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Evidently the Canon 5D Mark III SLR must be a pretty hot item.

Because Apple just released an update to its Mac OS X camera support whose sole purpose is to let iPhoto, Aperture, and other photo applications view and edit the new camera's raw images.

Usually such Apple updates add support for a collection of new cameras, but time is of the essence now that the 5D Mark III is shipping. Many photographers who use this class of camera shoot raw images (data taken directly from the image sensor, not processed into JPEG by the camera) for the … Read more

The other day I was in a museum dedicated to environmental conservation and it had one of those old black rotary dial phones from way back when, surrounded by dozens of junked cell phones. It was trying to make the point that before manufacturers inflicted planned obsolescence on us, they made goods that would last.

Filmmaker Jason Bognacki's recent experiments with vintage cameras make that point very effectively. In case you missed it, shutterbugs have been drooling over his hybrid camera, a masterful blending of analog and digital technologies.

Bognacki took a battered old Piccolette camera from the 1920s that he bought on eBay years ago. He decided to unite it with his Canon EOS 5D Mark II by having the Piccolette act as a lens for the Canon. … Read more

The ceaseless succession of new Canon and Nikon SLRs has a certain predictability, but an unusual model came out of left field today: Canon's astrophotography-oriented EOS 60Da.

The 60Da is a close cousin to the Canon EOS 60D, a higher-end 18-megapixel model geared for enthusiasts. But the 60Da has one big difference: its infrared filter has been modified so it doesn't screen out so much "hydrogen-alpha" light, a deep-red 656.28-nanometer wavelength of light produced by excited hydrogen atoms.

By letting in about three times the amount of hydrogen-alpha red as a regular 60D, the $1,500 60Da can capture much better photos of energetic nebulae, Canon said. It's due to go on sale this month. … Read more

Well, that didn't take long.

Less than four weeks after Adobe Systems released Lightroom 4, the company has issued a release candidate for Lightroom 4.1 to squash bugs and add support for one of the hottest cameras going right now, the Canon 5D Mark III.

The 22-megapixel, full-frame SLR brings new low-light sensitivity, faster performance, overhauled autofocus, and other improvements over its 3-year-old predecessor. But until now, Lightroom fans who have the coveted $3,500 camera could only see its raw files by converting them into the Digital Negative format with Adobe's DNG Converter software.

Other improvements … Read more

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

It seems Nikon Thailand made a little boo-boo. Netizens discovered that part of its latest promotional video for the D800 was both shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II instead--and took clips from TSO Photography's "The Mountain" without Norwegian photographer Terje Sorgjerd's knowledge.

As if that wasn't bad enough, some parts of the promotional footage also contained video clips taken from a short film, "The Art of Flight." It was produced by a Phantom HD Gold camera, which isn't even a dSLR. … Read more

Japanese site Egami seems to have discovered a Canon patent filing detailing a replacement for its 17-40mm F4 L USM zoom lens.

Sporting a brighter F2.8 to F4 variable aperture range, the new lens could enable users to capture sharper images in low-light conditions, due to a brighter F2.8 aperture at its 17mm wide end. This provides a one-stop improvement over its predecessor.

The Canon 17-40mm F4 L USM lens has always been one of Canon's most popular lenses, thanks to its constant F4 aperture and its ability to capture an ultrawide-angle perspective, when used on a … Read more

The Canon 5D Mark III made its glorious debut yesterday, sending many a photographer's heart aflutter.

With such improvements as a new 22.3-megapixel sensor, enhanced video capabilities, faster continuous shooting, and a better viewfinder (to name just a few features), we're sure many of you are fantasizing about picking up the full-frame dSLR when it starts shipping in a few weeks. Its steep $3,500 price tag, however, just might snap you back to reality.

Given that the camera calls for such a large chunk of change, it should come as no surprise that there's renewed buzz around the 5D Mark III's predecessor. As CNET digital-imaging Senior Editor Lori Grunin rightly points out, though the 5D Mark III is obviously a big deal, Canon's plan to drop the price of the 5D Mark II is news in and of itself. … Read more

I've found that photographers fall into two camps: those who use their camera till it drops dead of exhaustion before considering a new model, and those who feel the need to update as often as possible.

I think the wait for the Canon EOS 5D Mark III has been killing both those groups. It's been so long that a lot of hard-used 3-plus-year-old 5D Mark IIs are ready to surrender, and the frequent updaters have been buffeted on a sea of rumors and delays. But the 5DM3 is almost here--shipping within a few weeks, in theory--and it looks like it will have what it takes to please them both.

While the 5DM3 is obviously big news, Canon's intent to drop of the price of the 5DM2 (to what, I don't know yet) and keep it on the market is pretty important, too: $3,500 is pretty steep for a lot of people who want to go full-frame, and it helps keeps Canon in competition with the newly price-reduced Nikon D700.

As you'd expect, the 5DM3 consists of a combination of technologies, features, and design updates rolled out in the EOS 7D and the more recent 1D X. The result is a camera that looks similar to its predecessor but that's otherwise almost completely different. … Read more