Cameras

Hewlett-Packard and Samsung Electronics will now ensure that their PCs in China are installed with licensed Windows and Office software as part of new agreements signed with Microsoft meant to fight piracy.Microsoft announced the agreements Wednesday as the company brought its latest anti-piracy campaign to the Chinese city of Nanjing. Since December, Microsoft's "Keep it Real" campaign has been educating the Chinese public on security risks of using unlicensed Windows software. In addition, the U.S. software giant has been warning dozens of PC resellers in China to stop dealing in pirated copies of its software products.Wednesday's agreements call for the two companies to also require their direct channel partners to promote genuine Microsoft software.In March, Microsoft signed a similar agreement with Lenovo, China's largest PC maker. At the time, Microsoft said the deal would help limit and prevent PCs, moving "downstream" through China's channels, from being installed with pirated versions of Windows.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

You adore your laptop. It lets you get down to business wherever you happen to be—airport lounge, coffee shop, your home office. It’s the key to your competitive edge. That is, until its battery croaks. Just as you’re putting the final details on your PowerPoint presentation. At the airport. Two hours before takeoff. And with no power outlet in sight. At that instant, you begin to wonder why you ever bought the ever-lovin’ boat anchor in the first place. But love will bloom anew as soon as you recharge. Avoid the heartache, however temporary: Follow these five tips for maximizing your laptop’s run time. Never miss an opportunity to plug your laptop into an AC outlet to top off its battery. 1. Plug in whenever possible One surefire way to ensure that your laptop is always ready for action is to plug it into an AC outlet whenever possible. Keeping the machine fully charged makes it far more likely that you will always have the juice you need to complete your work. Purchase at least one extra AC adapter, so you’ll always have one in your office and one in your laptop bag for travel. If you work at home frequently, consider buying a third adapter to leave there. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intelligent Imaging Solutions has released piccure, billed as “the first fully automated software tool to correct camera shake.” Read more and comment »

Canon's current range of DSLRs is split into three distinct categories, aimed at beginners, enthusiasts and professionals.The range stretches as far back as September 2009, with the advent of the ground-breaking Canon EOS 7D. This camera still reigns supreme in the upper echelons of cameras based on APS-C (Advanced Photo System - Classic) format image sensors. Meanwhile, the fiercely contested beginners sector sees the introduction of Canon's two newest models, the Canon EOS 100D and Canon EOS 700D. Even so, old stalwarts in this category are still in production, namely the Canon EOS 1100D and Canon EOS 600D.Competing with the Canon EOS 7D in the enthusiast sector, the Canon EOS 60D continues to tempt advanced photographers who want to stick with the APS-C format; there's something to be said for doing this, especially if you have a large collection of Canon EF-S or independently manufactured 'short focus' lenses from the likes of Sigma and Tamron, which can't be used with Canon full-frame DSLRs.Older cameras, such as the Canon 1100D and Canon 600D, can offer significant savings over their newly launched counterparts - the new entry-level Canon 100D is currently almost as expensive as the nearly three-year-old enthusiast Canon 60D, for example - so it's interesting to see just how much better the latest models really are, and what they offer in extra features. However the prices of new cameras generally drop quite a bit after they've been on sale for a few months, making them more attractive.One of the biggest decisions is whether to upgrade to a full-frame camera. With their physically larger sensors, equal in size to a frame of 35mm film, you can get a tighter depth of field for blurring the background, and you can use Canon's superior L-series (luxury) lenses as they were intended, without having to take the crop factor (or focal length multiplier) of APS-C based cameras into account. The Canon EOS 5D Mk III is the class leader here, with the newer Canon EOS 6D being a more budget-conscious full-frame body. For this feature we haven't stretched to the massively expensive Canon EOS 1DX and Canon EOS 1D C, as their enormous price tags put them into a completely different league. The most expensive camera here currently sells for around £2,335/US$3,300/AU$3,300, which is less than half the price of the 1DX and less than a third of the 1D C's price. All the market prices quoted here are for a body only, and are correct at the time of publishing.Read on to choose the perfect Canon SLR for you.Canon EOS 1100D/Rebel T3 - £270/US$340/AU$370Launched in early 2011 as a successor to the 1000D, the 1100D raised the game for entry-level Canon DSLRs, ushering in video shooting, a higher resolution image sensor, a later generation Digic 4 image processor capable of producing 14-bit colour depth raw files, and a larger LCD. The 1100D even boasts iFCL (intelligent Focus Colour Luminance) metering, first introduced on the 7D.However, the camera has been on sale for a long time, and the features and specifications that made the 1100D look so impressive for a beginner's DSLR back then now seem rather pedestrian. Sure, you get video shooting, but it's only 720p, whereas all other current Canon DSLRs deliver Full HD 1080p video. Similarly, with all the other EOS DSLRs offering at least 18MP image sensors, its 12.2MP sensor is lacking in resolution. And while the LCD is bigger than that on the 1000D, it's only a 2.7-inch screen with a low resolution.Another improvement over the 1000D is that, as on the 100D and 600D, there's a nine-point autofocus system, with one cross-type point at the centre - this resolves detail in both the horizontal and vertical planes, enabling greater accuracy, especially with targets that are tricky to lock on to. However, the centre AF points on the 100D and 600D enable greater sensitivity when used with lenses that have an aperture of f/2.8 or wider, whereas the 1100D is limited to f/5.6; in practical terms, it strugg

The major update to Adobe Creative Cloud which was announced at Adobe MAX, is now available. Read more and comment »

Nikon has teamed up with British designer J.W. Anderson to create a luxury leather camera bag made for the Nikon 1 camera system. Read more and comment »

Bits&Coffee has released PhotoMarks, a watermarking solution for Mac, Windows and iOS. Read more and comment »

Arca-Swiss has launched its new Monoball Z1g+ tripod head. Read more and comment »

There’s something to be said about humans building gargantuan structures made of metal and steel. We see them in most major cities, yet rarely get the opportunity to marvel at how they’re assembled. Thankfully, we have photographers Dan Lowe and Paul Raftery to bring us amazing high-definition time lapse videos of some of these massive creations. They’ve done one of London’s iconic Shard building, and now the duo are working on a time lapse of The Leadenhall Building (also in London) — which is also known as the “Cheesegrater,” given its triangular shape. The piece was commissioned by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, the architects behind the building. Given that the building of The Leadenhall Building isn’t quite finished, this time lapse video is still very much considered a work-in-progress. So far, the video covers the first 6 months of this year-long project to document the assembly of this tower. Beautiful visuals. Crisp and clear high-definition goodness. What more could you ask for? It certainly goes to show just how many amazing things one can do with a camera. It’s probably safe to say we can be on the lookout for the second part of this time lapse later this year. (via Vimeo via Gizmodo)

Adorama has a great Canon Rebel T3i Bundle available for $597.00 with free shipping and 2% Rewards after $400.00 mail-in rebate. Bundle IncludesCanon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR CameraCanon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II LensCanon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II IS LensCanon PIXMA PRO-100 Professional Photo Inkjet PrinterCanon Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, 13x19", 50 SheetsLexar 16GB Platinum II Series SDHC Memory CardCanon SLR Gadget BagDirections:Go to the T3i + 18-55 Lens pageClick on the link under Buy Together and Save headingClick radio button beside the Canon EF-S 55-250mm Lens with the printer paper right below it (you'll have to scroll down a ways)Click "Add to Cart" buttonYour cart total will be $997.00. Claim the $400.00 mail-in rebate to get everything for a final price of $597.00.