Soft Man

Unlike some previous years, 2007 has been extremely active from a photographic point of view. Apart from the sheer number of new cameras on the market, we witnessed some amazing new technologies emerging on the market. Well, perhaps "amazing" is too strong of a word, but the improvements seen on some cameras are quite breathtaking.

While our main concern will focus on digital single lens reflex cameras, we will be mentioning some compact cameras as well. For example, in January (at CES 2007), Casio showcased what they touted to be the slimmest 7x optical zoom model on the market, the Exilim EX-V7. With a 7.2 megapixel 1/2.5-inch CCD-shifting imaging sensor and its slim case, together with the H.264 video encoding method for video clips, the V7 looks like an excellent camera for amateurs. However, you should check out some reviews before venturing into the purchase.

Unaware that Canon would release the Powershot G9 later that year, Nikon came out in February with the Coolpix P5000, a competitor to the existing Powershot G7 in the advanced compact league. Unfortunately for Nikon, the P5000 doesn’t have what it takes to pose a threat to Canon’s supremacy in this field. Speaking of advanced compact cameras, you should know that one of the best is the discontinued Powershot G6. Although it has a lower resolution, its specs and features are superior to the newer Powershot G models.

In other non-DSLR news, 2007 was the historical year of the first 18x optical zoom model and the first to reach ISO 10,000. Both of these baffling concepts came from Olympus, albeit in two separate models. The SP-550 UZ has the 18x optical zoom lens and a "modest" ISO 5,000 and the FE-250 (with the same tiny, fingernail-size CCD) goes up to ISO 10,000. Expect a mediocre performance from the 18x optical zoom lens and horrendous noise in images taken at ISO 10,000.

Before we get to one of the biggest surprises and disappointments in 2007, we should mention the Lexar UDMA 300X compact flash cards announced on January 2007. These cards should provide substantial speed improvements when used in conjunction with UDMA-compatible devices.

Enlarge pictureAnd now, for the camera that will go into history as one of the biggest disappointments of 2007, ladies and gentlemen, the EOS-1D Mark III. Initially hailed as the new standard in sports and wildlife photography, later tests revealed that the successor of the 1D Mark II N had a flaw in the autofocus system.

This has been discovered later on when the EOS 1D Mark III hit the shelves. The new DSLR boasted a 10.1MP CMOS sensor in APS-H format, an ISO range with values between 100 and 3200 (extendable to 50 and 6400) and … a breathtaking 10 frames per second continuous speed in bursts of 110 JPEGs or 30 RAWs. This made the Mark III the absolute king of speed over all digital single lens reflex cameras. Other features included the proprietary cleaning system and the Live View technology, regarded by many as something that could have been left out.

This resolution and speed were facilitated by the dual DIGIC III processors that simultaneously receive in eight channels. Canon said that by having two processors handle the workload, image processing was approximately 1.5x faster, Compact Flash access speed was 1.3x faster and SD card access was 2x faster.

Enlarge pictureAdditionally, the extra horsepower allowed analog-to-digital conversion to improve from 12 to 14 bits per channel, meaning that tonal gradation for RAW images was divided into 16,384 separate levels per channel rather than 4,096.

In early March, Olympus refreshed its DSLR lineup with the E-510 and E-410 models. The E-510 was the first of the Olympus DSLRs to feature in-body image stabilization, achieved by shifting the 10-million pixel Live Mos sensor manufactured by Matsushita. Also, the E-510 boasted a Live View mode that allowed you to compose your image via the LCD as you would with a compact camera. The E-410 was among the smallest DSLRs of 2007 and an excellent solution for those who don’t enjoy lugging around bulky bodies. You get 10 megapixels of resolution, the Supersonic Wave Filter sensor cleaning system and the Live View, but you won’t enjoy the image stabilization of the E-510.

Although nobody really asked for it, both Canon and Nikon thought their professional and semi-pro models had to have some of the Live View flavor in them, but that is a whole different story.

Enlarge pictureAnother important event in March 2007 was the final release of Photoshop CS3, which came in two versions, a regular one and an Extended one. Photography wise, Photoshop CS3 brought important improvements to its predecessor, including an upgraded Adobe Camera Raw plug in for better RAW conversions.

April was more dormant as far as photography was concerned, but May saw the first 12-megapixel digital compact cameras. It was a bit unclear who was the first to come up with the idea, Casio, Sony or Panasonic, but that is less important now. What's really important is that consumers get fooled by the idea that more megapixels are a good thing and resolution has become the top priority for most of them. In reality, cramming more megapixels onto the same tiny sensor makes matters worse. Admittedly, it allows for larger prints, but few consumers actually print that large. However, when pushing the ISO higher, the noise levels are worse compared to compacts with lower resolutions. In conclusion, as grand as it may seem to have a 12MP compact it's wiser to choose a model with a more modest resolution, but packed with features.

