VANGUARD, one of the global leaders in high-quality photographic accessories, today introduced VANGUARD Alta Pro, an innovative tripod with advanced flexibility and stability, at the Photo Marketing Association conference, PMA 09, in Las Vegas.

---

"Photographers can say goodbye to missing incredible shots and fumbling with their tripods," said Anne Lee, VANGUARD Founder and CEO. "VANGUARD Alta Pro tripod fuses convenience, flexibility and stability to help photographers take breathtaking, unique shots, safely and at unbelievable speed. Alta Pro expands your creative opportunities so you'll never miss the perfect shot again."

With several design patents pending, Alta Pro may change the industry's standards for tripod design. Unlike traditional tripods, Alta Pro's Multi-Angle Central Column (MACC) System allows users to move the central column as needed from zero to 130-degree angles in variable vertical and horizontal positions. This allows more angle possibilities than ever before.

Its Instant Swivel Stop-n-Lock (ISSL) System feature allows photographers to securely reposition the central column in one simple movement, in just a few seconds, while maintaining the tripod's stability.

Designed to support an array of camera types including DSLR and video cameras, camera setup is quick and easy. Alta Pro's design also enables macro photography and special wide-angle shots with additional attachments that can be mounted to either end of the central column.

Other features include:

•  Advanced camera vibration and shock control
•  Legs that adjust to 25, 50 and 80-degree angles with a simple push of easy-release button
•  Patented premium magnesium, die-casted canopy
•  Hexagon-shaped central column for extra stability
•  Non-slip, spiked rubber feet

Alta Pro is available in three models. Made of solid carbon and very lightweight, Alta Pro 283CT holds equipment up to 17.6 lbs. and has three leg sections that extend to 66 inches. With three leg sections extending to 65 inches, Alta Pro 263AT is made of strong aluminum alloy and holds up to 15.4 lbs. Alta Pro 264AT, made of solid aluminum alloy, extends to 61 inches and holds up to 15.4 lbs.

Alta Pro is part of the VANGUARD Alta+ Series tripod family, also new for 2009. As light as only two pounds and as compact as 13.5 inches, Alta+ tripods were designed for convenience while traveling without sacrificing the stability, durability, ease of use and reliability every photographer needs in a tripod. Its legs adjust to 25, 50 and 80-degree angles. Alta+ tripods are available with carbon or aluminum alloy construction in 20 models of varying height.

Alta Pro and Alta+ tripods are just two of the new-for-2009 product lines released by VANGUARD at PMA 09. Others include:

• SBH ball heads- A lightweight line of stable magnesium alloy-constructed ball heads with tilting and ultra smooth movement, designed to support heavy equipment
•  Kenline i-Pro bags- With three patents, padded laptop holder and lots of why-didn't-I-think-of-that features, this line of soft-sided photo-video bags was designed for serious photographers
•  Pampas bags- Line of durable and convenient sling-style, soft-sided camera and accessories bags for on-the-go photography
•  Endeavor, Spirit, and Sereno binoculars- Industry-leading protective coatings, enhanced durability and special features to meet the needs of all professionals

Media and conference attendees are invited to see Alta Pro, Alta+ and the entire product line-up in action in the VANGUARD Booth R230 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

JVC today announced a new dual-use camera that shoots high definition video and high resolution digital still images.

---

The new hybrid Everio GZ-X900, or Everio X, is a small, light, all-in-one camera that offers the powerful shooting combination of Full HD video and nine -megapixel still photos, plus creative shooting functions such as slow motion video and high speed “motor drive” still photography.

