The Photographic Week In Review

This week in photography news: Samsung announced details on their highly anticipated new DualView cameras, BP admits to – yet again – Photoshoping images of the oil spill, and much more…

- Tech News –

Samsung’s New Cameras

ST600

Samsung’s new cameras are getting fairly high praise all around the web. They’re releasing two new models, the ST600 and ST100, both apart of  Samsung’s DualView line. The cameras are equip with LCD screens on the back and front of the camera (as seen in those commercials with the girl going onstage with Alicia Keyes and taking a picture of themselves with an outstretched arm). They both hold a resolution of up to 14 megapixels, a 5X-optical-zoom wide-angle lens, and in-camera editing tools/ image effects, including a fish-eye. Both of the cameras capture hi-def video that records in 720p at 30 frames per sec, complete with 1.8 inch front-LCD screens and 3.5 inch back-LCD screens. The ST600 is a slightly sleeker model with a 27mm wide lens versus the ST100′s 35mm angle lens. They are the perfect cameras for those prone to taking self-portrait photos (a.k.a. teenagers). The ST600 is $330 and the ST100 is $350. Both will be available in September.

Other Releases:

Panasonic Lumix LX5: Panasonic’s Lumix LX5 builds on it’s predecessor, the LX3, as it is similar in style and concept but has new features such as a 10-megapixel resolution, a wide-angle 24mm lens and a 3.8x optical zoom. It should be available in late August for about $500.

Lumix FZ100 and FZ40: The main attraction of these new models is their impressive zoom capabilities, a 24x optical zoom with 14.1 megapixel resolutions. The FZ40 is a more simple, compact point-and-shoot while the FZ100 has more advanced high-speed shooting capabilities, 1080p video and burst shooting at 11 frames per second. The FZ40 will be available for $400 and the FZ100 for $500 and both will be released in August.

Fujifilm F300EXR and Z800EXR: Fujifilm will be releasing two 12 megapixel cameras in August, the FinePix F300EXR and the Z800EXR. The cameras are both very good for most general use, but the F300EXR has a slighty wider variety of uses, as it supports up to an 12800 ISO and a 24-360mm mechanical zoom, allowing for high quality wide-angle and zoom shoots, as opposed to the Z800EXR’s 35-175mm zoom. Both models will be available in August, with the F300EXR priced at $330 and the Z800EXR going for $230.

- Media News –

BP Continuing to Doctor Photos

BP has stepped up and acknowledged that they have, one again, released photoshopped photos pertaining to the infamous oil spill. The newest photo was taken from inside a helicopter and has been photoshopped to make it appear as if the aircraft is flying, when in actuality it is docked on top of a carrier (you can see the original here and the photoshopped image here). This is following their previous admission of having photoshopped a picture of their Houston Command Center, in which staff was looking at multiple computer screens of the spill — however, images of the spill were distorted or even deleted altogether. One can’t help but wonder why they would want to photoshop these photos in the first place. What is the significance of making a helicopter appear as if it’s flying versus immobile? Why alter a photo to make it look as if the workers at the command center aren’t looking at images of the spill? And possibly most bizarre, why not simply take and release a real image of what you want to portray instead of poorly altering it?

Vampire Weekend Album Cover Photo Entangled in Messy Lawsuit

Ann Kristen Kennis is suing the band Vampire Weekend for using a photo of her on the cover of their album “Contra” without her consent. The 1983 polaroid of the former model has become the center of a two million dollar lawsuit. Though the band reportedly paid $5,000 for the photo from photographer Tom Brody,  Kennis is claiming that Brody is lying about having taken the shot. Many unanswered questions remain, including who owned/owns the rights, how did Brody obtain the photo, and which of Brody and Kennis is actually lying, etc — but the key lesson to take away from this story is always find out the legal status of a photo before making it the cover of a #1 Billboard Chart album.

Tagged as: Cameras, Controversy, multimedia, News, Portraits, Releases, tech tips