PCPhoto Editor's Blog

The PCPhoto Magazine Editor's Blog offers timely perspective on a wide variety of photo-related topics. Read it today.

Google Earth 5.0 Letting You Explore The Entire World Google announced their latest version of Google Earth – 5.0 – which adds some new features to help the photographer explore the entire globe. One of the newest additions to 5.0 is the ocean feature, which lets you look beneath the surface of the world’s oceans in a 3D and interactive map.

Canon 5D Problem Canon Issues Recall for Possible Mirror Detachment Canon issued a statement today for a problem they’ve found in their EOS 5D D-SLR. Some of the camera’s main mirrors have been detached due to the deterioration of the adhesive holding it in place. Luckily, Canon will repair and reinforce the mirror portion of the affected products free of charge by contacting their Customer Support Center.

Olympus E-3 Firmware Update Improved AF Accuracy and More Olympus has a new firmware update for the E-3 that improves the following: users can select the AF target by pressing the arrow keys; improved AF accuracy when using fast lenses with a f/2.0 aperture; improved C-AF performance, and longer battery life when using the HLD-4 battery holder.

New Photoshop Updates ‘Release Candidates’ For Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw Adobe has released two new software upgrades for Photoshop Lightroom 2 (version 2.3) and Camera Raw (version 5.3) as Release Candidates, or community versions they would like tested further by customers before they become updates.

New Sony D-SLR? Rumors About a Sony A800 With the largest photo conference coming up – PMA 2024 – D-SLR rumors are on the rise, and the newest is about a Sony D-SLR. The Sony A800 is speculated to be a 15.2-megapixel sub-full-frame sensor.

New 17-inch MacBook Pro Faster, Thinner, Longer-Lasting The new Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro is a great laptop for the photographer on the road, featuring a new built-in battery that can last up to 8 hours. Other specs include an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT discrete graphics processor, 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1920x1200 display with the option for a glossy screen and a 320GB hard drive.

Internet-Enabled Camera New Sony DSC-G3 Can Surf the Web Wi-Fi is nothing new to the world of digital imaging. In fact, there are a few devices that let you wirelessly upload your images to the Internet, like Eye-Fi’s www.eye.fi SD memory cards, and a handful of Wi-Fi enabled cameras.

New Memory Card Standard SDXC Holds Up to 2 Terabytes The SD Association introduced a new open standard memory card called SDXC, which will have the storage capacity of up to 2 Terabytes of space.

Canon Releases 5D Mark II Update Firmware That Resolves the “Black Dots” Issue On December 19th we reported on two image quality issues for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, including the “black dots” found on point light sources and vertical banding noise. Well, Canon placed a statement on their Web site saying that they would be quickly fixing these issues via a firmware upgrade.

Apple Announces iPhoto ’09 Makes it Easy to Organize and Manage Photos Apple’s newest software suite, iLife ’09, was introduced this morning during the keynote speech at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, and features iPhoto ’09, an easy-to-use image-editing suite with some great new features.

Camera Reviewer New Web site Analyzes Data For Camera Comparison There are many decisions that need to be weighed before buying a new camera. Features such as low-light performance, sensor size, rugged construction, image quality and dynamic range, and other factors that need to be considered before purchasing a camera. There are a lot of different resources available to help you with your decision, including reviews on Outdoor Photographer and other digital imaging Web sites.

LIFE’s Photo Archive Over 10 Million Iconic Images Online LIFE was a news magazine known for its photography, covering everything from global events, natural disasters, popular culture, celebrities, wars, sports, etc.; showing some of the most iconic images ever made within its pages. Although the magazine has since folded, they have a massive archive of images that they are making available to the public through a joint effort with Google.com Image Search. The LIFE Photo Archive has over 10 million images, making it one of the largest archives available on the Internet.

