthquake centers on Sendai, home of Nikon D3

Update (14 March): Nikon Japan has issued an official statement concerning the earthquake, please click here.

UPDATE (11 March): Despite the proximity to the epicenter and to the coastal areas affected by the tsunami, Nikon has announced there has been no injuries to employees nor significant damage to the flagship camera plant.

Japan suffered a monumental earthquake earlier today measuring 8.9 on the moment magnitude scale, followed by a devastating tsunami. The epicenter is reported to have been near Sendai, where Nikon produces the D3s, D3x and D700 models.

The region is also home to other manufacturers. Panasonic's Yamagata lens plant is further to the south-west while further south Canon's main lens plant at Utsunomiya is still well within the affected zone. All three are likely to have sustained damage, but the repercussions aren't likely to be known fully for several days.

We would like to convey our deepest sympathies and condolences to those affected by today's tragic events.

Sendai Nikon viewed from the air, produces the D3s, D3x and D700. The plant has made every pro model from the original Nikon F (correction F3) through to the F6, and the D1 through to the D3. (Images credit: Nikon Corp)

 

To make a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society, please click here.

Latest iOS Photo Apps To Hit The App Store

Apple has been busy today, not least preparing for the iPad 2 launch tomorrow but also with approving apps, judging by the list of incredible photo apps, just take a look at these...

ALPA eFinder

Whether you are photographer, cinematographer or even painter, one oft the fundamental elements when composing a picture or artwork is to visualize and frame. With the ALPA camera the photographer performs this task via the optical viewfinder and masks per focal length/format, via the ground glass, an external viewfinder or other means. The ALPA eFinder app emulates this in an extremely flexible, powerful and easy to operate app on the iPhone/iPod touch. In addition ALPA developed a dedicated iPhone holder for their cameras. Together they build a full-fledge viewfinder.

Use the ALPA eFinder for composing your later image quick, convenient and easy. Or use the ALPA eFinder for comparing and emulating several lenses together in one picture before you even mount a single lens. With a tap you save the image including all the GPS coordinates (in written in the picture plus in the EXIF). Location scouting, preparing your shooting or retrieve your location has never been easier.

$9.99/Download

8-Bit Pocket Camera

Retro charm hits the iPhone with nostaglic filter, live viewfinder, special effects and montages to boot.

$0.99/Download

Portraitist A Camera App With Selftimer

Portraitist is a camera app with self timer.
You can take your whole body portrait.Also you can take any photos without person who presses the shutter of a camera.

- You can set the timer (3~15sec)

- And if you use iPhone4 or iPod Touch 4th , you can use front-camera and flash.

- Portraitist will let you know the time till taking photo with beep(every second)

 

Dream Cam

Add dreamy colors to your picture for an extreme makeover! Simply load or take a picture, choose from 22 different fancy themes and adjust tones/colors with easy sliders. You can create your own artistic photo in a second! Unique. Lovely. Save and email to your friends and family to let them know what an creative artist you are. Also included are demo pictures for an immediate spin.

$1.99/Download

InfiniFX

Discover the infinite possibilities to filter your photos and videos!

Quickly and easily select the effects you like and fine-tune them as you prefer to match your ideas. And if you like the result, you can save the filters together as a new one to easily apply them later on other pictures. (or videos).

21 base effects, all of them with many adjustable parameters:

artistic contours, bloom, blur, channel mixer, color change, color overlay, color replace, edges, glowing edges, intensity, invert, median, monochrome, pencil, pixelate, photocopier, posterize, sharpen, splash, solarize, two-color ... or combine any of these together to create your own, unique effect.

$1.99/Download

PAI Creator

PAI (Photo Anagram™ Image) Creator generates stunning image patterns from user photographs. Any photo and subject can be used to create your patterns. Save the patterns to the photo library, or email to family and friends. Study pattern formation from everyday photographs to create your own unique and fascinating designs for screen savers, note cards, postcards and other purposes.

