Beginning Tuesday morning, Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2 became available—just in time for my birthday. And what a present it is. I’ve been using the Lightroom 2 beta for the past several weeks and found it a great improvement over version 1.x. And apparently, the shipping version of Lightroom 2 contains improvements over the beta. Great news all around.
I won’t delve into the details here since Lightroom 2 is so excellently covered elsewhere by experts such as Scott Kelby over at his Adobe Photoshop Insider blog.
The North American upgrade is a good value at USD $99, however, I gather that the International price (Europe, Australia, etc.) is much higher—go figure. Downloads are available on the Web, but retail copies do not seem to be generally available in Ontario.
W hen the final version of Adobe Lightroom 2 is released, users will not have to wait weeks for a Lightroom 1 book to be updated to cover the latest version. Famous photographer and best-selling author, Scott Kelby, made sure of that when he based his latest book on the Lightroom 2 beta so users can preorder it now.
Here’s a quote from Scott’s recent blog post:
I had planned on just doing an update of the book, and including the new features of Lightroom 2, but….well…I wound up rewriting the whole book from scratch (well, at least 95% of it. There’s probably a paragraph or two still left over, but not much).
Obviously, I have not read the book, but I own several of Kelby’s books, including the one on Lightroom 1 and can vouch for how useful his books are. Lightroom 2.0 beta has been available since April of this year, so I’d guess the final will be available this Fall.
On my last hike through Hendrie Valley, I encountered several Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) along the main boardwalk. These tiny wild birds are among the bravest you are likely to encounter anywhere. At one point, I was so close my lens would not focus. Denisé fed them some wild birdseed and soon had them literally feeding from the palm of her hand.
Hendrie Valley and Grindstone Marsh are part of the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) here in Burlington and Hamilton. If you love birds, this is a great place to observe Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Grey Catbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds and a variety of waterfowl, herons and egrets. The latter are not common, but are seen throughout the summer.
One of the most underrated wild birds is the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura). I took the image (see below) while on a hike through Grindstone Marsh in Hendrie Valley, Burlington, Ontario, Canada on a clowdy Tuesday morning. The males and females are very similar, but I believe this one is a male—a bit larger and more pink in the chest.
Dozens of these beauties visit my backyard every day, but this is one of the loveliest I’ve seen. Their mournful call and the whistling of their wings as they fly away are sounds of which I never tire.
O ur rabbit population in Burlington seems to have exploded in the past five or so years. I seldom saw a rabbit, but starting about five years ago they became a common sight. They are cute little animals, but they can damage a garden in short order. We had severe damage to several plants over the past two winters.
The following photo, is of an eastern cottontail rabbit in Hendrie Valley below Plains Road—on the trail leading from Valley Inn Road to the Grindstone Marsh boardwalks.
Nikon D300 DSLR
Nikkor AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED at 220mm, ISO 200
1/20 sec at f/6.7
Eastern cottontail rabbits are native to Canada and are one of the few wild animals that are known to “play” with each other. Rabbits are incredibly fast—able to reach speeds of 60 to 75 kilometers per hour—a necessity since they have numerous predators and few defence mechanisms.
They are usually found in or near wooded areas and meadows. They have also adapted to increasing urbanization and frequently live in city parks, golf courses and in residential yards.
Their diet consists mainly of leafy plants, buds, twigs, and bark. They will also feed on garden vegetables and fruit when available.
Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a familiar sight in Hendrie Valley on the border between Burlington and Hamilton. Here are typical examples of a juvenile bird and an adult male. These are not tame by any means, but they are quite used to seeing humans on the trails and boardwalks, and so you’re pretty well guaranteed of a decent shot with a medium to long lens.
This juvenile was a brave little fellow taking seed nearby on the boardwalk.
The flamingo—in this case the American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)—is surely one of nature’s wonders. Also known as the Caribbean Flamingo, this large bird lives along the Atlantic coast of subtropical and tropical America, and is frequently seen in the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Yucatan and Guiana.
Nesting colonies, which may contain thousands of pairs, are usually found near the brackish water of salt lakes and lagoons. The birds feed chiefly on blue-green algae and diatoms.
