Although it has been perceived that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, would narrowly miss a collision with our celestial neighbors, the Andromeda galaxy (or M31), billions of years from now, NASA astronomers have just announced with absolute certainty that the two celestial bodies will indeed collide in approximately 4-billion years – bringing with it a possibly beautiful change to our night’s sky.

After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we at last have a clear picture of how events will unfold over the coming billions of years… Sangmo Tony Sohn – Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore.

Thanks to the never-ending source of data that is The Hubble Space Telescope, NASA has created a set of illustrations that depict what our sky may look like during certain periods of the collision – that is, of course, if there’s anyone around by then to view the galactic kaleidoscope as its taking place, as estimates believe that our Sun will enter its Red Giant phase prior to the event, devouring much of our solar system in the process.

Nevertheless, take a look at what the good folks at NASA believe our sky make look like billions of years henceforth:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: NASA (HubbleSite) | Via: Gizmodo and PetaPixel

Quick News - Just two week’s into their new “Free App Of The Week” initiative; Apple has granted all of us iPhone/iPad image editing enthusiasts a treat, providing Snapseed, the acclaimed IOS photo app, for the always pleasing price of zip-nada-zilch. Click on the image above to be routed to the apps detail page for more info!

Via: PetaPixel

Click here to view the embedded video.

In true light-heated Digital Rev fashion, Kai Wong and the DR-team has created a semi-informative, yet fully-entertaining video highlighting their top 50 photography tips, touched upon in rapid succession and in under 15-minutes.

If you don’t care much for watching the tips played out in the 900-second video above, Reddit user “blufox4900″ took the liberty of writing each out for those who aren’t into Kai’s trademark approach.  (Via PetaPixel)

1. UV filters are a waste of time
2. Lens hoods aren’t a necessity
3. If you’re not using the hood, put it away
4. Don’t treat your DSLR like it’s your baby
5. Stop hating on others
6. Get cheap lens caps
7. Pack light
8. Use a zoom for convenience
9. Prime will make you think more
10. The 35mm is the most practical one lens setup (on the 1.5 crop)
11. The 50mm looks better
12. Better cameras don’t make better photos
13. Know how your camera works before you go out to shoot
14. Always be ready for the shot
15. P-mode isn’t just for beginners
16. Bump the ISO if needed
17. Auto ISO is your best friend
18. Rely on the Rule of Thirds
19. Take lots of shots
20. Don’t take photos of any old sh*t
21. “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough” — Robert Capa
22. Contemplate your shot
23. The best equipment doesn’t help if you’re not standing in the right spot
24. Sharpness is overrated
25. Concept is king
26. Don’t look like a wrongun (i.e. a creep)
27. Don’t drink and shoot
28. Shoot when you’re full of energy
29. Sometimes it feels great to wake up really early and shoot
30. Think about what light you want
31. Emulate the style of the greats to get started
32. …but don’t keep doing it
33. Photography is as much a reflection of the person taking the photo
34. Shoot to please no one apart from yourself
35. Discreet or direct — it isn’t all that important
36. Setting themes keeps you focused
37. Change things every once in a while to keep things fresh
38. Everyone has creative blocks
39. Be critical of yourself
40. “Seeing is not enough, you have to feel what you photograph” — Andre Kertesz
41. You need to be there with the camera
42. The relationship is about you and the subject, not you and the camera
43. Stop chimping
44. Be brutal when it comes to deleting awful photos
45. Show only your best work
46. Changing photos to B&W doesn’t make an uninteresting shot interesting
47. Look at other people’s work
48. Post your work online, let others critique your work
49. There is no easy way
50. …

Via: PetaPixel

While the price-point of the newly announced Leica M Monochrom black & white rangefinder will forever be a point of contention, it’s becoming more and more prevalent that its touted image quality will not be – this camera undeniably produces some resolution-rich images, jam-packed with superior sharpness when compared to the already stellar preforming offerings like the M9.

In an attempt to see exactly how much better, David Farkas from the Red Dot Forum conduced well executed head-to-head comparison, showcasing how both the Leica M Monochrom and M9 perform against each-other at varying ISOs – the results are incredibly eye-opening to say the least.

Click on the image above to be routed to the comparison post where Farkas included an ingenious slider embedded with each image that allows for an even better account for the differences between both regarded cameras.

Source: Red Dot Forum | Via: Engadget

If by chance all the recent camera patent news brought to us by our friends at Egami wasn’t enough to satiate your need for the know, here’s another interesting publication from Canon, hinting that what may be in-store for their next super-zoom release.

Filed back in October of 2010, but released publicly last week, publication number “2012-98699″ calls for a 44x zoom lens with an equivalent focal length of 24-1060mm. This lens is stated to contain 13 lens elements arranged in 10 groups, packing two (four-sided) aspherical elements, three UD elements and one fluorite lens element. The filing itself looks to be in response of, or to compete with, the growing super-zoom offerings on the market from Fujifilm and Nikon, the latter of whom currently has a 42x zoom option on the Coolpix P510.

Here’s some more details from the publication with the full and computer translated report from Egami found HERE.

