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October 31, 2005

Claus Brandt - European Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Our congratulations go out to Claus Brandt (or CB as he's known in the community) who's been awarded this prestigious title by the German Wildlife Photographer's Association (GDT). Claus' winning image was taken on a recent trip to the Kalahari, and is a stunning capture of two wildebeeste charging each other in the early morning light. Great work, CB!

And for those of you interested in capturing your own brilliant images, Claus is again leading his very popular Nikonians Helgoland Workshop in April 2006.

Posted by covey22 at 5:02 PM

A Rare Photo Op: Shoot Karchner Caverns

We've just heard of a rare opportunity available to nature photographers. The Karchner Caverns State Park near Benson, Arizona, will be made open to photographers from 10-4 on November 5th. The catch? The privilege of shooting some of the most spectacular natural caves in the US will set you back USD150. But it's a small price to pay given that photography is normally prohibited to public visitors to the site. Friends of the Arizona Highway will be on hand to provide guidance on how to best capture the breath-taking interior views. Proceeds will go to nonprofit organizations helping to combat homelessness and preserve park lands. See more details in the Tucson Citizen. For tickets, go to the Arizona State Parks Foundation site.

Posted by covey22 at 3:35 PM

Sony Announces CompactVault 5GB

New CompactFlash(TM) Type II hard disk drive with unique Cybercapture (TM) technology delivers increased storage capacity for all photo enthusiasts and professionals

Sony Europe's Recording Media & Energy (RME) division today announced the launch of its first 5GB CompactFlash(TM) Type II media, under the new COMPACTVAULT(TM) brand. The new COMPACTVAULT provides the latest addition to Sony's removable media range, enabling storage of up to 1600 images or four hours of MPEG 4 recording. The one-inch hard disk drive boasts a native transfer rate of up to 96.7Mbps, which is further maximized when the COMPACTVAULT is used in conjunction with future Cybercapture enabled products, providing even faster recording of images and higher quality of videos, in what is termed AV mode.

The new COMPACTVAULT media is compatible with all products with a CF Type II slot. Once the images have been recorded onto the COMPACTVAULT media, they can easily be transferred onto computers running Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, either directly through a PC's CompactFlash Type II slot or in the case of many laptops via a PCMCIA adapter.

"The COMPACTVAULT is the next step in the development of our removable media family", said Celine Haffner, Product Manager, Sony RME. "It offers high storage capacity for state-of-the-art digital cameras, such as the new Sony Cybershot R1. In addition, we expect to see devices becoming available in the future that take full advantage of our Cybercapture technology. By moving the file system from the hardware device onto the hard disk drive itself, the Cybercapture technology will allow an even higher recording rate of still pictures in multi-shot mode as well as higher quality recording of moving pictures, on a COMPACTVAULT running in AV mode."

The 5GB COMPACTVAULT will be available from November 2005. (link not active as of 0930H EST 10-31-05).

Posted by covey22 at 3:21 PM

Mark Your Calendars: Nikonians Meet in Brussels

Mark your calendars - on December 3rd, 2005, Nikonians will be meeting in Brussels for a one-day gathering. Come meet other Nikonians, hear some presentations, bring your gear, and prepare for a old-fashioned good time. Attendance is limited to Silver Members or higher. For more details, see the post in our community forums.

Posted by covey22 at 4:36 AM

Pixmantec Announces RawShooter Premium 2006

Copenhagen, October 28th 2005: Danish digital imaging software specialists Pixmantec announce the release of the latest addition to their Photographers’ Toolbox applications for the camera RAW format, RawShooter | premium 2006. Building on the incredible success of the FREE RawShooter | essentials 2005 product (now with several hundred thousand copies installed worldwide), RawShooter | premium 2006 provides unsurpassed RAW workflow functionality and professional image quality at an unbeatable competitive price. In addition to a state of the art feature set, RawShooter | premium 2006 adds camera RAW support for several new DSLRs including the Canon EOS 5D and Canon EOS 1D II N.

More information can be found at Pixmantec.

Posted by covey22 at 4:21 AM

Nikon School Schedule is Announced

MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ Nikon Inc., the world leader in photography, has released the new schedule for its popular Nikon School (https://www.nikonschool.com/), one of the most comprehensive photography education and training programs available today. The two separate one-day seminars are taught by some of the best experts in the digital imaging industry and are aimed to help photographers at all levels better understand and enhance their digital photography experience.

"The Nikon School of Photography: Introduction to Digital SLR Photography" covers the basics of digital photography, terminology, technology and techniques for specific challenges, such as transferring and editing images while "Next Steps in Digital Photography: Streamlined Workflow Techniques" focuses on the more experienced digital photographers covering a wide range of technical and creative concepts. Courses begin on October 22nd.

