KNGUYENTU - PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN & SAP HELP BY KEVIN » Photography

Nikon Annouced D700?!?! D3 in “mini-me” format!

dikiem — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:33:39 +0000

Nikon has once again stunt the photography world. Since the D200 release, Nikon was quiet, while Canon and other companies releasing major blow one after another. The highly anticipated D200 replacement, dubbed the D300 was released not too long ago along with it’s bigger brother the D300.

Earlier this month, Nikon annouced the “mini me” of the popular D3 camera, the D700! It tout the similar “full frame” CMOS sensor, in a much smaller body. More like it took the D3 functionality and put it in the D300 to produce the D700! Holy Cow Batman!

I will be release late July 2008 for approx tag of $2999.00

Key Features Include:

Nikon’s original 12.1-megapixel FX-format (23.9 x 36mm) CMOS sensor: Teamed with Nikon’s exclusive EXPEED digital image processing, the D700 delivers breathtakingly rich image quality.
Broad ISO sensitivity up to 6400 and incredibly low noise: Super low-noise performance from 200-6400 ISO, with the added versatility of Lo-1 (100 ISO) Hi-1 (12,800 ISO) and Hi-2 (25,600 ISO).
Continuous shooting up to 5 frames per second: Shoot at up to 8 frames per second with the optional MB-D10 Multi-power Battery Pack.
Three-Inch, super-density 920,000-dot VGA color monitor: High resolution with
170-degree wide-angle viewing, calibrated color and tempered-glass protection assure confident image review.
Two Live View shooting modes: Choose from hand-held or tripod modes to suit shooting requirements.
Rugged magnesium-alloy construction: Along with extensive dust and moisture protection and a durable shutter mechanism tested to 150,000 cycles, the D700 merges pro D-SLR performance with expanded agility.
Fast, accurate 51-point AF with 3D Focus Tracking: Exacting autofocus precision, plus three Dynamic AF modes.
Dynamic Integrated Dust Reduction System: Effective quad-frequency, ultrasonic sensor cleaning minimizes image degrading dust particles.
1,005-Pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II: Legendary Nikon exposure accuracy aided by an onboard database of over 30,000 images.
Nikon’s exclusive Scene Recognition System: SRS further extends auto-exposure intelligence while also advancing white-balance detection and autofocus performance.
Nikon Picture Control settings: Advanced color control with 9 customizable settings and 4 preset options allow fine tuning of image appearance preferences.
Active D-Lighting with NEW Auto mode: Unique three-phase dynamic control to capture previously lost details in shadows and highlights while maintaining normalized contrast.

You could read more on at anyone of these sites:

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Alternative RSS Method (Zenfolio, Flickr, etc.,)

dikiem — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:40:46 +0000

I had mentioned in the Wordpress Plugin section, there is an Zenfolio RSS plug that is used to display nice little thumb nails on the side bar of your Zenfolio Galleries. In search of finding something more specific, I came across an alternative method. While it is no plug in yet, but a simple PHP / HTML knowledge could get you going with this. You can see a sample of it operating in my Flower Photographs section here (http://knguyentu.com/wordpress/photography-by-kevin/flowers-photographs/)

The RSS engine I used there is RSS Parser for PHP5+ (http://rssphp.net/).

Download this RSS file and place it in the same folder as the theme files you are using. In my case, I’ve placed inside ./wordpress/wp-content/themes/(theme name)/… In another words, in the same location the theme index.php file is located.

Once you’ve place the RSS file there, you will need to setup a page to use as a template for your rss. You can easily make a copy of the page.php provided by your theme. Let’s copy it and call it photographs.php.

Now for the fun part. Edit the photographs.php and place the code in here, somewhere towards the bottom before the sidebar and/or footer calls.

$values = get_post_custom_values("photoRSS"); // echo $values[0]; require_once 'rss_php.php'; $rss = new rss_php; $rss->load($values[0]); $items = $rss->getItems();


$html = '';

foreach($items as $index => $item) {

$html .= '
'.$item['title'].'
';

$html .= '
'.$item['description'].'
';

$html .= "
;

}

echo $html;

?>

This will loop through the RSS code and strip out the the RSS feed file and present it as your see int he example. You could wrap some HTML in the “$html” section in the code above to make the box look fancy and colorful if you like.

