Tired of having to screw lens filters on and off? The Xume Quick Release Adapter is a new filter mounting system that turns your screw-on filters into snap-on ones. It uses powerful rare earth magnets, and consists of an adapter for your lens and a holder for each of your filters. People who use a single UV filter for protection might not benefit much from this system, but if you constantly find yourself switching between different filters then this adapter could take a lot of pain out of the process. They’ve only released a 77mm adapter so far, with the adapter priced at $33 and the holder priced at $12.
Lost in the commotion of Sony’s awesome camera announcements was the official unveiling of the LA-EA2 A-mount adapter, which we reported on a couple weeks ago. This fancy lens adapter lets you use Sony’s Alpha line of DSLR lenses with NEX mirrorless bodies without the loss of autofocus functionality by having a translucent mirror and autofocus system baked into the adapter itself!
Adding a large lens and electronic viewfinder to a NEX body leaves you with one strange looking camera, but the ability to use your existing lens collection on a new mirrorless camera is definitely a big deal (hopefully Canon and Nikon offer something similar if they announce mirrorless cameras soon). The LA-EA2 will cost $400 when it arrives in November.
Here’s some interesting innovation on the tech-side of photography: on August 24, Sony will be unveiling a new lens adapter called the LA-EA2 that will let customers use large Sony Alpha DSLR lenses on their small NEX mirrorless cameras. Unlike most lens adapters, this one actually does a lot more than adapt lenses — it has its own translucent mirror and phase-detection autofocus sensor to aid the camera in providing snappy autofocus. It’s almost like an accessory that helps turn small NEX bodies into a DSLR-style camera (except there’s still no optical viewfinder).
If you’ve tried to scan film using an ordinary flatbed scanner as you would a piece of paper, you’ve probably discovered that it didn’t turn out very well. The reason is because film needs to be illuminated from behind, while conventional scanners capture light that’s reflected off what they’re scanning. Before you give up hope and shell out money for a film scanner, here’s some good news: you can build a cheap and simple cardboard adapter that turns any scanner into a film scanner! Read more…
Photojojo has a new ring flash adapter that allows you to shoot soft, studio-style portraits without shelling out the big bucks for an actual ring flash. It’s a plastic add-on with a reflective circle that simply channels the light from your existing flash, so it doesn’t require any batteries. Read more…
XShot, the company known for its handheld camera extender, has released a new iPhone 4 case designed to provide a tripod mount through a detachable adapter. A lot of iPhone owners seem to be interested in adding a tripod mount to their phone — a recent Kickstarter effort to create such a mount raised over $130K after asking for only $10K. The XShot iPhone case is different from other tripod mounts in that the mount is part of a detachable adapter that can be attached to either the side or the bottom of the iPhone.
It’ll be available by the end of November through the XShot store for $25.
Some battery chargers (e.g. those that come with Canon’s pro and prosumer cameras) plug directly into the wall and have prongs that fold into the charger, while others (e.g. the Canon T2i charger) connect to the wall via a removable cable. Though this may be more space efficient when connecting to a socket or surge protector, the extra chord takes up space and can be a hassle. CheesyCam has a clever solution: use an Apple wall plug duck head adapter to transform the charger into a wall charger. Read more…
Gary Fong, the dude and company behind the LightSphere, has come up with a simple adapter you can use to attach your iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS to a tripod. Unlike existing tripod adapters that utilize special cases or suction cups, Gary Fong’s adapter allows you to simply slide your phone in — assuming you don’t use any kind of case that changes the dimensions of your phone.
However useful this adapter might be for you, the price might cause you to go with a DIY alternative — the plastic adapter will set you back a cool $20. The adapter will go live in the Gary Fong store on September 3rd.
Rayqual, a Japanese manufacturer with a Geocities-esque website, recently announced a new line of adapters that will allow you to use Canon, Nikon, and Leica lenses on the Sony NEX line of EVIL cameras. While using your existing glass on the cameras might be nifty and buy you some image quality, what you lose is the ability to autofocus. Another downside is that these adapters aren’t exactly cheap – they will cost between ¥19,950 and ¥25,200 (roughly $220 and $275).
