Battle of the Hardware-Boosting Hacks

When like-minded hackers come together to unleash the true power of seemingly simple gear, it’s truly a beautiful thing. We’ve featured a good number of how-tos and hacks over the years that make expensive upgrades unnecessary and unleash seriously cool features in your gear, and 2008 was no exception. In the last year our Canon digi-cams gained pro-level powers:

Canon Hacker’s Development Kit

If you’ve ever been intrigued by time-lapse photography, motion-sensing shutters that can capture lightning, or being able to shoot videos of any serious length, you might not need to shell out for a semi-serious DSLR model—if you’ve got a Canon, that is. The CHDK lets you do all that and more, including record your photos in the very work-able RAW format, get way more on-screen information about your shots and their settings, and, as Adam put it, generally turn your point-and-shoot into a super-camera. The possibilities are vast, given the number of user-created scripts the CHDK can run. And, in true hacker fashion, you can even play a game or two on your LCD screen (while you pretend to be setting up that staged photo mom and dad want, perhaps).

Canon 5D Mark II Reviewed: Lives Up to the Incredible Hype

Pop Photo is one of the first to pop out a full review of Canon’s wunderkamera, the 5D Mark II, and says that it "does live up to its billing" and is "a virtual steal."

The image quality, thankfully, is as good as we’d been led to believe, delivering the huge megapixel count of Sony’s A900 and matches the clean images of Nikon’s D700, both scoring 2.0 in Pop Photo’s noise test at ISO 6400. In other words, "Such high resolution and ISOs will change your photography." Video footage is "beautiful" (though we already knew that).

The bad? The most crippling issue is that its autofocus system is sloooow, lagging way behind the D700 and A900, and it’s even worse in low light. Pop Photo also encountered the notorious black botches plaguing some of the camera’s shots with blown-out highlights, but they suspect it’ll be fixed with a firmware update.

Their bottom line is that "it’s a wow" and "low-light image quality is almost life-changing." Even if you already own a 5D, you gain on almost every front, so it’s a "perhaps irresistible" upgrade. Be sure to check out the full review: [Pop Photo]

Nikon: Want to know where a photo was taken? A GPS for Your Camera Can Show Where You Were

Taking a photo of yourself in front of the Eiffel Tower is no longer proof enough of your travels. Nikon’s GP-1 GPS unit lets you “geotag” your photos by attaching to the hot shoe of your Nikon camera (models D3, D300, D700, D2Xs, D200 and D90 D-SLR) or to the strap, with an adaptor.

The dongle, measuring 2 by 1.8 by 1 inch, records latitude, longitude, altitude and time. You can upload photos using Nikon’s ViewNX software and “my Picturetown” photo storage and sharing Web site, or use third-party sites like Flickr and Google Earth.

The GP-1 acquires a satellite signal in about 45 seconds (after being turned on) or 5 seconds (if already powered). The system’s three-color status indicator flashes red when no recorded GPS satellite data is available. If the indicator blinks green, it has detected three satellites; a solid green signal means it has detected four or more.

The GP-1 will be available this month for the recession-unfriendly price of $240. You may have to make do with that untagged photo of the Eiffel Tower for a while. AZADEH ENSHA

Canon will address 5D Mark II’s “Black Dot” Issues soon

Though not as serious as the Mark III’s auto-focus disaster, the black dots are persistent on the new Canon 5D squeal. Frustrated photographers took it up with USA technical adviser Chuck Westfall at The Digital Journalist and the man spoke, “Watch for an official Canon comment on this issue in the very near future”

RG, in his brief interview with Westfall, also confirmed Canon is prepping to address the 5D mark II’s black dots debacle that’ve been widely spread on numerous community forums. No further details were disclosed but it would be a positive announcement. Well, if they’ve learned anything from Mark III; it’s wiser to break silence on founded technical difficulties, another case of lack-of-response could be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

GA: Georgia Renaissance Faire

Frank (fht61 on Webshots) is an attendee of a number of faires around New England, and has graced us with some of his shots from this years Georgia Faire.

• Series I
• Series II
• Series III
• Series IV

TX: Texas Renaissance Faire Photos (continued)

The Texas Renaissance Faire

Each year one of the most popular late season Faires of the National season is simply known as TRF. Everyone has nicknames for their local faires, but when you get to be anywhere in the country and people who’ve never attended an event know it simply by it’s initials, then you know it’s a big deal.

Of all the events we’ve had so far here on RFPhotos, Texas has the one that’s been most requested for more sets.

From early October through the end of November, Plantersville, Texas hosts this annual event.

Check out our gallery sets for the 2008 season.

• TRF Galleries 1
• TRF Galleries 2

MO: White Hart Renaissance Faire 2008

CA: Dickens Faire, 2nd Weekend

TN: Tennessee Renaissance Festival 2008

TN Faire has been blessed with an expecially gifted photographer who’s been attending for a number of years. Chip Talbert’s photos have been gracing the faire for years and we can recommend him highly enough, especially for cast photos. His site is now over at FablePhotography.com and has a range of great stuff beyond just the Faire.

• Opening Weekend
• Closing Weekend

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