Enlarge pictureEarly June saw the release of Mamiya's 22MP digital back and the introduction of the first $10,000 medium format system, consisting of the company's 645AFD II body, the ZD 22 Megapixel Digital Back and the 80mm f/2.8 AF lens. The new digital back uses a 36mm x 48mm Dalsa CCD with 22 megapixels, is able to work with CF and SD storage options, has a built-in 1.8 inch LCD imaging preview screen and allows for tethered FireWire (IEEE1394) shooting. Unfortunately, it only works with three Mamiya bodies, the Mamiya 645AFD II, 645AFD and RZ67 Pro IID.

Mamiya also announced then two new digital lenses – the Mamiya Sekor AF 75-150mm f/4.5 D and a full-frame 28mm f/4.5 D Aspherical – that are designed to work on the 645AFD II with both film and digital backs.

Canon is hit by disaster in June 2007 when Rob Galbraith's thorough analysis reveals that the professional 1D Mark III has autofocus issues. There are four major problems with the autofocus module: initial acquirement of focus in a multi-frame burst, subject tracking, focus shifting when the subject isn't moving and extremely quick focus shifting with a moving subject.

Enlarge pictureOther June releases included the 70-300mm Zuiko lens, the K100D Super DSLR, which added the proprietary dust reduction system, and the HSM (Hyper Sonic Motors) versions of their 18-50mm F3.5-5.6 DC and 55-200mm F4-5.6 DC lenses from Sigma.

In mid-July, the first details on Olympus' DSLR flagship surfaced. Back then, it was believed that it would be called E-P1, which turned out to be false.

Also in mid-July, Canon and Sony had a bit of a PR conflict, each of them announcing plans to invest in CMOS sensors aimed at compact digital cameras. It's likely that 2008 will see a serious shift towards this technology, but for now, most non-DSLR cameras still rely on CCD imaging sensors.

On July 2007, Sigma revamped its flashgun lineup with two new models, the EF-530 DG Super and the EF-530 DG ST. Although they basically have the same specifications, the Super version does have some of the "pro" features; these include modeling flash function, multi pulse flash, TTL wireless flash, FP (high speed) flash, rear-curtain Synchro flash and manual flash mode which allows the photographer to set the flash power level by up to eight stops.

Enlarge pictureOther important events in July were Panasonic's first 18x optical zoom digital camera and the first point and shoot with a CMOS sensor, this time from Kodak. Nothing impressive from either one. A more interesting announcement was Zeiss' release of Pentax K bayonet lenses, namely the Planar T* 1,4/50 ZK, Distagon T* 2.8/25 ZK, Distagon T* 2/35 ZK, Planar T* 1.4/85 ZK, Makro-Planar T* 2/50 ZK and Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZK. It's worth noting that the same lenses, albeit with a different mount, were previously made available for Nikon DSLRs.

In late July, Fujifilm announces a new bridge model, the FinePix S8000 fd, which comes with 18x optical zoom, CCD-shifting image stabilization and face detection technology. Unfortunately, Fujifilm chose a smaller 1/2.5-inch regular CCD, instead of the company's larger Super CCD solution.

In August, six photographic artists went back to the basics of photography with the world's largest camera, which of course has given birth to the largest photograph.

It's not really a device, it's simply a former airplane hangar converted over a two-month period by the six photographic artists of The Legacy Project into the world’s largest camera. The basic principle was simple: expose a light sensitive material via a pinhole to create the desired image. The amazing part is that, in this case, the sensitive material consisted of a three-story high by ten-story long fabric.

Also in August, the first rumors on the new Sony DSLRs emerged, but as it turned out the company only released the A-700; more on that later.

On August 20th, Canon announced no less than three major camera models, two DSLRs and one advanced compact model. First and foremost, they released the highest resolution 35mm full-frame camera money can buy, the 1Ds Mark III. The new model uses a full-frame CMOS sensor with 21.1 megapixels and the same AF system as the 1D Mark III. However, because of the humongous resolution, this flagship model is unable to reach 10 frames per second as the 1D Mark III. Other features include the integrated cleaning system and the Live View mode.

Second on the list was the EOS 40D, the successor of the 30D, both of them aimed at advanced hobbyists who require more features and better build quality.

The new model has a 1.6x crop factor 10.1MP CMOS sensor accompanied by the DIGIC III image processor found in the 1D Mark III and the 1Ds Mark III. Canon claims that image quality is superior thanks to the use of larger microlenses over each pixel to reduce noise and expand sensitivity up to ISO 3200.

