What's New

We have just published three new video segments in our new Lightroom 3 Video Tutorial; Files 8, 9 & 10 are now available. These cover Import, Export, and Publish Services.

We have also replaced the original seven files to change the audio codec to AAC for those who had playback issues, and also to allow import to an iPad more easily. If you have had audio issues you may wish to redownload these.

The Table of Contents in File #40 and the downloadable Contents PDF reflect these changes.

"These tutorials have made my understanding of much of the digital world so much easier.
It is far easier to watch these two experts and learn than trying to understand from some of the 'encyclopedias' that are on the market, and at a price that is excellent value for money."

Our regular columnist Alain Briot today publishes Part 3 of his series – Composing with Colour.

"These tutorials have made my understanding of much of the digital world so much easier.
It is far easier to watch these two experts and learn than trying to understand from some of the 'encyclopedias' that are on the market, and at a price that is excellent value for money."

Thank you everyone for your purchases of our new tutorial video – The Luminous Landscape Guide to Lightroom 3. Your response has been literally overwhelming.

The good news is that the server is holding up well and people are reporting not having any download delays. The bad news is that our customer service staff is simply overwhelmed with upgrade coupon requests from previous LR2 tutorial purchasers.

We are doing our best to issue these electronic coupons as quickly as possible, but unlike the rest of the process, it's handled manually and thus takes some time.

If you've e-mailed requesting a discount coupon we ask for your patience, and thank you for your ongoing support!  – Michael

No need to say much more. It's finally here – The Luminous Landscape Guide to Lightroom 3.

We have just published roughly the first two hours of this, the most comprehensive training guide to Lightroom ever produced. The complete training video will run more that nine hours when completed. New segments will be added every week for the next month or so until all nine hours and 40 segments are online.

The price of US $49.95 is currently being discounted by 10%, until the full tutorial is online. And, if you already own our Lightroom 2 tutorial we are offering an additional10% discount. (You must request a discount coupon before ordering).

Full details are available on this page. We also have a brief streaming preview available, and for the first time we are making available a free 10 minute full HD Video segment of the training video as a complimentary download so people can see for themselves what this training video is all about.

Most photographers are shooting digital these days, but some still shoot film, and many have large slide and negative collections.

The choice of quality scanners and software grows smaller each year, but in today's exclusive review Mark Segal looks at an excellent choice – the Plustek Optic Film 7600i-Ai Film Scanner.

His review is in two parts – an executive summary online and a comprehensive and in-depth review available as a free downloadable PDF.

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NOW AVAILABLE

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Thank´s for one of the best tutorials I´ve seen so far!
It´s much easier to listen and learn when there is an educated discussion going on
between two very knowledgeable guys!

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

Sony has announced the NEX-VG10, a hybrid video / stills camera that uses the same APS-C sized sensor used in the recently introduced NEX still cameras. It will become available in September at a US price of $2,000, including an 18-200mm lens.

Pretty cool, you say. But, when you read the specs you'll find that the camera can only shoot video in 1080/60i mode. Yes – interlace mode only. No progressive. And no 720 mode. ?????

Memo to Sony: No one wants interlaced video any more. It's old technology from more than 50 years ago. All computer monitors and current TVs are progressive devices. At least the VG10 should have had 30P. 24P would have been very nice as well and might have made creative film makers looking for narrow DOF excited. But, 60i? Fail!

Though the VG10 can shoot 14MP stills, Sony has eliminated raw mode. So the question has to be asked, who is this camera for? It's video modes seem crippled as do its stills modes.

I'll let you know when I get one for testing – if Sony is still speaking to me after this rant.

What does the well dressed and well equipped trecking photographer wear and use? Find out in our latest essay by Bernard Languillier.

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A Reminder....

The Luminous Landscape Gallery is closing. It's been a fun three years since it opened, and I thank everyone who visited for your interest and support.

The gallery has served primarily as a teaching space and print studio. It also has functioned as a gallery whenever I was working there and in town, but given my travel commitments this hasn't been often enough to justify keeping it open.