Highlights of the new JVC Everio X include:

• The camera is small enough to slip into a shirt pocket and at just 0.66 pounds is one of the lightest cameras that can shoot 1920 x 1080 Full HD AVCHD video;
• Shoots nine-megapixel (no interpolation) digital stills and Full HD video with 1000 TV lines of horizontal resolution – close to the theoretical maximum horizontal resolution for 1920 x 1080 high definition video for no-compromise images;
• 10x slow motion shooting plays back 2.4 seconds of recorded video over 24 seconds;
• Up to six nine-megapixel stills can be shot at 15 images per second – faster than what digital SLRs can achieve;
• Simultaneous five-megapixel digital still shooting while recording Full HD video – photos can be shot at shutter speeds as fast as 1/4000 second without interrupting video recording;
• Records video and stills to SDHC memory cards.

The new Everio X was designed for the consumer who wants to shoot high quality digital stills and HD video, but wants the convenience of a single camera. While most conventional video camcorders shoot digital stills and most digital still cameras shoot video, the secondary capabilities of these cameras don’t offer sufficient quality for many users. Everio X solves that dilemma by providing high quality stills and top quality HD video.

Unique Design
The design of Everio X is a distinct departure from other camcorders, including other Everio models. About the size of a chunky smart phone, Everio X is a slab-sided rectangle without the handgrip, protrusions or indentations found on most camcorders. The design allows plenty of flexibility in how the camera is held – from below, above, or whatever suits the situation and the user’s preference. There are top-mounted zoom and record buttons, and a second set next to the LCD screen for additional shooting flexibility. The camera is black with silver accents, with the right side featuring a textured carbon fiber-like finish to provide a secure grip and resist smudges.

Small enough to easily slip into a pocket or purse, Everio X weighs just 0.66 pounds (including the internal battery and a memory card) and measures 2.6 inches tall, 4.88 inches long and just 1.46 inches wide.

1000 TV Lines of Full HD and Nine-Megapixel Stills
A 10.3-megapixel CMOS sensor is at the heart of the camera’s superior image quality. The high quality nine-megapixel digital still photos the camera shoots correlate directly to the un-interpolated performance of this 1/2.33-inch CMOS sensor. For the first time ever, it is also the source of 1920 x 1080/60i Full HD AVCHD format video. The camera records at a stunning 1000 TV lines of horizontal resolution – close to the theoretical maximum of 1920 x 1080 Full HD.

JVC’s new proprietary optical image stabilization (OIS) technology applies camera shake compensation optically at the Everio X lens entrance to ensure effectiveness throughout the zoom range and allow high quality shooting without a tripod. Everio X also uses a new KONICA MINOLTA HD LENS with a 5X optical zoom.

Further contributing to the camera’s high image quality is JVC’s HD Gigabrid Premium image processing engine. In addition, face detection technology assures accurate focus and exposure, and HDMI™ V.1.3 with x.v.Color™ provides increased color accuracy when connected to HDTV displays.

10x Slow Motion Shooting, High-Speed Motor Drive Stills
Slow motion video recording is a key Everio X feature. The camera’s high-speed recording function shoots ultra-slow motion video. Any one of three speeds – 120 frames per second (fps), 300fps and 600fps – can be selected; the faster the recording speed, the slower the playback motion. With this function, approximately four-second bursts of video are recorded that are then played back over a period of up to 24 seconds, a maximum of 20 times longer than normal speed.

 

Recording speed	Image size	Recording time	Playback time
600fps	640 x 72 pixels	Approx. 2.4 sec.	Approx. 24 sec. (10x)
300fps	480 x 116 pixels	Approx. 4 sec.	Approx. 20 sec. (5x)
120fps	480 x 270 pixels	Approx. 8sec	Approx. 16 sec. (2x)

Global Sharing
With the worldwide explosion of interest in video sharing, Everio X offers easy solutions for distribution. A One Touch Export function provided by bundled software for Windows® makes it easy to export videos into iTunes® for playback on an iPod® or iPhone®. And the One Touch Upload function, when used with the included software for Windows, simplifies uploading videos to YouTube™.

