Canon firmware update to improve EOS-5D Mark II video recording
According to DCRP, Canon will release later this month a new firmware update for the Canon EOS-5D Mark II. The new firmware, version 2.0.3, will add 24p video acquisition and will lower the frame rate in 30p mode to 29.97 fps. As an extra the user will get manual audio control as well as a higher sampling frequency, also a live histogram and the ability to record movies in shutter and aperture priority modes.
I'm sure the EOS-5D Mark II owners are looking forward to the firmware release.
If you do not know what the Canon EOS-5D Mark II can do in video you can check out the post I had a while ago and view the embedded video: Canon EOS-5D Mark II - Betrayed
In the news – Tamron SP 70-300mm 60th anniversary model
Since I read lots of news in digital format and sometimes I find interesting things that I feel are worth being spread.. this is the first post from a new category here on Tourist Profile, the "photography news" section.
Tamron has announced the making of a 70-300mm F/4-5.6 telephoto zoom lens to celebrate Tamron 60th anniversary. The new lens can be used with both 35mm and full-frame cameras or with APS-C cameras. It also features Vibration Control (VC) and a USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) auto-focus drive.
For the time being "the high-resolution DSLR telephoto zoom lens has been produced for the Nikon mount, with the development of compatible mounts for Canon and Sony to follow.
[...]
With superior optical performance, Tamron's own USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) and VC (Vibration Compensation), the SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD (Model A005) provides the performance of a high-end premium telephoto zoom that is appealing to a broad spectrum of photography enthusiasts." Tamron Press Release
Another thing to be noted about this lens is.. the New optical system [...] with specialized glass elements including an XLD (Extra Low Dispersion)
Nikon owners enjoy! Everybody else (me included) wait your turn 
Mercedes 300SL
During the just passed weekend I got the chance to visit the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. The time there was worth spent not to mention that it took almost half a day to walk through all the floors and look and listen to all the Mercedes history.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the German company has also produced aircraft engines, motorcycles and bicycles and has brought forth many engineering solutions, for example from aircraft engines to racing engines and than from the racing track on the normal road and I have the best example for this: the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, the fastest production car of it's day!
The 300SL describes the 2995 cc straight-6 engine and the "SL" stands for "Sport Leicht" or put in plain English "Sport Light". The car has it's origin on the race track, being based on the highly successful 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL racing model, code named W194. The 1954 road model 300SL was codenamed W198.
Noteworthy is also that the 300SL was the first production car to feature direct chamber injection, technology that Mercedes took from aeroplane engines, which made the car's engine able to produce almost 230 PS, compared to the actual carbureted racetrack version which developed only 115 horse power (86kW). The direct injection was a Bosch mechanical direct fuel injection system.
This particular car was requested by the New York Mercedes distributor and official USA importer Max Hoffman. He told the Mercedes-Benz AG management in Stuttgart Germany that the market, especially the US market, is well prepared for such a car taking into account the economic boom after the Second World War. More than 80% of the vehicles produced were sold in the USA.
After it was first introduced in 1954 as a closed sports car with distinctive gull-winged doors the German car company also offered the 300SL as a open roadster. Until the production of the model ended in 1963 Mercedes sold 1400 gull-winged coupe units and 1858 roadster units.
Today the value of this car is quite high being a popular collection item for car enthusiasts. In 2009 a couple of 300SL models were offered for sale from the Foxwood Collection at over $1.3 Million US Dollars.
I'm a car passionate and loved photographing this car, I think it is the car I took most of my time on from the entire Stuttgart Mercedes Museum and trust me it had plenty to offer. For most of the shots I used the available light and the on camera flash did not help as much as patience did. Why patience ? I had to wait for all the other museum visitors to pass by, to photograph the car, to try again or to listen to the guide while walking round the car.
I'll post more about other cars I have photographed during my visitation in the coming days.
Until then..
Cheers! Z.