Flamingos extract their food from the water by a filtering mechanism, very much like that used by the Blue Whale. They wade through the water with necks lowered and heads turned upside down, sweeping from side to side. The upper and lower portions of the bill are fringed with bristles which trap particles as the flamingo sucks and expells water with the powerful tongue acting as a pump. The outer layer of coarse bristles keeps out large particles, while minute algae such as the diatoms are collected on an array of bristles inside the bill.
Denisé and I spent the afternoon with friends at Washburn Island, which is directly across Lake Scugog from Port Perry in Ontario, Canada. Our hostess scattered peanuts about and, while we chatted, I took several shots of Blue Jays that inhabited their garden.
The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the “blue” or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays. It is adaptable, aggressive and omnivorous, and has been colonizing new habitat for many decades.
The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family Columbidae. The bird is also called the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It ranges from Central America to southern Canada, including offshore islands. Many individuals in northern areas migrate south to spend winter within the breeding range where January temperatures are above −12° Celsius (10°F)… The species is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph).
I spent yesterday with my son, Anthony, and his daughters, Melissa and Sarah, at the Toronto Zoo. Both Anthony and I took lots of pictures. I hope he had better luck; I was disappointed in mine.
I really did not see many of the animals I know are kept in the zoo. The must often repeated phrases I heard yesterday were: “Where is it?” or “I don’t see anything…” and “I guess they’re inside.” or “There it is way up in that corner.” and “If you stand here, you can just see its head.”
Going through the zoo, I was struck by just how much zoos have changed since my childhood. Back then, all the animals were kept in relatively confining cages. The emphasis was on “exhibition” and far less on the comfort of the animals. Now the emphasis is on providing the animals a familiar and comfortable environment.
I cannot really argue with the modern notion that the animals should be treated as humanely as possible, but I go the zoo to see the animals. That’s what zoos were intended to be. Zoos have become more like animal sanctuaries than places where live wild animals are kept for people to come and see them.
Maybe zoos have to evolve even further so that they fully become sanctuaries, but with small enclosures in which a selection of animals can be on display for close up viewing.
Anyway, here’s a couple of the pictures I did take—a Grizzly Bear and beautiful Flamingos:
Nikon seems to have gotten the bit between its teeth and is pulling ahead in the Digital SLR market—at least, with camera bodies. Canon is still, obviously, an excellent camera company, but I say Nikon currently has the edge with its D3, D300 and its new D700 models.
Digital Photography Review reports that Nikon has released new firmware for their high-end D3 and D300 digital SLRs.
The latest D3 firmware adds new function button customization options though not the ones featured on the D700. In addition to these and a virtual horizon in live view mode, Nikon has also addressed the problem that some users experienced in which the battery indicator would incorrectly register an empty battery. This problem, which has come to be known as ‘Dead Battery Syndrome,’ has also been addressed in new firmware for the D300.
For details about the D3 changes, here’s a PDF from Nikon.
Firmware updates are available for Mac and PC here from Nikon (Canada).
ikon today announced its highly anticipated D700 full-frame D-SLR camera, featuring a 12.1 megapixel Nikon FX-format sensor that measures 23.9 x 36mm, which is nearly identical to the size of 35mm film. There has been so much on-line chatter about this anticipated camera in recent days, this announcement is almost an anticlimax.
From the outside the D700 looks like a slightly larger D300; from the inside it’s almost identical to Nikon’s flagship D3. The D700 differs from D3 in some areas, such as five frames per second (FPS) instead of eight, although with a battery grip the rate increases to eight FPS, just as with the D3.
An improvement over the D3 is the inclusion of automatic dust removal, the same system as found in the D300. Nikon’s top-of-the-line 51 point metering and 15 cross sensor AF is also found, as is a top ISO capability of ISO 25,000.
The new camera will compete head-on with Canon’s EOS 5D, which will surely be updated very soon. According to Nikon, the D700 camera will be available in late July 2008, and will have an estimated selling price of (USD) $2,999.95 (body only).
Nikon has also announced a (USD) $500 SB-900 flash, featuring faster recycle time, more powerful, better software, larger LCD window and a switch on the back for Master and Remote wireless use. It automatically senses whether you’re using a DX or FX format camera and adjusts accordingly. SB-900 flash’s extended zoom range auto-zooms from 18-200mm, and it features the ability to have its firmware updated via user uploads. See Nikon’s brochure here.