Other features include speeds of 6.5 frames per second in bursts of up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images and a new autofocus system with nine cross-type AF points. Moreover, the 40D also sports 14-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion process, which is touted as being able to recognize 16,384 colors per channel. Click here for more information on the subject.

Last, but not least, is the Powershot G9, the new flagship model of the Powershot G series, which offer a solid feature set. However, Canon is no different from the rest of pack and uses a 12.1 megapixel CCD sensor when it could have stuck with the same 1/1.7-inch unit with a lower pixel count. Click here for more details.

Enlarge pictureThree days after Canon announced the EOS 1Ds Mark III and the EOS 40D, along came Nikon with its first full-frame digital SLR, the D3, and a consistent upgrade of their D200, the D300. Some of the most impressive features of the D3 include a new full-frame CMOS sensor, new Expeed processor, ISO sensitivities up to 25,600, brand new AF module with 51 points and 3D Focus Tracking. There's also a Live View mode, but that is less important. Click here for a comprehensive article on the D3.

The D300 also provided some interesting surprises, especially the AF module, which is the same as the one in the D3. This DSLR also uses a new CMOS sensor and is able to reach 8 frames per second in conjunction with the optional Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10. Click here for more information on the D300.

Moreover, Nikon announced five new lenses, the most impressive being the full-frame 14-24mm f/2.8, the first full-frame zoom lens to reach f/2.8 at the 14mm. Find out more information on Nikon's five new lenses here.

Late August saw the release of Panasonic's second DSLR, the LUMIX DMC-L10, which comes with some improvements, but nothing to die for. More details here.

Much more interesting was Casio's unnamed prototype with a 1/1.6-inch CMOS sensor, 6 megapixels, image stabilization and the ability to record 60 images per second at full resolution and to capture movies at a whopping 300fps. Unfortunately, that was the last time we heard about Casio's intriguing prototype.


Sony caught up with Canon and Nikon and announced their second DSLR, the A-700, in early September. The new model boasts a new CMOS sensor, Exmor, with APS-C dimensions and 12.2 megapixels. Sony claims that by carrying out the analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion and dual noise reduction right on the sensor itself the picture quality will be significantly better.

The manufacturer also informs that the BIONZ (yes, it's the same funny Bionz name) processor has been improved to "process data-rich picture information at high speeds, and to reduce picture noise in the RAW data stage before final image compression and encoding".

In the autofocus department, the new 11 wide-area sensor module comes with an interesting novelty: a center dual cross sensor comprised of two horizontal and two vertical line sensors, touted as ensuring superior performance. Click here for more detailed information on the A-700.

In October, Pentax had two announcements to make: the all-around zoom smc DA 18-250mm and the Optio A40, Pentax's first 12 megapixel compact camera.

Canon also showcased two lens prototypes, the EF 200mm f/2 L IS USM and the EF 800mm f/5.6 L IS USM, both of them aimed at professional photographers.

In mid-October, Olympus officially announced the E-3, touted as having the fastest autofocus speed when using it in conjunction with SWD (Silent Wave Drive) lenses.

You might also want to check out the four new lenses and two hot-shoe strobes Olympus announced during the same period.


Enlarge pictureSanDisk also announced their Extreme III 8GB SDHC, which should be perfect for storage-hungry DSLRs or camcorders working with such memory solution.


After announcing in September the fourth generation of medium format DSLRs, the H3DII, Hasselblad came out in October with the H3DII-39MS, the multi-shot version of the "ordinary" 39 megapixel model.

November 1st saw the release of the first SD card with wireless capabilities, the Eye-Fi. Click here more detailed information on this solution, which is compatible by the way with the 802.11g, 802.11b and 802.11n wireless networks.

Later that month, HP said goodbye to camera manufacturing, the producer deciding to outsource this division. More information here.


Enlarge pictureThe same month, Sigma announced two new interesting fisheye lenses, but more importantly, Phase One and Mamiya announced a partnership focused on building a medium format system.

Tokina also surprised photographers with the first f/2.8 ultra-wide angle zoom lens, the AT-X 116 PRO DX.

Late November brought some of the first rumors on the Pentax's K20D and K200D digital SLRs. More information should be available on January 24, 2008.

In December, the EOS 1D Mark III gets reanalyzed by Rob Galbraith and the conclusion is not jolly. Although the revised sub-mirror and firmware upgrade improved the AF, the model still had some issues and the performance was inferior to that of the 1D Mark II N. You’d think that a minor AF issue cannot possibly ruin a camera, but when you’re talking about a professional $4,500 DSLR pros rely upon, there’s no room for error.

