PMA07

CNET covers PMA 2007

The photographic festivities of the 2007 Photo Marketing Association show may not start until Wednesday, March 7, but by the end of January, manufacturers had begun to announce the various cameras that will be making their debuts this week. So check out our preshow coverage, and visit us during the week for all the on-site news.

March 9, 2008 Sigma's compact DP1 gets some exposure Pentax 'pancake' lens to hit full-stack status Sony shows new SLRs, expands lens range Pentax's Primo Lenses A different approach to GPS-enabled cameras Blow away your camera's dust

March 8, 2007 Jeepers! BetterLight's 416-megapixel camera … Read more

Leica's compact, wide-angle C-Lux 2

In the continuing tradition of Leica and Panasonic releasing fraternal-twin cameras, Leica is debuting its customized version of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30, which that company announced at the end of January.

As usual, Leica targets a slightly more upscale audience with its C-Lux 2, justifying the $150 price differential by bundling a 64MB SD card--are they still making them that small?--and a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements. Leica will also be offering a variety of leather cases as accessories.

Except for some minor cosmetic details, the 7-megapixel C-Lux 2 matches the FX30 pretty closely. It features a 28mm-100mm-equivalent, optically … Read more

Lensbabies makes the jump to medium-format cameras

LAS VEGAS--Lensbabies, a manufacturer of lenses that focus selectively on small portions of an image, has made the jump to medium-format cameras.

The company's Lensbaby 3G model now is available for Pentax 67 and Mamiya 645 camera bodies, the company announced here at the Photo Marketing Association trade show. Medium-format cameras use film or an image sensor larger than with conventional SLR cameras for higher-quality images.

The three-year-old Portland, Ore.-based company announced the new $380 models at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here Wednesday. The 3G model for SLR cameras is a notch cheaper at $270 for … Read more

Joby noodles with flexible monopod

LAS VEGAS--Joby announced its latest Gorillapod model Wednesday at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here, the one-legged Solo.

Joby just finished its first year selling monopods with flexible, rubberized legs that can be flexed to deal with uneven perches or wrapped around poles or tree limbs. The Solo has just one stalk and comes in a $30 20-segment model or a $40 30-segment model.

The new model, currently available only off the company's Web site, can hold up to two pounds worth of camera, but the company expects it to be popular holding other photographic equipment such as … Read more

Panasonic, Leica tout monster SLR zoom

LAS VEGAS--Panasonic and its lens-making partner, Leica, announced a zoom lens with a whopping 14-150mm range Wednesday at the Photo Marketing Association's trade show here. The $1,000 lens is due to ship this month.

The lens, formally graced with the name of Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-150mm/F3.5-5.6 Asph. Mega O.I.S., is a member of the Four-Thirds system. That means it can attach to digital SLRs from Panasonic, Leica and Olympus. It also means its focal length equivalence is 28-300mm on a 35mm film SLR camera.

The lens offers some direct competition to Nikon's … Read more

ATP CF hits 300X

Update: I had a chance to talk to the company this afternoon and garner some details. The CF card uses UDMA Mode 4 to attain its fastest speeds, which, as yet, no digital cameras support, and it will be a little while before we see any.

Been worrying what flash card will be able to keep up with your new Canon EOS-1D Mark III? ATP will be ready for you with a 300X (45MB/sec) ProMax II CF card in 2GB ($64.99), 4GB ($129.99), and 8GB ($249.99) capacities. Like its ProMax predecessors, the ProMax II is water, … Read more

Olympus ups the Evoltage

Though Live Preview--LCD previewing on dSLRs--hasn't gained widespread popularity, this spring Olympus is betting two cameras that snapshooters trading up to dSLRs are unwilling to part with the ability to frame scenes using the LCD. The nearly identical and closely priced Evolt E-410 and Evolt E-510 come in an array of configurations ranging from $699 to $999, with body only, single lens, and two lens kits. (Click here for photos.)

The 10-megapixel cameras differ by one feature, sensor-shift image stabilization, which is incorporated into the higher-end E-510. Olympus claims up to a 4-stop latitude for its image stabilization, and … Read more

Olympus hints at new digital SLRs

Taking a page from Nikon's playbook, Olympus is offering glimpses of new digital SLRs it appears likely to announce in conjunction with the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show next week.

An image at Olympus' European Web site shows two dimly lit SLRs labeled March 5, 2007--three days before the PMA show begins--and a larger hulking silhouette with no date.

Olympus trails Nikon and Canon in the digital SLR market. The company has allied with newcomer Panasonic, though, and the same "four-thirds" system lenses can be used on either company's digital SLR cameras. Olympus also uses … Read more

Pantone's HueyPro: Huey's not a baby anymore

You might not realize this, but you're probably not looking at accurate colors right now. The different photos you see on Crave probably aren't being reproduced accurately through your monitor. Reds might be slightly pinkish or slightly more orange, blues might be a bit green, even simple white and black might be just a tiny bit beige and purple.

Every graphical display, whether a small monitor or a big television, needs to be occasionally calibrated. This usually involves sticking a funky-looking device on the screen and either changing the settings until the device tells you to stop or … Read more