News / Other Product News

Facebook has announced a free app called Camera that focuses on viewing and sharing photos. Instead of showing what your friends are doing and thinking, it just dives straight to their photo galleries. The app also allows you to share multiple photos at a time, including descriptions and tagging. There are also tools for cropping and applying filters to your images. The app allows Facebook to be used in a much more Instagram-like manner (and it seems too soon for this to be a product of the Facebook buyout). Updated with first impressions.

Fujifilm has officially unveiled its promised adapter to allow the use of Leica M-mount lenses on the X-Pro1. Unlike third-party versions, the adapter has electronic contacts for communication with the camera body, and a Function button that allows quick setting of the lens in use. To make full use of the adapter, a firmware update for the X-Pro1 (version 1.10) will be made available in June 2012. This will allow the user to create up to six lens profiles to correct distortion, vignetting and corner colour shading (in a similar manner to the Ricoh GXR Mount A12). The camera can show framelines in its unique hybrid viewfinder for 21mm, 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm lenses; for other focal lengths the electronic viewfinder or rear screen will show a preview with 100% coverage of the field of view.

Accessory maker NEX-Proshop has launched its ISO hotshoe adapter for Sony's NEX series of mirrorless cameras. The adapter screws into the NEX accessory port and adds a standard hotshoe and PC-Sync socket. It is designed for use with radio flash triggers (as the NEX accessory port is not designed to support a full-size flashgun), allowing much more flexible flash use with the NEX cameras. The adapter is available now for a cost of $79.99.

Apple has issued Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.13, adding compatibility for six extra cameras, allowing their Raw files to be opened by software on the Mac, including Aperture and iPhoto. The latest update brings support for the Canon EOS-1D X, Nikon D800E, Nikon D3200, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5 and Sony SLT-A57. The update means Apple is the first major software maker to support some of these models.

DxO Labs has updated DxO Optics Pro to v7.5, which now runs natively as a 64-bit application for both Mac and Windows. The latest version can handle larger images than previous versions - the 200 megapixel limit means the addition of D800 support prove no challenge. 60 of the extra 200 lens/camera profiles are for the Nikon. The latest version is available for free to existing DxO Optics Pro v7 users, with a 33% discount available for new customers until June 30th.

Fujifilm has announced the WCL-X100 wide-angle adapter lens for its X100 large sensor, fixed-lens compact. The 0.8x adapter extends the camera's 35mm equivalent field of view out to 28mm equivalent. It is designed to match the X100 in terms of both appearance and quality, sharing the camera's Fujifilm's Super EBC coating and made-in-Japan construction. The WCl-X100 will be available from June at a price of around $350. To enable use of the converter, the company has also issued firmware v1.30 which adds a function for its use as well as fixing two minor operational bugs.

Adobe has confirmed that it will fix the security problems with Photoshop and other CS5.x packages, having originally suggested that a paid upgrade to CS6 was the only solution. The security concerns, raised by the company on May 8th, were rated as 'critical,' meaning it could 'allow malicious native-code to execute, potentially without a user being aware.' Despite this, the original solution raised in the company security bulletin was to upgrade to CS6, leaving CS5.x users vulnerable. The bulletin has now been updated.

Adobe has announced a release candidate version of Adobe Camera Raw 7.1 and DNG Converter 7.1. The latest near-release version of the Raw processing plugin only works with Photoshop CS6 and brings support for the same 21 cameras that were added to Camera Raw 6.7 in the most recent update. This includes the Nikon D800m Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Olympus OM-D E-M5 and the most recent releases from Samsung.

Novoflex has announced a range of mount adapters for the Fujifilm X-Pro1's X mount. The adapters allow the use of a wide range of non-XF lenses with the 16MP mirrorless camera. The range supports a broad cross-section of current and legacy lenses, including Canon FD, Nikon, Contax, Olympus OM and Minolta MD and AF mounts. There is also an adapter to allow use of Leica M-mount lenses, if you can't wait for the one Fujifilm said it is developing. The adapters will be available from the end of May 2012 at prices range from around €89 to €169, depending on the complexity of the adapter (there are also adapters for medium-format lenses that can cost as much as €350). (via Photoscala)

Accessory maker LockCircle has announced it will offer its 'LockPort' durable HDMI socket bracket for the Nikon D800. The LockPort800 combines a mounting plate that secures to the base of the camera with a miniHDMI-to-standard HDMI adapter that bolts onto it. This provides an easy-access full-size HDMI connector while also protecting your camera's miniHDMI socket from damage. The mounting plate is designed so that the camera can still be used with other mounts, tripod plates and accessories, in tandem with the LockPort. The LockPort800 will be available from June 2012 at a cost of $199/€99.

