TWiP #230 – Flash is Dead? Long Live Flash?

This week on TWiP: Are liquid lenses the next big thing in Photography, Adobe kills flash for mobile and revamps it's upgrade pricing model, Google+ reunites a DSLR owner with his images lost at sea, new hardware from Nikon, and an interview with Dan Brodnitz about the state of distance learning for creatives.

Hosts: Frederick Van Johnson, Steve Simon, Joseph Linaschke

NEWS & DISCUSSION

Are Liquid Lenses the Next Big Thing in Photography?
Major camera makers including Olympus, Samsung and Sony have all filed patents in recent days for liquid lens technology. Unlike traditional glass lenses, liquid lenses don't have any moving parts. Instead, liquid is used to focus light, and different voltages are applied to the liquid to change the shape of the liquid, thereby controlling the image.

Joseph thinks that it will be sometime before we see this used in lenses for dSLRs but where he thinks we will see it will be in small cameras where you don't have the room for big glass.

Steve thinks that it's interesting technology and mentions a talk that Ron Brinkmann recently gave at Mindshare LA where he spoke about a number of photographic technologies that exist today that many people aren't aware of and how they impact society. You can watch that video here.

Adobe Kills Flash for Mobile & Revamps it's Upgrade Pricing Model for CS6
In a not so surprising move, Adobe revealed that it will discontinue work on Flash for mobile devices and refocus it's efforts HTML5.

This is important for photographers, many of whom have websites currently developed using Flash. Steve thinks that HTML 5 appears to be the future and Joseph is happy to see Flash go away.

Adobe also announced a new pricing model for CS6 which is due sometime in 2012. Under the new model, upgrade pricing will only be available to owners of CS5. Their previous policy entitled owners of up to 3 previous versions to receive upgrade pricing.

Scott Kelby wrote an open letter on his blog encouraging Adobe to rethink this policy and offer existing users a break and hold off on implementing this policy until the release of CS7. Joseph thinks that people looking to save money will start to use less expensive alternatives such Photoshop Elements or look at alternatives from other companies.

He likes the modular approach where he just has to buy the pieces that he needs and has started to use a variety of smaller applications.

Google+ Reunites a DSLR Owner with his images – a Year after they were lost in the Pacific Ocean
Source – The Verge: Markus Thompson was scuba diving in Deep Bay (outside of Vancouver) and discovered a Canon EOS 1000D camera.

Thompson pulled the SD card to discover not only that he could recover the images, but that they revealed the camera had been sitting in the salty brine for over a year. Thompson took to Google+, posting the story and a few identifying details he was able to dig up from the photos.

Within a day, the hive mind was able to track down and contact the owner, a firefighter in British Columbia.

Photos & Specs on the Nikon D800 Leaked & Nikon Announces the SB910
Nikon shooters have been awaiting news on the latest camera release from the mothership and that news finally came last week when photos and specs of what is expected to be their next dSLR release – the D800 – were leaked. Hilites of the new body include:

• Smaller and lighter than D700
• Resolution: 7360×4912 (36MP)
• CF+SD memory card slots
• Slightly larger display
• Excellent video quality, better than D3s

Nikon also finally announced a new Speedlite. The new SB-910 will have a new thermal cut-out feature, hard-type color compensation filters, three illumination patterns, a dedicated menu button, improved user interface, etc. There is also a firmware update for the d7000.

INTERVIEW WITH DAN BRODNITZ

This week, Frederick sat down with Dan Brodnitz from Video 2 Brain to discuss the state of distance learning for creatives. Learn more at www.video2brain.com. You'll also find some great content from Joseph

LISTENER QUESTIONS

Question 1:Kevin in the forums writes: I am looking at getting a ‘Good' tripod soon. Should I go with a Fluid head or a Ball head? I am hoping to be doing some interesting video work and purchasing two heads isn't in the budget.