$0.99/Download

CollageMaker Pro - Stunning Photo Collages

Create stunning collages and digital scrapbooks with ease using CollageMaker Pro!

An app that lets you make collages *your way*. Add photos from your album or take a snapshot, include customizable text, even draw doodles! PLUS: Apply photo filter effects, crop, zoom, rotate, change transparency, reorder, rearrange, borders, drop shadows.

$1.99/Download

Leica M9 concise review

Photography is a nostalgic and evocative experience, and there are few cameras that encapsulate that as well as a Leica. And, none more so than a Leica M. The switch to digital from the all-electronic M7 wasn’t seamless, or without detractors. As well as few minor shortcomings, the APS-H format, 10-megapixel M8 rangefinder was widely criticized for its sensitivity to UV light, producing ruddy skin tones and purple tints to black synthetics.

Following a year or two later the M8.2 was a minor upgrade yet a more-accomplished offering in many respects. The same detractors cited the unchanged sensor sensitivity issues, a result of using a thin hot-filter in front of the sensor but borne, ironically, of the maker’s determination to deliver the familiar drawing-style of Leica lenses to the corners of the image.

Mounting pressure, imagined or otherwise, to produce a digital M rangefinder delivering the same or similar user experience as the film-based cameras resulted in the announcement at 9am (EST) on the 9/9/09 of the full-frame 35mm format M9. Outwardly the M9 closely resembles the M8.2 and earlier M8 and yet inside, despite earlier doubts by Leica that it could be achieved, sits the Holy Grail of makers and users alike, a full-frame digital sensor.

A sensor with same dimensions as the film it replaced. A nostalgic exercise? Perhaps. But, you no longer have to have to think the 28mm has the same field of view as a 35mm on the M8 before you raise the camera to your eye. There’s no more mental arithmetic, one less hurdle between you and your goal. What you see in your mind’s eye is what you’ll see in the M9’s viewfinder. Not that this is new to DSLR users of course, but that’s not the point. Leica wasn’t going to compete with rivals using their (now discontinued) R-system but at least they can build-on the rich heritage of the inherently portable M-series. One body and three lenses takes up no more room than one DSLR brick and f/2.8 mid-range zoom.

Purists may still baulk at its digital characteristics though. The body is a millimeter or two thicker than the earlier analogue models and it lacks a wind-on lever. Many M-users miss this, not so much for the feeling of winding the film across the sprockets or the cocking of the shutter but as a natural thumb-rest. An aftermarket product, such as the Thumbs Up, maybe what’s needed, but many argue Leica should have added that themselves and the body design should be brought up to date.

Storm Damage, Leica M9 with Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH (new version) at f/1.4, ISO160.


The M9, like the M8, still requires the base be removed to change the battery and SD card. Moreover with the introduction of the Micro Four Thirds cameras from Panasonic and Olympus, some detractors argue the coupled rangefinder method of focusing is dated and outmoded. But they overlook the fact it’s still superior in clarity and contrast to any current electronic viewfinder. There’s no live view or HD video either, but why would you want it in a camera like the M9? It’s the antithesis of the DSLR. There’s no more than you need, it has aperture priority semi-auto and manual exposure, like those cameras from the late 70’s. Continuous shooting tops 2fps maximum.

The M9’s 18-megapixel CCD is the same pixel density as that of the physically smaller sensor in the M8, but there have been slight improvements in noise levels. That being said, you’ll likely not want to use the maximum, ISO 2500 equivalent, gain, except in emergencies. More obvious improvements over the M8 include a new info panel showing battery life in percentage terms, as well the capacity remaining (in MB and frames) on the SD card and far easier selection of EV compensation. Indeed, there are three different methods to adjust exposure compensation, two of which are visible in the viewfinder! An exposure bracketing option has been added too, and while less attractive to the street photographer, those who may be inclined to use it for landscapes (and why not) will find the M9 the most versatile M-series to date. Heck, the Leica M9 is the most compelling of its kind yet.

