There are two main features introduced, the locking mechanism that allows a studio manager to lock down the camera settings so that a scene can be setup and the camera operator cannot make adjustments to the camera which could cause an inconsistency in the body of work. The second feature is an interface to a bar code reader so that images can be quickly matched up against bar codes for faster sorting. For some people, these new features are a huge blessing, for most people it probably won’t be of any big value. For the complete press release, continue reading this article.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., August 17, 2010 – For wedding and portrait photographers, one of the most enjoyable parts of a project is the actual photographic element with the laborious work starting when the time comes to organize files, edit and ultimately provide the finished product. To help make this process less cumbersome, Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced the launch of a new EOS 7D Studio Version DSLR Camera, ideal for professional school and event photographers which features four levels of “locking” camera controls for studio environments. In addition to the “locking” feature on the new EOS 7D Studio Version, the Company is also introducing a Canon Barcode Solution, which links customer data directly with the image file so that it can be maintained throughout the entire workflow process, ideal for school photographers, forensic and medical photo workflows.

Canon’s new “Locking” EOS 7D Studio Version DSLR allows administrators to disable unwanted features and settings thus providing professional studio operators the comfort of knowing the end result will be both reliable and repeatable. The camera has four different “lock” levels allowing administrators to enable the appropriate level of camera functionality for any studio operation. Custom functionality management is also achieved through each level by unlocking individual features according to operator-specific needs. This complete level of control is guarded by a daily password preventing anyone with a different vision from changing the camera settings and disrupting the overall project and workflow.

“We know professional photographers are constantly searching for ways to simplify the workflow process,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “With the addition of the new EOS 7D Studio Version camera, professionals and business owners can be confident that data management will be streamlined and they can focus on the current task at hand.”

The new Canon Barcode Solution for the new EOS 7D Studio Version cameras helps to automate the data management required when shooting, processing and delivering images for school photoshoots and other large scale events as well as organizing medical images while maintaining patient anonymity. Once the barcode option is enabled, customer, organizational, patient and/or other data will be embedded directly into the image file’s EXIF data by scanning a barcode for easy identification when reviewing the completed work. While shooting, the actual reading of barcodes can be easily managed and, based upon each person’s workflow, the critical task of file management is accomplished with less risk of error. Upon completion, a visual confirmation will appear on the camera’s rear LCD screen.

The EOS 7D Studio Version kit includes Canon’s WFT-E5A unit, which along with an optional barcode reader can scan and seamlessly manage image and customer data through a “wired connection”. A wireless system configuration is also possible through Canon’s BU-30 Bluetooth adapter further adding to the system’s convenience and functionality. Existing WFT-E5A units require a firmware update to work with Barcode functionality. This update will need to be done at a Canon USA Factory Service location if the customer wishes to use a previously purchased WFT-E5A unit. If the customer chooses this option, the ability to read and embed GPS (Global Positioning System) data will no longer function.

Coupled with a new “Locking” EOS 7D Studio Version Digital SLR camera, photographic operations both large and small can ensure reliability and efficient workflow for whomever is using the camera.

The new EOS 7DSV (Studio Version) Barcode Kit (EOS 7DSV and WFT-E5A with firmware change) will carry an estimated selling price of $ $2599. The EOS 7DSV (Studio Version) Body Only will carry an estimated selling price of $1829. Both are available by special order through select Canon authorized dealers.

The following Barcode Scanners are compatible; Honeywell 3800, Honeywell 3820, for scanning via bluetooth and Honeywell 4600, for scanning 1D and 2D barcodes.

All inquiries and questions regarding Canon’s EOS 7D Studio Version DSLR or Canon’s Barcode Solution can be directed to ProSolutions@cusa.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked fourth overall in the U.S. in 2009+, with global revenues of US $35 billion, is listed as number six in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2010 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of “100 Best Global Brands.” Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

###

† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

Pricing, specifications and availability are subject to change without notice.

===

Portland, OR – May 26, 2009- onOne Software, Inc., a leading developer of time-saving software solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers, today announced a free, Lite version of PhotoTools 2 Standard Edtion. PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition is a flexible yet powerful plug-in for Adobe^® Photoshop^® CS2, CS3 and CS4 that utilizes the power of Photoshop Actions to provide a range of imaging tools including effects, corrections and production automation in a full-featured interface.

Based on the exact same feature set as PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition, PhotoTools 2 Lite includes 14 of the most popular effects found in both PhotoTools 2 Standard Edition and PhotoTools 2 Professional Edition.  The 14 effects available in PhotoTools 2 Lite range from reproducing classic photographic effects like Bleach Bypass and Cross Process, to reproducing film stock such as Kodachrome® and Velvia®, to modern effects including automatic skin smoothing.

