News

Western Digital introduced the first 2 TB capacity portable drive dedicated for Mac® customers, My Passport® Studio™. This new standard in high storage capacity, along with Apple® Time Machine® compatibility for quick and easy automatic backup of Mac hard drives, allows Mac users to use one drive for the protection and transport of virtually all their digital content, everywhere they go. The new My Passport Studio portable drive maintains its elegant and protective all-metal casing to complement the MacBook® Pro or MacBook® Air®, providing the beautiful aesthetic that Mac users expect while increasing storage capacity to 2 TB, enough space for approximately 400,000 photos, 240 hours of video or 500,000 songs(1).

In this and a continuing series of articles in the coming months we’ll bring you the news and innovations from the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held earlier this year in Las Vegas. While the show floor was dominated by “smart” this and that, from phones to TVs and tablets, we’ll concentrate on those items of most interest to photographers. This report is on the new and recently introduced D-SLRs and interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras.

Smith-Victor, a leading manufacturer of photographic lighting equipment and accessories, is celebrating National Photography Month the entire month of May on the company’s Facebook and Twitter social media pages. The company is featuring a tip-a-day on its social media pages and is holding a Facebook contest for the chance to win Smith-Victor kits and lights.

Facebook users have the chance to win a Smith-Victor 2,000 Watt Pro SoftBox Light Kit or Smith-Victor FLO-220 220W Dimmable Fluorescent 4-Lamp Bank with Barndoors by posting their best original image and description of the lighting used to the Smith-Victor Facebook page. Entries should include details such as where lights were place, if the photo was shot with ambient light, and how the light wasdiffused. Each participant can enter up to three images. Entries will be judged by photographers and lighting professionals and the best two images with descriptions win the prizes.

With the new Strap-Surfer, the German company Sun-Sniper GmbH introduces the next revolution in savvy camera carrying and presents the most clever connection between a regular shoulder bag and a camera since the invention of the tripod adapter. With only a few simple steps, the Strap-Surfer is firmly attached to the shoulder bag and secured. The camera can then be carried right on the bag – the photographer no longer has to decide whether to take the bag or the camera strap and does not have to wear a strap over each shoulder.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. announced that the PIXMA MG8220 and MG6220 Wireless1 Photo All-In-One (AIO) inkjet photo printers now support Google Cloud Print 2 allowing users to print from Gmail and Google Docs on a mobile device and from the Google Chrome browser for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome devices. With Google Cloud Print, you can print from wherever you are, from applications you use every day. You can even share your home and work printers with anyone you choose. The PIXMA MX892 Wireless Office AIO inkjet printer is also scheduled to provide the same support in May.

Pentax Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation announced the introduction of its new DA645 25mm f/4 lens, designed and optimized for exclusive use with its popular 645D medium format digital SLR camera. By combining its ultra-wide perspective with exclusive Pentax Super Multi-Coating (smc), Aspherical Elements (AL), Supersonic Direct-drive Motor (SDM), and all-weather (AW) construction, Pentax has created a lens that will render super-sharp images with performance levels photographers have come to expect from original Pentax lenses.

When mounted on the Pentax 645D medium-format digital SLR camera body, the DA645 25mm f/4 AL [IF] SDM AW lens provides a focal length of approximately 19.5mm in the 35mm format, the widest perspective available with the 645D. Photographers now have greater creative flexibility when shooing landscapes or when photographing in confined areas with minimal room to move.

FogKlear from LensPen gives your lenses strong anti-fog protection in a natural fiber cloth. Each FogKlear cloth offers more than 200 anti-fog applications. And FogKlear does all the work itself –  no liquids, sprays or tissues.