Leica M9-P

LEICA CAMERA OFFERS FIRMWARE UPDATE 1.176 FOR THE LEICA M9 AND M9-P

Allendale, NJ (December 6, 2011) – Leica Camera, Inc. announces the latest firmware update, 1.176, for the Leica M9 and M9-P, the world’s smallest, full-frame digital system cameras. Users wishing to benefit from the new offerings can download the firmware update from the Leica Camera website.

Firmware update 1.176 eliminates a rare fault occurring during the formatting of SanDisk cards, ensuring compatibility with the Leica M9 and M9-P in accordance with the cameras’ respective standards. All card types available from SanDisk have been fully tested by Leica’s expert technical team and firmware version 1.176 guarantees their proper function, resulting in the previous constrictions on the cards being revoked.

Leica Camera is dedicated to providing products that exhibit mastery in optics and mechanics, high-quality design and outstanding craftsmanship, resulting in an uncompromised customer experience. The company thanks all affected customers for their patience and support in searching for the cause of the compatibility issues as well as SanDisk for their intensive technical assistance.

For installation instructions and to download firmware update 1.176, please visit: http://en.leica-camera.com/service/downloads/rangefinder_cameras/m9_m9-p/index.html.

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Lenovo today announced its ThinkPad X130e laptop, built specifically to last in the K-12 education environment where laptops are often subjected to wear and tear.

Lenovo is positioning its ThinkPad X130e to replace the netbooks that have become ubiquitous in most classrooms. While the netbooks are portable, they often fall short on functionality and multimedia capabilities needed for the new wave of digital learning. More schools are therefore finding the need to revert back to the more powerful and flexible laptop to obtain the required multimedia features. The Lenovo ThinkPad X130e laptop, with its multimedia-rich capabilities, is designed exclusively for the education market: it is rugged enough to survive the punishing use of kids and, at under four pounds, it is also light and ultraportable.

Photographers will probably find the ThinkPad X130e also useful as a light, portable and tough laptop in the field.

PRESS RELEASE

New Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop Ruggedized For Students and Schools

Toronto, Ontario – December 6, 2011 – Lenovo today announced the ThinkPad X130e laptop, specifically ruggedized for education and with the features needed to help students in grades K-12 and their schools get the most out of their PC technology. Equipped with the advanced technology expected for an educational laptop, the ThinkPad X130e comes with choices of the latest Intel or AMD processors and fast, integrated graphics as well as wireless connectivity and multimedia tools for today’s digital learning. Designed to be handled by kids, the ThinkPad X130e has a reinforced and extra durable top cover, keyboard and hinges.

Schools will also like its performance, reliability and customizable options including asset tags, BIOS modifications and custom imaging [1].

“At Lenovo ThinkTank 2011 we brought hundreds of distinguished educators together, and the resounding attribute that decision makers told us ranks highest on their list of features important for PC purchases is ruggedness,” said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, ThinkPad Business Unit, Lenovo. “While we’ve built tough products for years that pass many military-grade tests, we’ve made specific improvements required for a laptop to be successful in an education environment with the ThinkPad X130e.”

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Fujifilm FinePix X10

“Strongly recommended, and for the time being, one of the best cameras we’ve reviewed.”

We’ve added another Fujifilm X10 [QuickPrice Check] Review in our Reviews Matrix.

DigitalCameraInfo has posted their review of the Fujifilm X10, a premium prosumer compact camera with 12 MP resolution (on a 2/3-in. EXR CMOS image sensor), a F2.0 4x optical zoom (28-112mm equiv.) lens (not interchangeable), 2.8-in. (460k-dot) LCD, PASM, Fly-by-wire manual zoom ring, Optical Viewfinder, Electronic Horizon Leveling Gauge, built-in popup flash, a hot shoe to attach an external flash, 360° Motion Panorama, and Full HD 1080p Movie 1920×1080 pixels at 30fps with stereo sound.