Sales


Buy the outstanding Leica M9 at Adorama:

Adorama (US)
Black body $6,995
Steel Gray body $6,995

Leica M9-P black $7,995.00
Leica M9-P Silver Chrome $7,995.00

Amazon UK
Black body £4,875.00 inc VAT
Steel Grey £4,875.00 inc VAT

Related Posts


Read our review of the Leica X1 here.

Read our review of the earlier Leica M8.2 here.

Related posts: Leica outs surprise M9-P

Lastolite announce Hotrod Strip Softbox

Press release:

Lastolite Limited, the world’s leading manufacturer of backgrounds and lighting control systems for the photo, video and cinema industry, has announced the launch of the new Hotrod Strip Softbox.
    
The new Hotrod Strip Softbox is for use with battery operated flashguns. The Strip Softbox is available in two different sizes and features an adapter plate with rods which supports the weight of the softbox and an inner diffusion panel. The flashgun simply slides into a shoe mount attached to the adapter plate.

Main Features and Benefits:

1.    Strip box for full length lighting
2.    Simple assembly
3.    Slide on shoe mount for flashgun

Pricing and Availability:

Available in two sizes, 30cm x 120cm and 40cm x 120cm at SRP £120 and £132 inc.

For stockist information, please click here.

Panasonic announce SDHC UHS-I cards

Panasonic Introduce New SDHC UHS-I Memory Cards with 80MB/s*1 Write Speed

Panasonic is pleased to introduce new SDHC UHS-I Memory Cards with read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 80MB/s.  The new Gold cards, compliant with the SD Memory Card Specification Ver.3.01 (UHS104), are the ideal media for digital SLR cameras which requires high-speed write performance. The new cards will be globally introduced in April, 2011 with 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities.

With the highest-level writing speed of up to 80MB/s, the new cards are perfect for high-speed consecutive shooting in HD quality with digital SLR cameras.  When the new SDHC UHS-I Memory Cards are used with UHS-I supported digital still cameras, the number of consecutive shots will be increased to be twice of that of the current Gold models*3. The cards also allow for quick data transfer to a PC and can transfer data approx. 4 times*4 faster than the current Gold SDW series.

The new cards are also highly reliable and durable. Super Intelligent Controller (SICS) provides Power Failure Protection to protect data from sudden power failure, Refresh Function to extend the archival life over 10 times, and Smart Data Writing to minimize defect risk caused by intensive writing.  They are also equipped with “Proof 5” feature (water-, shock-, magnet-, X-ray-, temperature-proof) to withstand severe conditions.

The new 8 GB (RP-SDA08G), 16 GB (RP-SDA16G) and 32 GB (RP-SDA32G) will be available in April 2011.
-End-
*1 Under UHS-I bus interface(SDR104 speed mode).
*2 1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes.  Usable capacity will be less.
*3 The number of shots depends on the performance of DSC.
*4 Theoretical figure. Actual speed depends on devices and conditions.


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NEC announce Display Solutions Showcase at Battersea Power Station

Press release:

NEC Display Solutions to host third Display Solutions Showcase at London’s Battersea Power Station
 
Compelling opportunities at the industry forum for Display technology
 
London, 4 March 2011 - NEC Display Solutions announce the third annual Solutions Showcase to take place on Wednesday 6th April. NEC Display Solutions, in conjunction with their Solutions Partners, will showcase the latest developments to impact on the Displays industry at the most unique and compelling Display Solutions event of the year to be held within the backdrop of London‘s iconic Battersea Power Station.
 
The NEC Solutions Showcase enjoys an established reputation as a unique forum to exchange ideas and to experience a vast range of innovative technology solutions. The event focuses on application rather than product for a truly beneficial experience for anyone buying, installing or specifying within a Displays related environment.
 
