digital photography
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Win a copy of Zoom Lens for your iPhone
I checked out Zoom Lens [iTunes link] over the weekend, and I'll say that as far as zoom tools go, this one is great. A simple interface, simple use and the images look pretty good. Of course, you'll be less impressed when you view them on your Mac, because Zoom Lens, like all iPhone apps of the same nature, just crops the image, really. It's what you find on consumer cameras as "digital zoom" -- not much more than a zoom & crop in Photoshop or iPhoto, really. But Zoom Lens does give you an interface that looks as though Apple made it themselves. Who knows? Maybe some day the iPhone will have a true zoom lens, although the optics would be tricky... Anyway, the best part is you have a chance to win Zoom Lens for yourself! It only works on the iPhone, of course, and we can only give codes for the US (no Canada, sorry!). But read the rules below and enter by leaving a comment before October 1. Glimpse a before/after shot of the app in action on the next page. Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this article (below). The comment must be left before Thursday, October 1, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Promo code for iPhone app "Zoom Lens" (Value: US$.99 ) Click Here for complete Official Rules.
CameraBag makes it to the desktop
We took a look at CameraBag for the iPhone in June. It's a nifty little app that applies several pre-set filters to your photos. Now, the developers have released an almost identical app for the desktop. Users got hooked on the ease of adding filters and altering photos, and they wanted it on their desktops and laptops too, so now it's a reality.CameraBag Desktop for the Mac gives you 9 basic filters, 7 vary the color to match various films, and 2 filters provide gray scale filters. The filters can be layered one on top of the other if you desire, and with the 'reprocess' command. Every time you press it you get a variation on the original filter.As on the iPhone app, you can choose a border for your picture, and then output the picture at the original size or you can scale it down.The filters mimic the look of old instant camera films, and a host of other camera, film and lens combinations. CameraBag is not for the advanced digital photographer, but if you want to take an image and quickly apply a filter and a border this is a welcome tool. I'd like to see some more things added, like saturation controls and sliders for color temperature and sharpness. Adding those features combined with the filters would give a user almost unlimited control of the look of the images. As it is, your starting point is always what the designer of the filter had in mind. While you can reprocess, you have no control, and the parameters change at random. In the gallery I've included some variations on a single photo to show you some of the possibilities. You can also visit a web page to see how customers have used the CameraBag technology.CameraBag is US$19.00 and can be ordered direct from the developer. %Gallery-73929%
Creaceed's HDR photography contest
Although many TUAW contests are limited to North American participants, here's a contest sponsored by a Belgian Mac development firm that is open to everybody! Creaceed's Hydra 1.6 software is a Leopard-only solution for creating HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs. If you're not familiar with HDR photography, it's a way of creating photographs that are closer to what the human eye actually sees (view Flickr gallery). To do this, you take two or more photos of the same scene; some are overexposed, some underexposed, some are just right. For example, if you see a beautiful sunset with your own eyes, you can see details in both the sunset and the surrounding landscape. Since digital camera CCDs don't have the same dynamic range as your eyes, photos of the sunset usually show the landscape as being too dark. If you get the landscape "right", the sunset is washed out. Hydra takes those photographs, aligns them, and then performs some algorithmic magic to create HDR images that are perfectly exposed across the entire photograph. If you got a new digital camera for Christmas, give Hydra a try, and then enter your best HDR images into Creaceed's contest. Entry details can be found here -- good luck!
Photon 1.1 Released
Photon, the speedy digital photo workflow app and labor of love from Mike Bernardo's Green Volcano Software, has been updated to v1.1. Photon differs from Aperture, Photoshop, and the like by focusing on the front end of the photography workflow. Importing RAW images from DSLRs is fast, and Photon's stacking feature simplifies sorting and culling your photos. The update includes: An overhauled caching engine to improve import speed and responsiveness A "Discards" stack for unwanted image files that provides a direct route to Trash A "File stack" feature for moving existing files to a new spot on your hard drive(s) Improved memory card download performance The ability to save and recall stacks when re-launching the app. The update is free to registered Photon users, or you can buy Photon for $69 (Universal Binary).Thanks to Mike B. for the tip!
'Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.0' Is Out
If you happen to be a photographer who likes to take digital photos using the RAW format, then Apple has just released an update you might want to take a look at and, perhaps, even apply. Appearing today in Software Update is what Apple calls the "Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0."According to the notes in Software Update, this new update "extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto '08 for the following cameras:Hasselblad CFV-16Hasselblad H3D-31Hasselblad H3D-31IILeaf Aptus 54SLeaf Aptus 65SNikon D60Olympus E-3Pentax *ist DL2Pentax *ist DS2Pentax K100D SuperSony DSLR-A200Sony DSLR-A350If you're curious, you can also find more info on this update, which according to this page seems to be a bit of a security update as well, by going to the Apple support site. Of course, as always, if you decide to apply this update and your Mac explodes or something, be sure to let us know.