Canon Patent Publication # 2012-98699:

• Zoom ratio 44.28
• 13.08 – – 190.43mm f = 4.30 focal length
• Fno 2.87 – 5.00 – 7.07
• 16.50 – – 1.17 deg 37.77 a half angle of view.
• 3.88 – – 3.88mm 3.33 image height
• 93.62 – – 137.94mm 94.49 lens length
• BF 1.00mm
• 13 pieces in 10 groups Lens Construction
• Two four-sided aspherical
• 3 UD glass sheet
• One fluorite
• Group 4 consists of positive and negative positive positive
• (For Focusing the fourth lens group) Rear focus

Via: CanonWatch | Source: Egami

"Sunset Love" by DukePro

Click on each image to be taken to the photo’s detail page on Flickr and share your thoughts of the images below:

"Justin Jump" by Jen Merkel

“

"Worship" by Samantha ♫

"Joyous!" by _Amritash_

"Setting Sun" by xyz.photo

"Untitled" by vapautta

"Waiting for the Metro" by vieweronline

"The Dogs" by geezaweezer

"Untitled" by bar-t

"Reflecting" by Jokull

The Financial Times is reporting that the ill-stricken Olympus corp. has come to an out-of-court agreement with Michael Woodford; the firms former CEO turned axed accounting scheme whistle-blower, for the unfair dismissal of his duties just two weeks into his tenure.

While the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, The Financial Times’ speculative eye believes that Woodford will receive a sum equating to the remainder balance if his initial contract – an estimation that might be in upwards of £10 million, or $15.5 million U.S.

Speaking openly about the mutual agreement, Woodford stated:

Hopefully today is closure. A line has been drawn and the company can move on — and I can too…

We think [the potential settlement] is positive and in the interests of both parties. I genuinely hope that, in the interests of Olympus, it helps them move forward.

Continuing,

Today, I just want to leave it at that, It’s hopefully the end of this. It’s important that the company moves on with the new board — and that I and my family, my wife and children, move on. Both parties need to move on and my involvement come to a close.

Since we first became aware of Olympus’s fraudulent behavior, thanks in large to Westford himself, the optical equipment maker’s share price has fallen nearly 50% from its pre-scandal state.

Via: Engadget | Image Via: Engadget | Source: The Financial Times

Without question, one of the most anticipated camera releases of this summer is undoubtedly the Sony NEX-FS700, and with a foreseeable release of this magnitude, it’s only fitting the esteemed Mr. Philip Bloom gives us his thorough thoughts on Sony’s latest 4k-ready, slow motion, super 35mm camcorder.

In his two-part video review, part-one of which is shown above, Bloom overviews the FS-700′s highly-touted slow-motion abilities, as well as its image quality, low light performance, handling and more. Obviously, since the camera has about nearly a month left before it starts shipping , the review, as mentioned by Bloom in the video, is representative of a pre-production model. So, it’s important to keep that in mind when digesting the wealth of information contained within these videos.

As always, the accompanying write-up associated with the review can be found on Philip Bloom’s Blog.

Take a look:

While the public outing of a Nikon lens patent containing a trio of potential 1-series mirrorless lenses would be noteworthy enough, it’s the small detail jam packed within publication number “201298706″ that’s getting the majority of the attention thanks in large to the hints of what could presumably be in the pipeline for the camera makers mirrorless platform.

According to our patent finding friends at Egami, the publication in question contains examples of a 10mm f/2.8, 32mm f/1.2 and a 7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 wide-angle zoom – all of which are shown above and mark potentially welcoming additions to Nikon’s current mirrorless lens line-up. The surprise, however, comes with the indications that Nikon could, in fact, produce a lens with an f/0.7 aperture by optimizing the aperture diameter, image circle and flange back length.

Currently, the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95, Noktor 50mm f/0.95 HyperPrime and Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH hold the crown for the fastest lenses currently in widespread protection, and just a handful of lenses have ever reached the ungodly f-stop mark of f/0.7. With that being said, it sure would be quite the interesting development if a lens of this nature ever did see the light of day.

For more on publication, head on over to Egami for more information in its computer translated glory, HERE.

Via: Mirrorless Rumors & Nikon Rumors

Earlier in the month, we touched upon the reports from Nikon D4 and D800 users, claiming their new respective full-frame beauties had the tendency to “lock-up” and become unresponsive under certain conditions – an issue that Nikon themselves were quick to confirm. Fast forward nearly a month later, and we now have a legitimate fix for the phenomena by way of a firmware update brought to our attention by the good folks at Nikon Rumors.

Firmware Version 1.01 promises the following:

Nikon D800 – Download HERE

• When a still image was captured while viewing existing images in playback mode, the monitor turned off, the memory card access lamp glowed steadily, and, in some rare cases, the camera ceased to respond to operations. This issue has been resolved.
• When the Wireless Transmitter WT-4 was used with certain settings applied, RAW images were also transferred when Wireless transmitter>Transfer settings>Send file as was set to JPEG only. This issue has been resolved.
• A dark shadow sometimes appeared at the bottom edge of images captured with Active D-Lighting set to any option other than Off with Image area set to 5:4 (30×24). This issue has been resolved.

Nikon D800E – Download HERE

• Same as above

Nikon D4 – Download HERE

• When a still image was captured while viewing existing images in playback mode, the monitor turned off, the memory card access lamp glowed steadily, and, in some rare cases, the camera ceased to respond to operations. This issue has been resolved.
• When network functions were used with certain settings applied, RAW images were also transferred when Network>Send file as was set to JPEG only. This issue has been resolved.
• When an option that utilized the main command dial was selected for Custom Setting f15: Playback zoom, and an image was zoomed in or out with playback with certain settings applied, shooting shutter speed, aperture, and exposure compensation settings were sometimes changed. This issue has been resolved.

Via: Nikon Rumors