You can visit the official CES website here. Get the latest schedule info, celebrity appearances, and more. Visit the CNet site to get full details on all the electronics being featured at the show.

Cameras from Samsung and Casio include new 10 mp versions like the Casio EX-Z100 and Z200 that have 28-112mm zooms. Tons of scene modes, Auto Best shot, Youtube video mode, and much more are packed into these tiny cameras. Casio also has announced the EX-S10, a 15mm thin camera with a 2.7 inch LCD.

Sony is updating the A100 with the A200. The A200 uses a 10mp CCD and adds the Dynamic Range Optimizer found in the A700, along with some other subtle changes.

Keep up with all the camera related news at dpreview.

On a sad note…

This past Friday night (1/05/08) the photographic world lost Herb Keppler. His 50 plus year career included him publishing Modern Photography and Popular Photography, where he still wrote a column each month. He will be missed by many.

Visit Nikon Imaging - Behind the Scenes for a series of articles on various technologies Nikon employed in their products. Learn about Capture NX, VR lens systems, the S Series Coolpixes, the new image processor that went into the D200 (it started with the D1x), the R1C1 close up kit and lots more.

There are some very interesting interviews with the developers of these camera systems and imaging products. Take some time to look through these articles. Perhaps you’ll find them as fascinating as I did.

A lot of cameras actually have an option in the menu for DST. Hopefully, it took into account that this year we switched over a week later than usual. It’s still a good idea to verify an accurate Date and Time setting.

The Date and Time info is embedded into the EXIF data area of your image files. There are software tools to edit it, but why not put the correct info there in the first place?

Why is this important? For some it may not be. If your image download software creates a folder name based on the Shot Date, it is. If you rename your files to include the Date and/or Time, it also is.

Be persnickety! Make sure your digital camera has the correct date and time set.

ViewNX is an upgrade from Nikon View that many of us have been using for years. ViewNX is for browsing and managing images, while Transfer (rather obvious name, huh?) is for moving files from your memory cards or camera to your hard drive. ViewNX can do basic editing and converting of NEF files and can show focus areas, histograms, and highlight and shadow info. They both support XMP/IPTC tagging, labels and rating stars, renaming upon download, and much more. The best feature of the new Transfer program is copying to two destinations, creating an immediate backup.

Nikon Transfer used to be part of the Nikon View program. It’s now a separate program and download. Nikon support does recommend that you use both programs together for a complete image download and management solution. The two Windows files are over 80 meg combined.

Go grab Nikon ViewNX Mac here and the Nikon ViewNX Windows version here.

You can get Nikon Transfer for Mac here and Nikon Transfer for Windows here. All downloads are from the NikonUSA site.

Nikon Coolpix P5100
12.1 megapixel sensor, a 3.5X 35-123mm equiv zoom, and Nikon’s VR optical-stabilization technology. Uses a variant of Nikon’s new EXPEED image processor (from the new D300/D3). The P5100 also has in-camera distortion correction.

Nikon Coolpix P50
8.1 megapixel, 3.6X 28-102mm equiv. lens. Electronic VR (software-stabilization) and ISO 2000 capability, the body is modeled after the P5100.

Nikon Coolpix S700
12 megapixel, 3X optical zoom with VR image stabilization, also uses the EXPEED image processor. A compact metal body.

Nikon Coolpix S510
8 megapixel, 3X 35-105mm equiv. lens, the S510 is claimed to be the world’s smallest digital camera with optical image stabilization. Like the others, it also uses the EXPEED image processor.

Nikon Coolpix S51c / S51
8 megapixel, 3X VR-stabilized 38-114mm equivalent zoom, 3.0 inch LCD. The S51c incorporates Wi-Fi connectivity, the S51 does not. Small price difference between the two.

Nikon Coolpix L15
8.0 megapixel, 3X VR-stabilized 35-105mm equiv. lens, large 2.8″ 230,000 dot LCD. Compact AA based camera.

Nikon Coolpix L14
Entry-level compact digital camera with 7.1 megapixels, a 2.4″ LCD and a 38-114mm equiv. lens. Claimed to be the longest battery life of the 3x zoom cameras, getting 1000 shots on a set of Lithium AA’s.