The event will feature a number of interactive zones enabling visitors to experience real-life demonstrations within the key areas of Education, Digital out of Home, Control Rooms, Professional Office and Meeting Rooms, 3D and Green Display Technology. This is not just another exhibition but a unique chance to get hands-on with the latest technology from some of the industry‘s pioneering leaders. New for 2011, the Showcase will be augmented by two free of charge seminars hosted by ‘The Screen Forum’ covering “Education – maximising your budget” and “Wayfinding” from research undertaken at Westfield Shopping Centre. The Screen Forum UK is an independent group dedicated to the ongoing development of the digital signage industry. Its members include representatives from all aspects of this rapidly growing medium, and its events aim to promote best practice across the industry through the sharing of expertise and thought-leadership.
 
Demonstrating within the zones at the show will be some of NEC’s Display Solutions Partners including SMART, Instore Media, Scala, Nexus, Pixel Inspiration, AMX, OneLan, U-touch, CBS, TeamMate, Extron, Dexon, Lifesize, DAS Business Furniture, Ergonomic Solutions, Matrox, Crestron, NexNix, VBrick, Saturn Visual, Whitespace, 3D International and Amazing Interactive and many more.
 
‘The NEC Solutions Showcase is the manifestation of what NEC Display Solutions represents as the leading provider of commercial display solutions.’ said Simon Jackson, VP NEC Display Solutions. ‘I am delighted by the response to our annual Showcase both in terms of the quality, quantity and mix of attendees but also by the genuine cooperation between our Solutions Partners and I am confident of even greater rewards for all participants in 2011’.
 
Open to anyone buying, installing or specifying within the displays industry, visitors are invited to attend the event free of charge in order to meet with the NEC team and explore possible opportunities whilst earning a chance to win an iPod! The event will take place on Wednesday 6th April with the Education seminar in the morning and the Wayfinding seminar in the afternoon. Located at Battersea Power Station, Gate 1, Cringle Street, London SW8 5BN there are opportunities to tour the original 1930s control room before it is completely refurbished in 2012.
 
Shuttle buses are every 10 mins from Victoria and Vauxhall Station. Nearest tube: Victoria, Sloane Square 10 min walk. Nearest train: Battersea Park, Victoria and Waterloo. Free unlimited car parking on site.
 
For further details and to register your interest, please click here

Canon enter European production photo market

Press release:

Canon enters production photo printing market

• New DreamLabo 5000 marks Canon’s entry into production photo printing, a new area of business for Canon
• High quality prints and productivity of the production printer make it ideal for production photo printing and premium small batch print-on-demand
• DreamLabo 5000 offers a viable alternative to silver halide technology and sets a new Canon quality standard
 
United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, 3rd March 2011 — Canon, world-leader in imaging solutions today announces the company’s European entry into the production photo printing market, with the launch of the DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer.  In line with the company’s stated growth strategy of expanding business operations through diversification, the DreamLabo 5000 marks Canon’s first entry in the production photo printing market.

Delivering a new standard of combined photo and text quality together with high productivity, the device offers the production photo printing market a viable alternative to silver halide technology that will revitalise the photo printing market.

In addition, through opportunities possible from premium quality, it offers both the production photo and the small batch premium print-on-demand (POD) markets substantial new revenue opportunities.

Canon’s entry into the production photo printing market completes its strategy to become the leader of digital photography. With the company’s 70 year photo heritage and 30 year printing heritage, Canon is the only company that covers the full photo imaging spectrum from input to output and the print spectrum from small volume printing at home to industrial production printing.  

Ryoichi Bamba, President and CEO, Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa, comments: “This launch signifies a new business direction for Canon as we are proud to announce not just a new machine, but the technology that can revitalise the entire industry and open up substantial new business opportunities.  With the DreamLabo 5000, Canon is setting a new standard for the production printing of high quality photos and high definition text.”

Leveraging and extending Canon’s existing inkjet technology, which it has successfully deployed through its PIXMA desktop printers and imagePROGRAF wide format range, the DreamLabo 5000 features a newly developed high-density print head, enabling 305 mm wide printing output.  Incorporating Canon’s FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology, the print head enables the printing of high-quality photos and detailed text to support a variety of high-value-added output, from premium photo albums, photo books, photo calendars, photo collages and other merchandise to high-quality POD items, such as bespoke brochures.

