We know you’ve been hearing about this new entry from Nikon. Shoot HD video with the DSLR in your hands.
Seems like a great idea.
But we’ll let you know once we shoot some real video with it. Looks great in person, though. And seems easy enough.

At the end of the day though, this is a pretty amazing camera at a right price for the enthusiast or advanced amateur. Taking elements from the current top of the line pro models, the processor is giving you some of the cleanest digital files you’ve seen. Now that’s important.

Here, Lindsay Silverman, Senior Technical Manager at Nikon, gives you a tour of the D90 camera:

Yep, Canon did come out with a DSLR shooting HD video, with some additional features. Also a price difference of about $1700. USD.
Still, you really have to look at these 2 cameras as the still cameras they are. The Canon video will be posted tomorrow.

Cool first gen HD video, no question, but we’ll be seeing huge leaps in this area, so keep an eye out.

More videos coming as we cook em.
Order up!

Last week at PhotoPlus Expo in NYC we caught up with the companies putting out some of the best new products for your photographic life. Each day we’ll be bringing you more vids, to show you the gear up close and help you make your buying decisions.
Now we didn’t get to everyone, but honestly, we won’t show you the stuff that we think didn’t quite cut it. Sometimes a concept is great, but the product in person isn’t quite the same. Hopefully we can act as your eyes as we hit these shows and bring you closer to gear you’re thinking about.

Now from Boda, we have seen and used this lens bag, and the design is flawless. They spoke with enough shooters to see what they needed, and made sure it was incorporated into the design.

Now remember, this bag is to be used while working. not really a transporting bag. But when you are on the job shooting events, wedding, or any gig where you need access to your gear fast, this is the one.

These folks have chosen a very specific niche, and are owning it.

Coming up will be more gear, including vids from Nikon, Canon,Leica, ThinkTank, Epson, HP and more.

So in our further testing, here is another version of our vids, this time in Flash (you should all be using that in some form at this point).
What do you think?
Leave a comment, if you will, and the content will be adjusted according to the majority.

Celebrity photographer Olaf Heine, spoke to us about his first book “Leaving the Comfort Zone” available in the US Nov. 2008, and what that title really means to him.
We caught up with him at the Verve Gallery in Los Angeles, where he’ll have an exhibit of some of the selected images.
Have a listen to this impassioned photographer and take a look at some of his photographs.
We are sure that Olaf Heine’s comments will resonate with many of you, and perhaps, make you re-examine your own work.
See the exhibit at:
Verve Gallery
156 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 937-0325
He is also represented by Moo Studios.

We have decided to post on YouTube after you, our regulars have had a chance to see these vids. Of course the best quality will still live on our video page.
Lots more will be coming in the next few days, including some real world looks at new gear from PhotoPlus Expo, which just ended in NYC.

One thing that we have been seeing lately is a shake-out of digital photographic services. Not that the rest of the global economy is in fine shape either, but truly, the strong survive. We met with some of them at PhotoPlus Expo and we’ll bring that report to later this week.

Another stock/archive/selling service for photographers has folded their tents rather fast: Digital Railroad. Keeping our overhead low, seems to be the key today. These folks were way out in the public, as their clients (you!) would want them to be. Guess the business plan couldn’t survive the downturn.
If there is a lesson here it’s this: Just remember to ALWAYS have your work backed up, and ready to move. It’s cheap insurance to buy a hard drive to just archive your files and put it away.

Please read the following from SAA:
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Photographers with Digital Railroad Archives need to take immediate action.
SAA is following up on behalf of photographers.

“Oct. 30, 2008. Digital Railroad operations are now shut down, and awareness is building among photographers and archive owners that the site could go offline at any time. Yesterday, the DRR system was so overloaded that outbound image transfer was disabled and then reinstated several times, adding to the frustration of photographers rushing to download image files, data and sales reports.

Today, Photoshelter issued a statement that they’d confirmed from Diablo Mangement, the company handling the liquidation process, their “intent to shut down the DRR site as early as 11:59PM, PST, on Friday October 31. After this point, it is very likely that all the images located on the Digital Railroad servers could be permanently inaccessible.”

SAA’s legal chair David Sanger has also been in communications with Diablo Management, as well as Western Technology, the bank which foreclosed on DRR and is the only secured creditor. SAA is appealing to both companies to take whatever steps are necessary to afford photographers a reasonable and reliable window for transfer of their files. We have also inquired about the possibility of access to the facility to make copies of the photographer images so that they could be subsequently redistributed back to their owners.

SAA will also continue to pursue the issues of pre-paid service fees and licensing fees due. Many photographers pre-paid over $500 for a year of service, in some cases as recently as last month.
We are also exploring what options there are for photographers in tracking down and getting paid for licenses. Licenses fall in to several categories.

A. Licenses invoiced by DRR and already paid by photo buyer.
B. Licenses invoiced by DRR and not yet paid by photo buyer.
C. Licenses not yet invoiced by DRR

It’s critical to get a copy of any pending DRR sales reports, including cut and paste of the sales detail pop-up window for every sale. This is essential because this provides all of the license and usage details. As soon as we have a recommended approach and some suggested language for photographers to use to follow up directly, we’ll post details. Also remember that until an invoice is paid, the photo buyer doesn’t actually have a copyright license to use your image.

Please pass this message along to any colleagues who have DRR archives.
We will also post updates to the SAA web site at http://www.stockartistsalliance.org/drr.”

SAA has asked for as much info to get out on this as fast as possible.The bolds are ours.

We wanted to get this out to those directly involved, and for your information.
Your work needs to be protected, and you are the best person to do it.
Apparently.

OK, some quick notes on a couple of must see exhibits, that close this week in NYC.
I know, I know, we try to talk about things you can access and see even if you are not physically present, and we’ll give you links. However, these 2 shows, especially the Pet Store are awesome in person.
The power of B&W photography as a social commentary medium, is used to it’s best advantage in this comprehensive exhibition of Josef Koudelka’s photographs made during the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Prague.

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The sheer size and layout of the show, set against a black wall background, are extremely potent.
[photopress:671_cover.jpg,full,alignright]A 30 year old Koudelka, returning from photographing his landmark series “Gypsies”,lived the invasion and covered it close-up.
One of the things that I kept coming back to in the show was the camera’s POV. How he was in the thick of the action and terror, and recording it all.
This one closes Oct. 30th at the Aperture Gallery in NYC. Check it out on-line and there is also a companion book, Invasion 68: Prague, available at a pretty good price right now, direct from Aperture.

Now this next exhibit isn’t photography, but has a TON of photo possibilities. We’ve been walking in NYC, shooting the Nikon P6000. The only way we can tell how good a camera is, is by actually using it in the most normal manner. So we slip it into the jacket and carry on.
The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill by Banksy is an actual storefront with animatronic creatures inhabiting the spaces.

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Where you would see a fluffy yellow chick, instead you are treated to chicken nuggets bobbing their …..heads?..in sauce.

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Or a hot dog, fully mustard-ed and prepped, dipping its end in a water dish.

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Perhaps a nice pair of fish sticks, swimming in the fish bowl is what you fancy.
Yum.(how do they stay crispy, we wonder?)
This interactive, in your face, extremely real, exhibit is open til Oct. 31st from 10:00AM til 12:00 PM daily.
89 7th Ave. South, by Bleeker.
The photographic point here is carrying a compact camera, with the high quality in glass, processor, reaction time, file size (RAW & JPEG) to capture your life whenever you want, without the bulk.
And the trusty Nikon was able to catch it all, beautifully. Many more drills to run through with it though.