On Saturday, July 10, 2010, from 11am until 3pm I will be having a print sale. This will consist of approximately 30 large matted and framed prints that are currently on display on the gallery walls, as well as a number of large format unmatted and unframed prints.

For those that are interested, I will be continuing my print studio and teaching activities out of my new studio space near Creemore, Ontario. Details to be announced. I may also have gallery shows from time to time at other Toronto area galleries, as I would in the days prior to my Carlaw gallery.

If you can't view it properly, you can't print it properly. That's a mantra that I and many other fine art printers subscribe to. But, is the latest $299 monitor special from Best Buy the way to go?

Possibly for some, but since the discontinuation and eventual demise of the famous Sony Artisan the search has been on for the next candidate for monitor nirvana.

Our regular contribotor Pete Myers today shares with us his experience with and impressions of the Eizo Nanao ColorEdge CG243W in his report titled – Finally Here: 10-bit LCD Graphic Monitors.

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NOW AVAILABLE

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Thank´s for one of the best tutorials I´ve seen so far!
It´s much easier to listen and learn when there is an educated discussion going on
between two very knowledgeable guys!

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

The Luminous Landscape Gallery is closing as of July, 2010. It's been a fun three years since it opened, and I thank everyone who visited for your interest and support.

The gallery has served primarily as a teaching space and print studio. It also has functioned as a gallery whenever I was working there and in town, but given my travel commitments this hasn't been often enough to justify keeping it open.

On next Saturday, July 10, 2010, from 11am until 3pm I will be having a print sale. This will consist of approximately 30 large matted and framed prints that are currently on display on the gallery walls, as well as a number of large format unmatted and unframed prints.

For those that are interested, I will be continuing my print studio and teaching activities out of my new studio space near Creemore, Ontario. Details to be announced. I may also have gallery shows from time to time at other Toronto area galleries, as I would in the days prior to my Carlaw gallery.

The Leica S2 has been out for many months, and there have been a number of reviews (including my own First Impressions report from Germany last September).

Now my associate, Mark Dubovoy, has had a chance to use the S2, and to compare it with his current primary systemS, the Phase One DF with P65+, and also a Leica M9. How does the S2 shape up against the world's highest resolution digital back and also the S2's littler brother? Find out in Mark Dubovoy's Leica S2 – First Impressions.

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NOW AVAILABLE

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Thank´s for one of the best tutorials I´ve seen so far!
It´s much easier to listen and learn when there is an educated discussion going on
between two very knowledgeable guys!

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

Back in the day – when ISO 400 was fast – high speed lenses were something to be lusted after. But now, with ISO 1600 delivering excellent quality, and some cameras capable of greater than ISO 100,000, they have lost their luster. Or have they?

For some the appeal of ultra-fast lenses is not so much their light gathering power, but rather their shallow depth of field. One of the fastest lenses currently available at affordable prices for the Leica M9 is the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.1.

Today Nick Devlin provides us with his field report on this lens, based on a shoot in Olympic National Park this past May.

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JUST RELEASED

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Special: 10% Off Until July 1

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

About six months ago I write about using the Leica M9 as a landscape camera, and how when it comes to a trade-off between weight, bulk and image quality the M9 offers a great deal to compensate for the fact that it really wasn't designed for this application.

My friend and occasional shooting companion Jack Perkins was intrigued by what I'd written and decided to make the jump from medium format to the M9 for much the same reasons. Today he shares with us his thoughts on the transition in The Leica M9 as Landscape Camera – Six Months Later.

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Panasonic AG-AF100 Specs Revealed

Following recent developments in hacking the Panasonic GH1's video capability, which I wrote about here a few days ago, Panasonic has revealed a bit more about their upcoming Four Thirds pro video camera, the AG-AF100, seen below. (Coincidence? Could be).

The specs are mouthwatering for anyone looking for a large sensor HD camcorder.  You can read them in this download PDF.

With Sony promising a similar device based on the new NEX format it could well be that the days of the video DSLR are numbered. Not because of their image quality (which is remarkably good – with cinema style DOF), but because they are really such lousy video devices. Panasonic's AG-AF100 looks like it plans on bridging that gap. I can't wait.

