2nd Nikon Update

2nd Notice On The Impact By The Major Earthquake In Northeastern Japan
Nikon.com
March 22, 2011

Original Link

The Nikon Group would express our deepest condolences to the victims of the earthquake and extend our profound sympathy and heartfelt concern to those individuals and families suffering from the disaster.

We have set up the Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by the President on March 11 immediately after the earthquake, and have been gathering safety information of our employees, examining damage to the manufacturing equipment and continuing every effort to resume operation at the earliest possible. The following is an update regarding the impact of the earthquake on the Nikon Group and outlook on the future production.

1. Safety of the employees

To our deepest regret, death of one employee of Sendai Nikon Corporation has been confirmed. Safety of three employees is not yet confirmed in the area of Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture.

2. Damage to the manufacturing equipment and outlook on the future production

One of our own plants and seven of our manufacturing subsidiaries are located in Miyagi Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture in the disastrous region*. Operation has been suspended at all of them after the earthquake.

At Tochigi Nikon Corporation, operation has started from Friday, March 18.

At Sendai Nikon Corporation and Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., both of which have been severely damaged, operation is expected to resume by the end of this March. Operation at the remaining facilities will start tomorrow on March 23.

Even after operation resumes, we have a concern that the situation may happen where our production cannot fully satisfy our customers’ requirement due to inability of full swing production caused by problems such as the planned blackouts of electricity and procurement of components from our business partners. While we will do our utmost effort to overcome such expected difficulties, we will be most grateful if our customers could understand such circumstances.

We assure to extend our best support for restoration of the facilities hit by the disaster to our customers of Precision Equipment and Instruments business, and repair/servicing to our customers of Imaging business suffering from the disaster.

3. Forecast of effect by the damage to our business performances

We are continuing our endeavor to evaluate how the immediate damage by the disaster and planned blackouts of electricity will result in our group companies and business performances. We will announce our findings immediately when it is judged that there will be important change in our forecast.

* Locations of each plant and manufacturing subsidiaries

Mito Plant, Nikon Corporation : Mito,Ibaraki Pref.
Sendai Nikon Corporation : Natori, Miyagi Pref.
Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. : Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref.
Zao factory, Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd. : Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref.
Tochigi Nikon Corporation : Otawara, Tochigi Pref.
Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. : Otawara, Tochigi Pref.
Kurobane Nikon Co., Ltd. : Otawara, Tochigi Pref.
Nasu Nikon Co., Ltd. : Nasukarasuyama, Tochigi Pref.

Nikon Announcement Concerning Japanese Earthquake

Notice On The Damage Hit By Major Earthquake In Northern Japan (Japan's Tohoku Region)
March 14, 2011
Nikon.com

Original Link

The Nikon Group would like to express its profound sympathy and condolences to the victims of earthquake in Major Earthquake in Northern Japan (Japan's Tohoku region) on March 11. The effects to our group companies are as follows.

Measures To Cope With The Situations

We have set up the Emergency Headquarters for Disaster Control headed by the President on March 11 immediately after the earthquake, and are taking the necessary steps. We are currently endeavoring to normalize our business as early as possible through our BCM (Business Continuity Management) teams established in each in-house company.

Damage To Our Group Companies

2-1. Damage to equipment and buildings

Our group companies, including Sendai Nikon Corporation, Natori, Miyagi Pref., Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd., Zao-machi, Katta-gun, Miyagi Pref., Tochigi Nikon Corporation, Otawara, Tochigi Pref., Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd., Otawara, Tochigi Pref., and other subsidiaries as well as our Plants suffered damage to some part of the equipment and buildings. We are suspending operations there and continuing to evaluate further details of the damage. We are unable to announce how soon the operation will resume due to the regional interruption of life-lines although endeavor for restoration are under the way by some of our maintenance personnel.

• For the list of our group companies

• For the list of our plants

2-2. Damage to personnel

Injury is reported to some of our group employees. We are currently continuing to gather safety information of our personnel and its family members.

Forecast Of Effect By The Damage To Our Business Performances

We are concentrated in evaluating how the immediate damage by the disaster and controlled interruption of electricity started from March 14 will result in our group companies and business performances. We will advise our findings immediately when it is revealed that the damage would further expand.