The wide print head delivers high-speed One-Pass Printing, requiring only a single pass of the printing paper while the print head remains in a fixed position. When used in combination with the automatic Double-sided Printing function, the DreamLabo 5000 is capable of printing the contents of a 20-page A4-size photo album in just 72 seconds* and the printing of 40 photo prints (102 x 152mm) in one minute. The system also realises high productivity by enabling paper and ink tank replacement during printing, supporting the extended operation times required for production printers.

DreamLabo 5000 uses a seven-colour dye-based ink system that delivers smooth gradation.  Employing image processing technology that makes use of the full range of Canon’s unique inkjet printing colour gamut, the new printer enables the output of photo images with a level of colour representation superior to that of conventional silver halide photographs.

The DreamLabo 5000 will be available from Canon across Europe from early 2012.

*This product is intended for print-use only. For photo album and POD production, a book binding process requiring other equipment would be necessary.

More information can be found here.

Corel to showcase products at Focus

Press release:

Corel Showcases Award-Winning Products at Focus on Imaging 2011
Corel Provides Great Offers on Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro X3, Corel® Painter™ 11 and CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X5 to coincide with Focus on Imaging 2011.
 
Maidenhead, UK – 3 March 2011 – Corel Corporation, a leading developer of graphics and digital media software, is pleased to announce its participation at the Focus on Imaging 2011 show.

The Corel team will be hosting a range of photo and video editing demonstrations and workshops at regular intervals throughout each day and invites attendees to meet the team of experts at its interactive Digital Darkroom stand E9, 6-9 March at Birmingham’s NEC.

Stop by the stand to learn more about multiple-award-winning image editing and creativity products, such as, Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro, Corel® Painter™ and Corel® VideoStudio® Pro along with other Corel products and see them demonstrated by the team of experts.

Be one of the first to see Corel VideoStudio Pro X4 in action. The new version of Corel’s powerful video editing software is ideal for photographers who are getting into video and want a fun and creative environment in which to learn a new craft. VideoStudio Pro X4 allows you to pull in photos and HD video, create quick cuts and build your movie or slideshow with pro-looking effects and transitions. Use new tools like Stop Motion and Time-Lapse to create and share professional-quality videos. With outstanding speed and easy ways to bring great-looking movies to the screen, VideoStudio Pro X4 combines power and simplicity to break down the barriers to video editing.

Corel is also delighted to present some great offers which customers can take advantage of during the show or online.

·         Save 25% on Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro X3: Buy for just £59.99 (inc VAT)
·         Save 25% on Corel® Painter™ 11: Buy for just £206.10 (inc VAT)
·         FREE Western Digital® 2 TB external hard drive* with the full version of CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X5 (* Terms and conditions apply.)

For further information, visit the Corel Digital Darkroom at Stand E9 or click here.

“Corel is thrilled to be exhibiting at Europe's biggest annual imaging show as Focus on Imaging is a great environment for us to showcase our multiple-award-winning image editing and creativity products. Our Digital Darkroom stand is better than ever, so we look forward to meeting our users and hearing all about the great ways they use our software.” said Brett Denly, Senior Director, Channel Sales.

National Portrait Gallery announce Only Connect

Press release

ONLY CONNECT
From 16 April to 27 November 2011
Room 33
Admission free
 
Only Connect is an unconventional new display at the National Portrait Gallery presenting a web of portraits connecting sitters across three centuries. Comprising paintings, sculpture, photographs, engravings, drawings, miniatures and works in other media from the National Portrait Gallery’s holdings, the display uses musical connections to explore new ways of looking at the Collection.
 
