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.
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February seems to be the month when lost photographers’ lives are saved thanks to their camera flashes. Last year around this time a German tourist was miraculously rescued when a woman spotted his desperate flashes on a live webcam feed.
Earlier this week a 29-year-old photographer was hiking in Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin when darkness fell, causing him to became lost, wander off the trail, and fall 15 feet into a boulder field. The man spent two hours on the phone with rescuers before they were able to locate him in the darkness thanks to flashes he was firing off with his camera. He had developed hypothermia from the snow, but his camera flash saved his life.
(via Chicago Tribune)
Image credit: *Flash* by Michael Mistretta
In addition to two new entry-level DSLRs, Canon is also releasing two new entry-level flash units, the 320EX and 270EX II. The 320EX includes a built-in LED light designed to provide illumination for video recording DSLRs, can be assigned to one of four channels, and can be wirelessly controlled with the newly announced T3i/600D. The 270EX II is a compact, lightweight flash that swivels in four positions ranging from 0 to 90 degrees, and can be wirelessly triggered but does not have channel capabilities.
Both units will be available in April, with the 320EX priced at $250 and the 270EX II priced at $170.
Even if you know how to operate your SLR camera and external shoe-mount flashes, you might not have any understanding of the complicated, technical mojo going on that limit and affect your photography. This uber-informative lesson by photographer Paul Duncan brings you up to speed on how things like focal plane shutters and “second curtain sync” work.
(via f stoppers)
Ever wonder what you camera flash would look like if you watched it in super slow motion? Thanks to Phantom high speed cameras you can wonder no more! This flash bulb (the single-use kind used in old film cameras) was captured at 1052 frames per second.
(via f stoppers)
I have always been enthralled ring flashes, but they are so expensive! I recently found a pizza box ring flash how to, but it didn’t go on my camera (it was meant as an off camera ring flash) so I made some changes. And here, for all to use, is my version of the pizza box ring flash.
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If cameras can have external flashes, why can’t mobile phones? The iFlash is a flash module that allows owners of older iPhones to illuminate dark scenes with a blast of LED light. iPhone 4 owners can also use it to gain some additional light.
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Future generations of photographers may one day look back and wonder why we often blinded each other with painfully bright flashes of light for the sake of proper exposure.
NYU researchers Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus are working on a dark flash that eliminates the “dazzle” effect of regular flashes in a low-light room. They’ve created this camera rig that combines common infrared photography techniques with an ultraviolet flash that produces a dim purple glow instead.
The team placed an infrared filter on the lens of the Fujifilm S5 Pro, which is has a modified CCD sensor that specializes in IR and UV photography. To supplement existing UV light, the team created a modified filter on an external flash to emit only UV and IR wavelengths. Read more…
One of the big features touted by Samsung in the unveiling of the new Samsung NX100 was the i-Function lens system, which allows people to adjust camera settings traditionally handled only by the camera body. By placing an “i-Function” button on the lens, the focus ring suddenly has a dual purpose, becoming the “dial” that is traditionally used to change things like aperture and shutter speed.
To provide a better understanding of how the system works, Samsung has created an online flash simulator demonstrating the system.
What do you think of the usability of this system?
The t-shirt of the day over at TeeFury is pretty fun and relevant to photographers today. The shirt will be available until the end of the day for $9. It was created by London-based designer Joao Lauro Fonte.
“Check out my on camera Flash!”.
