The new Canon 7D DSLR gets upgraded firmware.
Canon has announced it’s steps to develop a firmware upgrade for the 5D Mark II. The upgrade will allow recording of high definition 1080p video at 24 and 25 frames per second. Happy news for Canon 5D Mark II video shooters.
A firmware upgrade for the new Canon 7D is available for download. The upgrade to 1.0.9, says Canon’s website:
- Improves AF accuracy during Live View shooting.
- Corrects a phenomenon where in rare instances, movie images shot by the camera may exhibit abnormal colors.
- Corrects a phenomenon that at certain timings, the shutter cannot be released when the camera’s built-in flash or an external Speedlite is used for shooting.
The 7D firmware upgrade can be downloaded from Canon.
Canon has also announced two new wireless controlers for the 1D Mark IV and the 5D Mark II. The WFT-E2 II for new1D Mark IV, and the WFT-E4 II for the 5D Mark II, will allow shooters to transfer images securely from a camera to computer or server, better remotely control the, as well as connect to WiFi devices.
Pentax released a firmware update for the K-7 DSLR. A new Fine Sharpness 2 custom function for extra sharpness in images has been added to Version 1.02. The firmware upgrade is reputed to improve image processing performance and stability under in certain shooting situations. The upgrade can be downloaded from the Pentax website.
Nikon announced version 1.5.0 of its ViewNX software. Version 1.5.0 will fix minor issues and supports the new D3S DSLR. GPS tagging from third-party receivers are supported. The new ViewNX is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.5.8 and with 64-bit Windows Vista. Transfer software has been upgraded to version 1.5.1. ViewNX 1.5.0 can be downloaded from Nikon
A beta version of Lightroom 3 has been released by Adobe. The beta package can be downloaded from Adobe Labs for free. The beta boasts improved importing and slideshows and better noise reduction.
SanDisk has announced a 32GB version of its Ultra Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo as well as Memory Stick PRO Duo memory cards. The Ultra-branded cards will feature read/write speeds of up to 30 MB/s. The new Pro-HG cards are expected to first ship in November 2009 and cost $279.99 (Ultra Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo). The Pro Duo cards are now available at $223.99.
Cardmaker Lexar announced the new Professional 600x UDMA CF card in 32GB, 16GB and 8GB sizes. These are Lexar fastest-ever cards and compatible with new UDMA-capable DSLRs. A new reader,the Professional ExpressCard CompactFlash reader, was released. It supports read/write speeds of up to 133MB/s (886x).