The display proposes a network of threads connecting singers, composers, artists, doctors, sculptors, poets, engineers, ambassadors and many others. As a result, everyone in the display is linked in one way or another. The connections range from the profound and the personal to the accidental and the incidental. Some were friends and some were lovers, several wrote about each other or had similar ideas, others were enemies or simply met on the street. For example, composer Benjamin Britten and violinist and conductor, Yehudi Menuhin performed at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after liberation in 1945. Yehudi Menuhin gave ground-breaking performances of composer Michael Tippett’s Corelli Fantasia. The sets and costumes for Tippett’s opera Midsummer Marriage were designed by sculptor Barbara Hepworth. An alternative route is formed by writer George Bernard Shaw who corresponded with the pianist Harriet Cohen. She premiered Elgar’s Piano Quintet and Elgar made his most famous recording of his Violin Concerto with the teenaged Yehudi Menuhin. Such links evoke an invisible layer of human interconnectedness, a ‘six degrees of separation’ through the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery.
 
The choice of pictures reflects a ‘reading’ of the National Portrait Gallery Collection in the light of interaction and connectedness. Any sense of hierarchy, whether between creative or interpretative artists, musicians or great engineers has been avoided. This is reflected in the choice of works in the display, which purposefully presents mass-produced material such as engravings alongside masterworks. The title of the display, Only Connect, is taken from E M Forster’s novel, Howard’s End, which is concerned with the difficulties, troubles and benefits of relationships between members of different social classes. The display, Only Connect, presents one possible reading: it is open to the viewer to make other connections.
 
The display has been devised by Peter Sheppard Skærved in collaboration with Paul Moorhouse, 20th Century Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. Peter Sheppard Skærved is the dedicatee of over 200 works for solo violin, and has appeared as soloist in over thirty countries. One of very few people to perform on Paganini’s violin, il Cannone, Peter regularly performs in, and works with, museums worldwide.
 
Paul Moorhouse, 20th Century Curator says: ‘People rarely exist in isolation but are connected with each other. Only Connect offers a new way of looking at portraits by focusing on the connections – in this case musical connections – that link all the individuals featured in the display. It may look unusual at first, but we hope our visitors will enjoy this alternative way of thinking about portraiture.’
 
EVENTS
 
There will be a series of musical performances in response to the display:
 
•         13 May 2011 The Kreutzer Quartet respond to connections between Beethoven, Tippett and T.S. Eliot
•         3 June 2011 Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin) and Julian Perkins (Harpsichord) perform works by Maria Cosway, Tartini, Corelli and Judith Bingham
•         1 July 2011 Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin) and Aaron Shorr (Piano) play works by Bartok, Stravinsky, and Haflidi Hallgrimsson
•         9 September 2011 Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin), performing pieces by Paganini, Joachim, and Michael Alec Ros
•         30 September 2011 Peter Sheppard Skærved (Violin) with students from the Royal Academy of Music, London, perform pieces by Mendelssohn, Britten and David Gorton
 
There will be two free tours of the display with Peter Sheppard Skærved in Room 33 on Tuesday 3 May 2011 at 15.00 and Thursday 19 May 2011 at 19.30. Further events will be announced shortly.
 
For further information on these events please click here.

Eizo out 27-inch ColorEdge CG275W display

High-end monitor manufacturer Eizo has announced the self-calibrating ColorEdge CG275W, a 27-inch wide gamut display for imaging professionals. Uniquely, the CG275W has a built-in spectrophotometer located in the lower left of the bezel which pops up automatically when calibration is initiated using the supplied ColorNavigator software. The monitor will be available in April, but there's no word as yet on the price.

UPDATE 19 December 2011, the CG275W retails at $3,389.

Press release

EIZO’s new self-calibrating, eco-friendly 27”

EIZO has announced the launch of its new ColorEdge CG275W, a 27” monitor for professionals in prepress, digital photography, graphic design, video editing, post production, and other graphics fields.

