Archive for August, 2008
Canon reveals 18-200mm IS lens
August 26th, 2008 | 
Author: Looks like Canon has finally decided to release their own 18-200mm IS lens. This lens just seems to be gaining more and more popularity. Of course I still want one, and now that Canon has entered the field let’s hope there is a price drop across the board.
Canon will next month launch a new telephoto zoom in the shape of the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.
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Microsoft Photosynth
I can’t really say I like the rather juvenile “synth” jargon that Microsoft is throwing around trying to make their product into a verb like “Google” but their new photo stitching software does seem somewhat interesting. I can’t say I have taken many panoramas in my day, but then again this software seems to be more than just putting together a long photo. It seems to be trying to build a large photo out of a collection of smaller ones.
I haven’t actually looked through all the demos yet (the machine I’m sitting in front of right now is Windows 2000 and the site only works with XP and Vista) but I am curious to see more. Will this allow the viewer to move around an image and click points of interest to see more in a photo? Will it be something Google maps like where you can follow the path in an image and have the terrain move around you?
Everything is done online currently and the photos you work with will be uploaded to the public site and visible to everyone. Hard to say if that will be a drawback or not. It is a 1.0 product so I’m sure plenty will change as it progresses. It seems interesting but does have some limitations you have to work within.
It seems promising, but Microsoft can ditch the gimmicky synth lingo and just let the software speak for itself. If it’s actually worthwhile it will catch on.
Canon celebrates camera milestone
Canon has rolled out its 100 millionth digital compact camera, the first being the PowerShot 600 which was launched in 1996.