You can read the Fujifilm X10 Review @ DigitalCameraInfo.

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Sigma SD1

If [...] you have a lot of money to spend then take a look at the Sigma SD1. The pictures are very good after all and ultimately that’s what’s important.

We’ve added another Sigma SD-1 [QuickPrice Check] review to our Reviews Matrix.

PhotographyBLOG has published their review of the Sigma SD1 with 15x3MP resolution (on a 23.5 x 15.7 mm Foveon X3 sensor), 11-point AF system with all twin cross-type sensors, Shutter Speed range of 1/8000th – 30 sec plus Bulb, Continuous Shooting 5fps, Optical viewfinder with 98% frame coverage, ISO range from 100-6400, 3.0-inch LCD Monitor (460k-dot). The Sigma SD1 features its own SA bayonet mount, is weather-resistant and has a solid magnesium-alloy body.

Read the Sigma SD1 Review @ PhotographyBLOG.

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Samsung MV800

“This stylish camera is loaded with fun to use settings, and the hinged LCD is sure to be a hit among the social crowds. We did find a few shortfalls with the camera, but overall it gets a good recommendation from the staff here at Steve’s.”

We’ve added a new Samsung MV800 [QuickPrice Check] review to our Reviews Matrix.

Steve’s Digicams has published their review of the Samsung MV800, an ultra-compact with 16.1MP resolution (on a 1/2.3-in. CCD image sensor), 5x wide-angle optical zoom (26-130mm equiv.), Optical Image Stabilization, 3.0-in. Flip-Out Touch-screen LCD (288K-dot), Smart AUTO, P, Night Shot, Live Panorama, Magic Frame, Picture in Picture, Smart Filter, Effects, 3D Photo, Pose Guide, Zoom Noise Reduction, Intelligent Portraits, and HD 720p Movie 1280×720 @ 30fps.

You can read the Samsung MV800 Review @ Steve’s Digicams.

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Canon EOS C300 = Awesome from Jonathan Yi on Vimeo.

Jonathan Yi shot some footage with a pre-production model of the Canon EOS C300 for one week in NYC. It’s a professionally shot video, almost an ad — though Yi insists Canon is not thrilled with his sense of humor and does not credit or condone the video. However, he has an article about it on Canon’s Learning site: learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/c300_for_cinematographers.shtml

Videorative Portrait of Randall Okita from Sergio Albiac on Vimeo.

This is elegant and original. Sergio Albiac has developed “generative video painting” techniques that allow him to embed videos into a portrait painting to generate what he calls a “Videorative Portrait.” As he explains it, “painting a Videorative portrait (a generative, narrative and interactive video portrait) starts with collecting personal videos of the person portrayed, tagged by him/her with relevant concepts and descriptions.”

The final result is an interactive painting with embedded videos that a viewer can “navigate” through to access the subject’s mind, memories, and thoughts. Real-time access to Wikipedia infer the subject’s emotional states, allows each viewer to see new and unexpected interpretations of the portrait.

The subject portrayed can also add more video memories, tags and descriptions to “increase the likeness” of the portrait over time, all his/her life, creating a never-ending collection of personal documentaries.

SENSE OF FLYING from Goovinn on Vimeo.

You really get a sense of what “flying” is like in this video with Espen Fadnes jumping from the top of a mountain into a ravine. However, watching it evokes in me sensations of barely controlled falling. It’s more like a mad and terrifying plunge to the ground, reaching speeds of up to 250 km/h, avoiding hurtling into cliffs, coming to a safe landing, completely spent. It’s not like, oh say a bird flying lazily, soaring in the updraft. No wonder all the birds keep out of the way when “man falls from sky.”

Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam from Rob Whitworth on Vimeo.

If you complain about traffic jams on your morning drive to work and back (and especially rant against motorcyclists and cyclists), you ain’t seen nothing yet. Here’s what traffic in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, is like, in a timelapse culled from 10,000 RAW images captured by Rob Whitworth.