Pixel Weekly - 15th December 2014 by Life Media Group

15th December 2014

ISSUE NO. 939D

INSIDE

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NIKON TEAMS UP WITH F1 FOR CHARITY, AFFORDABLE HIGH SPEED FLASH LAUNCHES ON KICKSTARTER, RUMOURS CIRCULATE ABOUT OLYMPUS AND MUCH MORE...

Adobe Camera Raw Gets Update for Sony a7 II

THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW 2015: WHAT’S NEW? With Nikon confirming its return to the NEC next March for The Photography Show this week, we take a brief look at what’s new for the four-day event in 2015

Adobe Camera Raw 8.7.1 has been released, adding support for the new Sony Alpha 7 II alongside a number of lens profiles for Canon, Leica, Nikon and Sony. The updated software is for Photoshop CS6 and CC, offering bug fixes related to support for the Samsung NX1. Customers with older versions of Photoshop can use the DNG Converter provided. Find out more by visiting www.adobe.com/support/ downloads/new.jsp

Lytro Releases Software Update Lytro has released an update for the Lytro Illum light-field camera’s processing software. Lytro Desktop 4.1 now includes a Ficus Spread feature, enabling photographers to pick beginning and end points for depth of focus. It means certain subjects at various depths of field remain in focus while the background is artistically blurred. Editing tools,have been added, including individual colour saturation sliders, sharpening controls, white balance dropper and the ability to share images to Facebook as videos or animations. For more information, please visit: www.lytro.com/desktop/ PHOTO -

IMAGING -

Feedback from last year’s four-day event has spurred the organisers to make a variety of improvement to next year’s Photography Show…

4. More Signage In such a huge space with so many people, it’s easy to get lost so this year the organisers have improved the signage and maps to guide visitors around.

Filmmaker Theatre, a selection of sessions for different abilities in filmmaking. Organisers said: “The Photography Show took place 1. More Space in March 2014 for the very first The show has been relocated to Hall time. We were over the moon 5, which benefits from having more 5. New Attractions to welcome thousands of eating establishments and being Aside from browsing the products fellow photography lovers who closer to the railway station. The on display at exhibits, visitors enjoyed an amazing four days of organisers have also done some in 2015 will have the option to photography.” redesigning with the stalls, ensuring enjoy a variety of new attractions, Among the exhibitors Nikon the aisles are bigger has announced its to accommodate the return with a ‘fresh “The Photography Show will welcome crowds. new interactive stand’ showcasing the latest 50 new brands to the NEC on 2015, 2. Food Village cameras including the including Leica, Ricoh and Sony” More room has been D750, the D3300 and dedicated to the selected COOLPIX show’s Food Village, models. which will offer a variety of catering including streetscape, an Jeremy Gilbert, Group options and places to sit, relax and urban street scene hosted by Marketing Manager at Nikon UK take a break from the show. professional photographers who said: “We’re extremely excited to will give hands-on tips for better be exhibiting at The Photography 3. New Exhibitors street photography. Also making Show 2015. It’s one of the most The Photography Show will its debut will be the Beginners’ significant dates in the calendar welcome 50 new brands to the NEC Masterclasses, Mobileography for us and is a great opportunity on 2015, including Leica, Ricoh and – tips for getting the most out to get some face to face time with Sony. of mobile photography, and our customers.” VIDEO

AUDIO

MOBILE

STATS

PEOPLE

RETAIL

BUSINESS

NEWS

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WELCOME To Pixel Magazine We’re halfway through December already, can you believe it. No big camera launches this week, but there have been some interesting photography-related projects appearing on the increasingly popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter. Last week we published a story about Prynt, the smartphone case that turns your phone into an instant camera (we’ll be talking to the team in more depth in our December monthly edition) – this week we’ve heard about the Vela One, an affordable high speed flash that harnesses the efficient power of LED lights. The flash has already reached its fundraising target and units are due to ship in May 2015. In other news, Lewis Hamilton has taken a picture of a river with an inspirational quote and it’s being auctioned for charity. This is the Zoom project, launched with the support of Nikon, who is generously donating nine of

November statistics have been released by the British Retail Consortium Despite Black Friday discounts enticing early Christmas shoppers in, a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard noted a 4% drop in High Street footfall compared to last year. Shopping centres too lost 2.1%, while retail parks reported a rise in footfall at 0.8% across the country.

its COOLPIX S9700 cameras signed by F1 stars to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. You can check out Hamilton’s artistic prowess on page 4. Enjoy your read! Zoe, Editor, zoe@pixel.co.uk

High Speed Photography for the Masses

Affordable high speed LED flash launches on Kickstarter Matt Kane, who worked with the Bristol-based team behind the Triggertrap for smartphones, claims to have developed ‘the world’s first safe, affordable highspeed LED flash’. The Vela One has been designed to match an air gap flash speed but for a fraction of the cost, offering flash speeds as short as 500 nanoseconds - 100 times faster than regular speedlights and studio flashes on the market. According to the press release: “Previous LED flashes have not been bright enough to expose a shot in such a short period. The Vela One uses an array of modern ultra-bright

Retail footfall down despite hype of Black Friday

LEDs, and custom circuits to drive them up to 2,000% brighter still, generating nearly one million lumens in a tiny pulse.” This means the flash can help regular cameras capture things like shooting bullets and explosions. Using LED lights not only boosts the brightness but cuts the cost of the product significantly. The Vela One runs from four AA batteries all day, with recycle times less than a millisecond. In strobe mode it can flash up

According to the BRC, the figures suggest a change in shopping habits, with consumers choosing to buy online instead. BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: “The most successful shopping destinations are ensuring that they have a range of other experiences and activities on offer to drive up footfall.”

