I wanted to remind you about the Canon Fall 2008 rebate program which will expire on January 17, 2009. The best part of Canon rebates is that they are instant, you don't have to fill out forms or send mails and wait for the check to arrive. The savings are applied instantly at the time of purchase.

The links to full set of lenses and flashes are listed below along with the rebate amount:

EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM - $125
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM - $100
EF 300mm f/4L IS USM - $85
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM - $80
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM - $80
EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM - $75
EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM - $70
EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - $50
EF 17-40mm f/4L USM - $50
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM - $100
EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - $50
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM - $50
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM - $35
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - $30
Extender EF 1.4x II - $25
Extender EF 2x II - $25
Speedlite 580EX II - $50
Speedlite 430EX - $30
Speedlite 430EX II - $30

The discount race has gone crazy just before Christmas and the price levels have never been this low, ridiculously low! Here are some of the cameras on Amazon with free 2-day shipping, so if you order soon you will get them before Christmas!

Nikon D90 DX Body Only for $840! -I still can't believe this great camera is sold for $840 so short after its introduction, is this a part of Nikon's DSLR World Domination plan?

Canon G10 for $409 -One of the best compact digicams on the market along with the Panasonic LX3 (see below). Interface and controls are much better then the LX3 I have to say.

Panasonic DMC-LX3K for $409 - Image quality is the best in its class, especially at high ISO

Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm for $410 - perfect low-budget DSLR starter kit, but I recommend you to pay $300 more if you can and buy the D80 with 18-135 (see the link below)

Nikon D80 10.2MP with 18-135mm for $715 - Yes, the price includes the 18-135mm!

For more deals, visit our Camera Deals Section.

Canon actually surprised me by publishing this statement which means they accept the existence of the black dot and banding issues of 5D Mark II, but unfortunately didn't provide the solution yet. All we know is that they are currently investigating and analysing the causes, and examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware. In my opinion, it seems like this will grow and become even bigger then the never-ending AF issues of 1D Mark III. I hope i am wrong on this...

I actually had a chance to shoot with my friends 5D Mark II for couple of hours and tried to manage black dots but couldn't succeed (wasted so much time with this instead of enjoying the great details provided by the 21 MP CMOS!). I hope this indicates that not all the Mark IIs have this problem but specific to only the first few batches. Anyway lets wait and hope that Canon solves this problem soon because other than these small issues ( I frankly haven't heard about the banding issues of Mark II so far), 5D Mark II is a great camera and a joy to use. Below is the official Canon Statement:

Canon Statement:

Breeze Systems has launched a remote capture software for Nikon's D90 and D300 DSLRs. Remote control softwares as you may know enables you to control several features of your camera like focus control, shooting modes, exposure and shutter settings, and also display live images on the computer screen if your camera has the Live view option. It is also possible to save the image files directly to your hardisk. I have to say these softwares comes very handy when you are shooting in doors in a studio, or out-doors when you bring your laptop with you. I prefer using remote control especially when shooting macros and products in my room, camera mounted on a tripod,  the focusing gets much easier.

Breeze Systems have been selling remote software for Canon DSLRs since 2001, now they obviously have decided to cover the Nikon DSLRs too. This software will give you a great flexibility for $95, but I advice you to first follow the trial download link and try it. Trial version works for 15 days, then you can decide if this is something you need or not.

http://www.breezesys.com/downloads.htm#d300

I  strongly recommend you to check these two galleries on MSNBC and TIME.

MSNBC - Year in Pictures 2008

TIME - Pictures of the Year 2008

Canon USA has published a white paper explaining the technology found in its latest DSLRs;EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II. If you are interested in the details of the technology that is lying behind these two gret cameras, the 77-page White paper (PDF) is available for download here.

You can also find all other white papers published by Canon Since 2004 here.

Panasonic has released a firmware update for its DMC-G1 Micro Four-Thirds camera. The update aims to improve the AE Lock and MF Assist features, along with the overall performance. The new firmware also lets the user make LCD and EV color adjustments.

Download the DMC-G1 v1.1 Firmware

Adobe has released  Photoshop Lightroom Version 2.2. The latest version extends RAW support to the cameras including Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-LX3 and more. Build-in  camera profiles feature that were previously available from Adobe Labs that attempt to mimic the camera's intended output are also added by the new Version.
Download Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.2 for Windows

Download Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.2  for MAC

The Nikon D400 rumors keep on coming! It is one of the most obvious new DSLRs to be introduced in 2009. Frankly, I believe D300 still satisfies %99 of the requierements of a typical non-pro photographer, what D400 would offer over D300 in my opinion would be slightly more resolution, video recording feature and may be a bit better High ISO performance. Will these extras worth upgrading? D700 already dropped down to $2319 so D400 should offer more then these extras to be considered as a real upgrade I think.

Anyway, below is a D400 Specs rumor published in Nikon Rumors, place to find the most trusted Nikon rumors.

Nikon D400 (MSRP $1,999.00) Key Features:

Nikon USA has admitted that the 24.6 Megapixel CMOS sensor that is used in Nikon D3x is manufactured by Sony, but adds that it's a "unique sensor design" that was "developed expressly for the D3X." So Nikon claims that Sony only provided the manufacturing facilities and there are  some specs and features that still sets it apart from the CMOS sensor that is used for Sony A900. I understand the reason Nikon strongly emphasizes on this; some way they have to explain the $5.000 price difference!

The original response from Nikon was published on Rob Galbraith:

" The Nikon D3X’s 24.5-megapixel FX-format (35.9 x 24.0mm) CMOS sensor was developed expressly for the D3X in accordance with Nikon’s stringent engineering requirements and performance standards, with final production executed by Sony. Featuring refined low-noise characteristics, 12 and 14 bit output, Live View capability and more, the D3X’s unique sensor design was carefully blueprinted to perform in perfect concert with proprietary Nikon technologies including EXPEED Image Processing and the Scene Recognition System. Meticulous efforts allowed the sensor to become one of the many essential components and technologies which contribute to the D3X’s superior image fidelity. "