“We are excited to offer this free version of PhotoTools 2 as a way for new users to experience the product’s elegant workflow and effects,” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “PhotoTools 2 Lite is a way for onOne to give back to the photographic community and allow everyone to easily add a professional look to their photographs.”

Availability and Pricing

PhotoTools 2 Lite is offered at no cost and is only available as an electronic download direct from onOne Software.  To receive the product, users should visit www.ononesoftware.com/pt2lite and request a free download with a valid email address.  For users who wish to access the full database of effects that come with the Standard or Professional Editions of PhotoTools 2, they will need to purchase a copy of the Standard or Professional Edition. PhotoTools 2 Professional and Standard editions are available for $259.95 and $159.95 respectively and may be ordered immediately from onOne Software at www.ononesoftware.com

About onOne Software

onOne Software, Inc. is a leading developer of time-saving software solutions for professional and advanced amateur photographers. Our products allow photographers to spend more time behind the camera and less time behind the computer screen. They include a wide range of easy-to-use plug-in enhancements for Adobe^® Photoshop^®, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom^®, Apple Aperture and now the iPhone. Founded in 2005, onOne Software, Inc. is a privately held company located in Portland, Oregon.

Company Contact: Mike Wong, onOne Software, mwong@ononesoftware.com, 503-968-1468 x 121 or Megan Banman, mbanman@ononesoftware.com, 503-968-1468 x132

General press inquiries: press@ononesoftware.com
Online press center: http://www.ononesoftware.com/press/
onOne Software blog: http://www.ononesoftware.com/blog
onOne Exchange: http://www.ononeexchange.com

#   #   #   #

© 2009 onOne Software. All rights reserved. onOne Software and the onOne Software logo are registered trademarks in the United States, and all are the property of onOne Software. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

What exactly is this colorspace stuff anyway? Basically its the amount of color that is contained in the file when you save it. The three most common colorspaces are Adobe RGB, sRGB, and ProPhoto RGB.  As my friend Rick Miller puts it, you can relate gamut to containers of beer. With sRGB being a 12oz can of beer, Adobe RGB would be a pony keg, and ProPhoto RGB being a full kegger.

The image shown here (courtesy of Cpesacreta) shows the relative sizes of the different colorspaces.

The difficulty here is knowing when to use which colorspace. Who would take a 12 ouncer when they can have a whole keg right? You would think, but the problem is that not all devices can actually display the larger colorspace  which can cause even more problems when it comes to viewing the images, add to that the lack of color management in most applications (like web browsers) and you will often get dull or washed out colors when viewing the images.

Wait a second, huh? If you use a colorspace that allows MORE colors, than why would the images look WORSE when viewing them? The answer that since almost no devices can actually display Adobe RGB, you wind up with an intepretation of the image causing it to look dull.

Effects of Color Space

Does all of this really make a difference? Let’s take a look at some images that were shot in RAW (thus no colorspace recorded on capture) and then saved as both Adobe RGB and sRGB using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

In all of these cases, the images saved as sRGB should appear more vibrant in Internet Explorer and Firefox since they are not color managed applications. Apple’s Safari browser is supposed to properly display Adobe RGB files and Firefox is supposed to have color management in upcoming versions. However, until everyone is using a browser you should avoid Adobe RGB in order to provide the best images to the widest audience.

What about ProPhoto?

ProPhoto offers the widest gamut of the available common color spaces so should have a place somewhere right? Well yes it does. The best use of the ProPhoto is to use it within your workflow to preserve the largest amount of color in your images and then only do a final conversion to sRGB when saving your images as jpegs.  This is quite easy with Photoshop and Camera Raw while Lightroom uses ProPhoto RGB internally (Geek Note: Actually, Lightroom uses Melissa RGB which uses ProPhoto RGB chromatisity values working in linear gamma, named after Melissa Gaul, one of the Lightroom engineers).

Should you shoot in Adobe RGB or sRGB?

This is another tough question that different people will answer differently. The simple answer is niether. Shoot in RAW and convert to the colorspace you want during your workflow process. If you want to shoot in JPEG then you have to make the choice. The best thing to do is actually experiment with your equipment and software to determine what gives you the best results. Some people think you should shoot in Adobe RGB and then convert to sRGB if the file is for the internet, while others think you should shoot in sRGB so no conversion or translation is applied, thus you should get more accurate color representation.

In the end, you have to make up you own mind as to what works best for you, but you do need to be aware of the differences and some of the issues you can run into based on your choice.