This about wraps up all major photographic events in 2007. It has been a long year, full of releases and technological advancements. You could say that in a way, some milestones have been reached, but who knows, 2008 might come with even more surprises. Until 2008 when we meet again, Have a Luminous New Year!

We expect to hear these news from the villages of India. But this crime scene occurred Wednesday at the San Francisco Zoo: an escaped Siberian tigress killed one visitor and mauled two others. The 300-pound (136-kilogram) Tatiana had been already involved in an attack on a zookeeper last Christmas. That incident made the Zoo improve the pen where tigers were kept.

"The three men—one of them 19 years old and the others in their early 20s—were attacked just after 5 p.m. Tuesday on the east end of the 125-acre (50-hectare) zoo grounds near Ocean Beach", police spokesperson Steve Mannina said.

"We're not certain why the incident occurred—as result of human action or whether this was an incident where the animal was able to get out of the grotto", said Chief Heather Fong.

"The San Francisco medical examiner had not been able to identify the dead man. The man did not have any identification and no one had called asking about him", said investigator Tim Hellman.

How the escape occurred is a mystery.

"The tiger's enclosure is surrounded by a 15-foot-wide (4.5-meter-wide) moat and 20-foot-high (6-meter-high) walls, and the big cat did not leave through an open door. There was no way out through the door. The animal appears to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure", said zoo's director of animal care and conservation, Robert Jenkins.

"This is a first in this country. I've never heard of an individual (zoo visitor) being killed by an animal. It's much safer going to a zoo than getting in your car and going down the driveway", Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus, Ohio, zoo told National Geographic News.

"Since zoo tigers are well fed, it's unlikely the animal was looking for food."

He believes the animal could have been stressed by people.

"Were they taunting the animal? Were they throwing things that were making it angry?"

The other two victims are recovering.

"The two injured men, ages 19 and 23, were upgraded to stable condition Wednesday at San Francisco General Hospital after surgery to clean and close their wounds. They suffered deep bites and claw cuts on their heads, necks, arms and hands. They were shaken up emotionally and would remain hospitalized for the day, but that because of their youth they would make a full recovery", said surgeon Rochelle Dicker.

The first attack and kill occurred right outside Tatiana's enclosure. The second victim was made at about 300 yards (275 m) away, in front of the Terrace Cafe.

"The man was sitting on the ground, blood running from gashes in his head and Tatiana sitting next to him. The cat attacked the man again", Mannina said.

Tatiana then attacked the police officers and they fired, killing her.

San Francisco Zoo was keeping five tigers: three Sumatrans and two Siberians.

On December 22nd, 2006, the same tigress grabbed through the bars of her cage a keeper, biting and mauling one of her arms. The Zoo was imposed then with $ 18,000 penalty. Since then, the zoo increased the distance between the public and the cats.

Tatiana had been brought some years earlier from the Denver Zoo for a breeding program. Siberian tigers are extremely menaced: about 200 are found in the wild, and the hope is found in zoos, where 600 individuals are found worldwide. Even if Siberian tigers are the largest tigers (and cats) ever, the Indian (Bengali) and Sumatran (the smallest type) tigers are more famous for their bad temper and taste for human flesh.

Who says you can't play games on Linux? Of course you can! Well... not all of them, but at least some of the nicer ones, such as Half-Life 2, Counter Strike or Unreal Tournament. Today's guide will teach you, step-by-step, how to install and play Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 (all part of the grandiose Orange Box) on Ubuntu 7.10 (Gusty Gibbon). I have to admit that I played and finished Half-Life 2 on a Windows PC, a few years ago (in late 2004) when I hadn’t even heard about Ubuntu, and I simply loved it. Now I want to finish Episode One and Two, on Ubuntu! Without any further introduction, here's what you need to get started:

• Wine
• The Orange Box

Copy the files

So, you've got your precious Orange Box? Good... it's time to copy the contents of the discs to your hard drive. First, create a folder in your home directory, then insert the first disc in your optical drive and copy all the files to the folder you've created earlier. Do the same with the second disc. In the end, the folder should have about 8 GB in size. In the mean time...

Install and configure Wine

If you don't have Wine installed, here's how to get the latest version:

1. Open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and paste the following commands (one by one):

wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list

sudo apt-get update

2. Go to Applications -> Add/Remove, make sure you select the "All available applications" option in the upper-right side of the window, search for wine and install it. When it's done, close the window.

3. Hit ALT+F2 and paste in the following command:

wine iexplore http://appdb.winehq.com/

Click 'Install' when prompted and when you'll see the "Wine Internet Explorer" window and WineHQ website, then you can close it.