The Saturday night “Lite In The Nite” session allowed me to get pictures of balloons glowing from the flames of the burners. Sunday’s sunrise launch was equally wonderful and I came away with lots of great photos of balloons in the sky, mountains in the background, etc. Can’t wait for next year’s event.

The number of photographic mistakes I saw was huge. So many people did these things it makes me cringe.

1. Using a P&S camera and FLASH - when you’re 50-100 feet away from a huge balloon, do you really expect your dinky flash to light it up? Kill the flash, use a tripod.

2. Not using a tripod - I have to give credit to the 20 percent of photogs who were using tripods. Unfortunately, it limits your mobility and as the crowds grew, it became more difficult for these folks to maneuver.

3. Using your camera phone - Whaddaya, nuts? Sorry, but real pictures deserve to be taken with a real camera.

4. Long, heavy lens and the camera screwed to tripod - If your long lens has a separate tripod mount ring then this is what should be attached to the tripod. Screwing into the camera puts too much stress on the lens mount.

5. No lens shade at sunrise shoot - Same lady with long lens, the shade was reverse mounted on the lens. Simple rule: Always have a lens shade mounted (properly) on your lens, unless you’re using a flash (it gets in the way of the flash sometimes).

6. Not getting close enough - Getting shots of inside the balloon while it’s being inflated are cool. Just ask before you stick your nose camera in.

7. Taking your entire camera inventory - A lot of guys with big photo backpacks. Think a little before you go somewhere. What do you really need? Can you leave the bag in the car, take what you need in a small bag or pouch, and travel lighter? I went with a 17-50/f2.8 and a 28-105/f3.5-4.5 in a pouch on my belt. Wound up only using the 17-50 !

If you can, do a bit of research before attending an event. I saw photos from last year and had a rough idea of what lens to take. While there Saturday I scouted for my Sunday sunrise location. Found a nice hill overlooking the launch area with mountains in the background. All it takes is a bit of preparation and thought.

Some sailors I knew were suffering from the “One foot longer” syndrome. They were always looking for another boat that was just a bit bigger than what they had.

Digital camera users suffer from a similar affliction: “One more megapixel.” The assumption is that the newest Whizbang camera must be better than what they have. It must take better pictures. Of course, the camera manufacturers are more than happy to feed the need. This year we’ve seen Casio’s 12MP Point and Shoot camera and Canon just broke the 20MP barrier for DSLRs. WOW!!

Will these new high MP cameras take better pictures? Nope! More MP just buys you bigger prints. Plain and simple. The new cameras may have a slightly more sophisticated Autofocus or shoot at a higher frame rate, but any picture still comes down to shutter speed and aperture.

Learning about exposure, lighting, composition, and other photographic techniques will get you better pictures.

Spend some of your time and money on educating yourself before you consider the next Wonder Camera. Reading this blog and the articles on TeachMeToShoot.com are a good place to start. Join a camera club. Buy a DVD tutorial on lighting or Photoshop. Take a photo workshop from Mentorseries or Rocky Mountain School of Photography.

Feed your brain!

Moose Peterson has written a lengthy, but very informative, article on White Balance over at nikondigital.org that digital SLR owners would find useful. Although he refers to Nikon equipment (as that’s what he shoots with) the principles and concepts he covers would apply to anyone.

The folks over at Earthbound Light have a couple of good articles on White Balance also. Start with this article about using a gray card and be sure to review their great article on using WB Preset.

And last but not least is a fine article on understanding white balance over at Cambridge In Color. Here you’ll (again) read about how Auto WB is Evil and using the predefined settings or Preset WB is much better.

It will take a bit of experimentation on your part to find what WB settings work for certain situations. Fortunately, digital photography allows us that privilege. Don’t be afraid to play around, just remember to set back to a Normal setting when you’re done.

Shooting in RAW does afford you the ability to change your WB (and exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpening, etc) after the fact. But your best results will still come from a properly exposed image using the proper WB setting. I’m a firm believer in “Shoot it right the first time” and you should be too.

Learn proper exposure techniques and know when your camera’s meter is lying to you. Use the appropriate WB setting for each shot. Make it so that you can batch process a folder full of RAW files and output JPG’s with little or no correction.

The choice is yours. Spend time massaging every image or spend more time out shooting.