Hasselblad and EIZO collaborate to equip imaging software with monitor self-calibrating capability

As part of a technical collaboration begun in 2013, Hasselblad has integrated the software development kit (SDK) for EIZO’s ColorEdge monitors into Phocus 2.8, the latest version of Hasselblad’s imaging software.

Phocus 2.8 activates the built-in calibration sensor housed inside select ColorEdge monitors. This allows photographers using Hasselblad cameras and ColorEdge monitors to view and edit photos as well as calibrate their monitors with just one piece of software and no external calibration device.

“We are delighted that Hasselblad is utilizing the self-calibration capability of our ColorEdge monitors and that together, we are able to give photographers a simplified workflow from shoot to digital display,” said Lucas Zastrow, Product Manager, Display Solutions. “Providing our own SDK assists manufacturers like Hasselblad to blend their software’s functionality seamlessly with our monitors, enabling our customers to work more easily and smarter.”

Ove Bengtson, Hasselblad Product Manager said: “At Hasselblad, we are constantly driven to further develop and fine tune not only our high-end camera systems but also our imaging software, Phocus, to provide professional photographers with the best possible tools for a well thought out, intuitive, fast and integrated workflow. The successful collaboration with EIZO enables Phocus users, with just a few clicks, to calibrate their ColorEdge monitor conveniently within the Phocus software itself, ensuring that the viewing experience lives up to the outstanding colour accuracy of Hasselblad RAW files.”

Photographers are invited to see this new feature in action on the Hasselblad booth (G-11) and the EIZO booth (G-10) at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show at Pacifico Yokohama, Japan, from February 13-16.

To find out more about Phocus and to download the software for free, please visit:www.hasselblad.com/products/phocus

About Hasselblad
Founded in 1941 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Hasselblad has been the leading manufacturer and partner for photographers working in the medium format environment for over half a century, consistently providing the highest level of quality and innovation. The extraordinary quality of the company’s products became famous in 1962 when Hasselblad cameras were selected for NASA space missions. Positive associations with Hasselblad’s past serve as the foundation for the company’s modern and energised brand.

In 2012, Hasselblad launched the Lunar – a state-of-the-art mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and a hybrid of Italian design and Swedish pedigree. Followed by the unveiling of the Hasselblad Stellar and the Hasselblad HV, this ushered the beginning of the company’s move to offer all fans of the iconic Hasselblad brand the chance to own one of their cameras.

The H Camera System with its professional lens family and unique advancements is the most comprehensive digital camera system of its kind available today. Hasselblad recently launched the first fully integrated medium format camera system incorporating the latest in CMOS sensor technology – the H5D-50c. The camera will be shown for the first time at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show in Japan.

About EIZO
Founded in 1968, EIZO Corporation is a leading global manufacturer of high-end visual display products. The image quality, long-term reliability, and innovative features of EIZO monitors make them the products of choice in many financial trading rooms, back offices, hospitals, air traffic control centers, and design studios throughout the world. EIZO is based in Japan and listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is represented in over sixty countries by a network of group companies and exclusive distributors.

 

Your lifetime of images, on demand – Canon unveils new image management platform

Canon today announces the beta launch of a new image management platform under the working title Project 1709. Designed to seamlessly bring your entire photography collection together, the new cloud-based service makes it easy to store and access images, regardless of where they’ve been saved. With unique indexing and tagging functionality, you can easily find any image stored on the cloud, or share your collection of photographs with friends, family and social networks thanks to integration with services such as Facebook.

