So you just bought a new digital camera and now you’re wondering what kind of SD or CF card to use in that slick little device. Should you stick with one of the major brand names, SanDisk, Lexar, or perhaps take a chance on a cheaper card without the name recognition?

My criterion for choosing a memory card is speed: how fast the image data can be written from the camera to the card. You’d think that we could just read and trust the data transfer speeds listed by the manufacturers—you can to a point.

But that point stops when you realize that a single top-rated card will vary in performance depending on the camera brand or model in which it’s paired. Fortunately, if you are looking for the fastest card and camera combinations, you need only look as far as Rob Galbraith’s recently updated CF/SD Card Database. He has posted speed tests on a number of major digital SLR camera and card combinations.

If you are looking to free yourself from one less digital doodad, try leaving your SD card reader at home on your next outing. I know 2-in-1 SD cards have been out for a while but I’ve recently discovered just how well they work. The convenience of being able to remove the SD card from the camera, fold the card back to reveal the USB tab, and directly insert it into the computer is brilliant, simple, and fast.

— Ken Geiger 

Last year about this time David Griffin, National Geographic’s director of photography, and Elizabeth Krist, a senior photo editor, walked into my office and asked if I had any ideas on how we could photograph Stonehenge in a way that would be new and different. It was a natural question. David was already thinking about high-dynamic-range photography, and I’m the digital-tech guy at the magazine. I had an idea, but it came with a catch—I wanted to be the photographer, anything to get out of the office and into the field.

Innovative "pinwheel" photo gallery design from thewhalehunt.org.

So you've made some great pictures and now you want to share them with the world?  There are many ways to do that and lots of photo gallery and slide show designs published on the internet to use as inspiration.  I asked my friend and colleague Jim Webb to share some web photography galleries that caught his eye.  He sent a group of links to photo galleries that can be created with a range of tools from free web software  through handmade creations designed and coded professionally.

Reading the New York Times while riding the metro into work this morning, I had a flashback to my college days. Rochester, New York, in the late 1970s was dominated by a global powerhouse in photography — Kodak. I still remember driving around the outside of the Eastman Kodak plant looking on in jaw dropping amazement at the miles and miles of pipe that snaked with contorted twists and turns through the vast manufacturing facility, wondering what kind of chemical concoctions were being brewed into the next great film emulsion.

According to the NYT, the “Great Yellow Father” employed 145,300 people 20 years ago; in 2007 its ranks had dwindled to 26,900. Not surprising when you consider the tact taken when one of Kodak’s own electrical engineers, Stephen J. Sasson, invented the first digital camera in the 1970s.

From the NYT:

“My prototype was big as a toaster, but the technical people loved it,” Mr. Sasson said. “But it was filmless photography, so management’s reaction was, ‘that’s cute — but don’t tell anyone about it.’ ”

While I was learning the basics of chemical-based imaging at Rochester Institute of Technology, Kodak was quietly developing pixel-based photography. It’s ironic that 25 years after college it seems I owe Mr. Sasson a personal debt of thanks; his invention is the reason I now work for National Geographic magazine.

Thank you, Mr. Sasson!   

— Ken Geiger 

Canon has posted a firmware update (Version 1.1.2) which, "Improves the stability of AF accuracy in AI servo AF when shooting extremely low-contrast subjects."

FROM CANON EUROPE:

Dear photographers,

Wednesday April 30, Canon releases world-wide a firmware update to improve the autofocus performance of EOS-1D Mark III and EOS-1Ds Mark III in some shooting conditions and to add new features in personal functions.
Those improvements have been implemented thanks to the feedback provided by professional photographers.

For more info and to download the firmware, click on the links here after:

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos1dsm3/firmware-e.html

You will need your camera serial number to initiate the download of the firmware. For detailed instructions on how to install the firmware update click here.

— Ken Geiger 

Rob Galbraith is reporting that Canon may finally be getting down to the root cause of their focusing challenges with the 1D MKIII. The buzz out of PMA is that engineers in Japan have isolated a problem that goes beyond the sub-mirror repair and 1.1.3 firmware update which didn’t fully create a cure — it seems the main autofocus circuitry is putting out so much information that lenses may be over correcting.

"In closed door meetings at the PMA 2008 trade show in Las Vegas, at Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix, Arizona and on the phone, by our count it's a minimum of four different professional market reps that have revealed to photographers or managers at seven different sites using the EOS-1D Mark III that a new fix is in the works. In other words, Canon USA reps have been directed by their superiors to begin contacting VIP customers, and to tell those customers that there's good news pending on the EOS-1D Mark III autofocus front."

Canon will now have to decide the best course of action to implement this new fix. Hopefully it will be the final solution to an aggravating problem that has tarnished the sales and reputation of what has been one of the best camera lines on the market for photojournalists.

Rob’s web site has been out front on this issue from the start, if you own a 1D MKIII I’d suggest reading his latest update.

— Ken Geiger 

Maybe it’s just imbedded in my DNA but I can’t help being a gadget geek, fortunately that passion melds well with my job description here at National Geographic. It also affords me opportunities to visit some of the largest photography trade shows, like the 84th annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) convention being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

There are literally thousands of cameras and photo doodads set out for hands-on display and scads of eager manufacture’s representatives on call to explain and demonstrate the newest widgets for 2008. It’s like visiting the world’s largest candy store except you get to satisfy your sweet tooth with photo gear!

Last month I reported on a difference in speed when copying large numbers of files from a server to a PC or a Mac.  I performed the tests again but this time the source of the files was a hard drive connected via firewire cable.  This time the difference between Mac and PC was negligible.  The new, striking graph is available after the jump.

About this time of year, the world over, photojournalists are simultaneously struck with a nearly paralyzing affliction. A malady so severe it causes the heart rate to rise, sweating, trembling, weakness, and at times manifests in its victims a near debilitating stupor.

The ailment: Contest Fever. So called because the most heralded of photo contests, for works created in 2007, all have January deadlines. Like the major presidential primaries, the caucuses first to vote, can set the tone for the preceding competitions.

One of the first to be judged every year is the White House News Photographers Association (WHNPA), Eyes of History contest. For two days, three judges view thousands of images and vote by a process of elimination for what they subjectively consider to be the best images produced by the White House press corps in 2007.

The 2008 overall winner, WHNPA photographer of the year, was Washington Post photographer Jahi Chikwenhiu. If you are interested at all in what it takes to be photojournalist in our nations capital, then browse through winning entries on the Eyes of History 2008 website.

— Ken Geiger 

The New York Times is reporting that Getty Images has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on its potential sale, which could fetch $1.5 billion.

From the NYT : Getty, founded in 1995 in Seattle, has grown through a series of acquisitions into a go-to source for visual media, claiming an average service of 3.2 billion images and 4 million unique visitors at its Web site each month. The company’s main selling point is the licensing of high-quality images from professional photographers around the world. Among its main clients are advertising agencies and media companies, including The New York Times. It also offers video footage for use in movies, television and the Internet.

From Photo District News: Getty Images spokesperson Alison Crombie said Monday the company cannot comment on rumor or speculation.

Getty is known for developing innovative products and pricing models, not always to the liking of its photographic contributors.

After creative stock licensing, editorial imagery makes up about 18 percent of Getty's revenues. Getty is especially competitive in sports and celebrity coverage. Its news photographers consistently win awards, boosting the company's reputation, though news coverage has never been a large source of revenue. Getty also licenses stock video, which accounts for five percent of the company's revenue.

— Ken Geiger