Nikon's Sendai Plant Shutdown, Damaged

The Japanese site Asahi reports that Nikon’s plants in Miyagi Prefecture (where Sendai is located) are virtually impossible to resume operations in 14 days. The buildings were damaged but still standing. The Sendai factory produces high-end and pro level Nikon SLR cameras. Sendai Airport, which has been badly hit by the tsunami is only a few kilometres from Nikon's Sendai plant. -- Source 1 and Source 2

The Sendai plant is not very large but it is where the top level pro Nikon bodies have been built since the mid or late 1970s, so it is the home of the F3, F4, F5, F6, D1, D2 and D3 series cameras and much of Nikon's engineering staff is located there as well. -- Source

...



Location of Nikon plants. -- Source

...

Nikon has shifted much of its manufacturing facilities to Thailand, with some production (especially of Coolpix cameras and some low-end lenses) in China and Indonesia. The company constructed a factory in Ayuthaya north of Bangkok in Thailand in 1991. By the year 2000, it had 2,000 employees. Steady growth over the next few years and an increase of floor space from the original 19,400 square meters (208,827 square feet) to 46,200 square meters (497,300 square feet) enabled the factory to produce a wider range of Nikon products. By 2004, it had more than 8,000 workers.

The range of the products produced at Nikon Thailand include plastic molding, optical parts, painting, printing, metal processing, plating, spherical lens process, aspherical lens process, prism process, electrical and electronic mounting process, silent wave motor and autofocus unit production.

As of 2009, all of Nikon's Nikon DX format DSLR cameras are produced in Thailand, while their Nikon FX format (full frame) cameras (D700, D3, D3S and D3X) are built in Japan. The Thai facility also produces most of Nikon's digital "DX" zoom lenses, as well as numerous other lenses in the Nikkor line.

-- From Wikipedia on Nikon

Related Links:

• Google Maps: Location of Sendai Plant In Japan
• Nikon Sendai Plant Visit (09/15/07)
• Wikipedia on Nikon

Kudos Bridal Fair Cover Shot

Most of you who have been following me, know that one of my images was used as the theme image for the 2011 Sedona Bridal Fair. Along with appearing on websites, banner ads, post cards, and tickets, it also graced the cover of the February 16th special issue that Kudo’s created for the Bridal Fair. In case you missed it, here’s what the cover of that issue looked like. Thanks to Jane Perini, the graphic artist that created the cover, for sending me a high resolution copy. Click on the image below to see a larger version.

Nikon Releases "Distortion Control Data Upgrade" For D90 & D5000

The Distortion Control Data firmware upgrade is available for Nikon D90 and D5000 cameras. This is used to correct barrel and pincushion distortion during shooting and editing. To download this upgrade, go here.

Terry White: 5 Things I Do To Every Portrait

Is Wedding Photography Broken?

Here's an important article all my wedding photography friends should read and ponder:

Wedding Photography – The State of the Union
Are Weddings Broken?
By David Ziser

Excerpts:

"Last year at an Imaging USA luncheon with some of the most prestigious photographers in attendance, one of the top wedding photographers in the country said, 'Weddings are broken.' I think this statement reflects the state of wedding photography for many photographers nationwide."

...

"I know of three wedding photographers, photographers that were the leading wedding photographers in their respective cities who were all but out of the business in 2010. One drives a large cross country rig (and loves it BTW), another is driving limos to make ends meet, and another 30 year wedding photography veteran works at a popular retail outlet for the same reason -- no business. (He loves his new part time job too).

"The turn down in sales is not just limited to wedding photography either. It’s encompassing all areas of the photographic profession including family portraits, high school seniors, and all the services professional photographers have been offering their clients for the last 40-50 years."

"And the real fact of the matter is that it has all happened in the last 24-36 months. Photographers were having their best years in 2006 and 2007. Things started to go south with the crash of the economy in October of 2008. Although the “Crash of ‘08” certainly played a major role in the downturn of wedding sales averages, I believe the downturn was due to more than this single event."

...

"The point I’m trying to make is this. The market crash hit all vendors, photographers included, regardless of the market segment they served. The consumer was cutting back, and appeared to be cutting back across the board."

...

