Olympic sights and a gallery tweak...

One of the many art pieces on Granville St. in downtown Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics

Well, I have tweaked the look of the TTG Highslide gallery plugin one more time and improved how things render in Internet Explorer as well. I might go live with some new galleries on my website - soon I hope! Here is the latest version, showing some images I took downtown during the Olympics...

Gallery: 2010 Olympics: Downtown Sights 

For more information on these Lightroom gallery plugins, see my last post from Sunday.

Lightroom 3: Web module plugin compatibility

A note about web-gallery plugin compatibility with the latest version of Lightroom...

(Shortcut to the gallery mentioned: 2010 Olympics: February 22nd Festivities)

Adobe is finally shipping boxed copies of Lightroom 3, and we now have upgrades and full versions in stock at Beau Photo.  I have been using the beta version of LR3 ever since it came out, and one very obvious improvement is in image quality.  The new "Process 2010" raw conversion algorithm is vastly improved over the previous one, which Adobe has tagged "Process 2003".  Much better noise reduction (very near the quality of third party programs like Noise Ninja) with detailed control over luminance and chroma settings, including the ability to essentially turn NR off completely if you want to handle noise using third-party software. In any case, what I want to mention here is compatibility with third party gallery plugins, specifically those from The Turning Gate.

My sublimephoto.com domain is down...

Grr... I did not receive any notification of its impending expiry. I see that it expired just the other day and I am arranging to get it renewed ASAP. Sorry, but don't bother trying to connect at the moment! There is a chance that some of the embedded images in this blog might still be down because of this. I have already fixed the most important ones and am hosting them at another location for now.

Update: My domain is back up! Quicker than I thought it would be actually...

Sale: DataColor Spyder 3 Studio

We have some Spyder 3 Studio kits in stock still, on sale for $489, over $100 off the previous price. Everything you need to calibrate your inkjet printer and monitor, all in a slick padded aluminum briefcase!

This product has been replaced with the new Studio SR, but the as far as quality of calibration, they are essentially the same.  The major difference with the SR is faster reading of printer patches, although since you tend not to have to recalibrate most printers very often (usually just when you decide to standardize on a new paper), I personally do not feel the speed increase is all that important.  You can use the very latest Spyder 3 Print SR software with older Spyder 3 print as well.  Not to mention the Spyder 3 Studio SR is selling for $629, so the older package is a really sweet deal!

Canon EOS-7D in stock again...

We finally got a shipment of EOS-7D bodies in again, luckily while the rebate is still running! Our price is $1825 and Canon's rebate is $150, so effectively $1675.  A good price for an awesome camera! I should know... I shoot with one myself.

We were also out of LP-E6 battery packs and they have made it in as well...

Lexar Instant Rebates...

These rebates on Lexar memory cards are running until Friday, July 4, 2010. You don't need to mail-in: Beau Photo will apply them at the till for you!

• $10 off - CF 8GB (233x UDMA)
• $13 off - CF 16GB (233x UDMA)

• $18 off - SD 16GB (100x - PLAT-II Class 6) 
• $10 off - SD 16GB (100x - PLAT-II Class 6)
• $5 off - SD 16GB (100x - PLAT-II Class 6)
• $18 off - SD 16GB (133x - PRO Class 10)

Epson Printer Rebates...

Epson has several excellent rebates on in Canada at the moment! Rebate PDF files are linked in the following list...

• Until June 30, 2010: get $1,000 off the purchase of a Stylus Pro 9900
• Until June 30, 2010: get $1,000 off the purchase of a Stylus Pro 7900
• Until July 6, 2010: get $200 off the purchase of a Stylus Photo R2880
• Until July 6, 2010: get $150 off the purchase of a Stylus Photo R1900

We stock the R2880 at Beau Photo but the other printers are special order items. For all the current rebates, see the Epson Canada Rebate Centre...

Zacuto Z-Finder Pro: Take our Poll !

Since becoming an authorized Zacuto dealer, we have been surprised at the demand of the Z-Finder for doing D-SLR video.  It is, I suppose, understandable since it really is an excellent product and is nearly indispensable when shooting video in brighter conditions, or when you are trying to do critical on-the-fly focusing when using wide open f-stops.  Our last shipment sold out in a matter of days and we have another order pending... with a 5-6 week stated delivery time unfortunately.  Ouch.

So... we need to do another order soon to get more in the queue, but we have no real idea of the pent-up demand.  Therefore, I have decided to post our first blog poll!  I will be doing another Zacuto order in the next few weeks and based on the results of this survey, I may adjust the order for quantities and/or ratio between the 2.5x and 3.0x magnifications. Yes, you can have an influence!  Needless to say, I would appreciate you voting only if you are in Canada and are planning on getting one from us!  However if you have one and love it, feel free to vote that way.

Both the new Z-Finder Pro models are $439 CDN. If you really want one ASAP, make sure you contact me and reserve one in advance.  Although I may be ordering a bunch more, there are no guarantees on how many we will be getting. If you have your name down for one, the chances of getting one sooner are better...

Beau Photo: Zacuto Poll - June 2010

- Voting closes on Thursday, July 1st at 1:00pm -

So there you have it: the first official Digital Imaging Blog poll.  Seeing as how this blog is so very new, I suppose there may not be all that many responses, but we shall see... and if you voted, thanks for participating!

Check the detailed review of the new Z-Finders by Philip Bloom.

Had some initial poll widget problems...

Photos: Kitt Peak, Arizona

I am an astronomy buff (majored in it at UBC as well) and I really like Kitt Peak. Beautiful location in the desert (which I like) as well as a large number of interesting telescopes. One of the more unusual telescopes is the McMath Solar Telescope, a weirdly shaped building that is quite distinctive: if you've seen it once, you'll likely never forget it.

I just spent a few minutes going through some trip photos and thought I would post a few of the more unusual views I captured of this interesting observatory, courtesy of my Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 and Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L.  Depending on the direction I was facing, there were some crazy deep blue skies.  All the following shots were taken without a polarizing filter!

Hasselblad Promos • June 2010

There are tons of great new promos available from Hasselblad! These are only on until the end of June 2010, so don’t wait too long if you want to take advantage of any of these great offers!

1. Purchase an H4D-50 and get ANY lens FREE! That’s right...ANY Hasselblad lens of your choice, FREE! This is a potential savings of over $7,000 USD!
   
2. H4D-40 camera available without lens - $17,995 (USD). You now have the option to purchase just the H4D-40 (body and viewfinder) without the lens.
   
3. H4D-40 w/ 35-90mm zoom kit - $19,995 (USD). This promotion is bundling the popular 35-90mm zoom lens with the H4D-40 camera body. This is a huge savings of over $5,000 USD!
   
4. Purchase an H4D-40 get 30% off ANY one lens.
   
5. Purchase an H4D-40 kit (includes 80mm) or body/viewfinder and get your choice of ONE Hasselblad lens at 30% off.
   
6. Purchase a H3DII-31 without a lens for $9,995 or with a 80mm lens for $11,995 USD. Hasselblad has never been more affordable!  Please note that there are very limited quantities only for the H3DII-31 promo.