New Look to Flickr

Big changes to Flickr today. A new look and increased storage space – a terabyte to be exact . Users can now upload as many photos and videos as they’d like to their 1TB of storage, including photos of up to 200MB and videos of up to 1GB (and 3 minutes in length). Photographs can be stored at full resolution and in their original quality.

If you’re a Flickr user, check out the new design of your page. You can even choose a  customized banner photo. If you’re not a Flickr user, check out our Camera West Flickr site and see how we look.

June Photo Walk : Night Photography at Blackhawk Plaza

Join Michael on this photo walk to Blackhawk Plaza, the East Bay’s premier shopping and dining destination…and also a great shooting location. This plaza features an aquatic landscaped courtyard full of reflecting pools, waterfalls and whimsical sculptures, making it a fun photographer’s playground which will certainly challenge your creativity.

We will start at dusk and learn how to make waterfalls and moving water look silky smooth. You will learn how shutter speed, aperture and ISO are all related and how to use all three effectively to improve your photos. Once it gets dark, we will continue to shoot under the lights of the courtyard, shooting long exposures with cameras on tripods. This photo walk is tailor made for the novice shooter – although photographers of all abilities are invited to attend.

This photo walk will be limited to no more than 12 photographers so be sure to sign up early before it fills.

Thursday, June 27

7:30 PM

Cost : $25.00

Call or email Michael at Camera West in Walnut Creek for more info or to sign up.

michael@camerawest.com

925-935-1424

 

New Zeiss Touit Lenses

Lens maker Carl Zeiss showed off two new prime lenses for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X mirrorless compact system cameras at a press event in New York City trecently. The 12mm f/2.8 and 32mm f/1.8 are the first models in a new line of autofocus CSC lenses that Zeiss has named after a small Brazilian parrot, the touit. Optimized to work with the Sony and Fuji APS-C-sensor-based CSCs, the two lenses offer fields of view that are roughly equivalent to those of 18mm and 49mm lenses on a 35mm or full-frame digital camera. Both optics feature the company’s T* antireflective coating.

Both new Touit lenses will be available by early June. The 12mm f/2.8 will carry a list price of $1,250, while the 32mm f/1.8 will sell for $900. Zeiss also plans to add a 50mm f/2.8 macro lens to the Touit line in late 2013.

 

New Canon 200-400mm F4 IS

After much speculation, Canon has officially announced the new 200-400mm f/4 IS
1.4x. The lens was first introduced back in February 2011. It wasn’t a launch, though,
but rather an “in development” announcement in which Canon officially informs the
world of a future product that’s being developed.
Designed to satisfy the discriminating needs of sports and wildlife photographers,
the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X is a high-performance super
telephoto zoom lens with an optically matched built-in 1.4x extender for maximum
versatility. With a simple flick of a switch, the zoom range can be quickly increased
to 280-560mm (f/5.6) on a full frame body.

Features :

* Built-in 1.4x extender, for extra magnification when you need it
* Shoot in low light with four-stop Image Stabilizer
* High image quality using Fluorite lens elements
* Fast AF with USM technology
* Robust design for use in the toughest environments

The new Canon 200-400mm f/4L IS 1.4x will be available towards the end of May, with a price tag of $11,799.

New Retro Looking Olympus

Olympus today announced a retro looking addition to its PEN lineup.

Designed with a modern twist to the original PEN F, fans of the Olympus PEN family of cameras now have the PEN E-P5. The flagship PEN body that delivers a portable, premium quality experience. The E-P5 is packed with the latest innovations Olympus technology has to offer including 1/8000s Shutter Speed, 5-Axis Image Stabilization, “F.A.S.T” AF Speed, Built-In Wi-Fi capability*, 2×2 dial control and more.

Features :

  • 16MP MOS Four Thirds sensor
  • Dual top plate control dials with a “2×2″ function changing option
  • 1/8000 sec top shutter speed (first in a mirrorless body) and 1/320 sec flash sync
  • ’5-axis’ image stabilization with automatic panning detection
  • ISO 100-25600
  • Up to 9fps shooting (5.0 fps with continuous AF)
  • Focus ‘peaking’ display for manual focus lenses
  • Intervalometer and Time Lapse movie creation
  • 1.04m dot 3″ LCD touchscreen display
  • Built-in Wi-Fi for remote shooting and image transfer to smartphone or tablet

The Olympus PEN E-P5 will be available later this month in the following configurations : Body only, available in Black, Silver or White, $999.99
Black or Silver body with black M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 lens and VF-4 Electronic Viewfinder lens, $1449.99