The “magic lens” is Adobe’s first crack at manufacturing camera hardware. The company is well known and respected as a software developer, but this could signal a shift towards gear, or it could end up being a one-off experiment for Adobe.

The lens (video of it after the jump) is actually 19 lenses piled together and aimed at slightly different angles. The result is an image that lets you control the perspective (a little bit) and the depth of field in post processing. » MORE

The pre-PMA announcements are flying fast and furious now, as Sony announces two more digital SLR’s for their line up.

The new A300 and A350 cameras will fall between the existing A700 and the A200, and offer some new features. » MORE

There’s a great show in Canada called “How It’s Made”, which airs on the Discovery Channel. They get invited onto the factory floor for all sorts of manufactured items. This video follows the process of putting together a lens on the JML Optical assembly line. As you would likely guess, the process will vary between manufacturers, but this might give you a little insight as to why those camera lenses are so expensive. » MORE

Pentax, who is steadfastly holding up against the larger camera manufacturers, has three new lenses being showcased at PMA and the Photo Imaging Expo.

The first is a 55mm f/1.4, the second is a 60-250mm f/4, and the third lens is a 17-70mm f/4. All three lenses feature the SDM ultrasonic focusing. The 55mm sounds particularly nice, since it’s a very fast lens and will give you a great amount of control over your depth-of-field.

For more information on Pentax lenses, see the Pentax site.

This morning, Nikon unveiled the D60… and just shortly after, they also announced three new lenses. Two of them are specialty lenses, and the third is an all-purpose lens. These come on the tail end of the D60 announcement, and should be shown off at the PMA trade show in Las Vegas - though you can see them here. » MORE

As speculated on a whole bunch of websites a few weeks ago, Nikon is in fact unveiling a new digital SLR today just in time for PMA `08. Welcome to the D60. This camera is obviously set to replace the D40/D40x as the new entry-level SLR, and has similar specs overall. The D40 and D40x were so tremendously successful for Nikon that this one could have been seen coming a mile away.

The D60 will contain a 10.2 megapixel DX format sensor, with a 3fps framerate, a 2.5″ LCD screen, and in-camera editing. The only major difference is, apparently, the addition of a self-cleaning sensor with something called “airflow” to help reduce dust. We’re not yet sure exactly what this is, and whether the self-cleaning sensor differs from the D300 because of it, but we’ll let you know.

This means that in the last two months, the D300, D3 and D60 have revamped almost the entire lineup of Nikon DSLR’s. The only one left now is the D80 - so my guess is that we should expect to see an update to that camera before the fall.

Everyone knows about the Gary Fong Lightsphere. Gary invented this flexible rubberized diffuser dome to fit onto the end of your flash unit, and included some seperate end pieces which come in various colors for color matching your existing light. The results were marvelous. The Lightsphere was an impressive little accessory that not only softened the quality of your light, it enhanced it.

The problem is that while this device is impressive, it’s my opinion that the Lightsphere is a little overpriced. Gary charges $50 for the actual lightsphere, and another $20 for the amber dome (which helps under tungsten lighting). I’m all for personal business ventures, especially in the photography world, but when I found the Lambency version of the Lightsphere on eBay for 1/4 of the price - I couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on Gary’s original version… especially after hearing stories like this and this. So I bought the eBay Sphere.

While I applaud Mr. Fong for his ingenious device, and would be willing to throw some money his way for it, I’m a little confused as to why this replica diffuser can be manufactured and sold at such low costs in comparison to his “authentic” Lightsphere. If you feel the same, and want to save yourself some money, check out the Lambency diffusers.

I’ve mentioned David Hobby’s Strobist blog on more than a few occasions. Hobby is spearheading a movement online that emphasizes the use of strobes (flashes) for lighting, rather than relying on larger, more cumbersome studio lighting. It’s a brilliant blog, and though the art of using flashes didn’t begin with Strobist, David has certainly inspired a lot of folks who may have otherwise felt like their strobes were unable to handle the task.

I ran across this article on Photonovice that was in response to a post from Oliver Neilsen, who asserts that strobists are loosing out on the point of their photography by concentrating on the lighting. » MORE