To be a bit more creative, with how the code is now, it will RSS pull all items in the RSS feed. You could add a simple loop around the code and limit how many items to pull per feed. See the code snip below. In BOLD is what was added to accommodate that.

$values = get_post_custom_values("photoRSS"); // echo $values[0]; require_once 'rss_php.php'; $rss = new rss_php; $item_limit = 3; $rss->load($values[0]); $items = $rss->getItems();


$i = 0;

$html = '';

foreach($items as $index => $item) {

   if ($i < $item_limit) {

      $html .= '
'.$item['title'].'
';

      $html .= '
'.$item['description'].'
';

      $html .= "
;

      $i++;

   }

}

echo $html;

?>

Now all you need is to create a new page, using the photographs.php template.

In the Custom Fields, use custom field “photoRSS” tag and place the URL to your RSS feed and away you go!

Let me know what you think and what alternative you are using?

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Nikon Releases Nikon Capture NX 2!

dikiem — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:58:48 +0000

It was press released a few days ago that Nikon will have a new release of their previous popular image editing software Capture NX. Capture NX took image editing to a whole new level with their unique Control Point U-Technology and Non-Destructive RAW format editing.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Imaging-Software/25385/Capture-NX-2.html

Key Features include

Capture NX 2 features award-winning U Point^® technology for precision selection and application of enhancements without complicated selections or layer masks. Designed to closely match the way photographers work with their images, Capture NX 2 is easy to learn and creates the highest quality results.

NEW! Selection Control Points: Now you can selectively edit photographs without the need to manually outline or mask the area for editing. Simply place a Selection Control Point anywhere on the photograph then choose from almost any adjustment such as D-Lighting, Unsharp Mask or Noise Reduction, while limiting the “reach” of that adjustment to just the selected area.

NEW! Auto-Retouch Brush: Capture NX 2 adds an automatic retouch tool to its image editing toolbox allowing users to seamlessly remove blemishes, dust and other distracting elements from photographs while maintaining the integrity of the image.

NEW! Shadow/Highlight Adjustment: With just a simple slider adjustment you can easily open up shadows or recover blown-out highlights. Highlight recovery is most effective for RAW (NEF) files however it will work with JPEG and TIFF files as well.

Redesigned Interface includes:

Customized Workspaces
Improved Toolbar function and layout
Improved Edit List functionality
Newly designed image browser featuring a Favorites Folder
Improved Image Resolution adjustments

Features continuing from Capture NX version 1.x include:

Color Control Points (improved operation)
Black/White/Neutral Control Points (improved layout)
Color management control with Soft Proofing
Color Aberration Control, D-Lighting (High Speed/High Quality), Image Dust Off, Vignette Control and Fisheye-to-Rectilinear Image Transformation
Noise Reduction: global or selective adjustments
Distortion Control – reduces pincushion and barrel distortion effects
Color Booster
Color Balance
Contrast/Brightness
Saturation/Warmth
Photo Enhance (for toning, sepia, black and white)
Levels/Curves Editor, LCH Editor, Auto Levels
Unsharp Mask, Gaussian Blur, High Pass Filter
Add Grain/Noise
Contrast: Color Range
Colorize
Black-and-White Conversion
Straighten and Crop Tools
Full support for Picture Control (camera and software-based function)

Capture NX 2 provides the highest quality RAW (NEF) conversions from your Nikon camera and fully integrates with all Nikon software including Camera Control Pro 2, Image Authentication Software, Transfer and ViewNX.

U Point^® is a registered trademark of Nik Software, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

http://press.nikonusa.com/2008/06/take_control_of_your_images_ni.php

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR IMAGES: NIKON INTRODUCES UPGRADED CAPTURE NX 2 PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE
Powerful New Tools Make Photo Editing Quick and Easy

MELVILLE, N.Y. (June 3, 2008) – Nikon Inc., today introduced the latest generation of its robust image processing and editing software, Capture NX 2, which provides photography enthusiasts with a suite of powerful tools and a simple, visual operation to streamline photo editing. Capture NX 2 utilizes revolutionary U Point® technology to give photographers access to powerful Control Points that enhance color, exposure, and other image quality settings quickly and easily. New technologies abound in Capture NX 2, including the innovative new Selection Control Point that places a commanding suite of image editing tools at the user’s fingertips to simplify and accelerate the image editing experience.