Bag maker Think Tank has announced an update to its Airport series of camera bags. Designed to meet the restrictions imposed by airlines on carry-on luggage, the series includes a model designed for international flight as well as smaller versions for space-limited short-haul flying. The three bags are all designed with room for an iPad and increasingly large laptops, and give clear indications of the camera bodies and lenses they will accommodate. All three come with a seam-sealed rain covers.

Adobe has released the finalized version of Adobe Camera Raw v6.7, the last update that will work with Photoshop CS5. The final version include support for Canon's EOS 5D Mark III, Nikon's D800 and the Olympus E-M5, as part of a list of 21 cameras added. The update includes the most recent NX cameras from Samsung as well as coverage for a range of Fujifilm models. No support is yet included for the Fujifilm X-Pro1, however.

Software maker Visual Supply Co has created the VSCO Cam iOS camera app, to go alongside its 'VSCO Film' film simulation software. The $0.99 app works with both iPhone and iPad cameras, offering ten filters and a series of simple editing tools, including Grain, Fade, Contrast and Fill Light. It also makes it easy to share the images via social networks. Unusually, the app applies its filters to the pre-compression camera output. The company's blog features a selection of images taken on the launch day of the app, to give a taste of what its users can do.

DxO Labs has updated DxO Optics Pro to v7.2.3, adding support for the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and Pentax's K-01. The latest version includes 70 camera and lens combination modules for the 5D III and 26 for the Pentax K-mount mirrorless camera. As usual, a 30-day free trial of the software is available.

Slovakian startup 84.5mm has announced it range of filters for photography and cinematography. The company's name is a reference to the size of its filters, which are designed to be compatible with Cokin's 'P' filter holders. Initially 84.5mm will offer a series of predominantly handmade ND Grads and colored filters, made from CR-39 (often called 'organic glass').

Triggertrap has announced a mobile app that converts your iPhone into a highly-configurable remote release for your camera. It works in concert with two hardware components, a 'Mobile Dongle' that connects to the phone plus a suitable camera cable, to offer a wide range of methods to release the shutter. These include timelapse, distance lapse (based upon the phone's GPS), face recognition, and sound, motion, and shock detectors. It can also control High Dynamic Range bracketing up to 19 exposures. A free trial version of the app is available for evaluation purposes. The full app and Mobile Dongle each cost $9.99, and are available now from the iTune App Store and Triggertrap web shop respectively.

Adobe has released a second Release Candidate version of Lightroom 4.1, its Raw conversion and asset management software. The latest version adds support for 13 additional cameras, including the Nikon D3200, Olympus E-M5, Pentax K-01, Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm and the three latest Samsung NXs. Interestingly, it also adds an improved 'defringe' option to reduce axial chromatic aberrations. A series of blog posts by Adobe explains the latest changes.

Nikon has announced a voluntary replacement scheme for a sub-standard batch of batteries for its 1 V1, D7000, D800 and D800E cameras. EN-EL15 batteries with an E or F as the 9th character of their serial numbers are at risk of overheating and becoming distorted, though the company says no customers have yet reported the problem. Nikon says it will replace any battery from the affected batch (which only became available after February 29th 2012).

Adobe has announced Photoshop CS6 and CS6 Extended as part of its latest suite of creative packages. The latest version includes all the features seen in the recent public beta, including a content-aware move, video editing, the blur gallery and Adobe Camera Raw 7, which features a revised series of controls. More than ever Adobe is pushing its subscription option and Internet-based Creative Cloud service. Prices range from $999/£794 ex VAT to buy Photoshop CS6 Extended down to $19.99/£14.29 ex VAT per month for an annual subscription of the basic version.

App developer Jag.gr has launched 645 PRO, a flexible photography and processing app that provides access to the lossless output of the iPhone's camera. The company grabs the processed camera output before the phone compresses it, and saves it as a TIFF file. These files, which it slightly optimistically calls 'Developed Raw,' can then be accessed via iTunes. The app also offers a series of features such as spot metering and exposure, focus and white balance lock, as well as a series of film simulation options and aspect ratio options, but it's the uncompressed output that is, as far as we are aware, unique.