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Tidbits for Tuesday: iPhoto ‘08, More DA* Sample Pics, More Blogs

Steve Jobs announces iPhoto '08, photo via Engadget.

iPhoto '08

Apple announced an iMac refresh today and the latest version of their iLife application suite for Mac OS X, which includes a new version of iPhoto. I love iPhoto, and I'm glad that they've made easier to use without having to set up smart folders or use "rolls" like folders anymore. iPhoto now has the ability to create event folders from rolls and includes new sorting features familiar to Aperture and Lightroom users, notably quickly hiding images based on star ratings and keyword searching. Also, new .Mac sharing is more like competitive photo services, allowing you to present images in online galleries with the option to protect certain photos or allow hi-res downloads suitable for printing. Your gallery visitors can even contribute to your gallery. It's yet to be confirmed if previously unsupported Pentax cameras, like the *ist DS2 and K100D Super, are going to be able to use the new iPhoto without hacking the application. iLife '08 will be free with new Macs or $79 seperately. .Mac subscribers have 10GB of storage space for photos, movies, and websites they create ($99 per year).

Links: Apple iPhoto, Macworld Apple Announcement Info, Engadget Coverage of iLife 08

Aperture Test of DA* 16-50mm at F/11, ISO 200. Photo

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Written by admin on August 7th, 2007 with no comments.
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DA* Sample Photos

DA* 16-50mm, photo by Ned Bunnell.

DA* 50-135mm, from insomnia.cocolog.

Here are a couple of short galleries of homespun images taken with the new DA* lenses. All the images have great bokeh open wide and look plenty sharp, without a trace of purple-fringing (the shots are supposedly unaltered in that respect). I'm looking forward to hearing some more anecdotal information about the lenses, too (in the meanwhile, read this thread by Chris at DPreview). Everyone who's played with them loves them.

Gallery 1 (Ned Bunnell's first shots with the DA* 16-50mm)
Gallery 2 (insomnia.cocolog and DA* 50-135mm)

Written by admin on July 30th, 2007 with no comments.
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Pentax apologizes for not having enough of the DA* 50-135mm

DSLRPhoto.com has pointed out that the Pentax Japan website is displaying an apology for having already run out of the DA* 50-135mm, which has proven so popular in Japan that they’ve had to increase their production order to try to meet the demand for the rest of the summer and fall. There are two ways of looking at this: it sucks if you are desperate for the lens in the next few weeks and you didn’t pre-order, but it’s awsome publicity any time demand out-paces production (like the Nintendo Wii).

Link: DSLRPhoto news item, Pentax Japan

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Written by admin on July 30th, 2007 with no comments.
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Saturday Tidbits: FA 31mm Limited, K10D Grand Prix, etc.

Scranton, Pennsylvania, (c) Carl Weese.

Carl Weese has posted another look at the Pentax 31mm Limited at T.O.P., this time exploring the ambidextrous possibilities of using it as a normal lens (it's a 47mm APS-C equivalent) for both wide-angle and tele-photo framing. I think I have to agree with Carl that I appreciate a slightly wider field of view than what is typically considered normal (50mm), and a 24mm lens on a APS-C sensors (roughly the 35mm equivalent of a 36mm lens) is also the sweet spot for me. As an aside, I'm glad that Carl is recovering well from his recent illness. As another aside, I'd like to think that photo above was taken at Dunder-Mifflin. (Link)

Jens has recently updated his Pentax Flash Technique page with more info on the *ist DS's internal pop-up flash with a cool flash reach table you can print out. His webpage is a great resource for information on Pentax DSLR internal flashes and P-TTL flash. (Link)

Katsunuma, (c) Pochidayo.

And one of Japan's most popular Pentax bloggers, Pochi, has been using a K10D Grand Prix Edition for the last little while. It's only cosmetically different from the typical K10D, but it's obviously inspired him to take some great shots, including some outstanding work done with just the Click to continue reading "Saturday Tidbits: FA 31mm Limited, K10D Grand Prix, etc."

Written by admin on July 28th, 2007 with no comments.
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Lens News: Zeiss ZK Coming and Pentax DA* Shipping

The new Zeiss ZK lenses (more pics here).

Mike at T.O.P. is spreading the word around today that Carl Zeiss is going to be releasing new K-mount manual lenses for Pentax this coming August, specifically their Distagon, Planar T, and Macro-Planar T line-up. PentaxLife mentioned it as confirmed a little while ago and the press release soon followed. (Link)

Boxes of the new DA* lenses.

Also, Ned Bunnell happily reports that Pentax Japan is shipping their first DA* lenses to distributers in the USA, but it may take until September before the backorders are completed. That means that you’re not likely going to stumble across one at B&H Photo, Adorama or Calumet, let alone Ritz Camera, until then. Maybe if you pre-order now you might still have a chance. That’s Ned’s photo above. (Link)

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Written by admin on July 24th, 2007 with no comments.
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Pentax DA* lenses are about to go on sale in Japan

It seems Pentax Japan is getting ready to unleash the lenses. According to a press release, the SMC Pentax DA* 50-135mm F2.8 will go on sale in Japan on July 27, 2007. With a production output of only 1,000 per month. The SMC Pentax DA* 16-50mm F2.8 will follow two weeks later on August 11, 2007. Again, production is just 1,000 per month. Hopefully, there'll be some left for the rest of the planet. (via DigitalCamera.jp)

The first out of the gate, the DA* 50-135mm, coming July 27th to Japan.

Links: Pentax Japan Press Release, The DA* Lenses

Written by admin on July 19th, 2007 with no comments.
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Carl Weese on the FA Pentax 31mm Limited Lens

A photo from the Winsted Laurel Festival, taken with the K10D and FA 31mm Limited, (c) Carl Weese, 2007.

This last weekend, Carl Weese blogged another hit down centerfield with his take on using the Pentax 31mm f/1.8 Limited lens with his K10D. As Carl's esotaric journey around the bases of K10D usage continues, I can't help admire that he gladly pays as much attention to the art and craft of both the equipment as well as his photography. Which is why his write-up on the 31mm is such a treat. He goes into historical detail about the concerns Pentax saw making a wide angle lens that would stand the test of time for both film and APS-C digital cameras.

Carl writes: "When SLR cameras were introduced, “retrofocus” wide angle lens designs had to be invented. This is a lens that is physically farther from the film than its effective focal length, necessary to get the lens out of the way of the SLR mirror. A similar manuever is needed to make normal and wide lenses for dSLRs deliver their light rays nearly perpendicular to the sensor (...) The second legacy lens problem (there are more than two but these are the ones we can actually see and deal with as consumers) has to do with the highly reflective glass that covers the digital sensor. It bounces a lot of light back to the rear element of...

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Written by admin on June 28th, 2007 with no comments.
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Pentax Japan website has sample K10D photos taken with new DA* lenses

A reader has just let me know that recently Pentax updated their K10D page for their Japan site with 2 photos taken DA* lenses, the DA* 16-50mm and the DA* 50-135mm. I wish I’d seen these sooner, I might have gotten on the waiting list for these lenses a bit earlier. The site has all the metadata details. For example, below, you can see that the DA* 50-135mm at 1/1000 sec, F5.6 and ISO 100 is a great action lens.

Links: Pentax K10D website, Hi-Res Photo 1, DA* 16-50, Hi-Res Photo 2, DA* 50-135