Author: Kerry Garrison

References used in this article

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sRGB-AdobeRGB1998.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm
http://www.steves-digicams.com/techcorner/October_2006.html
http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998

YOU WILL LEARN…

• 32 ways to use your on and off-camera flashes for creative and dramatic effects.
• 10 of the best camera settings and lens choices for creating striking images on every job.
• 7 ways to use the new DSLR video capabilities to transform your product offerings.
• 10 “Magic Bullet” techniques to make your digital workflow nearly effortless, highly efficient, and fun with today’s top software from Adobe Lightroom, NIK, and LumaPix: FotoFusion.
• 20 new product and solid marketing ideas targeted to today’s customers to add substantially to your bottom line.

PROGRAM BONUS:

• Tour Handbook including: program notes, photography, marketing and more
• 2 Hour DVD with extended program content
• $100 Rebate from American Color Imaging
• 1 year membership to WPPI and Rangefinder magazine, a $99 value
• FREE 3 month membership to DigitalProTalkPlus.com, a $45 value

$2,500 in Door Prizes at EACH location and 4 Grand prizes totaling $20,000

If you sign up now, the price is only $59!! At the door the price is $79 which is still an amazing deal.

Go visit the Digital Wakeup Call website for additional information and to sign up. This event is most likely going to sell out in every city so I highly recommend you get registered as soon as possible.

What is a RAW image?

By RAW, I mean an image that is shot with your camera image quality set to RAW mode which stores the actual sensor data for the scene that was shot. This is different than a JPEG image that is a rendered image of the RAW data that has different effects applied to it by the camera such as sharpening, saturation, and contrast. A good quality JPEG image can look incredibly good and can be printed at large sizes and will look great. A RAW image will need some form of software program to convert the RAW data to something usable. The most popular programs for this today are Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, Capture One (Nikon), and Digital Photo Professional (Canon).

Is there a technical difference?

Anyone that tries to tell you there is no difference in image quality between a RAW image and a JPEG is simply mistaken or ill-informed. From a purely technical perspective, a RAW image will always give you a better image. A RAW image simply has more data, for each pixel there is at least twice as much data on older cameras like my 30D and as much as eight times as much data with newer cameras that have more bit depth. This means that a RAW image has the ability to have a greater tonal range than a JPEG. A RAW image will also then have greater latitude than a JPEG image, giving you the ability to process the image to recover shadows and highlights more than you can if you started with the JPEG. Since white balance settings are applied when an image is saved as a JPEG, shooting in RAW will allow you to adjust the white balance during post processing without sacrificing any image data.

This is not an opinion, it is a pure technical fact. So let’s accept that this is true and that RAW has a distinct technical advantage over a JPEG saved from the camera. I don’t think we need to debate that RAW has an inherent technical advantage and I think some people get caught up in this. I think the real issue is whether or not you need the advantages of RAW versus the negative reasons for using RAW that we will look at later.

Getting down with the downside of RAW

The big debate over RAW vs JPEG is whether or not the pros outweigh the cons so let’s look at the cons and see what the downside of using RAW images is:

• Increased file size
  This is probably the biggest issue there is. RAW images are considerably larger files than their corresponding JPEG images. With my 30D, a RAW file will typically be around 5mb while a fine quality JPEG will be around 1.5mb. As the megapixel count goes up, the files get downright huge with RAW images from a new Canon 5D MkII being around 22mb each. If you are shooting lots of images, at a wedding for example, then the larger size of RAW files will be a significant hit. Since the files are larger, they will require more horsepower from your computer to process. For the same number of images, you will need more flash card storage.
• Specialized software needed to process
  If you can call Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture specialized software, then yes, you will need something like this or use the software that came with your camera. If you use something other than these programs then you may have issues dealing with RAW files. For a brand new camera, you may have to wait for updated versions of these programs before they can recognize your files. This also means that if your camera is discontinued in the future, there is no guarantee that your camera’s format will always be supported (this is a good reason to use DNG files, but that’s for another article).
• RAW workflow is different than a JPEG workflow
  Is it? If you are already using Aperture, Lightroom, or Adobe Bridge for processing JPEG’s, then there is little to no change in your workflow. Two years ago, before tools like Lightroom and Aperture, working with RAW images was such a pain that RAW was said to mean “really awful workflow”. Since many of us are using Lightroom and Aperture now, there is little to no changes at all for working with RAW files other than they take longer per image to download off a CF card.
• RAW images in third party tools don’t look as good as the JPEGs
  This has been a real serious problem for a while as only the camera manufacturers really have the secret sauce for decoding their RAW images properly. Adobe has pretty much solved this issue with Lightroom 2.2 and the inclusion of camera profiles that setup the RAW processor to match the settings used to create the JPEG images in your camera.