4. Search on Google for the Tahoma font with the following string:

tahoma filetype:ttf

Save it on your desktop, then copy it in the wine fonts folder (/home/yourusername/.wine/drive_c/windows/fonts).

Tip: To see the .wine folder, go to View -> Show Hidden Files in your home directory.

Install The Orange Box

All you have to do now, is go to the folder where you have copied the Orange Box discs and double click the setup.exe file. Follow the instructions to install it! When it's over, it must be activated:

1. Input your CD Key
2. Log-in into your steam account
3. Select the games you want to install

When the installation is done (it will take 10-15 minutes) you will have a lot of icons on your desktop. Just double click the one you want to play... and remember to close the desktop effects (Right click on the desktop -> Change Desktop Background -> Visual Effects -> None) before you start a game!

Have fun playing these nice games and look below for some cool screenshots I've made while playing them! Merry Christmas!

Microsoft has officially confirmed that the final version of Windows XP Service Pack 3 is planned for availability in early(!) 2008. According to the original statement from the Redmond company, SP3 for Windows XP will drop in the first half of 2008. At the same time, the fast pace of the XP SP3 development process, managed to contradict such a scenario. The third and final service pack for Windows XP was introduced in mid July 2007 in pre-beta stage, concomitantly with the initial development milestone of Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

Since that time, the two service packs have been virtually joined at the hip. Microsoft did reveal plans to synchronize the major update releases for both its client and server operating system, and the almost simultaneous releases of Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008 and XP SP3 are illustrative examples of this strategy taking contour. And while Microsoft's official position remains that it will deliver XP SP3 by the summer of the coming year, a slip of the tongue from Bruce Kyle, Architect Evangelist with the US ISV Developer Evangelism Team discloses other plans.

"The next update to Windows XP is now available for your testing. You can download Windows XP SP3 release candidate. The release candidate is not for mission critical systems, but rather for use in testing your software products. The service pack is to be available early in 2008. The release contains all of the updates since service pack 2, plus some other enhancements. For example, SP3 includes a feature called Network Access Protection (NAP) that's borrowed from the newer Windows Vista operating system. NAP automatically validates a computer's "health," ensuring that it's free of bugs and viruses, before allowing it access to a network," Kyle stated. (emphasis added)

The bottom line is that although "early in 2008" does not say much more than Microsoft's "1H CY2008", Kyle's deadline for XP SP3 is more realistic. Even Microsoft has stated that the first half of 2008 is a preliminary date that is subject to change. However, early in 2008 points to the first quarter of the following year, which may very well mean that Microsoft is planning to drop Vista SP1 at the same time as XP SP3. On December 11, the first public version of XP SP3, namely the Release Candidate was offered for download.

Enlarge pictureMethane gas escapes from ocean floor fossil deposits at a rate of about two hundred or more cubic meters every day, which poses some environmental concerns, as the methane gas is a greenhouse gas, which causes a global warming effect 23 times more accentuated than carbon dioxide would, during a century. About half of that quantity is being dissolved into the ocean water, however, the other half of the quantity is thought to escape into the Earth's atmosphere.

Recent studies have shown that we have nothing to fear so far, as only about one percent of the whole methane volume, emitted by the ocean floor, escapes into the atmosphere. So, what happens to the other 49 percent of gas that all studies show should reach the ocean surface? It appears that even in shallow waters, the ocean is capable of absorbing most of the quantity bubbling up from the floor.

The biggest emitter of such gases, Coal Oil Point, or COP, is located near the coast of the United States, in the Santa Barbara Channel area. Studies related to the fate of these emissions, made by researchers from the University of California, predict that the undissolved quantity of methane gas escaping from the ocean floor is being oxidized by the microbial activity in the ocean.

During the data gathering stage of the study, involving a surface area of about 280 square kilometers, Susan Mau revealed the presence of more than 79 gas plumes to reach the ocean surface, over an area of 70 square kilometers. Furthermore, monthly sample gathering shows that the gas concentration on the surface of the ocean is greatly affected by currents' circulation, and increased wind activity further increases the quantity of gas emitted by the ocean. Scientists believe that most of the natural gas quantity does not escape to the surface, but is being picked up by deep oceanic currents and transported below the surface of the water.

During this process, the gas is being broken down by microbial activity feeding on the gas. To make better resolution observations on the water samples, Mau used a mass spectrometer tied behind the boat, which seems to back up her discovery. Though the COP area emits the biggest annual quantity of methane gas by seeping from the ocean floor, these underwater fossil fuel deposits that emit high quantities of natural gas can be found in most of the oceanic areas.