"Let’s look at I call the “Wal-Mart Effect”... In 1985, about the age today’s bride and groom were born, there were 882 Wal-Marts throughout the US. That number has grown to over 8,400 worldwide, nearly 10x the figure 25 years ago. What’s my point? Today’s wedding buying generation has been bombarded their entire lives with “…that we are lowering prices everyday” in Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart ads. Every retailer is offering deals and today’s bride and groom want a deal too. Today’s wedding buying population is, like it or not, a Wal-Mart population -- looking for the best deal all the time, even in their wedding photography."

...

"OK, a quick review... The aspiring photographer is getting better and better with the ease of use the new digital cameras provide and the bountiful amount of all the free training online. The whole world loves digital photography. But in October 2008, the stock market goes from 14,000 to just below 6,600. The housing bubble bursts and unemployment starts to shoot up dramatically!...

"People need to supplement their income; they’re excited about photography; they’re been trained to know an F-stop from a shutter speed; Craig’s List and eventually Facebook, sure seem like an easy and cheap way to advertise -- the new breed of weekend wedding warrior is born. And, they are entering the wedding market at an exponentially increasing rate."...

"Smart phones, and P&S digital cameras make photography more accessible to everybody, Facebook makes the sharing of any photographs easier than ever to with family, friends, actually the world. Are high school wallet photos even necessary any more? This combo begs the question, 'Is professional photography even relevant anymore?!'"

Kudos Ad & Canvas Print

Crunch time for SWPA wedding pros who are running ads in the extra-special Sedona Bridal Fair pullout that Kudos will be printing for us. February 16th is the publication date. Here's the ad I am running for Sunfellow Photography.

Canvas prints of this gorgeous image are also available through my Fine Art America gallery.

National Geographic: Best Wallpapers of 2010

To download these wallpapers (and discover more like them) go here.

2010 Sedona Celtic Harvest Festival

The video and images from the 2010 Sedona Celtic Harvest Festival are now finished! The event video is posted above, and is also available on the Sunfellow Productions YouTube channel. 117 photos from the event, which took place Saturday, September 25, 2010 in Sedona, Arizona, are posted here. All 600 plus images are available here. And, finally, a web page describing all aspects of our coverage is located here. The 2010 festival was a pleasure to film and photograph and the people, like usual, were marvelous! Special thanks to Dorothy O'Brien for spearheading this event -- and allowing me to record it for the second year in a row. Videos and photos from the 2009 Festival are located here.

Great Photographers: Markus Schwarze

The work of photographers like Markus Schwarze takes my breath away...

Help Portrait @ PAR In Largo, FL

Operation PAR website

Terry White: Overview Of New Features In Photoshop CS5

Adobe Photoshop CS5 has some mind blowing new features that will make your retouching and photo editing work much much easier and faster. In this video Terry White provides a complete overview of many of the new features in Photoshop CS5...

Firmware Update for Nikon D7000

Nikon has published a firmware update for the D7000 that includes a fix for this problem:

“Bright spots were sometimes noticeable with live view mode or movie recording of especially dark scenes or subjects. Occurrence of this issue has been reduced.”

Nikon D7000 Firmware Update Page

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.3 Upgrade

The 3.3 upgrade for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is now available. It includes camera support for several new cameras, including the Nikon D7000, and contains corrections for issues introduced in Lightroom 3.0.

• Download Mac Upgrade Here
• Download Windows Upgrade Here

Weddings In Sedona

Of all the wedding planners in Sedona, I work the most with Weddings in Sedona. Like most of the wedding professionals in Sedona, the folks behind Weddings in Sedona are warm, caring, beautiful human beings and super-competent wedding professionals. Here's a recent video of theirs that is aimed at the wedding market in Japan (a lot of Japanese toursits visit Sedona every year). The large photo behind Uqualla is one of mine -- it hangs on one of the walls in the Weddings in Sedona office. You can find many photos of Native American weddings on my photo website, including a complete section dedicated to Uqualla.

Ken Rockwell: "The D7000 Is Nikon's Best DSLR Ever"

EXCERPTS:

The D7000 is Nikon's most advanced camera at any price. The fact that it sells for $1,200 make it a no-brainer, which is why it's sold out. The D7000 is Nikon's best DSLR ever.

Unlike 2009's crappy D3000, Nikon really did their homework these past couple of years on the D7000, and everything about it just works better than older cameras, technically, artistically and ergonomically.