Again, we are looking at facts here and not opinions, but it is important to understand that there is a downside to using RAW files even if I personally feel that the negatives are typically blown a bit out of proportion with the exception of the increased file size which can be a really significant issue for heavy shooters.

The non-destructive workflow

One of the biggest advantages of shooting RAW is that it inherently provides you today with a non-destructive workflow. What it means is that there is no image degradation between saves and any given step in the editing process can be removed. If we are using any of the three most popular tools today (Photoshop, Aperture, or Lightroom) then when we edit a JPEG, and make our changes, those changes are permenant, and because we just re-saved our image as a JPEG some compression has occured, every time we do this we lose some image quality. Sure you can make multiple copies along the way so you can go back to previous versions, but that negates the whole point of JPEG’s saving disk space. I personally work in Lightroom and I can take my RAW images and apply as many edits to them as I want but these changes are simply stored as a set of instructions to Lightroom, thus the original image is never modified. This also allows me to make virtual copies of an image so I can have a color, B&W, Sepia, or dozens of different versions of an image and take up only a trivial amount of disk space since it is only storing the steps to make the changes and isnt storing a new copy of the image itself and again, no matter what I do, there is no image quality lost at all during the post-production process.

Is anyone still using JPEG these days?

If nobody was shooting JPEG anymore than I wouldn’t have so many questions about it but are any real professionals shooting JPEG and the answer is yes.

Carlos Baez is a wedding photographer from Florida, this is someone who makes his living delivering top quality images to high paying clients and yet Carlos shoots JPEG because he can consistently deliver great images without the extra overhead of RAW files. Carlos is an expert at lighting and understanding exposure so he doesn’t rely on post processing to get his images right.

Ken Rockwell is a huge advocate for shooting in JPEG mostly because a lot of people use it as an excuse to not get the image right in camera. Although he has an article about this (http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm). I have posted a link to his article because he does make a few valid points but I think he does go over the top a little on some of the negatives while I do agree that many people use RAW without either knowing why or using it to correct their mistakes from not knowing how to use their camera properly.

Pros against JPEG

It’s only fair that I point out a few pros who have made the switch to RAW and some of their reasons for doing so.

Scarlett Lillian from Florida has been shooting RAW since she started shooting weddings but then tried going to JPEF to save disk and CF card space. After really giving it a try, she finally switched back to RAW because she felt she just wasn’t getting the color and skin tones from the JPEG files that she was when she was using RAW. She uses Photoshop with Bridge as her workflow tool.

David Ziser is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in wedding photography and recent convert to the RAW side. David’s big switch came when he started using Lightroom for his workflow and then discovered that the images he was getting with Lightroom and RAW files simply gave him a better image than starting with JPEG. David details his experience in a post on his site, although he also make a case for use JPEG for less critical shots that will never be printed at larger than 5×7. Anything destined for the album or enlargements he suggests shooting in RAW and the filler shots can safely be shot in JPEG to conserve space.

Rick Miller who is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Adobe does a segment when he is demoing Lightroom where he shows a picture of his girlfriends dog that is a white curly haired dog. Rick took a picture of the dog that when the rest of the scene is properly exposed, the dog is overexposed. Saved as a JPEG, the details in the dogs fur are completely lost and unrecoverable. The same image shot in RAW is able to use tools like recovery and exposure control to regain all of the detail in the dog’s fur. This demonstrates how even a shot that is technically correct for the rest of the scene may still suffer from being shot in JPEG.

RAW or JPEG – Which is for you?

Since I am far more likely to forget to change my camera from JPEG back to RAW when I need to, I simply leave it on RAW and take the disk space penalty. With a large wedding costing me around 10-12gb of space, it isn’t that big of an issue. If I upgrade this year to a 50D or 5D MkII and I move to having 30-40gb of space per wedding, I may have to rethink this strategy. What I like about shooting RAW for weddings is that in the thick of things, if you do make a small error in exposure or white balance, it is far easier to correct it afterwards. I don’t use this as a crunch, but it is a safety net.

To decide If you should stick with JPEG all you need to do is to take a close look at your images and compare them with what you can get from a product like Lightroom and then decide if your images are good enough or if any improvements that you get from using the RAW image are noticeable and worthwhile.

What do some other photographers say?

Mark Teskey “RAW only. Shooting JPEG is like working without backing up files or a second body/flash. There’s no safety net with JPEG.”

JE Images “RAW all the way. if I need to tweak anything then I have full access to all the info..”

Denise Clay “[I shoot] RAW – I used the best film I could that matched the job in film days, why not do the same now with the best digital file?”