In addition, Capture NX 2 adds an advanced Auto Retouch Brush for seamless retouching, an improved yet simple user interface, updated menus, browser functionality and an increase in performance. Whether you choose JPEG, TIFF or RAW (NEF) files, Capture NX 2 is the perfect complement to the growing Nikon Digital System. It also offers advanced RAW (NEF) processing capabilities, simplified image-browsing, selection and labeling as well as improved batch-processing capabilities, superior color management and comprehensive system compatibility with Nikon’s EXPEED image processing concept.

“We have listened carefully to the requests of current Capture NX users and photographers in developing this powerful new software. This is an economical solution for the photographer who requires non-destructive image editing and wants to quickly and easily process their images,” said Michael Rubin, senior manager for Software Products at Nikon Inc. “With the addition of revolutionary new tools, photo enthusiasts as well as professionals will be able to reap the benefits of Capture NX 2.”

While providing incomparable editing options for Nikon’s Electronic Format RAW (NEF) files, Capture NX 2 enables simplified editing and processing for most JPEG and TIFF files regardless of camera manufacturer or model.* Its broad range of editing tools makes image retouching, enhancing and editing simple and intuitive, allowing users to immediately see the effects as they are applied. Whether a professional photographer, enthusiast or casual shutterbug, many will find Capture NX 2 to be a great stand-alone photo editing solution, while others will discover that Capture NX 2 is a remarkably effective addition to their existing photographic workflow.

New Additions to Capture NX 2
Capture NX 2 is complemented by a myriad of features and tools that include the following:

• Selection Control Points: Now users can selectively edit photographs without the need to manually outline or mask the area for editing. Simply place a Selection Control Point anywhere on the photograph then choose from almost any adjustment such as D-Lighting, Unsharp Mask or noise reduction, while limiting the “reach” of that adjustment to just the selected area.

• Auto Retouch Brush: Capture NX 2 adds an automatic retouch tool to its image editing toolbox, allowing users to seamlessly remove blemishes, dust, and other distracting elements from photographs while maintaining the integrity of the image.

• Shadow/Highlight Adjustment: With just a simple slider adjustment, users can easily open up shadows or recover blown out highlights.**

• Redesigned GUI with Customizable Workspaces: As part of an interface redesign, the new Capture NX 2 includes a Workspace feature that maximizes the tool and palette layout for the task at hand. Users can create unique custom workspaces ideal for working with single or multiple monitors. All palettes and windows within can be docked or undocked or hidden as needed. Predefined workspaces include: Browser, Metadata, Edit, or an optimized combination of each. In addition, users can access their most used folders with the new “Favorite Folder” feature.

• Improved Edit List: Nikon’s Capture NX 2 also incorporates an improved edit list that allows users to apply common enhancements to images with ease. Common tools like tone curves, exposure compensation, contrast, and highlight and shadow protection are just a click away via the Quick Fix menu. The improved edit list allows for camera and lens corrections like color moiré reduction, dust off, auto color aberration, auto red-eye correction, vignette control and fisheye lens correction.***

• Simultaneous Use of Tools: Users can now complete image editing faster than ever before with the use of simultaneous tools. For example, users can adjust the brightness and contrast of an image while boosting the color of the image at the same time.

• Filters, Ratings and Sorting Toolbar: Capture NX 2 offers an advanced filtering system in its tool bar, affording users an efficient way to filter through hundreds of images by user-defined labels, ratings, file types and file attributes. What’s more, these new filters, ratings and sorting tools are integrated into the metadata palette, allowing users the ability to easily edit and view XMP/IPTC information.

Nikon’s new Capture NX 2 software represents the core of Nikon’s integrated digital imaging systems, including cameras, lenses, software, speedlights and accessories, and allows photographers of all skill levels to experience the highest performance their Nikon equipment has to offer.

Capture NX 2 will be available for purchase throughout the United States in late June 2008 with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $179.95 (full version) or $109.95 (upgrade). A 60-day free trial version will be available today for users who wish to experience all that Capture NX 2 offers. For more information, and to download the 60-day trial version please visit www.nikonusa.com.

About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™. 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 consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. Nikon D Series digital SLR cameras are recognized as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with digital SLR cameras,” according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates 2007 digital Camera Satisfaction Study. Nikon Corporation, the parent company of Nikon Inc., recently celebrated its 90th anniversary and announced the production of over 40 million NIKKOR SLR interchangeable lenses. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the Web’s most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

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