News

Nikon Launches New ‘Behind the Scenes’ Instructional Video Series

Nikon USA has just joined the Google+ community, and eager as they are to make a positive impression and not seem like they're arriving empty-handed, the company has simultaneously debuted a new 15-part instructional video series for beginners on up who like their educational content with a side of Nikon advertising.

Nikon D4s Beats Canon’s 1D X in DxOMark Tests, Falls Short of the Df in Low Light

The Nikon D4s is only a marginal improvement on the D4, but that didn't stop Nikon from touting it as significantly better in low light and faster to boot. The question is, do those claims hold up when you put the camera through its paces?

Well, the DxOMark team did just that, and the results may or may not surprise you depending on how much stock you put in press release boasting.

Apple Adds Auto HDR to iOS 7.1… If You Have an iPhone 5S

Apple introduced Hight Dynamic Range (HDR) capability into the iPhone all the way back in iOS 4.1, but until today that feature was either set to on or off. All of that changes with the addition of Auto HDR in iOS 7.1... at least for iPhone 5S owners.

Cambridge Looks to Save ‘Lost’ Negatives from Antarctic Expedition

Led by Captain Robert Scott, a team of scientists and their journey photographer, Herbert Ponting, made a polar expedition to Antarctica in 1911. Currently, The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge (a sub-division of Cambridge) holds all of Ponting's resulting negatives from this journey, as well as a collection of photographic work from the other scientists along for the exploration.

There is still, however, a piece (or pieces, rather) of the collection missing. That piece includes 113 'lost' images taken by expedition leader Captain Scott, with a little bit of camera help from Ponting.

NASA Shares Gorgeous Gallery of Cosmic Imagery Ahead of Cosmos Premier

Tonight, at 9pm EST, more than 70 nations will broadcast the first episode in the 13-part remake of the show Cosmos. It will be the biggest launch ever for a global TV series.

But before Neil deGrasse Tyson takes over for the iconic Carl Sagan, explaining and enchanting a whole new generation by sharing the wonders of the our universe, NASA wants to get you excited in its own way.

Just like the agency did ahead of the Oscars, the NASA Goddard Photo and Video Flickr account has just uploaded a stunning set of 43 images that will hopefully inspire a bit of awe and get you that much more excited for tonight's premier.

Malware Disguised as Night Vision Camera App Empties Your Wallet

With 98% of mobile malware being directed towards the Android operating system, it's no surprise that the Google Play Store contains more than a few insidious applications that intend to do you harm.

The most recent of these to make headlines is an app uncovered by AVAST, which hides behind the thin facade of a night vision camera app and does its best to empty out your wallet.

Brooklyn Photographer Makes $15,000 in a Single Day Selling Prints on Instagram

Still think Instagram isn't for you? If you're a professional photographer, you might want to reconsider, because there's some serious marketing potential there among the poorly exposed sunset pics and photos of cats lounging in strange places.

Brooklyn-based photographer Daniel Arnold all but proved this a couple of days ago when he made over $15,000 selling prints over Instagram in a single day.

Getty Images-Owned iStock Jumping Into Subscription-Based Licensing

The past few days seem to be filling up with more and more stock photography drama. From the announcement of Getty's new embedding tool to 500px Prime's change in payment, things keep getting more and more confusing. Well, to add to this confusion, we have yet another piece of news, this time from iStock... a company owned by none other than Getty.

500px Prime Goes Live, Will Offer Photogs 70% Off the Top Instead of 30%

When 500px announced that it was introducing its own photo licensing feature, 500px Prime, the company received a lot of backlash from photographers who thought a 30% cut was far too little.

Well, it looks like 500px was listening. Because Prime went live yesterday with a significantly more favorable payment breakdown.

Getty Embed Tool Already Subverted: You Can Crop Out the Credit Line

Update: It looks like it's already been fixed. Kudos to Getty for the quick response.

Getty's embed tool has been live for less than 24 hours and ALREADY somebody has figured out how it can be taken advantage of. It turns out that all it takes is some extremely simple code to remove attribution entirely.

Getty’s New Embed Tool Makes Millions of Photos Free to Use Non-Commercially

Last night, Getty Images made a huge announcement that could forever change the way high quality images are shared on the Internet. Like Flickr before it, Getty is introducing an embed feature, essentially creating an "easy, legal, and free" way for people to share the majority of the agency's images in a non-commercial context.

Hunger Games & Jurassic World Decide to Go Analog in Increasingly Digital Industry

At a time when digital production workflows are becoming more and more ubiquitous within Hollywood, the news of a director utilizing an analogue workflow on a big production always seems to strike a chord with those who appreciate the aesthetic and feel of film.

Thankfully, for those of you who do enjoy such news (myself included), two major directors are choosing film over even the highest-of-res digital for their upcoming (and already released) blockbusters.

