In early December 2010, Nikon will launch Picturetown 3D in Japan:
TOKYO – Nikon Corporation and Nikon Imaging Japan Inc. are pleased to announce the launch of my Picturetown 3D, a new 3D imaging service that offers 3D image conversion over the Internet for viewing of 3D images on a dedicated 3D digital photo frame.
My Picturetown 3D is a service for registered members that offers a 3D image conversion service available from Nikon’s my Picturetown, an online image sharing and storage service, and supports viewing of 3D images without specialized eyewear on the new NF-300i 3D digital photo frame. The primary services offered are as follows.
Loan of an NF-300i 3D digital photo frame
3D image conversion of still images stored on my Picturetown
Viewing and sharing services for 3D image utilizing my Picturetown functions
Distribution of 3D contents (still photos and movies) with my Picturetown
The current versions of Capture NX and View NX do not fully support Nikon P7000 and D7000 RAW files. I already mentioned that the Nikon D7000 comes with View NX ver. 2.0.2 in the box, which is not yet available for download (?).
Jason Odell (who is a tester for Capture NX2) mentioned on this Nikonians thread that version 2.2.6 of Nikon Capture NX will fix those issues:
I came across this announcement today during my regular scan of Nikon websites – make sure you purchase your Nikon software at authorized dealers only:
It has come to our attention that product keys for Nikon software are being illegally sold and distributed from websites. We have confirmed the illegal sale and/or distribution of product keys for, as well as the unauthorised use of, the following products.
– Capture NX
– Capture NX 2
– Camera Control Pro
– Camera Control Pro 2
When unauthorised software use is confirmed in relation to the software license agreement, measures that prevent the use of Nikon software are implemented. Please contact Nikon if you believe that you have purchased an authentic product key, but the software indicates that the product key is unauthorized and the software can no longer be used.
This is my hands-on comparison between the Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR and Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR lenses. I hope you will find it useful when deciding which one to buy.
General
The Nikon 24-120mm f/4G ED VR and Nikon 28-300 mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR lenses are considered to be “general walk around lenses”. Standard accessories for both products are lens hood and soft lens case. On both lenses the zoom ring is located closer to the hood. The 24-120mm lens has Nano coating, the 28-300mm doesn’t. The zoom ring on the 24-120mm lens is much smoother than the zoom ring on the 28-300mm lens. Only the 28-300 has a zoom lock button. Both lenses have 77mm filter thread, the same size as many other popular Nikon lenses. My biggest complaint on the 28-300 lens is the hood – it “unlocks” itself very easily, especially when changing lenses. Also, when snapped, the hood is not locked tightly and was even vibrating in my car while driving. It could be that I had a defective piece – if you own the 28-300mm lens, I would like to hear your feedback. The hood of the 24-120 is very solid as you can see from this video:
Those are the latest Nikon patent applications filed in Japan. I would like to remind you again that filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean that a specific technology will be implemented. The text is machine translated, no direct links are available.
Patent application 2010-145882 is for a clever way of implementing bounce flash:
“Problem to be solved: To provide an imaging device which can directly or indirectly illuminate an object of shooting by its illumination part having a simple construction.
Solution: The imaging device is provided with the illumination part 6 which can move between a first place where it directly illuminates the object to be shot by imaging elements and a second position where it indirectly illuminates it and a reflecting surface 10a which is opposed to the illumination part 6 which is in the second position. It also has a reflecting member 10 which can move between an open position where the illumination part 6 is open and an obscuring position where the illumination part 6 is shielded. When the illumination part 6 is in the second position and the reflecting member 10 is in the open position, the illumination light emitted from the illumination part 6 is reflected by the reflecting surface 10a and is guided in the direction so that it may indirectly illuminate the object of shooting.”
I will have another update on the latest patent applications from Japan in few hours. First, the latest patent applications filed in the US:
US patent application 20100238540 proposes a way of eliminating harmful UV light in the lens in order to protect your eyes (if your sun glasses have UV filter, why not your lens?):
“An optical element capable of cutting off the ultraviolet light is very valuable in various uses. For example, when the optical element capable of cutting off the ultraviolet light is used in binoculars and spectacles, it can prevent the harmful ultraviolet light from entering eyes. When the optical element capable of cutting off the ultraviolet light is located on the object side of a member with low ultraviolet light resistance (a lens, a CCD, or the like), it can prevent deterioration of the member with low ultraviolet light resistance. In an optical system of an ordinary camera, an ultraviolet cut filter is interposed in front of a CCD.”
“Incidentally, the present inventor has considered realizing fine movie reproduction by using the plural still image frames which are continuously photographed as his or her material. When such a function is realized, images stored as the still images can be disclosed as movies in electronic albums or websites on the Internet, which makes image appreciation even more enjoyable.
Moreover, when the plural still image frames are reproduced as a movie image by a image editing software or the like, it is possible to view a vast number of still images in a short period of time. Additionally, it is also possible to quickly find a desired still image from the vast number of the still images by this movie reproduction.
In such a movie reproduction, approximately 18 to 30 image frames per second are generally necessary in order to display smooth motion like in films or television programs.”
“There is known a head-mount display device that detects a user’s head motion and exercises control according to specific motions. For detecting a head motion, such a head-mount display device uses various kinds of sensors such as for example a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor), an acceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor, and the like. Various techniques have been developed in order to improve operability of a head-mount display device based on such various kinds of sensors.”
Just a quick update: Amazon has started shipping Nikon D7000 kit pre-orders, Adorama is expecting a shipment on Friday (they may get them even earlier).
First I would like to thank all participants in the ThinkTank Digital Holster 50 V2.0 giveaway. This time you beat all previous records with 3171 entries. I would like to thank also ThinkTank Photo for sponsoring this giveaway. Because of the large number of entries, I had to come up with a different way of selecting the winner – I ran a SQL script on the database that randomly picked one of the 3171 comments (I also made sure there were no duplicate entries):
and the winner is… Jimmy Lamont. Congratulations!
For the other 3170 readers that did not win this time, I will have another ThinkTank giveaway in the next few days. It will be also for a brand new ThinkTank product that you cannot purchase yet. Stay tuned.