“Since the advent of digital photography, people are taking more photos on a range of devices, and it’s become more challenging to effectively manage and enjoy these images,” said Rainer Fuehres, Head of Consumer Imaging, Canon Europe. “In Project 1709 we’ve developed a unique solution that makes it easier to manage photo collections across different platforms – whether stored on a hard drive, a social network, or in the cloud. This platform is designed for the modern photographer, providing instant access to their entire collections whenever and wherever they want it. We’re excited at the prospect of working with photographers during the beta programme, and evolving the platform in the months and years ahead.” Easily store, find, access, improve and enjoy Totally cloud-based, the platform has been designed to offer a central location to organise, access and view all digital image collections. Unlike any other service, it integrates disparate image collections – regardless of how they’ve been captured and where they are stored – into one easy-to-use platform that provides access to all images. The platform’s clean, tiled design gives a fresh and enjoyable new way to view images, with a customisable timeline ribbon and tag-based filtering options that make it easier to find images using important dates, location, user-added tags, and much more. The platform has been created around five core principles designed the make it easier for photographers to manage their images: Store: Allowing you to store a lifetime of images, all on one platform. You can upload images from any device using either the dedicated desktop uploader or directly from the web page. Even if the same image is stored in multiple locations, advanced image matching technology identifies duplicate images and enables users to easily remove them from their library Find: The intuitive search functionality allows you to quickly filter through photos to locate the image needed. Meaningful tags added by you, as well as EXIF data, device information, dates, and geo-tags, can all be searched within the interface – making images easily findable, whichever way you search. With the advanced search functionality you can enjoy a timeline of images providing the perfect way to document a child growing through the years Improve: As well as storing a library of pictures, a concise overview of EXIF data – including the camera’s model, exposure time, aperture and ISO speed – is also displayed to help you understand camera settings on your favourite shots. Using advanced indexing technology, you can build up a lifetime of images with an extensive collection of contextual data that can be used to theme images, organise collections and make special photos easy to find Enjoy: The platform makes it easy to enjoy and make the most of digital photography, as well as share your favourite images. With Facebook integration you can publish images, pull in and store comments and manage Facebook photos as part of your collection – making photography and social interactions easily accessible from within the interface. Access: Instantly access any image, at any point in time quickly and easily using a web browser. This ensures you will never be caught without an image to share with friends and family Designed around users The Project 1709 beta opens today with versions in English and German available. During the beta phase, users will be able to enjoy the ability to store and access images, and use the intuitive tagging and search functionality to manage image collections. Facebook integration is also available from today, with additional third party services to be added as the beta programme develops. Canon will also invite participating users to share their thoughts and feedback, as well as suggest ideas for new features. Project 1709 is scheduled for a full public launch in 2013, when the platform identity and additional features will be unveiled. The public launch will also include enhanced search and tagging functionality, as well as integration with a wider range of third party services, including content upload and sharing platforms. Consumers interested in the beta can register their interest atwww.Project1709.com Project 1709 – key features Store a lifetime of your images Find any image when you need it Access all your photos anytime, everywhere Enjoy and make the most of your photos Improve your photos to make them the best they can be

Canon launches four PIXMA All-In-One printers with new software features

 Canon  announces the launch of four compact All-In-One PIXMA printers which feature comprehensive new software offerings designed to enhance the printing experience. The new PIXMA MP230, MG2250, MG3250 and MG4250 are optimised for printing documents from the internet and photo lab quality images at home.

Canon PIXMA MG4250

The printers are the first PIXMA models to include, as standard, My Image Garden, a one-stop platform that combines all software currently available for Canon PIXMA printers into a single, easy-to-use interface. The intuitive software also includes a range of new, advanced, user-friendly features, such as Automatic Suggestion, Automatic Layout and Face Recognition.

In addition, the printers are compatible with Print Your Days, Canon’s new Facebook app for PCs that has been designed to make it easy to send and print photos directly from Facebook to a Canon PIXMA printer without the need for any additional software. The app includes tools to allow users to automatically adjust photo layouts and create unique collage prints with up to five photos printed on a page. It also provides a range of style and editing options to add a further creative twist to photo printing.

CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM¹, Canon’s free resource for downloading and printing cards, printable crafts and stationery, is also available through My Image Garden and features a new, easy-to-use photo selection process that enables users to display, download and print images through a single user interface. New content from the likes of National Geographic and NASA is now available, including beautiful photos that can be used to create calendars and a selection of printable crafting templates for building 3D space shuttles.

All four new PIXMA printers feature Auto Power Off and a new Auto Power On setting, which makes printing from a powered-down state quick and convenient. Documents or photos can also be sent from a wireless device and printed with ease without the need to manually switch the printer on beforehand, or off after printing. Quiet Mode, also available on the new PIXMA models, provides the option of a quieter printing experience.