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Now Available

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Special: 10% Off Until July 1

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

The Panasonic GH1 has been a huge success for that company. I reviewed it here when the camera first appeared last July, and have been shooting with it regularly since. Next to the Leica M9 it's my favourite travel camera.

The GH1 has been constantly back-ordered since the beginning, and remains extremly popular, and even though there have been several follow-on models, the GH1 is still the lead Panasonic Four Thirds camera, particularly because of its video capability.

But, what Panasonic giveth, Panasonic taketh away. The GH1's 1080P/24 HD video mode is flawed, and while the camera shoots really excellent 720P, its full-HD mode suffers from a poorly implemented video codec.

As a consequence Canon with its 5D MKII and 7D has run away with the video DSLR marketplace, even though the GH1 is in many ways a superior camera, at least operationally.

But users are forever resourceful, and there is now a hack for the GH1's firmware that allows for proper 1080P/24 video of exceptional quality. You can read all about it in my latest article titled The Panasonic GH1 Video Hack.

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Rangefinder camera photographers might be interested in the "First Impressions" review of the new LEICA 35/1.4 M Summilux ASPH LENS that Sean Reid, of Reid Reviews, has just published. He's also now working on a review that compares this new lens to several other fast 35 mm lens options for the Leica M9. Reid Reviews is an independent subscription site that accepts no advertising.

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Now Available

The Luminous Landscape Guide
to Capture One Pro

Special: 10% Off Until July 1

Find out more and watch our sample training video.

It's here – our five and a half hour long live video tutorial on Capture One 5 Pro. This is the world's first in-depth training on this remarkable raw image processing program – the choice of pros around the world.

Walter Borchenko is the world's undisputed expert on Capture One, and together with Michael Reichmann they explore virtually every feature of Capture One. It's like having the two of us sitting by your side.

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Rangefinder camera photographers might be interested in the "First Impressions" review of the new LEICA 35/1.4 M Summilux ASPH LENS that Sean Reid, of Reid Reviews, has just published. He's also now working on a review that compares this new lens to several other fast 35 mm lens options for the Leica M9.

Reid Reviews is an independent subscription site that accepts no advertising and is aimed directly at professional and serious amateur photographers.

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Special: 10% Off Until July 1

Find out more about...

The Luminous Landscape Guide to Capture One Pro

...and watch our sample training video.

Mark Dubovoy has written an update to his posting on the problems of printing custom profiles with Apple computers, Epson printers and recent versions of Photoshop. Adobe appears to have a solution in the works.

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The much delayed RED Scarlet and Epic cameras have been delayed again. You can read more here.

So you think that Canon and Panasonic dominate the high-end pocket camera market? You'd be right, till now– but there's a new kid on the block, and he looks tough.

Samsung's just-released EX-1 (TL500 in some markets) is a very stong competitor to the Canon G11 and Panasonic LX3. Read my just published hands-on review of the Samsung EX-1 to find out how it stacks up.

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After sunsets, waterfalls may be the most popular landscape subject. But, that doesn't mean that shooting them effectively is easy – far from it.

Today Mark Dubovoy gives us his thoughts on and techniques for compelling waterfall photography.

Adobe has today (finally) released Lightroom 3. You can download it from the Adobe on-line store for your country. It should also show up at retailers shortly as well.

Ian Lyons has his usual excellent summary online of what's new in LR3.

Jeff Schewe and I have just completed filming our exhaustive live video tutorial. It will run close to ten hours in length and will drill down into every aspect of how the program works, as well as illustrate best practices.  It will be the most detailed and in-depth tutorial on Lightroom 3 available. Look for it here in the weeks ahead.

Oh yes, and our multi-hour tutorial video on Capture One should become available here very soon as well.

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"Video Journal 19, one of the best. Interesting and relevant topics, knowledgeable engaging guests, and a host that gently guides the conversation through terrain I want to explore. And more, it's beautifully shot in a clean, no tricks style that keeps the conversation in focus. Well done all! This one is worth twice the price".

– paul b. kramarchyk