"The Nikon School places great importance on educating and enhancing the skills of photographers," said Anna Marie Bakker, Director of Communications for Nikon Inc. "Digital imaging is increasingly prominent in both the workplace and the home and, as the world leader in photography, Nikon recognizes the need to educate and inform the photographic community so that both professionals and enthusiasts can have a positive and enlightening digital photography experience."

Nikon School of Photography: Introduction to Digital SLR Photography
Created for anyone who is new to digital photography or considering the purchase of a digital SLR camera, Nikon School's Introduction to Digital SLR Photography will teach students the features of digital SLR cameras through live menu demonstrations and provide the opportunity to learn about white balance, exposure modes, resolution and flash. Instructors will combine both technical and creative techniques, teaching exposure and composition, f/stops, shutter speeds, and use of light. The goal of the course is to help budding photographers unleash creative potential while understanding the computing fundamentals that will help foster a greater comprehension of photography. Illustrations will show how to prepare images for printing, sending via e-mail, posting to a website, archiving and more. Sessions are held on Saturdays from 9:30am - 4:30pm for a fee of $119, which includes lunch, Nikon School of Photography Handbook, Nikon Guide to SLR Photography, and Nikon Guide to Digital Photography.

Next Steps in Digital Photography: Streamlined Workflow Techniques
Experienced digital SLR photographers and those looking to step up their abilities to the next level will be interested in attending Nikon School's Next Steps in Digital Photography: Streamlined Workflow Techniques course. Continuously updated to reflect the latest industry developments and recent Nikon-driven technological advances, the one-day course focuses on expanding students' understanding of the digital workflow process. The course is intended for digital photographers who shoot for personal, business or professional purposes, as well as enthusiasts who want to elevate their abilities to the next level. Individuals interested in purchasing a digital SLR will also benefit from the course's insights. The course offers a clear, concise presentation on the rapidly changing world of digital photography and provides photographers with tips and helpful hints on emerging imaging techniques and intricacies of the digital workflow necessary to produce better images more efficiently. One-day sessions are scheduled on Sundays from 9:30am - 4:30pm for a fee of $159, which includes lunch, Nikon School of Photography Handbook, and Nikon Guide to Creative Lighting Techniques.

To learn more about Nikon School offerings, the instructors, course schedules and registration, visit the Nikon School website at https://www.nikonschool.com/.

About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image(TM). Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes the Nikon Total Imaging System of consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, Nikkor optics, Speedlights and System Accessories; Nikon Coolpix(R) compact digital cameras; Coolscan(R) digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; powerful and effective Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. Through the Nikon Spirit Initiative(TM), the company plays an active role in supporting aspiring and advanced photographers through a variety of philanthropic organizations, educational programs, events and workshops. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-US or visit https://www.nikonusa.com/, which links all levels of photographers to the web’s most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

Website: https://www.nikonusa.com
https://www.nikonschool.com

Posted by covey22 at 4:11 AM

Nikon Releases PictureProject 1.61

Nikon has released update 1.61 to the PictureProject Viewer/Editor software. Changes include:

-An issue that caused an error to occur, with some computer systems, when photos were played back in a slide show has been addressed. (Windows)
-Support for Mac OS X version 10.4 (Tiger) has been added. (Macintosh)
-Portions of the Color Management panel in the Preferences dialog, displayed from the application menu, have been changed. (Macintosh)
-The Open ColorSync button has been removed and the RGB Default and CMYK Default settings are now selected from pull-down menus. (Macintosh)

You can obtain the Windows and Macintosh versions from the Nikon Asia site. Other regional areas will be updated soon.

Posted by covey22 at 1:53 AM

October 30, 2005

Nikonians tests four super-wide DX lenses in online review

Nikonians recently tested four "super-wide" DX format lenses for Nikon DSLR's. In a thorough review, we compared the Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0 DX, the Sigma 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6 DC, the Tamron 11-18mm f/4.5-5/6 Di, and the Tokina ATX 12-24mm f/4.0 DX.
We put these lenses through their paces in "real world" situations, looked at distortion and chromatic aberration, and evaluated their performance based on multiple criteria.
You can read the review in our Resources Section.
tokina-at-17mm_thmb.jpg Sigma@10mm_thmb.jpg

Posted by drjay32 at 2:22 PM

Nikonians Photo Insurance

We are happy to announce that the community's own photography equipment insurance, for both the serious amateur and the professional photographer, starts 07-NOV-2005. We have been able to negotiate very good premiums for our members. For more information about the insurance, see Nikonians.

Posted by bgs at 1:37 PM

We are up again

After a severe down at 19:18h PM EST October 21st, the main site for the Nikonians community (Nikonians.org) is up and running again since Friday 28th. We want to take this opportunity and send out our thanks to all of you on the team who have supported the community - and who continue to do so throughout the last days. Also big thanks to all of our members who have been supporting us in different ways.

Posted by bgs at 11:23 AM