News for week of March 24 - April 1

Hello all ... I thought of posting yesterday but given the date I figured it was best not to ... I'd leave the jokes and leg pulling to others out there. One of the best was one from Photographer Craig Minielly who announced the release of a new set to his collection of portrait treatment and production Actions for Photoshop. The actions called Naturalizers, purportedly used a nano-pixel mapping technology - co-developed with NASA - which to enables "the removal of items of clothing from a subject, all at the touch of a button and without resorting to time-consuming and elaborate retouching techniques." I came across news of this excellent April Fools joke on Rob Galbraiths website. Visit the Naturalizer page here.

PSRemote and Breeze Browser Pro
Breeze Systems announced updated versions of their PSRemote and BreezeBrowser Pro software. PSRemote is a solution which allows remote control of Canons Powershot Cameras. this new version supports several new models and provides capabilty for improved exposure control under tricky lighting conditions. You can also control auto bracketing and shoot a sequence of up to 15 images, this capabiltiy makes it ideal for capturing HDR images (high dynamic range). As a tethered shooting solution its quite useful for the prosumer who does a lot of studio or product type photography. The time lapse capability is also excellent giving videographers a chance to create some time lapse based photography whilst recording to the hard drive. Visit Breeze Systems website.

Digital Camera Firmware Updates
Canon and Olympus announced minor firmware updates, Leica release a more robust firmware update. Canon released updates for the EOS 30D, 5D and the 1D MkII N. The EOS 30D firmware update (1.0.4) corrects Chinese language display problems, the EOS 5D update (1.0.5) fixes a monochrome mode bug and a problem with the combination of the EF 85 F1.2L and Speedlite 580EX. The EOS-1D Mark II N update (1.0.4) fixes a monochrome image bug and an over-exposure problem when using Focusing Screen EC-S.
Canon EOS 30D Firmware - update available here.
Canon EOS 5D Firmware - update available here.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N Firmware - update available here.

Olympus released firmware update (version 1.2) for the E-500 (EVOLT) Four Thirds Sytem DSLR. The update provides a new menu function for exchanging the AEL/AFL and One-touch WB buttons, and improvements in the exposure level of the built-in flash in combination with particular lenses. Olympus Firmware - update available here.

Leica released a firmware update (1.2) for the ten megapixel Digital-Modul-R back for the R8 or R9 SLRs. This update features improved improved color, image display, improved Japanese menu and some bug fixes / optimizations. Also improved are compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3, and 4 GB SD cards. Leica Firmware - update available here.

Qimage v2006.250
Digital Domain Inc have released the latest version of their professional photographic printing software solution Qimage v2006.250. This Windows based software boasts new features like the specification double borders with different colour attributes, border sizing, new colour management and improved print quality for enlargements. More information here.