Olympus E-3 DSLR to Capture Earth’s Beauty from Space Station

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., February 26, 2009 – Olympus Corporation commemorates its 90th anniversary by creating the ‘Olympus Space Project’ to photograph the majestic beauty of our planet and raise awareness to protect it. The company’s flagship E-3 digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera and ZUIKO digital lenses will journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on the next Space Shuttle Discovery mission.

Dr. Koichi Wakata, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, will take images of the earth with the Olympus E-3 throughout his three-month mission on the ISS. Specifically, he will stay in the “Kibo,” which is the Japanese Experiment Module. It is located in the ISS and is Japan’s first manned facility where astronauts can conduct experiments for long periods of time. ‘Hope’ is the English translation for Kibo, and Dr. Wakata will be the first astronaut to inhabit the new experiment module. Images captured by Dr. Wakata will be available on Olympus’ Web site at http://olympus-space-project.com.

“For 90 years we’ve continued to develop innovative products that help improve peoples’ lives every day – from capturing memories to documenting environmental changes,” said F. Mark Gumz, president, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Olympus cameras are used by the National Park Service to track air quality at our nation’s parks and by wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago, whose images focus on global environmental issues and nature preservation. We’re taking this commitment to the next level by capturing our planet’s delicate beauty from space.”

Designed for professional and aspiring photographers, the E-3 offers amazing image quality, splashproof and dustproof durability, and a magnesium-alloy body that survives the toughest shooting environments. The E-3 complies with NASA’s standards for use in space. Olympus continues to be an innovator, developing new technologies to expand the frontiers of digital photography and leading where others have followed. Proof that Olympus enables consumers to capture it all. Product details are available at www.getolympus.com.

Details on the ISS, JAXA, the Japanese Experiment Module, Dr. Wakata and the next mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery are available at http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html.

Via Olympus press release

Step-by-step guide to taking the perfect image by PCAdvisor

From the article:

Until recently, the prohibitive cost of digital SLR (dSLR) cameras meant that many amateur photographers settled for budget-friendly point-and-click compacts. This is a shame, since dSLRs offer a great deal of manual control over settings such as aperture, shutter speed and white balance, helping you get the best picture in a wide range of conditions.

Today's dSLRs can be divided into two groups: entry-level cameras, and more advanced pro and semi-pro models. The visual similarities hide a huge disparity in features, which is reflected in their pricing. The entry-level Canon EOS 1000D costs around £400, for example, while the professional EOS-1Ds Mark III costs up to £7,000. But the latter offers far more than merely improved build quality and a higher pixel count.

Read the full article here.

Olympus E-620 announced

Filling another hole in its dSLR product line, Olympus takes on the Canon EOS Rebel XSi and Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 with the new E-620.

When it ships in May, it will be available in two configurations: a body only version for $699.99 and a kit including the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens for $799.99. Olympus will also offer a new battery grip and underwater housing to accessorize the camera.

Read full specs and comparison to its competitors (Canon EOS Rebel XSi and Sony Alpha DSLR-A350) here.

Via cnet news

NikonRumors on Nikon at PMA 2009

NikonRumors has a recap on the rumors around Nikon's product announcements on PMA09.

• D400 - to be released by July 2009
• New entry level Nikon DLSR
• New Nikon flash SB-700
  
• Lenses?

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR lens discontinued

Nikonrumors via BHPhotoVideo says that the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4G ED VR lens was discontinued. Not a surprise seeing that price tag of $8200. Phew.

Via Nikonrumors

Canon Introduces the New TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Lenses

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., February 17, 2009 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging and optics, today introduced two new Tilt-Shift lenses, the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L. These two new L series lenses expand the Company's extensive lens line-up of TS-E lenses giving photographers creative control over perspective and depth of field in their images. Both the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L are specialty lenses ideal for landscape and architectural photography and are compatible with all Canon EOS system single lens reflex cameras¹. The TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II, a replacement for Canon's TS-E 24mm f/3.5L introduced in 1991, has significantly improved operability with low distortion when photographing buildings, consistent image quality throughout the image and reduced chromatic aberration when shooting at ultra-wide angles. The TS-E 17mm f/4L is the world's shortest focal length Tilt-Shift lens with full-frame 35mm coverage.

"These two new lenses are Canon's answer to photographers who have requested wider angle Tilt-Shift lenses, with the new TS-E 24mm for wide angles and the all new TS-E 17mm for ultra-wide angles. We continually seek to expand our optics portfolio to meet the demands of our photographers to ensure that they have the best tools available to capture some of the most stunning images on the planet," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.

An innovative feature on both the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and the TS-E 17mm f/4L lenses is Canon's new TS Revolving System. This feature allows tilting and shifting lens movements to be adjusted in parallel or at right angles to each other, with detents at 45˚ intervals. Additionally, once the TS Revolving System has been set, the orientation of the entire lens can be rotated freely through a range of ±90˚, with detents at 30˚ intervals. The amount of tilt is ±8.5˚ for the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II and ±6.5˚ for the TS-E 17mm f/4L. The amount of shift is ±12mm for both lenses. The image circle diameter for both lenses is an impressive 67.2mm. (The diagonal measurement of the full-frame 35mm format is only 43.2mm.)

The high-precision glass molded aspherical and UD glass lens elements and accurate aspherical GMo along with a large diameter in new TS-E lenses deliver outstanding image quality, high resolution and super-low distortion to all edges of the image. Each lens incorporates a new type of anti-reflection coating, Canon's SubWavelength structure Coating (SWC) that continuously changes the refractive index on the lens surface via wedge-shaped structures more minute than wavelength of visible light. Canon's SWC helps minimize flare and ghosting caused by bright light from large angles of incidence. The new TS-E lenses are the 2nd and 3rd Canon EF series lenses with SWC, following the EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM that was introduced in 2008.

Pricing and Availability
The TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II is expected to ship in May for an estimated retail price of $2,199.00^*. The TS-E 17mm f/4L is expected to ship in May for an estimated retail price of $2,499.00^*.

Via Canon press release

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS DSLR-like superzoom reviewed

Gordon Laing at Cameralabs wrote a review on the Canon SX1 here:

Canon’s PowerShot SX1 IS is a 10 Megapixel super-zoom camera with a 20x optically-stabilised lens and a 2.8in flip-out screen. Announced in September 2008 alongside the SX10 IS, both cameras jointly replace the best-selling PowerShot S5 IS.

The two new PowerShot super-zooms share a great deal in common including the same lens, body, and sensor resolution. The main difference is the sensor technology itself, with the SX1 IS becoming Canon’s first non-DSLR to feature a CMOS sensor, which allows it to shoot full resolution images at a much faster continuous speed of 4fps while additionally offering movie recording in the Full HD 1080p format. In contrast, the SX10 IS with its conventional CCD sensor shoots at 1.4fps and records movies at a maximum VGA resolution of 640x480 pixels.

In addition, the SX1 IS swaps the 4:3 shaped screen and viewfinder of the SX10 IS for 16:9 widescreen versions, sports an HDMI port for connecting to HDTVs, and comes supplied with an IR remote for triggering the shutter or controlling playback.