The previous record holder weighed in a an impressive 45 gigapixels, and this new one truly dwarfs the previous, even though the old record was only established a few months ago.  Read some details about how this monster was created, and of course enjoy zooming around the new record holder itself.

Aimed at high-volume studios where image tracking is a priority, Canon is shipping a kit that includes a Canon 7D with modified firmware that supports a USB barcode reader and a Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E5A).  Looks like it’ll be selling for $2,799.00.  No word yet on whether the firmware will be released to all 7D owners, or only with these specific kits.

Our friends at PetaPixel have done a bit of work amplifying an article found at The Online Photographer, where a lady living in Fresno believes the artist who shot the recently famous photographs believed to have been Ansel Adams’ work, was actually shot by her Uncle Earl.  And she has some proof to back it up.

Photographers clashing with law enforcement over photographing public spaces seems to be becoming more prevalent.  Of course it could simply be my raised awareness as I search for content to share with you, dear reader, but it’s a disturbing issue nonetheless.  Fortunately, it’s an issue that’s starting to reach awareness on a more national big-media scale.  The New York Times’ Lens blog is running a post about yet another photographer being questioned and possibly intimidated while photographing a public building from public space.

Backlit transparencies 18 feet high and 60 feet wide graced New York’s Grand Central Terminal for over 40 years.  NPR has a story about the Kodak Coloramas that were displayed on Grand Central’s East balcony from the 1950′s through the 1990′s.  Kodak has recently donated all their Colorama material to the George Eastman House musem, where they’re on display until October, when they’ll go on tour.  There’s also a very interesting link to a Colorama microsite Kodak hosts, which gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to make these massive images –  the cameras, the lighting, and the prints – as well as a sampling of some of the Coloramas themselves.

Scott Bourne, via his blog Photofocus, offers some sound advice for photographers traveling abroad.  He’s heard plenty of horror stories from photographers who face customs officers when returning to the US, and offers advice on how to make sure they don’t tax you for gear you already own.

PhotoTimes was one of a plethora of outlets announcing the discovery of some glass negatives bought at a yard sale for $45.00 which were thought to now be worth $200,000,000.00 because they were lost photographs shot by the massively famous Ansel Adams.  The LA Times is running a story stating that while some of the evidence provided by Rick Norsigian and His team of lawyers and appraisers provided to show the authenticity of the photos is somewhat compelling, Ansel’s grandson Matthew Adams and Ansel Adams’ business manager William Turnage are not convinced.  They cite inconsistencies with the handwriting on the envelopes identifying the negatives and in the way Ansel Adams kept and archived his negatives as casting doubt on the authenticity of the negatives.  Others are saying the figure concerning the negatives’ worth is purely astronomical, especially since the real value of an Ansel Adams photograph is in the print, not the negative.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Consumer Programs Incorporated (CPI) for back wages owed to employees of Sears Portrait Studios and Wal-Mart Picture Me Portrait Studios. Allegedly, the company makes the photographers purchase their own props and doesn’t compensate them for time spent at mandatory meetings, as well as other practices that end up making for less money in the employees check.

A collector who frequents garage sales in search of antiques has hit the jackpot.  Two small boxes of  old glass negatives he bought for $45.00 – talked down from a sale price of $70.00 – turned out to be original Ansel Adams photos from early in his career, which were thought to be lost in a fire in 1935.  Those negative are now thought to be worth $200,000,000.00, according to expert appraisers.

A new Flikr page went live this morning, showcasing historic photography of the British Monarchy.  There are really fascinating examples of the medium there, and is worth taking the time to enjoy.

Red Giant Software has just released a new version of their popular color grading software.  It plugs in to Adobe’s Premier and After Effects, as well as Apple’s Final Cut Pro.  New features include a more powerful color keyer, 8 HSL channels, a new “pop” slider to add visual “pop” to your footage, and highlight recovery to bring detail back into blown-out areas of the image.  The new version is available now at Red Giant’s website.

Canon has released a firmware update for the 7D that fixes the aperture phenomenon experienced with macro lenses while shooting in movie mode. This should be the last of the new Canon HDDSLRs that need this fix.

MARVIN Technologies has announced that it will launch an integrated solution to automate the creation of digital backups, LTO tape masters, Quicktime proxies for offline editing, and DVD dailies all in one step at the IBC Exhibition in Amsterdam this September.  Looks like data wrangling for cinematography is about to get a lot easier.

It looks like Canon sees real value in the tried and true mirror reflex optical viewfinder design.  According to hints dropped by a Canon executive, they see the desire prosumers have for a smaller footprint in the camera body, but don’t see a need to do without the mirror.  Also interesting and noted in the linked article is that Pentax seems to agree with Canon on this, while Nikon seems to think that a mirrorless design may be a good move. Oh, and pedantically, I’d like to point out that you can’t really call an SLR an SLR without a mirror mechanism.  Personally I like the EVIL moniker, though “EVF” or “EV” may work just as well.

Cinema Historian Paul Gierucki bought a can of old 16MM film marked “Keystone” at an Antiques sale in Michigan.  After watching it, though, he discovered it was actually a comedy called “A Thief Catcher”, made in 1914, where Chaplin’s forgotten appearance as a buffoon policeman is found.