Canon M100 here in October

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The successor to the EOS M10 interchangeable lens camera is the EOS M100, designed to entice those looking to step up from smartphone photography. The camera sports a 24.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and the Canon DIGIC 7 processor, plus Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which enables high-speed focusing.

For details, check our companion site.

Canon updates macro flash

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The Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash can be adjusted and shifted depending on the direction the photographer would like to control. Detachable macro twin lites can be rotated up to 60 degrees, and features a maximum guide number of 85.3 ft (26 m).

The flash inherits the ease of use and operability of Canon’s latest Speedlite EX series flashes and increased brightness of the focusing lamp compared to previous Canon Macro-Twin Lites. There is also less noise produced from the charging of the lights.

The Canon Macro Twin-Lite MT-26EX-RT Flash is scheduled to be available November.

Nikon D850 here in September

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The Nikon D850 is a full-frame DSLR camera featuring a 45.7-megapixel back-side Illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor. The camera delivers what Nikon proudly says is “majestic” image quality, in both stills and full-frame 4K UHD video.

For more information, please click here – our companion site.

Anachronisms

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I just sent an email to the History channel, complaining about the first episode in “The Cars That Made America.” It wasn’t about the cars, it was about the cameras.

In one scene in particular, the actor playing Henry Ford is shown talking with members of the press, including several photographers. This was supposed to be somewhere around 1914-1918. Here’s a screencap of the scene:

The guy on the far right has a camera that is somewhat like a camera of that era, but I would suggest it’s actually several decades younger, a Speed Graphic circa 1950s, perhaps.

As for the other two photographers you can see, those sure look like 1950s or 1960s Kodak snapshot cameras, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and peg them in the ’30s. But even that’s iffy, because the cameras are sporting flashbulb reflectors. Flashbulbs didn’t make an appearance until the early ’30s, and the bulbs were big, not the small consumer-type flashbulbs you see used here, from the 1950s-60s. So I’m sticking with late ’50s/early ’60s cameras and flashes.

So, wrong. Just plain wrong.

Here’s what photographers of the era would have been using, taken near the White House in 1918:

If they were needing extra light, they used flash powder.

It ticks me off when art directors get such details wrong. It’s like watching TV and movie scenes of current times, and the news photographers are using one camera, with built-in flash. Okay, they’re making the movie on the cheap, but still, it’s wrong, and that brings the entire production into question.

Rant over.

Corel upgrades PaintShop Pro

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Corel has introduced PaintShop Pro 2018, described as “the complete photo editing and graphic design suite,” offering more speed, flexibility, and creativity. There’s a redesigned and customizable user interface said to be friendlier with high-resolution displays and pen and touch devices.

The software’s performance is claimed to be faster, and there are more than 125 pieces of new content including brushes, gradients, textures, and patterns.

Here’s what the software offers:

  • Dual workspace environment: Two new workspaces – Essentials and Complete.
  • Simplified, touch & pen-friendly interface.
  • Faster launch time & performance: PaintShop Pro 2018 is said to launch more than 50 percent faster than the previous version, while the software’s most popular tools now respond with near-instant results. Text wrapping is faster and depth of field adjustments can be achieved four times quicker than before.
  • Customizable toolbars.
  • Colour palettes, brushes & more creative content: Choose from a selection of complementary hues with 10 new Colour Palettes, apply artistic strokes with 30 new Brushes, and get creative with 30 new Gradients, 30 new Textures, and 15 new Patterns.

PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate, the comprehensive editing kit for photographers, delivers:

  • Painter Essentials 5: Photo-painting tools transform pictures into art. Or start sketching, drawing, and painting from scratch using Natural-Media brushes.
  • Perfectly Clear 3 SE: Restore details, colour, and other elements lost by your camera. Create a custom look with robust, time-saving presets that let you control multiple adjustments with just one click.
  • AfterShot 3: Corel says this rivals Adobe’s Creative Cloud photography subscription, only without the monthly fee — including, digital asset management, RAW conversion, and adjustment.

Also introduced is the Photo Video Bundle. This brings together PaintShop Pro 2018 and VideoStudio Pro X10 for a complete photo, design, and video editing package.

PaintShop Pro 2018 and PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate are available in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese. Suggested retail pricing (SRP) for PaintShop Pro 2018 is $79.99. SRP for PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate is $99.99. SRP for PaintShop Pro 2018 and Video Studio X10 bundle is $159.99. Upgrade pricing is available to registered users of all previous versions of PaintShop Pro.