Sony’s Imaging PRO Support Organization Continues to Evolve to Meet Demands of Working Pros

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 14, 2017


Press Release:

Sony’s Imaging PRO Support Organization Continues to Evolve to Meet Demands of Working Pros
Rapidly Expanding Service Platform adds 24/7 Call Center, Walk-in Locations and More

NEW YORK, September 12, 2017 – Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, has today announced several updates related to their Sony Imaging PRO Support organization.

Sony’s organization to support working professional photographers and videographers now features a domestic 24/7 call center and new walk-in service centers in New York City and Los Angeles. Additionally, Sony Imaging PRO Support has launched a full in-the-field technical team to support professionals across all of North America. The team is providing in-the-field service and on-site depot support at major sporting events, media events and shows across North America, offering camera cleanings, evaluation loaners, education and seminars. Read More »

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Sony RX10 IV Coverage

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 13, 2017

The announcement of the Sony RX10 Mark IV caught everyone by surprise and it’s quite a power house. If you don’t need a Sony a9, but want similar high performance this might be a good camera for you. Sony has worked wonders with their 1-inch image sensor merging some of the best technology from cell phones with DSLR like performance to really show off the strengths of small sensor technology. Even Panasonic uses Sony’s 1-inch sensor in some of their cameras instead of m43 sensor.

cameralabs – Sony RX10 Mark IV review-so-far

imaging-resource – Sony RX10 IV Review — Hands-on Preview

dpreview – Hands-on

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Aurora HDR 2018 Pre-Order Available (for Mac and Windows)

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 12, 2017


MacPhun is taking preoders for Aurora HDR 2018, which you can get here. It will be available for Windows and OSX for the first time and if you preorder you will save. I am looking forward to seeing how well it works at stacking my solar eclipse photos compared to 2017, which did the best job of all the apps I tried.

Pre-order now

About Aurora HDR:

Aurora HDR is not just a tool for merging bracketed images, it also provides numerous tools and countless options to create perfect HDR photos for every taste – from one-click presets and advanced tone-mapping, to layers, noise reduction and powerful luminosity masking controls.

Offer Availability:

Aurora HDR 2018 will be availabe for pre-order TODAY, September 12th, and released on September 28th.

Pre-Order Pricing:

  • Current users of Aurora HDR may upgrade at a special pre-order price of $49 ($59 MSRP)
  • New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2018 at a special pre-order price of $89 ($99 MSRP)
  • A collection of bonuses will also be included with every purchase.

Pre-Order Bonuses:

  • Trey Ratcliff Deep Dive video (HDR Training by Trey Ratcliff)
  • Travel Photography Tutorials by Matt Granger (2 hours of tips, tricks and techniques to capture the best travel photos)
  • Source Brackets (5 sets of HDR brackets)
  • 3-month Zenfolio Pro website, including a complementary design consultation. $60 value.

What’s new in Aurora HDR 2018:

  • Next-generation Tone Mapping – A new smart Tone Mapping algorithm automatically reduces noise, and produces more realistic and natural initial results.
  • Mac and Windows versions – Aurora HDR 2018 is available both for Mac and PC users, enabling mixed-computer households to share the same product key.
  • Lens Correction Tool* – The new Lens Correction filter easily fixes all kinds of lens distortion, from barrel and pincushion to chromatic aberration and vignetting.
  • Transform Tool* – Easily scale, rotate and shift your image to better fit your vision.
  • Dodge & Burn Filter – Selectively lighten or darken specific areas of an image to artfully direct your viewer’s eye towards the key subject of your image, similar to a traditional darkroom technique.
  • HDR Enhance Filter – Adds details and clarity to an image, adjusting colors, details and contrast without creating artificial halos or other problems.
  • User Interface – A new, modern and responsive user interface brings a powerful, yet  joyful experience to HDR photo editing.
  • History Panel – An easy-to-reference list of edits made to your image, the History panel allows you to click on any editing step to revert the photo to an earlier stage of editing.
  • Touch Bar support for Mac – Aurora HDR 2018 adds Touch Bar support to give new MacBook Pro users fast access to key editing features and speed up their workflow.
  • Image Flip and Rotate* – Perfect for correcting photos with incorrect horizons or making creative compositions or other stylistic changes to an image.
  • IMPROVED:  New Structure Algorithm – The re-developed Structure tool allows you to adjust detail and clarity of an image to get a classic HDR effect with great detail or a smoother effect with less details.
  • IMPROVED: RAW handling – An improved RAW conversion brings out more details in shadows/highlights, displays colors more accurately and reduces noise in RAW files.
  • IMPROVED: Crop tool update – Now specify custom crop sizes for even more versatility.
  • IMPROVED: Speed – Faster merging and masking performance, improvement in RAW image processing.

* Lens Correction and Transform tools, as well as image flip and rotate will be available in the Mac version at launch, and arrive in the PC version with the first free update in the beginning of October. Other tools and features that are currently available for Mac only would be added to PC version by the end of the year.

 

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Sony RX10 IV Announced

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 12, 2017


Sony RX10 IV Announced
Sony launches the next generation of powerful, versatile RX10 cameras, the RX10 IV. The new camera combines lightning-fast AF and 24 fps continuous shooting with a versatile 24-600mm f/2.4-f/4 zoom lens.

Key features:
World’s Fastest (1) AF Speed, 24 fps (2) Continuous Shooting with full AF/AE tracking
315 focal-plane phase-detection AF points covering approximately 65% of the frame
ZEISS® Vario-Sonnar T* 24-600mm (3) f/2.4-f/4 Large Aperture, High Magnification Zoom Lens
4K (4) Movie Recording with full pixel readout without pixel binning Read More »

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Photons to Photos Nikon D850 vs Sony a7R2, a99M2, a9 and Canon 5DSR

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 12, 2017


The Nikon D850 managed to move more towards the top of the pack since Photons to Photos finalized their numbers, but the Sony a7R2/Sony a99M2 still best the Nikon slightly. You probably won’t notice the difference between the dynamic range of the images these cameras produce, but the Sony chip is pretty old now and it’s surprising no one will best it before the release of the Sony a7RIII. You can view and manipulate the results here.

Join our Sony a9 Owners Group, also follow the Sony a9 Page to get more tailored news on Facebook and follow SonyAddict on Facebook and Twitter.

Sony Alpha a99 Mark II: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony a7rII B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Nikon D850: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony a9 Action Shooting Kit: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony a9: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Canon 5DS R B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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Kai Tests The Laowa 15mm Zero-D

By Louis Ferreira | Published: September 11, 2017

Laowa has been making some seriously good lenses for a Chinese manufacturer lately and the Laowa 15mm Zero-D is no exception. Kia didn’t fall in love with the Laowa, but he put it through its paces. Too bad he didn’t get some aurora photos. That might have made him fall hard for this lens. Shooting wide isn’t for everyone.

Laowa Zero-D 15mm: Venus Optic / B&H Photo/ Amazon / Adorama

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