Photographer Takes to GoFundMe to Raise Money for a New D4s, Sparks Outrage

Is it okay for a professional photographer to try and crowdfund a new camera? It seems like the answer to that is No, if you go by the response to pro wedding photographer Stephen Yanni's recent GoFundMe campaign. A campaign that raised no money, but a whole lot of outrage, before being ultimately pulled.

Wildlife Camera Captures Cougar Cubs and Their Mom Feeding on a Deer

A couple of weeks ago, one of the National Park Service's remote cameras struck gold. Installed to check up on some cubs the park hadn't seen since tagging them at 3 weeks old, the camera did one heck of a job and returned over 350 high-quality images of the two cubs and their momma feeding on a deer carcass over two days in Malibu Creek State Park.

Fuji UK Will Now Let You Customize Your X-Series Cameras with Different ‘Skins’

Fuji's retro-styled X-Series camera's aren't known for their customizability. In fact, it took a whole separate announcement for Fuji to release a black version of the X100s.

But now, users in the UK can go way beyond that with select models thanks to a Fujifilm X Signature program that will let you wrap your beautiful shooter in any number of different colored leatherettes.

RED Epic Dragon Outstrips the D800E in DxOMark Tests, Breaks 100-Point Barrier

Until today, the Nikon D800E stood at the top of the DxOMark totem pole with an amazing sensor score of 96. But the champion has been unseated, and not by some Canon or Nikon full-frame camera or one of the impressive new APS-C shooters we've seen recently. No, the D800E has been decidedly put out of first place by the RED Epic Dragon video camera.

Fujifilm Discontinues Neopan 400 PRESTO 35mm and Fujicolor PRO 400 120 Film

Queue up Queen's Another One Bites the Dust, because it's time to mourn the loss of two more analog films. Despite talk that certain segments of the analog market are doing well, specific types of film that are having a hard time selling continue to kick the bucket.

The most recent of these are Fujifilm's Neopan 400 PRESTO 35mm black-and-white and Fujicolor PRO 400 120 color film.

Ellen Oscar Selfie Officially Most Retweeted Photo Ever, 2.5 Million and Counting

Last night, thanks to a little star-studded tweeting, Ellen DeGeneres managed to break Twitter with a selfie... a selfie that has gone on to break the previous photo retweet record three times over, proving once and for all that all you need for a good photo these days is a smartphone and some of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Pardon me, did I say good? I meant popular.

Australian Photographer in Hot Water After Threat-Filled Facebook Tirade

Update: Mr. Hamilton has gotten in touch with us to tell his side of the story, filling in some of the missing pieces that help explain his actions. Read the full update at the bottom.

Think before you post. This should be the message greeting all of us when we open up our social network of choice. Before we get a chance to do anything else, a big bold ALL CAPS message reminding us that our social media comments have consequences should appear front and center.

Maybe if they had, Australian photographer Mark Hamilton wouldn't be embarrassed, apologizing for a Facebook tirade in which he threatened to release racy photos of a model because she had 'liked' a post that insulted him.

Sigma 50mm DG HSM Art Lens Tested, See How it Stacks Up Against the Otus

Sigma made quite a splash at CES this year when the company not only announced that a 50mm f/1.4 lens would be added to its superb Art series, but claimed that this lens would be so good that its competition wouldn't be Nikon or Canon, but the indisputably exceptional $4,000 ZEISS Otus.

Well, thanks to the website Xitek and their recently posted lens test results, we finally get to see if the 50mm's bite measures up to its bark.

Adobe is Resetting Free Trials for Creative Cloud, Try It for Another 30 Days Free

According to Lifehacker, Adobe is currently sending out emails to notify users that they are resetting everybody's Creative Cloud 30-day free trial. If you've not given the newest versions of the software a chance and you're not one of the people who is dead set against it, now is a great time to see if what you're missing is worth jumping into the subscription model.

Lice Expert Says Selfies are Causing a Big Increase in Lice Among Teens

"Selfies are fun," California lice expert Marcy McQuillan recently told the SFist, "but the consequences are real." What consequences, you ask? Well, as you might have already guessed given McQuillan's occupation, the consequences she is referring to are head lice. Namely, a lot more head lice among teenagers.

SanDisk Announces Huge Capacity 128GB microSD Card

Yesterday, SanDisk unveiled the newest addition to its Secure Digital memory card lineup: a 128GB microSDXC card that effectively doubles the storage capabilities of the current generation of cards.

And while the practicality of that much storage on a microSD card isn't overly exciting for most photographers, there are certainly some scenarios where this will be beneficial.

Law Firms Lining Up to File Class Action Lawsuits Over the D600 Dust/Oil Issue

Just over a week ago, we reported on the news that a US law firm was collecting information from disgruntled Nikon D600 users for a potential class action lawsuit. Well, it turns out they're actually late to the game. Three days after that story broke, a few other law firms actually filed a class action suit against the Japanese camera giant.