January 2011

Michael Zhang

Sony Compact Design Hides Lens Behind Foldable Grip

Sony has been gaining ground on Canon and Nikon lately by focusing on innovation, creating new technologies and entering the mirrorless market early while the two mega-corps have mostly been content with playing it safe with their popular products. Sony recently filed an interesting patent in Japan that shows some of this creative thinking at work. It's a design for a compact camera in which the panel that hides the lens on the front of the camera turns into a camera grip when the lens is exposed!

Michael Zhang

Government Issued Internal Notice Affirming Photographers’ Rights

Update on 12/18/21: This embed has been removed by its creator.

We reported in October of last year that a lawsuit by the New York Civil Liberties Union against the US Government ended with a settlement upholding the right to photograph and film in public spaces outside government buildings. The US Department of Homeland Security also agreed to notify its officers and employees in writing of the "public’s general right to photograph the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces"

Michael Zhang

200 Paper Planes Launched from Space Carrying SD Cards

Samsung recently partnered up with viral marketing agency The Viral Factory to launch 200 paper airplanes carrying SD cards from the edges of space. We first reported on this experiment back in September of last year, but they followed through with the plans and just published this video this week showing how they accomplished it. The balloon was launched in Germany, and each SD Card carried a message for the finder to prove how durable they are.

Michael Zhang

Giving Away a Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 70 Pro Camera Bag

It's been a while since we've done a giveaway here, and we haven't done one yet in 2011, so here goes: we're giving away a Photo Urban Disguise 70 bag by Think Tank Photo worth $189. This is a briefcase style bag that can hold up to two DSLRs with lenses attached without drawing attention to itself as a camera bag.

Michael Zhang

Check Colors the Tasty Way with Pantone Chip Cookies

Freelance designer Kim Neill had the awesome idea of creating Pantone Chip cookies, and stuffed some Pantone tins full of them as gifts for her clients. Needless to say, they were a hit, and she soon began receiving requests for refills.

Michael Zhang

V-J Day in Times Square in Color

Redditor and DeviantArt user mygrapefruit took Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph V-J Day in Times Square and colorized it, giving us a glimpse into what the photo might have looked like had Eisenstaedt used color film.

Michael Zhang

Custom Cup Made from Real Canon 300mm L Lens

Forget those fake plastic (but wildly popular) mugs that look like Canon lenses, there's a one of a kind custom lens cup made from a real $1,300 Canon 300mm f/4 L lens being auctioned on eBay. Kai over at DigitalRev had an accident while shooting a video about the lens and, instead of tossing it out, they decided to convert it into a cup and auction it off for charity (all proceeds will go to help victims of the recent Australian flooding).

Michael Zhang

Amazing Camerawork with a Steadicam, a Segway, and Sprinting

This semifinal performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 has an awesome steadicam shot starting at 2m35s. While it might seem like they used a super high-tech RC helicopter or some computer-generated trickery, it was actually done with a segway, a steadicam, and a whole lotta talent.

Michael Zhang

How to Prove Your Loyalty to Canon

Julio César Assis is a hardcore Canon fan. To show his loyalty to the brand and his allegiance to fellow Canonites, he decided to have the logo tattooed on his bicep.

Michael Zhang

Pint-Sized Toy DSLR Complete with Swappable Lenses

Ordinary DSLR cameras too big and bulky for you? Check out the CHOBi CAM ONE, a DSLR-style toy camera the size of an eraser that actually has lenses you can swap in and out. It shoots 1600×1200 still photos and VGA video at 30 frames per second.

Randy Sarafan

How to Build a DIY Camera Foot Switch

I needed a foot switch for my DSLR camera so that I could take hands-free pictures. On a long-shot, I went down to the local Radioshack to see if they had one. As expected, they didn't have any camera foot switches, but I did luck out that they had all the parts necessary to build my own. Here is how to throw together a 5-minute camera foot switch with easily obtainable parts from Radioshack.

Michael Zhang

Alan Taylor Leaving The Big Picture for The Atlantic

After Alan Taylor started "The Big Picture" photo blog over at the Boston Globe in 2008, it quickly became one of the most popular sections of the website. In addition to starting a large format photo blogging trend among news organizations, it has also won two Webby Awards and a SXSW nomination for "Best Blog". Taylor announced yesterday that he will be leaving "The Big Picture" to start up a new photo blog over at The Atlantic called "In Focus". His last post at The Big Picture will be on January 21st, 2011, and In Focus will be officially launching in February.

Michael Zhang

Nikon Rumored to Announce Mirrorless Pro Camera in April 2011

Nikon's entry into the mirrorless camera market may only be a few months away. Mirrorless Rumors is reporting that, according to "good sources", Nikon will unveil a new mirrorless system in April 2011. Unlike the existing EVIL cameras on the market today (e.g. Sony NEX, Samsung NX, and Micro Four Thirds cameras), the new system will not be geared towards amateurs and photo enthusiasts, but rather professional photographers.

Michael Zhang

Hunting for Sun Dogs in the Sky

If you love both traveling and photography, a fun photo project might be to shoot through a checklist of atmospheric phenomena. You probably know about auroral lights, but have you heard of parhelia, aka sun dogs? These are bright spots of light in the sky, often seen on a bright halo around the sun when it's low in the sky.