• Nikon launches an 800mm f/5.6 which is becoming the biggest product of its catalog.
• Canon is still testing the all-new, all-beautiful 200-400mm f/4 (with integrated 1.4x f)
• Sony should renew its 70-400mm with an evolution whose content is still quite unclear.

These lenses will certainly be nearly impossible to purchase without winning the Lottery or holding a bank up (but from what I hear about their financial situation, even this may not be a viable option) but they may be attracting the attention of a few pro photogs and triggering some dreams from sports and wildlife photographers.

Sometimes, people will remember that GIMP is a program allowing to do digital photography on Linux. And, often, many people think that it is only available on this relatively uncommon platform. But, as a matter of fact, GIMP also exists on Windows. And, because of its price but also because of its features, it is recommended to at least try this Windows software.

The big news of this version 2.8 is the arrival of what its developers designate with the ugly name of single-window interface, which is actually a presentation based on a free window along with tools palettes.

GIMP on Windows

This version is also able to handle layers (individually or as a group), to work on 16-bit or 32-bit pictures, but it’s the more discreet improvements that may be the most critical for user comfort and efficiency. Things like:

• The use of the Cairo library (which gives a much improved rendering of texts and graphics)
• The use of independent processes for save and export operations (which offer a much faster feeling for these long operations)
• Direct editing of text strings (rather than the editing in a separate window, for better Wysiwyg)
• The nicer design of many little tools like spin buttons and many controls

So, if you are not fully convinced by the small fortunes that Adobe is requiring from the customers at each new version, it is now time to upgrade your mind and check GIMP.

To get even more:

• All GIMP-related posts
• Download (freely) GIMP v2.8.0

Nikon D800

PDN found a problem with the Nikon D4 and D800 while testing these. It seems that there are situations where the camera will lock up when the camera is used with either Highlights or histogram display.

Simply disabling these features will avoid this ugly lock-up (even if it is easy to restore normal operation by removal of the battery for a couple of seconds).

Nikon is looking for a correction. Most probably a firmware upgrade.

• Instant Vintage Photo Effects with the FIL Script for GIMP
• How To Create Amazing Text and Font Effects in Gimp 2.6
• Fake Depth of Field in Gimp – DOF Explained will teach you how to handle (and produce) depth of field in a pictureusing GIMP (and it will also provide useful information which will be useful for every photographer, not only GIMP users).
• 5 top tips for GIMP users
• GIMP 2.7 for Photoshop Expatriates
• Content-aware resizing in Gimp is available through the excellent Liquid Rescale plugin for GIMP
• Free GIMP Plugins for Photographers
• Créer un effet de vignettage avec Gimp et Photoshop
• Puis, un site francophone très riche et principalement consacré à GIMP avec de nombreux guides et tutoriels sur la retouche photo (1point2vue.com).

Photoshop CS6

Finally, Adobe has officially announced the newest Photoshop: CS6. We know about everything of it because of the beta which has been available for a few weeks already (and there are a few videos available on a YouTube channel, for you to discover all the new features). But there is one new thing which was left undisclosed up to now, the price.

If the basic cost for a full license is nothing new (some people, including me, were hoping to see a price drop like for Lightroom):

• $699 for a Photoshop CS6 license
• Photoshop CS6 upgrades from $199
• $2599 for the full CS6 collection

But there is now a cloud-based solution allowing a new rent option: US$50 or 20€ per month gives you access to a wealth of applications: all the CS6 Master Collection applications, including Photoshop Extended. The only catch is that you have to pay a full year of subscription. This may not look great if you only need one of the applications but it’s astonishingly good if you need more.

If you are a student, you get an even better bargain at $30 per month.

Remember: You’ve got some time to still decide (Photoshop CS6 starts shipping at the end of May), but you can play with the beta version of Photoshop CS6 up to then.

Camera accident or bug?

This is starting to look like a bring refrain, in these recent weeks: The most recent photo cameras seem to have been launched before all the bugs could be detected and wiped out. As a simple reminder, I would list the following cases:

• The Canon EOS 5D MkIII files are not handled perfectly well in DPP v3.11.10 (the exact nature of the issue is not clear: Something to do with the details and micro-contrast in digital noise management).
• FStoppers seems to have found a light leaks or an exposure algorithm sensitivity to charge conditions of the battery of the Canon EOS 5D MkIII.
• Sometimes, the Nikon D800 does not switch itself OFF.

Canon and Nikon will certainly update soon either the camera firmware or the picture software program. But this is confirming once again that we no longer purchase photo cameras in the most traditional sense (marvelously fine-tuned mechanical systems) but computers (with all its software and… bugs).

We could well ask ourselves if we are not on the verge of waiting several weeks (or months?) before reviewing or even purchasing a new camera. We already knew that a camera firmware could exist as pre-production version (some preliminary tests and reviews are grossly wrong because of this) and that some brands (Sony, for the A77 and the A700?) sometimes take several months before producing a firmware worth describing as final.

Dear camera manufacturers, be more cautious: You will soon see customers become much less faithful, much more troubled. Your brand value could erode quickly if you do not stay faithful to the image the photographic industry had all along the XXth Century. This image could be lost easily…

Nikon D3100 - Download

As always helping the user, YLovePhoto found direct links to freely download the user manuals for the Nikon D3100.

• Nikon D3100 User’s Manual – English – File Size: ~ 15.8 MB
• Nikon D3100 Manual de Usuario – Spanish – File Size: ~ 16.1 MB
• Manuel d’utilisation du reflex Nikon D3100 – Français ~6,52 Mo

Download it freely from Adobe Labs.

A reminder of the main new features:

• Improved content-aware patch which is behaving in a nearly magical way;
• Speed improvements everywhere;
• New User Interface with a dark background;
• A lot of newly improved tools (about everywhere).

As always, remember that the beta version will not work any longer after the arrival of the final/official version, that it is not exempt from bugs while Adobe gives no warranty about it (all very good reasons to have backup copies of your pictures before using Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta).

• Improved response times (no more “processing” message while waiting for display of pictures, faster power-off, faster dial response times)
• Shading and aberration compensation now available on the following lenses:
  • SAL-24F20Z (Carl Zeiss)
  • SAL-85F14Z (Carl Zeiss)
  • SAL-135F18Z (Carl Zeiss)
  • SAL-70300G (G Lens)
  • SAL-35F18
  • SAL-50F18
• Faster and more precise AF

All details from Sony.

• A77 firmware (for PC)
• A77 firmware (for MAC)
• A65 firmware (for PC)
• A65 firmware (for MAC)