EIZO UK is exclusively unveiling the ColorEdge CG275W 27” self calibrating monitor at this year’s “Focus on Imaging” show. Exhibiting on stand C3 at the NEC from the 6th – 9th March 2011, the new CG275W will take centre stage amongst the rest of the EIZO ColorEdge and FlexScan monitors at the renowned photographic show.

The ColorEdge CG275W features a built-in calibration sensor for self-calibration. It becomes the second monitor in the graphics industry with this capability, following EIZO’s ColorEdge CG245W which was released last year.

Self-calibration eliminates the need for a third-party external calibration device and improves work efficiency since the monitor can be scheduled to self-calibrate outside of work hours when the computer is turned off. The computer itself is not necessary so a self-calibrated ColorEdge CG275W can be used with any operating system.

The ColorEdge CG275W uses an IPS (in-plane switching) LCD panel with a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 (16:9 aspect ratio). This is more pixels than produced by two 19-inch monitors with a 1280 x 1024 native resolution so the monitor has ample space for displaying graphics applications and tool palettes. It has a maximum brightness of 270 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 850:1, 6 ms grey-to-grey response time, and 178° viewing angles.

DVI-D, DisplayPort, and Mini DisplayPort inputs are included. All three ports offer up to 10-bit display which allows the monitor to show 1.07 billion colours simultaneously from a 16-bit look-up table (LUT).1

Several features are included for accurate colour display.
•    Gamma curve is calibrated on the factory line.
•    Wide colour gamut reproduces 97% of the Adobe RGB colour space.
•    3D LUT improves the panel’s additive colour mixture (combination of red, green, and blue) for more accurate colour and greyscale tones.
•    Digital Uniformity Equaliser (DUE) compensates for fluctuations in brightness and chroma uniformity that are characteristic of LCD panels.
•    EIZO-patented technology stabilizes the brightness after start up or coming out of sleep mode.

The ColorEdge CG275W uses hardware calibration so the monitor itself is calibrated rather than the computer’s graphics card. This ensures no tones are lost in the calibration process for more predictable on-screen colour. EIZO’s bundled ColorNavigator calibration software2 is used for setting the target values for brightness, white point, and gamma and generating an ICC profile.

ColorNavigator includes a “Correlation Utility” that matches the measurement results of the ColorEdge CG275W’s built-in calibration sensor to those of an external calibration device. This may be necessary in a work environment where the ColorEdge CG275W is used with other monitors and all measurement results need to be standardised.

The ColorEdge CG275W comes with six preset colour modes that reproduce common colour spaces used in pre-press, digital photography, broadcasting and digital cinema: Adobe RGB, sRGB, Rec709, EBU, SMPTE-C, and DCI.

Additional Features
•    Includes a shading hood that can be used in portrait mode as well as landscape mode.
•    FlexStand 2 with 90° portrait display, 151.5 mm height adjustment, 25° tilt, and 344° swivel.
•    Energy-saving presence sensor that detects when the user is absent and prompts the monitor to enter sleep mode. When the user returns, normal operation automatically resumes.
•    USB 2.0 hub with one upstream and two downstream ports.
•    Consumes less than one watt in power save mode and no power when turned off.
•    Simulation of two types of red-green (protanopia and deuteranopia) and one type of blue-yellow (tritanopia) color blindness.3 This helps designers to verify their colour schemes can be recognized by people with all types of colour vision.

And as usual with all EIZO ColorEdge displays, the ColorEdge CG275W has the leading industry 5 years onsite warranty.

 

Contact

More information can be found at the Eizo website here.

Sales

To buy from Adorama in NYC, please follow the link here.

NEC announces 30-inch widescreen PA301W-BK-SV / SpectraView Reference 301

NEC Display Solutions has announced the latest flagship SpectraView Reference monitor, the 30-inch SpectraView Reference 301, also known as the MultiSync PA301W-BK-SV display in North America. Apart from the price, the main difference between the SpectraView models and MultiSync PA301W (or PA301W-BK in the US), is that the latter is not hardware calibratable: the SpectraView software writes data instructions directly to the chassis electronics during calibration with a colorimeter. This is a more reliable and consistent method of achieving accurate color reproduction. Most monitors require adjustment by eye and colourimeter using the OSD with the subsequent re-writing of software LUTs on the video-adaptor, which in turn is corrected by the color profile.

