There’s a humorous new photography meme emerging from Japan. Students in the country are shooting photos that look like they’re ‘Kamehameha’ scenes from the popular manga and anime franchise Dragon Ball.
In each shot, one participant poses as a character exploding with energy, while one or more other subjects pretends to be blown away by the force of the blast. As with all of the popular memes that have emerged in recent years, participants are jumping onboard by shooting their own photos and then sharing them on the web. Read more…
Over the last couple of months, a political skirmish between Japan and China over the ownership of a set of islands has caused anti-Japanese protests all across China, affecting many of the Japanese manufacturing facilities. Some companies — most notably Panasonic and Canon — were forced to shut down operations and evacuate their premises as a result of the violent protests. Things got so bad that Chinese photographers had to camouflage their Japanese-brand cameras with red tape and Chinese flags.
Despite the political atmosphere in the world’s most populous nation, Canon has China squarely in its sights as it plans its next moves for international expansion. Read more…
Omote 3D is a new “photo booth” that has popped up in the Harajuku district of Tokyo Japan. A project by creative studio PARTY, the booth differs from any other portrait studio you’ll find on Earth: instead of producing 2D portrait photos, it turns subjects’ images into small 3D figurines. Read more…
If you’ve noticed an unexpected “Kiss” in your Canon Rebel T4i EXIF data, there’s no need to panic (or blush!).
In certain applications that show EXIF data, the camera name may show up as the EOS Kiss X6i — the Japanese market name of the same camera model. Additionally the Camera Settings / Remote Shooting screens of EOS Utility (EU) also shows “EOS Kiss X6i,” according to a Canon product advisory. Read more…
For his project titled Peep, Japanese photographer Koji Takiguchi aimed to share glimpses into the lives of his fellow countrymen by capturing triptychs showing them at work, home, and play. He photographed people ranging from office workers to security guards, photographing them on the job, resting at home, and engaging in their favorite pastime. Read more…
Researchers at Osaka University in Japan have created a new camera that makes shooting “from the hip” easier by projecting a white border onto the real world — similar to what laser sights do for firearms. The frame line shows exactly the area that will be in the photograph, and allows users to quickly shoot without looking through or at the camera itself. Before you get too excited about the possibility of using it for street photography, here’s the bad news: it’s more suited for things like snapping QR codes due to the fact that the compact projector is only bright enough to be used in dark places and at close range.
Here are some fantastic compliations of commercials promoting Japanese camera companies. They aired from the 1970s to the 1990s. The video above is the Canon collection. Read more…
Here’s a funny prank that Canadian hidden camera show Just For Laughs Gags did involving a Polaroid camera and asking strangers to help take a picture. Pictures don’t lie, right?
Judging from the strange novelty products coming out of Japan, there’s apparently a huge population of people there who love both photography and cats. If a picture taking cat isn’t enough to satisfy you, you can add this cat-shaped memory card reader to your collection. It reads SD cards and Memory Stick cards using slots that are exposed when you lower the cat’s tail. They’re available from Donya for ¥399, or about $5.
The Necono Digital Camera is a funky cat-shaped digital camera out of Japan that might make it easier for you to take smiling baby photos. It’s a 3 megapixel camera that doesn’t have any LCD screen embedded for you to review your shots — you have to connect it to a “Monitor Ground” base that includes an LCD or transfer the images to your computer via USB. The cat has a shutter button on its butt, the camera and a self-timer LED in its eyes, and magnetic feet that allow you to stick it in random places.
Like many novelty cameras, the Necono doesn’t exactly come cheap… It’ll run you a whopping ¥15,750 ($192). At least you can be the only one among your friends to take pictures with a cat. Read more…