Will New Olympus OM-D E-M5 have resolution booster function?

Rumours are circulating about the successor to the OM-D E-M5 Since rumours circulated last month about the OM-D E-M5 going out of production, new speculations have arisen surrounding the name and functionality of the camera’s successor. According to rumour site 4/3 Rumors, the new camera is likely to be named the Olympus E-M5 II, or the Olympus E-M5 Mark II. It also expects the camera to feature a 16MP sensor with a sensor shift function to six times with intervals between 10 and 250 microseconds. Pulse lengths are adjustable between 500 nanoseconds and 5 microseconds. Founder Matt Kane has been working on high speed camera triggers for years. He realised that LEDs would be the way forwards and after extensive research, invented Vela One. Having worked on two successful Kickstarter projects

that enables users to boost the resolution up to an equivalent of 40MP. 4/3 Rumors said the information was sourced anonymously but later confirmed through a ‘trusted channel’ - although nothing is yet officially confirmed. In November 4/3 Rumors also reported that the new Olympus would have wether sealing, 4K video and 24/25/30fps options. before, Matt is confident the product will attract attention. When Pixel caught up with him to find out more about his retail strategy, he said: “Currently my retail strategy is to see how the Kickstarter goes and take it from there! Initially I will just be selling direct, but if it’s very successful then I’d look into distribution. We took a similar strategy at Triggertrap and it worked well.” Currently the project has reached 135% of its funding target. The first units are due to ship in May 2015 and prices start from £415/$650

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NEWS

JVC Announces New Range of 4K Pro Video Cameras

Zeiss Launches LowCost Virtual Reality Headset Introducing the Zeiss VR One for Android and iPhone Unlike Sony’s virtual reality headset, Zeiss’ new offering, the Zeiss VR One, works for both Android and iPhone. Users simply slot their smartphone (currently only iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S5 but this will apparently be expanded in future) into the headset, which delivers two images for a 3D experience. The company is releasing a software development kit to encourage developers to create apps compatible with the device.

JVC has introduced the 4KCAM Pro Video Camera Line to the professional cinematographer market The three new cameras, the GY-LS300, GY-HM200 and the GY-HM170 are, according to JVC, ideal for a range of shooting situations. All the models record to SDHC and SDXC media cards in a variety of formats, including 4K Ultra HD, Full HD and SD. The GYLS300 featurs 35mm

RRP: £99

CMOS sensor and a Micro Four Thirds mount to fit a range of interchangeable lenses. The GYHM200 offers HD streaming and 4K footage, while the GYHM17 is a “palmsized” device. All cameras were previewed at IBC earlier this year. The JVC GY-HM200 is the most affordable in the line-up.

Compatible Accessories • JVC-SSL-JVC50 7.4V IDX Lithium-Ion Battery • Pearstone Digital Video Camcorder Bag • Canon SC-200 Camcorder Soft Case • Manfrotto - 50dHD Head w/546B 2-Stage Aluminium Tripod System Find out more at http://www.jvc. co.uk/

It’s Face Off With The New YotaPhone2

World’s first smartphone with two screens has been launched Russian phone brand Yota is set to launch its ‘radical’ new two-faced smartphone in the UK. Described as ‘a rare beast’ by Forbes magazine, the new phone is expected to disrupt the smartphone market in the coming year, knocking some of the bigger brands into touch with its innovative design.

The phone has a normal LCD display on one side, and an e-ink display on the back. This boosts the battery life to over 48 hours. The e-ink screen can be used for reading books, browsing the Internet and looking at photos. Users

can also set it up to show a carousel of their social media pictures. The phone is powered by an Android 4.4. KitKat operating system, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.2 GHz quad-core processor.

The main camera has an 8MP sensor with Auto Focus and an LED flash, while the front-facing ‘selfie’ camera has 2.1MP. Video can be captured in Full HD at 1080p 30fps in a range of formats. RRP: £550 Available: Now

Nikon Teams Up With F1 for Charity

Nikon has pledged its support of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital for the second year running The Zoom charity auction invites Fumula 1 stars to take a photograph of ‘their world’. These signed photos will then be auctioned off, alongside nine Nikon COOLPIX S9700 cameras each signed by

CREDITS & CONTACTS

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“I have the best job in the world - and this is my office!” - Jenson Button

a legendary F1 driver. The funds raised on the night, held at London’s Intercontinental Park Lane on Friday 16 January, will go to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Jeremy Gilbert, Group

Managing Director/Publisher: Lee Mansfield 01323 819007 lee@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Editor: Zoe Thomas 01323 819011 zoe@pixel.co.uk

Commercial Director: Simon Skinner 01323 819017 simon@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Editorial Design: Harriet Weston 01323 819010 harriet@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Operations Director: Clare Fermor 01323 819016 clare@lifemediagroup.co.uk

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Editorial Consultant: Damien Demolder 01376 339240 damien@damiendemolder.com

Accounts: Amelia Wellings 01323 819016 amelia@lifemediagroup.co.uk

Marketing Manager at Nikon UK, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting the Zoom initiative for another year. It’s a fantastic project that both raises money for

Subscriptions: Linda Grace 01323 819015 linda@lifemediagroup.co.uk

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“Let life flow like a river, follow the path it takes you down. Take it as it comes & whilst you learn along the way, may you help guide the flow in the direction of your dreams” -Lewis Hamilton

an incredibly worthy charity and opens up the world of Formula 1 to fans through imagery, offering an exclusive perspective of the sport with behind the scenes images.”

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