As one might expect, dozens of blogs and news services are reporting on this story. See here for Scott Kelby’s take on the announcement, and here to download Nikon’s PDF brochure on the D700.
THE AGILE NEW NIKON D700 FX-FORMAT D-SLR CAMERA DELIVERS PERFORMANCE INSPIRED BY THE NIKON D3 IN A SMALLER, LIGHTER DESIGN
Nikon’s Second FX-Format Camera Delivers Peak Pro Performance in a Versatile Form-Factor
MELVILLE, N.Y. (July 1, 2008) – Nikon, Inc. today introduced the new D700 digital SLR camera featuring a 12.1-effective megapixel Nikon FX-format sensor that measures 23.9 x 36mm, which is nearly identical to the size of 35mm film. Benefiting from Nikon’s legacy of imaging technology innovation, the D700 offers both advanced and professional photographers stunning image quality, accurate color reproduction and revolutionary low light performance.
Building on the immense success of the Nikon D3 professional D-SLR camera, the D700 offers pro-level performance and an extensive array of features and innovations in a comfortably nimble platform. In addition to the Nikon-original FX-format CMOS sensor, the D700 incorporates Nikon’s EXPEED Image Processing System, Nikon’s renowned 51-point auto focus system with 3D Focus Tracking and two Live View shooting modes that allow photographers to frame a shot using the camera’s three-inch high-resolution LCD monitor. The D700 also features Nikon’s sophisticated Scene Recognition System and a new active dust reduction system.
Nikon’s flagship FX and DX-format cameras, the D3 and D300 respectively, established new benchmarks for digital image quality, speed, and unmatched ISO performance. The D700 maintains this new measure with exceptional overall image quality, broad tonal range and depth, and extremely low noise throughout its native ISO range of 200 to 6400.
“Nikon FX-format cameras have teamed with our strong lineup of DX-format models to offer photographers unprecedented advancements in performance and versatility along with the freedom to choose the format that best serves their needs. Today’s introduction of the D700 offers an important new option to photographers who need the overall performance and imaging perspective Nikon FX-format cameras offer,” said Edward Fasano, general manager for marketing, SLR System Products at Nikon, Inc. “Nikon has developed a host of innovative technologies such as the Scene Recognition System and Picture Control, incorporating them into both FX and DX-format digital SLRs to ensure that photographers can leverage the advantages of both formats seamlessly, and achieve the end-results that best fulfill their photographic vision.”
The legendary Nikon FX-Format CMOS sensor
The D700’s 12.1-megapixel FX-format CMOS image sensor provides exceptional image quality throughout its remarkable ISO sensitivity range. A large pixel size of 8.45 µm allows for an extremely low signal-to-noise ratio and a wide dynamic range. The 12-channel readout enables accelerated information transfer, allowing the D700 to shoot at speeds of up to eight frames per second at full resolution (using the optional MB-D10 Multi Power Battery Pack) and quickly write image data onto the CompactFlash™ card.
The D700 offers a versatile base ISO range from 200-6400 but can be expanded to range from ISO 100 (Lo-1) to 25,600 (Hi-2) affording photographers the new-found confidence to shoot in the widest variety of lighting conditions from the brightest midday sun to dim interiors. Images previously thought to be impossible to create without complex lighting set-ups or lengthy post-processing are now captured easily and faithfully with the D700, unleashing new and diverse shooting possibilities.
Also new to the D700 is Nikon’s first self-cleaning system designed for the FX-format sensor. Utilizing four distinct vibration frequencies, the D700 frees image degrading dust particles from the sensor’s optical low-pass filter at start-up, shut-down or on demand. As an added benefit, the mirror box and entire shutter mechanism are constructed of materials that resist creating debris that can affect image purity.
Fastest speed and autofocus in its class
The D700 starts up in a mere 0.12 seconds and has a nearly imperceptible shutter-lag response time of 0.40 milliseconds, making this an extraordinarily responsive tool for the demanding photographer. The D700 can record full-resolution JPEG images at an astounding five frames per second (fps), or eight fps with the optional MB-D10 battery pack for up to 100 images, or up to 17 lossless 14-bit Nikon NEF (RAW) files. To write images efficiently, the Nikon D700 is also compliant with the next-generation of high-speed UDMA CompactFlash™ cards that will enable recording speeds up to 35 megabytes/second.