MrsBoesch “I shoot JPG. It takes up less space on my hard drive, and I am of the opinion that you should try to “get it right” the 1st time”

So what are you to make of this?

There is certainly a case to be made that higher quality final images can be made from using RAW files and that shooting in RAW provides a technical safety net (even if you dont need it because you are wicked good). The main issues of working with RAW for me are the non-destructive workflow and the ability to have multiple virtual copies of an image without eating up more disk space. I do believe that almost all of the main complaints about RAW have been more than satisfied with current software leaving the issue of disk space and storage being the only real issue, albeit a signifigant issue for some people.

In the end, the only thing that matters is that you are happy with the images that you are delivering and if you are shooting for clients, that they are happy with the images you are delivering. If you are shooting in JPEG and are happy with your images and you see no compelling reason to switch, then don’t. If someone like Carlos Baez can shoot a wedding in JPEG and he makes a LOT more per wedding than I do, I am not going to tell him he is wrong for shooting in JPEG. On the flip side, if you are shooting in RAW and the disk space is killing you and you are good enough that your images require basically no tweaks for color, white balance, exposure, fill light, highlight recovery, or saturation, then you may be a good candidate for shooting in JPEG. It all comes down to a personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer to this debate, its just a question of what works for you in order for you to deliver the best quality images to your clients.

Author: Kerry Garrison

We think there is a little something for everyone in this interview and hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it. Please stop by her site and let her know if you enjoyed listening to her.

Show Hosts

Kerry Garrison (http://kerrygarrison.com)
David Esquire (http://esquirephotography.com)

This podcast is also available on iTunes.

The plugin we will use is Timothy Armes’ LR2/Mogrify which uses ImageMajick to do things such as:

• Graphic watermarking
• Multiple text annotations
• Multiple borders
• Image resizing
• Adjust saturation and brightness
• Export against an ICC profile file

How much does this amazing plug-in cost? Well, it is free if you want to be limited to only exporting 10 images at a time. If you need to do more, than Timothy will accept any donation that you think is fair.

Installation
First off, we need to download LR2/Mogrify from Timothy Armes site at:

http://timothyarmes.com/lr2mogrify.php

Follow the installation instructions there for either Windows or Mac OSX. I won’t cover the installation since it is only a few simple steps.

Usage
Using LR2/Mogrify is as simple as using Lightroom’s existing Export function as the functions are added into the export utility. The easiest way to get things started is to create a new file in Photoshop with an empty (transparent) background and your logo on other layers. If you don’t have Photoshop, anything that can create a PNG or GIF with a transparent background will work.

From the Library module in Lightroom, select an image or images (up to 10 with the free version) and click on the Export button.

In the Post-Process actions enable the features you want like borders, or Graphical Watermark. In our case we will select the Graphic Watermark, select the file that we want to use, select the bottom left hand corner of the image, and resize the image if needed.

After you configure all the settings you want, click on the Export button to start the process. In a few seconds you have created your first watermarked images.

Here are a few images showing some different watermark styles as well as a multi-line border setup.

Who would have thought that doing advanced watermarking would be this easy? Please consider donating to Timothy for his hard work on bringing us a tool that provides the functionality that should have been included in Lightroom.

Below is a video showing exactly how this works:

Advanced watermarking with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Overview
dpMagic installs into Windows operating systems in order to provide thumbnails or supported RAW image files. The new 2.0 version adds:

• Support for over 360 cameras
• New functionality, such as printing, exposure warning
• Improved look and feel
• Improved performance

In previous versions you could view larger versions of your images in a viewer that was similar the Windows Picture Viewer but the new 2.0 version has a new image viewer that is much more professional and allows you to view the histogram and EXIF data.

The new viewer also allows you to see over and under exposed warnings, view a slide show of images, delete images, and print selected images. This was certainly a step up from the more clunky image viewer from before.

dpMagic Plus 2.0 sells for $24.95 and I would expect an updated version of the MiniLab which has more features to be available soon.

If you use RAW from virtually any camera, you should certainly check out dpMagic to help speed up your workflow and asset management. Given the price, it is one of the least expensive pieces of software you will buy and once you have it you will wonder why the functionality wasn’t simply built into Windows in the first place.

I can’t recommend dpMagic Plus enough. It is a killer app that any serious photographer shouldn’t be without. The fact that I have been using the previous versions for several years and have recommended it to pretty much everyone I know should tell you that I really think this is a valuable product.

Site: http://dpmagic.com

You can listen to this podcast now using our player widget in the right hand sidebar

This podcast is also available on iTunes.

Lightroom Digital Workflow from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.