The D7000 has the highest linear resolution of any Nikon DSLR, and more overall resolution than any other Nikon under $7,500. The Nikon D7000 has technical performance better than every other Nikon DSLR priced under $7,500, and handles better than any Nikon DSLR, regardless of price.

The D7000 certainly replaces the old D300s, at a lower price for even higher technical and ergonomic performance...

...

For most people, the D7000 is the camera to get, regardless of price, while FX is still the go-to camera for full-time pros. 

...

There is a focus motor in the D7000, so it works with every AF lens made since 1986.

Even better, there's an aperture-ring feeler, so it meters with all AI and newer (1977-on) manual-focus lenses. 

...

...I get free, live backup of everything I shoot because I record it to two cards simultaneously.

I can download and reformat one card and not worry if I backup my computer that day, because if I drop my MacBook Pro into McGee Creek, it's all still on the second card in my camera. I never worry about backing-up until I return from the field.

...

One of the biggest stand-out features of the Nikon D7000 is its fantastic autofocus system.

Whatever Nikon has done under the hood has made it the best, fastest, most precise and most accurate focus system of any Nikon.

This becomes more apparent as you've shot more cameras for longer; it's a subtle thing, but something I very much notice.

It feels about the same or better than my professional Nikon D3, and worlds faster in actual use than my Nikon D300.

Read Ken Rockwell's complete review here.

Utah 3D Panoramas

This is cool.
Utah, in full surround 360 degree interactive panoramas.

www.utah3d.net

Another Great Gift Idea: Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set

Another great gift idea:

Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3

For The Holidays: Best Gift Guides

Scott Kelby's 2010 Holiday Gear Guide

Terry White's 2010 Holiday Gadget Gift Guide

DxOMark: Nikon D7000 vs. D90 vs. D300s

Click to see larger image. 

Source

DxOMark Camera Sensor Rankings: Nikon D7000 Ranked 10th

DxOMark ratings of camera sensors at RAW level. The Sensor Overall Score (included below), shows the performance for a general purpose use case, the Portrait Score based on Color Depth, the Landscape Score based on Dynamic Range and the Sports Score based on Low-Light ISO.

The Sensor Overall Score is based on:

- The quality of the sensor in terms of noise.
- The ability to render high contrast.
- The formation of colored noise.
- The ability to shoot in low light.

The Sensor Overall Score DOES NOT show:

- The resolution of the camera, i.e., its ability to render fine details.
- The quality of the lens.
- The optical aberrations.

Rank - Camera - Score - Price

Notice Nikon has FIVE cameras listed in the top 10
(Canon only has one)

1 - Phase One P65 Plus - 89 - $39,900.00
2 - Nikon D3X - 88 - $9,172.00
3 - Phase One P40 Plus - 87 - $19,500.00
4 - Pentax 645D - 82 - $9,400.00
5 - Nikon D3s - 82 - $5,510.00
6 - Pentax K-5 - 82 - $1,374.00
7 - Nikon D3 - 81 - $4,300.00
8 - Nikon D700 - 80 - $2,699.00
9 - Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III - 80 - $7,100.00
10 - Nikon D7000 - 80 - $1,300.00
11 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
12 - Sony Alpha 850
13 - Sony Alpha 900
14 - Hasselblad H3DII 50
15 - Leaf Aptus75S
16 - Phase One P45 Plus
17 - Hasselblad H3DII 39
18 - Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II
19 - Canon EOS 1D Mark IV
20 - Sony SLT Alpha 55
21 - Nikon D90
22 - Nikon D5000
23 - Pentax K-x
24 - Pentax K-r
25 - Canon EOS 1D Mark III

Source

Nikon D90 Firmware Update

A new firmware update (Ver. 1.002) for the Distortion Control Data for Nikon D90 and D5000 is out. Here's where to go for Mac and Windows. The step-by-step installation guide for Mac users is located here. The step-by-step user guide for Windows users is located here.

Dazzling Sedona Weddings!

Here's a video I made showcasing images from a few of the hundreds of weddings I have photographed in and around Sedona. I am now offering my couples the option of turning a few of their best wedding images into a video like this that they can post on their blogs, websites, and social networks. I'm expecting it to be a hit, especially now that everyone -- young, old, and everyone in between -- are hanging out on Facebook! You can watch a larger, high-resolution copy of this video here.