Here’s what’s happening this week in the world of photography (What’s this? See the Editor’s note at bottom of this article):
Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH is revised
Leica announced a revised version of its popular Leica M wide-angle lens, the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. This lens has historically been considered one of the finest-quality lenses on the market. The new version has a floating element—the lens behind the aperture blades changes its position relative to the front of the lens during focusing. The result? Better close-focus image quality. In addition, the optical design has been tweaked for better performance on the M9, although Leica says it will still deliver class-leading quality on film cameras. It will be available in July for just under five grand.
“Real New York” photo contest
The New York Photo Festival has wrapped up, but not before Datacolor, makers of Spyder calibration systems, announced the “Real New York” photo contest. Photographers are invited to submit examples of their work that capture the essence of the Big Apple. Says Datacolor, “the submitted photographs should illustrate iconic images that speak what the real New York is through its sights, textures, spirit, and more” without being touristy. Submitted images will be pitted against each other and voters will choose which they like better in simple online voting. The winner will be announced at Photokina in September. Register and enter here.
Canon 5D Mark II is in the House
Didja catch the season finale of “House” last night? Notice anything different, visually? Yep, the entire ep was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, that trailblazing HD Video DSLR that’s being embraced by so many indie filmmakers and producers. And if you saw it and were watching carefully, you saw Canon’s extensive lens line strut its stuff. House, which depicts a Sherlock Holmes-type doctor (read: a brilliant problem-solver with serious substance abuse problems) played with a convincing American accent by British comedian/actor Hugh Laurie, is a major network TV series with high ratings, which makes this News with a capital N. Missed it? You can catch the entire episode, “Baggage,” which will soon be on Hulu.
Samsung Compact Gets Boingo Bundle
Samsung has announced that it will preload its top-line, Wi-Fi capable, touchscreen-operated point-and-shoot, the 14MP CL80, with Boingo software, which lets customers connect to the Internet via 125,000 Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots. For Samsung, it’s a way to get its camera users to share their pictures on Facebook and videos on YouTube and other social networks. Other Samsung cameras are expected to follow suit in the future.
Ricoh Updates GR, GXR Firmware
As the exclusive U.S. source for Ricoh cameras, we feel it’s our obligation to let you know whenever Ricoh announces firmware updates for its products no matter how great or small. In this case, the firmware updates involve the GR Digital III, Ricoh’s posh compact, and the revolutionary, modular GXR, and they’re fairly significant. Firmware updates for both models feature claimed noise reduction performance, including a new MAX setting, which processes and supresses noise with greater effort for better low-light performance. Ricoh has also split “incandescent” white balance into two settings, with Incandescent Lamp 2 giving a slightly redder hue while Incandescent 1 is a bit more neutral. The firmware will be available for download from Ricoh on May 19.
Editor’s note: is an Adorama News Desk experiment. Rather than simply reprinting press releases (as we’ve been doing for a while) we’re trying a summary of photography-related news that you may find interesting, amusing, and useful. And we want your feedback. What do you think of TWIP as a regular feature on the Adorama News Desk? Have any suggestions? Leave a comment and as always, thanks for watching!