Read our concise review of the smaller but otherwise similar 27-inch SpectraView Reference 271 / MultiSync PA271W-BK-SV.

Please follow the links to buy from our affiliate retailers, Warehouse Express, Amazon UK, Amazon US or B&H Photo

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Press release:

NEC Display Solutions launches flagship 30-inch widescreen LCD monitor in its SpectraView® Reference Series
Colour plays the leading role

London, 1 March 2011 – With its SpectraView® Reference 301, NEC Display Solutions is launching its flagship 30-inch model to complete its award-winning display range for colour-critical applications. The monitor, which can be hardware-calibrated, features a true 10-bit P-IPS panel that reproduces 1.07 billion colours and 107 percent of the Adobe RGB colour space. Thanks to its impressive size, high resolution and excellent uniformity, the monitor is ideal for the most demanding prepress and soft-proofing applications, as well as for professional colour-critical image and video editing.

The SpectraView® Profiler calibration software makes full use of the programmable 14-bit LUT to give outstanding 42-bit colour control and unparalleled colour precision. Professional users will also appreciate the precise colour space reproduction thanks to a 3D LUT, Digital Uniformity Control (ColorComp) and Backlight Ageing Correction, which work to ensure the best possible colour stability and brightness uniformity. The monitor offers a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels in 16:10 format, providing creative professionals with brilliant images over the generous desktop area.

Besides the 30-inch screen area, the display’s ergonomic properties facilitate intensive work in front of the monitor. The SpectraView® Reference 301 is height-adjustable up to 150 mm and can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode.
The monitor’s connectivity options also guarantee maximum flexibility. With its two DisplayPorts and two DVI-D interfaces the display provides advanced connectivity. Additionally the Picture by Picture feature and programmable USB hub (DisplaySync Pro) allows two images sources from different PC platforms to be easily assigned and controlled with a single mouse and keyboard.

“We are very proud to launch this display, which brings together the wealth and experience of the NEC engineering talent into a remarkable product. The professional pre-press market will be particularly interested in this monitor, and we fully expect that the SpectraView® Reference 301 will quickly become the industry benchmark,” explains Christopher Parker, Product Line Manager for Professional Displays at NEC Display Solutions Europe.
 
Availability, price and warranty
The NEC SpectraView® Reference 301 is now available in black, at a price of £2,915.00 (excl. VAT). The package includes NEC’s SpectraView® Profiler software on CD, light protection hood, an individual SpectraView® certification report, providing proof of the individual performance of each screen, a power cable, DisplayPort and DVI-D cable, comprehensive manual for the monitor and software, and CD containing the installation software and drivers. NEC Display Solutions Europe offers a three-year warranty including backlights (as well as a 5 years optional warranty) and a 6 months warranty against pixel failure from the date of purchase.

Further information can be found online here.

Earth Periodical - New Digital iPad Magazine Launched Today - It's Free - For A Limited Time

Written by a team of professional journalists and photographers passionate about both still and video photography, EP is must-download for any photographer needing a fix of beautiful shots to inspire them to get out with their camera.

 

Nature kit reviews

Every issue features a round-up of the types of kit that photographers love: in the first issue we check out handheld GPS units for finding your way in the wilderness. In issue two we’ll be checking out some of the best lenses to use - at budgets from practically nothing to the price of a sports car - to capture the ideal shot.

Get shooting!

Earth Periodical wants to tap the enthusiasm and dedication of the thousands of dedicated amateur wildlife photographers in the British isles, not only by showcasing the best in wildlife photography in its pages, but by encouraging photographers to send in their images - the best of which will be covered in the pages of EP.

Earth Periodical is available now from the Apple App Store, and will be free for a limited period.

Download