Canon Digital Photo Professional 3.10.2 updater release

The new version release on 11th Aug 2011 according to canon's website. I take a look on the update history, and the update is only for the support on one of the new lens...Below is the update history taken from the software site.


Update History

Changes for Digital Photo Professional 3.10.2 Updater for Windows;

Supports new lens (EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II)

Below is the site for the software download:

http://support-my.canon-asia.com/contents/MY/EN/0200154001.html

A Nice Photo Stitching Freeware

One of the feature that Photoshop perform much better than others is the photomerge. It is really much superior when compare to the Canon provided freeware PhotoStitch and it really make PhotoStitch looks like one decade ago's software. That's why sometimes it is really hard to survive with Canon's software only.

While I don't have very advance photo edit software on my netbook (as it will run very very slow), I stick to DPP and PhotoStitch to edit photo on my netbook. The problem is that PhotoStitch result is always a problem as it always can't stitch photo properly, so I did a search online and found out this freeware Autostitch.

By looking at the software, it doesn't has very sophisticated looks and design, but the performance and results are really impressive. Below is the example I try it out with a panorama shots from my Swiss Garden Damai Laut trip at Lumut.

Results from Canon's PhotoStitch:


Results from Autostitch:


If you have the same restriction as me (money and machine. :P) and you really like panorama shots, try this out. :)

Almost a nightmare to me!!!! Nearly lost photos......Picasa, foolproof your program

It gave me a fright when I opening up my Picasa today, suddenly one of my folder is gone! I manage to catch a glimpse of it before it is gone, which make me wondering, what happen?

The only thing I remember is that the folder was importing when the Picasa update pop up and ask "There is a new update, do you want to update now?". As a programmer myself, I know that it is no good to do it during an operation, so I try to click "No". Now, the problem with netbook is that, the keyboard and touchpad is smaller size, hence, I accidentally click "Yes". So, the next thing I know is the "update" hang, the Picasa also hang, which leave me with the only option.....yes, I kill both processes.

Then, I reopen the Picasa, and it seems like the folder was imported successfully, which leave me happy and praise the programmer of Picasa for 24 hours (Yes, I praise them until now. :P). And now, it is gone!!!!!!! How can it be? It is in Picasa yesterday, it is in the HDD folder yesterday (Yes, I always check the physical copy is exists everytime after import), and now, it is gone!!!!! Don't know that Picasa actually apply Chipsmore concept (Now you see it, now you don't).

So, it left me with only 1 choice - file recovery from the SD card (Yes, I know I shouldn't select the delete file after import option, but I'm a lazy programmer. :P). First, I try to recover using the SanDisk Recovery Pro. It is very pro indeed, it turns my .raw2 (LX3) into JPG/PNG/TIFF and my recorded .mov into thoussands of JPG. So Pro.......and it takes 20mins to scan through my 8GB SD card.

So, I got no choice but to use Google (Damn, I realized that I can't live without Google. :P) to search for a better file recovery program, and most importantly.....it must be free. So, I saw another one which is called "PhotoRec" (sounds pro right?), so I downloaded it and give it a try. The program file is small, around 1.5MB only, which make me so excited since the software size is so small. When I fire it up, I was stunned.........a software without GUI in year 2010 is so wrong.......

Next, try to search for another one again......and I found GlarySoft Undelete, the name, so so only, but the file name is nice, it is called "gunsetup.exe". I fire it up, the interface looks clean and simple, press search on my SD card.......Whoaaaa........10 seconds, it shows all my lost file in its explorer!!!!!!!! Press on "restore", 2 mins......done!

So, lesson learned:
1. Don't ever update your Picasa while importing photo.
2. Don't use the option "Delete after import" in Picasa.
3. Always have a file restore software ready (Just in case anything happens, except if your card is burned)
4. Google is human after all, they do make mistake. :P

Lastly, if you interested with the free software, here is the link: http://www.glarysoft.com/gun.html

Picasa - My favourite photo organizer

Before Picasa is born, I have always having issues to organize my photo, as I always take photo in RAW format, the differences of the RAW format by different manufacturer and different camera model always give me a headache.

Why is that so? I have a Canon 350D and a Panasonic Lumix LX3, which both come with their own software (Canon ZoomBrowser and Panasonic PhotoFunStudio).  Now, here comes the problem, Canon ZoomBrowser cannot understand RW2 format and Panasonic PhotoFunStudio cannot understand CR2 format. So, if I took an event with both cameras, it is really hard for me to view all the photo in the same software.

So, I opt for the Windows explorer thumbnail. What is the issue then? The issue is that Microsoft Windows explorer "suppose" to be able to thumbnail any format as long as you install the RAW format driver. It seems like a nemesis to Windows that "it will work when is it working", which translated to "if you see it, congrats. If not, I'm sorry".

Then, I have been left with the choice of Adobe Bridge or Lightroom, which I'll have to pay for it, and yet, there are no guarantee that you'll be able to view the thumbnail as well. I had test it out and some how it is unable to thumbnail RW2. I'm not sure if it is my machine problem or the software problem, as I'm looking for something that will work out of the box.

I have live with all the pains until Picasa is born. As a start, I don't really put a high hope that it will work as what I wish it to, but then, voila! After the installation, I can just see all my photos thumbnail! Yay, finally something is working as what I want. It is not only that, Picasa come with a free 1GB web album. It is not a lot but I'm not backing up my photo in it, I just want to share it with a smaller version of my photos, and Picasa offered a direct resize feature during uploading process! This software is really built to cater every needs that I have.

The photo album organization is simple and straightforward as well. As you move your photo from album to album, you can opt to move the physical file in your folder as well, nice. Also, you can add watermark to every photos during export process, create collage and etc......I just love the features.

There are some simple photo editing features as well, but that is the weak point for Picasa, as it tends to create noisy photo after the editing. Hope that this can be improved. :P

With that latest release which is Picasa 3.5, there are more that you can do, geotag, add places, organize photo according to people (it is auto detect!) and etc......go check the Picasa website

And lastly and the most important thing is.......IT IS FREE!!! And now they are offering Picasa for Windows, OSX and Linux as well. This means, as long as you have a machine, you can install it. :)