Photography

Toshiba announces Exceria line of high-speed SD cards

Toshiba has announced new SDXC and SDHC cards that support the UHS-1 high-speed interface--and the new Exceria brand name to go along with them.

The Exceria name is meant "to reflect a combination of 'excellent' and 'experience,'" Toshiba said in a statement this week, but I wouldn't have guessed that without being told. Too bad Sony got there first with Xperia.

The new cards come in three varieties. At the top of the heap are models that will arrive in July with read speeds of 95MBps and write speeds of 90MBps; they'll come in 8GB, 16GB, … Read more

Apple update supports Nikon D4, Canon G1 X

Apple has released an update to let Mac users view and edit raw files from several new high-end cameras, including the new $800 PowerShot G1 X, Canon's answer to the parade of high-end mirrorless compact cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Also supported is Nikon's new flagship SLR, the D4.

Raw photo formats, taken directly from the image sensor without in-camera processing into a JPEG, permit greater flexibility and quality for editing. But they require manual processing with software, and this update means Apple's iPhoto and Aperture can handle the shots. The proprietary raw formats aren't standard, so … Read more

Creative pros: Tell us what you think of the new Adobe

As Adobe Systems prepares to release Creative Suite 6, it's in the midst of two major shifts: the addition of its Creative Cloud subscription and the addition of design tools using Web standards.

And we want to know what you think of the change.

In conjunction with Jefferies, a financial research and investment banking firm, CNET is conducting a quick survey about Adobe's Creative Cloud and embrace of Web standards. It's only nine multiple-choice questions long, so it's very fast and easy to fill out.

We'll be publishing results of the survey later so you can see if other people see things your way. If you are open to us asking you follow-up questions, you can leave your e-mail address at the end of the survey, but it's completely optional. Of course, you also can leave comments on this post. … Read more

Adobe releases Lightroom 4--at half the price

Adobe released the fourth version of its Lightroom software today, adding video abilities and editing finesse while cutting its price in half.

Lightroom 4 costs $149 new and $79 as an upgrade, a big step down from the earlier prices of $299 new and $99 upgrade. That's going the same direction Apple has with its competing Aperture, though not as dramatically: an introductory $499 price, then a drop to $199, and in the App Store version now, $80. You can download Lightroom 4 for Windows and Mac.

Lightroom is geared for photography professionals and enthusiasts, especially those who want … Read more

How to take 800 photos a minute with your iPhone

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An iOS app, Fast Camera, aims to help people never miss an important photo again. When the user launches Fast Camera, your device will instantly start taking pictures.

Fast Camera, which is usually 99 cents, is free in the App Store today.

Upon launching the app, you will begin to hear a camera shutter sound almost instantly. Fast Camera is already taking pictures, and it won't stop until you press the stop button. You can see the number of pictures that have been taken in the lower-left corner of the screen. Once you press Stop, you can … Read more

Dolby aims for richer images with JPEG-HDR

BARCELONA, Spain--High dynamic range (HDR) photography has largely been the province of photo enthusiasts willing to put up with its hassles, but Dolby Laboratories hopes to bring it to the masses with a semi-proprietary technology called JPEG-HDR.

HDR photography began as a way to compensate for cameras' shortcomings compared to the human eye. The biological image sensor can capture a much greater range of dark and bright tones, whereas cameras typically can capture only one, the other, or something in the middle.

That means problems with photos in areas with a wide range of lighting- a scene where someone is … Read more

Qualcomm shows horsepower of next-gen H.265 video

BARCELONA, Spain--H.264 is today's leader when it comes to mainstream video encoding technologies, but it will have to share the stage in 2013 with a successor called H.265 that can squeeze a video into nearly half the file size.

H.264, also known as the Advanced Video Codec (AVC), defines how a video can be compressed for reduced storage requirements and--very importantly given the online video explosion--for streaming across networks. H.265, also called High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC), uses new techniques to compress video even more.

Qualcomm, a San Diego-based chipmaker that's on the international standards group developing H.265, … Read more

Photoshop CS6 puts photo manipulation on steroids

In the current Photoshop CS5, Adobe introduced a technology called content-aware fill that could automatically fill in a hole left when a portion of the image was excised. In the upcoming CS6, the company will take that idea much farther.

In the company's fourth Photoshop CS6 preview, Photoshop Senior Product Manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes showed two new ways to use the tool.

The existing tool fills in holes by making its best guess where to find filler material elsewhere in the image. O'Neil Hughes said that with the new version, photographers will be able to pick the … Read more

PluralEyes refocused for Final Cut Pro X's multicam

Apple updated its Final Cut Pro X software two weeks ago support footage from multiple videocameras, and now Singular Software has followed suit with its PluralEyes plug-in that's designed for just that scenario.

PluralEyes lets video editors synchronize multiple video and audio tracks by analyzing each track's sound, and it's become widely used as a way to ease the tedious, important, but sometimes difficult chore.

"The latest update of Final Cut Pro X added new multi-camera editing features, and these are now fully supported by PluralEyes," said Singular Chief Executive Bruce Sharpe in a statement … Read more

Photoshop CS6 steals Illustrator's dashed-line styling

Photoshop CS6 will get a feature designers have long sought, "the ability to easily add a dashed and/or dotted line," according to Photoshop product manager Zorana Gee.

Gee revealed the feature in a short preview of coming Photoshop CS6 attractions posted to YouTube Friday. Two earlier previews revealed new graphics-chip boost for the liquify filter, a darker user interface, a background save option, and new raw-image processing controls.

The feature for dashed and dotted lines lets people change the line style with a single click, Adobe said. In addition, gradient fills and other color effects can be … Read more