PIXMA MP230
The new PIXMA MP230 is an affordable printer with print, scan and copy functions, perfect for first-time printer owners, students and young families looking for a home printer. With a stylish matte black design and compact footprint, the printer requires only minimal desk space and comes with print speeds of ISO ESAT 7.0ipm for mono and 4.8ipm for colour prints.

The MP230 produces high quality documents with 4800dpi print resolution using Canon’s FINE cartridges and also takes the economical XL cartridge size. The MP230 also offers ChromaLife100+ when used with genuine Canon paper and inks, for long-lasting, beautiful photos.

PIXMA MG2250
The new MG2250 is a competitively-priced printer with print, scan and copy functions, and features a seven-segment LCD display. Perfect for those looking for a compact and affordable printer for personal use, the MG2250 features Canon’s FastFront design, saving desk space and making it quick and easy to replace ink cartridges and paper.

The PIXMA MG2250 prints at ISO ESAT 8.4ipm in mono and 4.8ipm for colour images. It can print 10x15cm borderless photos in approximately 44 seconds. When copying or printing, users can also select to print either two or four pages on a single sheet of paper, reducing the total number of printed pages required for larger documents and helping to reduce overall paper consumption and ink costs.

The MG2250 takes Canon’s FINE cartridges as well as the economical XL cartridge size. It prints at up to 4800dpi resolution and also offers the ChromaLife100 system, producing quality, long-lasting photos.

PIXMA MG3250
The PIXMA MG3250 includes all the features of the MG2250 but offers faster print speeds of 9.2ipm for mono and 5.0ipm for colour images. The MG2250 also features built-in Wi-Fi and a free smartphone and tablet app for printing photos and scanning, to give greater printing flexibility around the home. For the environmentally-conscious user, the MG2250 also features Auto Duplex (double-sided) printing which can cut paper costs by up to 50%.

PIXMA MG4250
The PIXMA MG4250 is a feature-laden, compact, All-In-One printer. It comes with a 6.2cm colour TFT display for printing easily without a PC and also offers a broad range of connectivity options. The MG4250 features built-in Wi-Fi and the PIXMA Cloud Link, which includes direct access to Picasa online albums, Web Template Print and Google Cloud Print. This flexibility to connect over a range of wired and wireless technologies provides users with the freedom to print from almost anywhere in the home and from a host of wireless devices.

With fast print speeds of 9.9ipm for mono and 5.7ipm for colour prints, the MG4250 prints high quality documents and photo lab quality prints quickly. Auto Duplex Print provides the option to print double-sided, helping to cut paper costs by up to 50%.

PIXMA MP230 – key features:
• All-In-One: Print, copy and scan
• Simple setup and operation
• Fast document & photo printing
• Print more with optional high yield inks
• Easy and efficient web printing
• My Image Garden software
• Print Your Days app for printing Facebook photos

PIXMA MG2250 – key features:
• Compact All-In-One: Print, copy and scan
• Fast document & photo printing
• Easy and efficient web printing
• Print more with optional XL inks
• My Image Garden software
• Print Your Days app for printing photos from Facebook
• Auto power on and off settings

PIXMA MG3250 – key features:
• Wi-Fi All-In-One: Print, copy and scan
• Mobile printing & Apple AirPrint support
• Easy and efficient web printing
• Print more with optional XL inks
• Save paper with Auto Duplex print
• Fast document & photo printing
• My Image Garden software
• Auto power on and off settings

PIXMA MG4250 – key features:
• Advanced Wi-Fi All-In-One
• Print, copy & scan functions
• PIXMA Cloud Link with Google Cloud Print
• Mobile printing & Apple AirPrint support
• Print more with optional XL inks
• Save paper with Auto Duplex
• Fast document & photo printing
• My Image Garden software

All printers are available from September 2012-09-07

Prices from £44.00 to £79.00 RRP

¹ Only available when using genuine Canon inks with a Canon PIXMA printer.

by Glyn Ridgers