The D700 offers one of the fastest and most accurate advanced AF systems on the market today. Nikon’s Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus sensor module features 51 AF points and the ability to use 3D tracking to focus and lock-on a moving subject. The 15 cross-type sensors and 36 horizontal sensors can be used individually or in groups, with the option for Single Area AF mode and Dynamic AF modes using groups of either 9, 21 or all 51 focus points. The system also features 3D Focus Tracking with automatic focus point switching that takes advantage of all 51 AF points as it uses scene color content and light information to accurately track the subject.
Intelligent features for sophisticated performance
The D700 relies on a wealth of innovative Nikon technologies to help photographers create superb images. Nikon’s Scene Recognition System analyzes information from the 1,005-pixel RGB light sensor for use in auto exposure, auto white balance and autofocus calculations. The Scene Recognition System also assists autofocus by tracking subject position and automatically shifts the AF points used to match the subject’s movement within the frame. This system also contributes to higher accuracy of auto exposure and auto white balance detection, resulting in sharp landscapes, flattering portraits and engaging action shots.
Photographers also have the option to enhance their pictures during or after capture with the Picture Control System and Active D-Lighting. Nikon’s Picture Control System enables users to adjust their images to pre-set parameters such as Standard, Neutral, Vivid and Monochrome that apply tweaks to image sharpening, tone compensation, brightness, overall tone and saturation. D-Lighting uses localized tone control technology to further optimize highlight and shadow detail while also maintaining natural contrast, giving photographers the ability to capture more perfectly exposed images, even in unusual lighting conditions. Active D-Lighting lets photographers choose from various intensities during capture, while a new Automatic mode also applies varying levels of D-Lighting as, and when needed, to enhance photos while shooting.
Enhanced Live View modes and viewfinder
Ideal for studio, remote applications and more, Nikon’s Live View allows the photographer to compose the subject on the bright three-inch, TFT LCD monitor. In Handheld mode, the user is able to recompose the frame prior to actual shooting; familiar TTL phase-detection AF is activated, using all 51 AF points. Tripod mode is designed for precise focus accuracy with still subjects and tripod stabilization. It enables focal-plane contrast-detect AF on a desired point within a specific area. Remote view, focusing and shooting can also be controlled from a PC (via connection or wireless) using the optional Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 software. Additionally, the Virtual Horizon feature on the D700 can now be superimposed over the Live View monitor image to aid composition.
While using Live View to compose or review images and settings, users will appreciate the ultra-high resolution 920,000-dot VGA, three-inch TFT LCD monitor with tempered glass that provides a wide 170-degree viewing angle. The large monitor is remarkably effective when confirming the focus with enlarged playback images. The camera also outputs a video signal to an HD television using the new smaller HDMI-C standard, which is an excellent solution for workshop demonstrations or shooting tethered for clients.
Photographers will also be able to compose images easily using the wide and bright viewfinder that features an eye-level pentaprism with high refraction index and provides a 95 percent frame coverage with 0.72x magnification. Each of the 51 AF points, as well as a framing grid, can also be superimposed on the finder screen to suit the photographer’s personal preferences.
Rugged construction and durability
High-strength magnesium alloy is used for the construction of the camera body, rear body and mirror box to create a precision platform, reduce weight and provide rugged durability. The camera is tested to stand up to the rigors of the globetrotting photographer and is weather sealed using precision O-rings where connections are made to effectively combat dust and moisture.
The shutter unit employs an assembly made of a new composite carbon fiber and Kevlar hybrid material. Tested on fully assembled cameras, the D700’s shutter unit has been proven through 150,000 cycles under demanding conditions. The self-diagnostic shutter constantly monitors and maintains shutter precision to ensure peak performance.
Price and availability
The new FX-format Nikon D700 D-SLR camera will be available late July 2008, and will have an estimated selling price of $2,999.95 (body only).*
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.
For J.D. Power and Associates award information go to jdpower.com * Estimated selling price listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.
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