Nikon announced the release of the new AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR.  Designed to provide FX format users with an equivalent of the company’s popular 18-200mm for DX, this superzoom includes two-mode image stabilization to the latest VR II specs and a zoom lock switch.  The only problem… It will not be available until sometime in September.

This is great news for us photojournalists that need flexibility when on assignment.  No more having to carry around two FX camera bodies to have the same range as the 18-200 has on the Nikon DX bodies.

The other thing that makes this lens a very welcome addition to us PJ’s is it accepts the standard and most common size filters, 77mm.

If you are interested in the geek speak and tech specs, click for more…

One thing about blogs that has always made be crazy was the fact that it was hard if not impossible to display large files in such a way that people can view the details of the image. Screen width and image theft are the two reasons most pictures are so hard to see.

As you already might know, starting with Photoshop CS3 you could export your large images to Zoomify and it would automatically tile your image, create your folders and also create your HTML code so viewers could zoom in on your image from your website.

For those of you that do not use Photoshop CS3 and newer you can still use Zoomify since they offer a free stand alone version. You can get that HERE if you need it.

However, the problem up till now has been a way to view Zoomify exports from within WordPress. This is no longer a problem.

Click on the below image to be able to zoom and pan for a closer look.

If you like this image and would like to use it, contact me at dave@daplv.com for licensing options.

By using the WordPress plugin called “Shadowbox JS” you can configure your Zoomify page to display from within WordPress as easy as cooking a TV Dinner.

You can download it here by clicking this link: http://sivel.net/wordpress/shadowbox-js/

There are other ways you can use Shadowbox JS in your WordPress site however for this post I will stick with using it to display your Zoomify pages.

Yes, I am about to tell you how to do it. Coding and all… However you will need to click continue…

One of the tools that I should be using more but haven’t due to not having time to play is the Fat Gecko Camera Mount.

This is a mounting system that uses suction cups to mount your still or video camera to your car, motorcycle or just about any smooth, flat surface.

This short video was made by merging a bunch of frames together that was taken with an old Nikon D100 camera mounted to the side of my car.  Everything went well until the very end when I got over 60mph. At that time the D100 was just too heavy to fight the wind and the camera moved.

This was only a test of the Gecko to see how it would hold up in real life and traffic.

When Canon came up with their coffee mugs during the last Winter Olympics, I thought for a moment that they may really have better stuff than Nikon.

Today I got my faith back - the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 coffee mug is “now available for pre-order” on eBay

But wait, there is more – for all you caffeine addicts: the Nikon Lens AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Coffee Cup will also soon be available! Double the focal length, Double the caffeine!

How cool is that? This is something every Nikon shooter has to have. I just hope that one morning I don’t pour coffee in my REAL Nikon lens thinking it is my Coffee Cup!

Prices vary, to see all listings of Nikon Mugs on eBay click here…

Depending on the content of your site, a certain percentage of your content is going to be copied. There are many reasons why readers may copy your content. It might be a fan copying content for reference or sharing it with a friend or it might be someone stealing your content for republishing. Regardless of the reason, it is helpful to know how your content is being used.

Tynt Insight tracks when users copy content from your web site and automatically adds a link back to the original page when your content is pasted. Tynt Insight’s unique capabilities turn copying into a valuable asset for your site that lets you:

* Generate more visits and page views
* Improve your search engine ranking
* Get credit when your content is copied
* Promote your brand and website
* Measure and understand user engagement
* Lengthen visit sessions by promoting your most engaging content
* Understand what keywords prompt users to leave your site
* Automatically feed your Twitter stream with your most engaging content
* See what sites are promoting your content
* Find out how many visits you receive from your URLs being copied and shared

I first learned about Tynt when I was reading about a model worried about people coping her photos on an online modeling site. Someone posted about Tynt so I took a look at Tynt’s website and I was happy to see the service is free. It’s easy to setup and it only took me a few minutes to implement it here on this blog.

They include detail instructions for most blogging software like WordPress. Tynt does its magic with javascript so it will only work on sites you control like WordPress blogging software from Wordpres.org. It will not work on hosted blogging sites like WordPress.com or Blogger.com.

Tynt Insight only activates when content over seven words are copied. They assume strings up to seven words will be used for search and adding the attribution text will be disruptive to searching. It works when text is pasted into messenger services, email clients, forums, and blogs. At this point, it only attributes text content although it does report when images are copied. The second part of Tynt Insight is the reporting tools found on the Tynt website under your account. It gives you detailed statistics about what has been copied, what has been attributed, and link backs you have received as a result of users copying content. For now, you’ll need a separate account for each site you want to track.

You can’t stop people from scraping your content so you might as well benefit from it. To see Tynt Insight in action, simply copy a paragraph from this article and post it into an email or Yahoo Messenger window.