The DVD Creation function makes it easy to transfer video to a disc for archiving or sharing. Create a disc directly from the camera using the JVC Everio CU-VD50 burner/player or CU-VD3 burner SHARE STATION. Other direct storage solutions include third party external hard disk drives from LaCie and Seagate, and an external Blu-ray Disc Burner from LaCie.

Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the 50th anniversary of its legendary F-mount lens-mounting system, employed on the company’s lens-interchangeable SLR cameras and NIKKOR lenses.

---

Apart from Nikon, no other maker has been able to sustain its original lens mount for such an extraordinary period.

The Nikon F-mount was first employed on Nikon’s earliest lens-interchangeable SLR camera, the Nikon F, released in June 1959. Nikon has consistently utilized the same mount without changing its basic structure, even as other SLR camera manufacturers found it necessary to alter their lens mounts in response to changing technologies, such as autofocus compatibility and digitalization.

One of the biggest advantages of lens-interchangeable SLR cameras is that users are able to choose from a larger selection of lenses. Maintaining the same basic structure of lens mount for a longer period means a broader, constantly growing array of compatible lenses. For this reason, the lens mount is an extremely important and symbolic element for both photography enthusiasts and professionals, who are able to benefit from ongoing use of their carefully selected collection of lenses. The Nikon F-mount, employed for even the latest, most advanced digital SLRs, has received and continues to garner the highest evaluations as a reliable, long-serving lens mount.

 
Evolution of the Nikon F-mount

•  Introduced on Nikon’s first lens-interchangeable SLR, the Nikon F (1959)
•  Auto aperture indexing enables automatic setting of maximum aperture (1977)
•  Program auto exposure mode compatibility (1981)
•  Aperture information exchange with the camera body through CPU communication (1983)
•  Autofocus compatibility (1983)
•  Digital SLR cameras compatibility (1995)

Apple® today introduced the new Mac® Pro using Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors and a next-generation system architecture to deliver up to twice the performance of the previous generation system.*

---

The new Mac Pro starts at $2,499 and features the latest graphics technology and an updated interior that makes expansion even easier than before.

“The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The Mac Pro features an advanced system architecture, new faster processors and our best-ever graphics options to deliver a faster, more powerful system that our professional customers are going to love.”

The new Mac Pro includes Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 2.93 GHz, each with an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC memory that delivers up to 2.4 times the memory bandwidth while cutting memory latency up to 40 percent.** Every Mac Pro comes standard with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, a high-performance graphics card with nearly three times greater performance when compared to the previous generation system.*** An optional ATI Radeon HD 4870 is available for even more performance. With both a Mini DisplayPort and DVI port, the new Mac Pro provides out-of-the-box support for the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display, or other DVI based displays.

An updated interior provides easy access to all components within the Mac Pro for hassle free expansion. The Mac Pro includes four direct-attach cable-free hard drive carriers for installing up to 4TB of internal storage when using 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA drives. An optional cable-free Mac Pro RAID card delivers performance up to 550MB/s**** and allows the four internal drive bays to be set up in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 0+1 configurations for improved disk performance and redundant data protection.

Continuing Apple’s commitment to the environment, the new Mac Pro exceeds Energy Star 4.0 requirements and is leading the industry as an early adopter of the more stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements which will become effective later this year. The Mac Pro enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and the interior is designed to be more material-efficient. The Mac Pro uses PVC-free internal cables and components and contains no brominated flame retardants. The new Mac Pro achieves EPEAT Gold status.*****

Every Mac includes Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system which features Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder™ that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, the best way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces®, an intuitive feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; Mail with easy setup and elegant, personalized stationery; and iChat®, the most advanced video chat. Every Mac comes with Apple’s innovative iLife® ’09 suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. iLife ’09 features iPhoto®, which introduces Faces and Places as breakthrough new ways to easily organize and manage your photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar. Optional Apple professional applications include Aperture™, Final Cut® Express, Final Cut Studio®, Logic® Express, Logic Studio® and Shake®.