Blazing fast image viewing with Photon 1.0.2
Photon just loaded 839 JPEG image previews for me in under 2 seconds. That's expletive worthy speed. And when it loads the full image, it's just as fast, even with RAW format images. And it loads every pixel of a RAW image. If you set the preview mode to fit-to-screen, clicking the image gives you a loupe-style zoom to full resolution. It reads photos–from folders or directly from cameras/memory cards–with a feature they call "Instant Import". I plugged in a camera and by the time I had looked back at the screen, it had recorded all of the images on the card. Photon serves one purpose, but serves it well. It helps you do a rough cut of large batches of images before heading into Lightroom or Aperture for more advanced procedures. It lacks any form of image flagging, has limited viewing of metadata fields (the columns in the HUD aren't individually expandable or adjustable) and no search feature of any kind. It basically provides a very fast, very streamlined interface for creating collections ("stacks") of images and–once you've bought the full version–exporting them with options to convert the format to jpg, png, psd and more. It does provide histograms, which is handy for deciding on which RAW images you're planning to keep. A demo of Photon is available for download, and costs $49 to purchase. That's shown as a markdown from $69, but I'm unsure if that's a limited-time offer.
Free Aperture web seminar for iPhoto users
Our faithful reader and tipster Nik Fletcher just passed a link our way to a new web seminar Apple has made available called Aperture for iPhoto Users. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet (I wanted to share it with y'all before diving in myself), but details on the site reveal exactly what you would expect: the seminar explores the advantages of stepping up to Aperture from iPhoto, as well as how to migrate your library (spoiler: it's really just a one-click process - I recently did it myself as I'm testing out the Aperture demo) and even how to use both applications for your photography workflow (something I'm particularly interested in). Apple also includes links to other Aperture resources such as the O'Reilly-dedicated Aperture site with links, blog posts and tips of their own, as well as another Apple seminar that covers the world of Aperture extensions.If you ask me, this seminar was far too long in coming, but it looks like it could be a great start on answering all those 'why should I move to Aperture?' questions for anyone interested in stepping into the world of professional digital photography management.
TUAW Tip: Viewing EXIF data in finder
EXIF, the Exchangeable Image File Format, provides a standard way to store information inside image files. Digital cameras automatically place EXIF information in your snapshots including information about the device used and its color space, among other data. Apple makes it easy for you to view this embedded information in the Finder. The Finder's Info window includes EXIF data in its More Info pane. To view, select any image file, and choose File -> Get Info in Finder (or just press Command-I). When the Info window opens, click the triangle next to More Info to reveal or hide the EXIF data.
Aperture 1.5.1
First Apple gives it away (for 30 days) and now they are updating it! That's right, Aperture 1.5.1 is now available from Apple's website. What does it do, you ask? Straight from Apple, ' Aperture 1.5.1 addresses numerous issues related to overall reliability and performance in all areas of the application.'If you crave more details check out the the KB article that lists each of the 100, or so, improvements in 1.5.1.
Aperture 30 day test drive
I'm not a very good photographer, but I take lots of digital pictures which is why I was interested in checking out Aperture, but I didn't want to plunk down $299. Apple has heard my silent pleas and made a 30 day 'test drive' available for all to download.It is available in English, French, German, or Japanese. All features are enabled for 30 days, but the trial does not include the sample images that are available retail version.At the moment the trial page isn't working for me, but I am sure Apple's trained web professionals will get that all sorted out.Thanks, Rob.Update: I was right, they fixed the page quickly. Download away.
Kodak, Martha Stewart partner on product line
Now that America's favorite homemaker/inside trader is back to full steam following her brief incarceration, it seems that we may be in for another wave of branded products reminiscent of her previous assault on K-Mart shelves, as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Kodak have just announced plans to jointly release a line of personalized photo swag. Available in late September from both companies' websites, the MSLO-designed lineup will include such exciting products as photo books, stationary, calendars, stickers, and occasion-specific cards that customers can slap their uploaded photos onto -- certainly nothing new, but now the process comes with Ms Stewart's coveted seal of approval. The multi-year agreement means that we can expect the customizable offerings to expand into other categories such as food and gardening, and it looks like Martha herself is quite confident that the venture will succeed, as she reportedly bulked up her portfolio with more Kodak and MSLO stock just hours before the deal was announced.[Via DigitalCameraInfo, photo courtesy of BusinessWire]
Leica coding lenses to prep for Digital M
Old school film camera manufacturer Leica has taken yet another step towards the scary new world of filmless shooters by announcing that the majority of its lens lineup will receive 6-bit coding for use with the company's upcoming Digital M model. Save for the 135-millimeter APO-TELYT-M, all current Leica lenses leaving the factory after July 1st will sport marks representing binary numbers on each of the six fields in the bayonet ring, which the Digital M will optically read in order to optimize image quality. Luckily for current Leica lens owners, many models released after 1963 can be retrofitted with the coding for use with the M, although the procedure will set you back $175. Non-coded lenses will still work with the M -- which is scheduled for release by the end of the year -- but they will not be able to take advantage of the image enhancements or EXIF-ready data offered by the new models.