Canon Responds To “Black Dots” Addresses 5D Mark II Image Quality Issues Today Canon issued a “Safety Notice” involving two image quality concerns that have been found by users of the new EOS 5D Mark II D-SLR; including black dots that appear in point of light sources when shooting in low-light conditions and Vertical banding noise when recording in sRAW1 format.

Zoom Effect Creating Motion With Your Photos Here’s a great Photoshop tutorial for those of you who want to add a zoom effect to your images. It can be achieved in two ways, in-camera with a slow shutter speed and a zoom lens or by adding one during image editing with a filter in Photoshop. Photoshopcafe.com posted a great step-by-step tutorial on how to create this blurring effect by using the Radial Blur filter.

Photoshop Lightroom 2.2 Adobe Releases Update With New Enhancements Here’s some good news for all you Lightroom users out there; this morning Adobe announced the availability of Photoshop Lightroom 2.2, and upgrade for existing users of Lightroom 2 for Mac and PC computers. It features camera support for new cameras like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-G1, Panasonic DMC-FX150, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Panasonic DMC-LX3, Leica D-LUX 4, and some new enhancements including camera profiles now available in the Calibration panel in the Develop module, which is designed to provide different interpretations of raw capture.

Window Portraits Shooting at Home To Get Great Shots Shooting a portrait using a window creates a soft and natural source of lighting for your models. Some professional photographers achieve this effect by using expensive lighting and studio equipment, but the best part about using a window is that it’s free, and not that difficult to master.

New Nikon? Rumors About a Nikon D400 It’s always interesting to find rumors about possible D-SLRs, especially the next generation of a great camera like the Nikon D300. This week NikonRumors.com is reporting about the Nikon D400, which supposedly features a 14.3-megapixel resolution, HD video capture at 1080p, a burst mode of 7 fps, 14-bit A/D conversion, Multi-CAM3500DX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage) and a magnesium alloy body with connections and buttons sealed against moisture.

‘Tis The Season Great Gift Ideas For the Photographer With the holiday season right around the corner, there’s never a better time to do your last minute shopping. If you’re wondering what is available for photographers this season, PCPhoto has compiled an extensive Buyer’s Guide just for you, including what’s hot, what’s new, and what every photographer shouldn’t go without. PCPhoto’s Buyer’s Guide 2024 covers every aspect in digital imaging, from the most up-to-date information on D-SLRs to must-have accessories.

Goodbye Polaroid Thanks For the Instant Memories Having an instant Polaroid camera around was in a way similar to today’s digital cameras. A Polaroid and its Instant Film gave us immediate feedback, except it used film and took a few minutes before a photo emerged. We all remember those white-bordered photographs, we’d shake them for a while and a few moments later we had a photo that did not require going to a printer or working in a darkroom.

Photoshop Film Effects 5 Ways To Get that “Film” Look Back in the days of film, there were different types that could achieve a very unique look. The good news is, with software like Adobe Photoshop you can mimic some of these same great effects digitally.

HD Video D-SLR How The Nikon D90 Video Works The Nikon D90 is the World’s first D-SLR with video capability. The D90 is a high-def video camera and a 12.3-megapixel D-SLR all jammed into one body. But how does it capture video differently than a dedicated video camera? It all started with live view camera modes that we see on most D-SLRs today, which paved the way for how video is captured in the D90.

iPhone Photo Apps Unique and Beneficial Tools for Photography With thousands of people waiting in line this summer to cash in on one of the first iPhone 3Gs, the Apple App Store was also born. The App Store allows owners to download thousands of applications that range from entertainment, education, financial tools, books to photography. The App Store is host to over 2,000 different applications that are free or cost a little bit of money to download for the iPhone first generation, the 3G or the iPod touch.

Panasonic DMC-G1 Our First Impressions and a Review by Luminous Landscape It is easy to be skeptical when you hear the term smaller interchangeable lens camera that is similar to a D-SLR -- but in actuality is not a D-SLR at all. When the Micro Four Thirds format was introduced this fall we waited until we got our hands on one to make a judgment.