opensource

How to Install and Use LightZone, the Underdog Raw Digital Darkroom

Darktable, RawTherapee, digiKam are undeniably powerful applications for processing RAW files. But while they offer a plethora of advanced editing and processing tools, using them to get the result you want requires and patience and some effort. But who has time for that?

An Elevator Pitch for digiKam, the Free RAW Processor and Photo Manager

Whenever a discussion touches on the subject of RAW processing and photo management applications, digiKam rarely comes up. Even when talking about open source photography software, RawTherapee and darktable are often the only names that are thrown around. So let me give you an elevator pitch that makes a case for digiKam.

SCURA is a Curved Panoramic Pinhole Camera You Can Make at Home

Dora Goodman—maker of gorgeous hand-crafted custom cameras like these—is back with another 3D-printed, open-source camera that you can make at home. It's called the SCURA, and it's a curved pinhole camera that shoots 60x25mm panoramic images on regular 35mm film.

A Comprehensive Intro to Darktable: A Free Lightroom Alternative

Anthony Morganti of IAmMrPhotographer.com recently teamed up with photographer and fellow YouTuber Rico Richardson to produce a comprehensive introduction to the popular (and free) Lightroom alternative Darktable. If you've been wanting to try this open source RAW editor but don't know where to start, this video is for you.

Why the Film Lab of the Future is Open Source

We are approaching the peak capacity for film photography labs. The machines are old, the parts are scarce, the demand is high. The measly Kodak Pakon Scanner, terrible it may be, fetches absurdly high prices.

openSX70: Teaching the Old Polaroid SX-70 New Tricks

Polaroid began to market the SX-70 camera in Florida in late 1972, about 46 years ago. The camera was a technology and design icon from day one, the brainchild of Dr. Edwin Land.

Going Open Source to Make Your Own Loupedeck Alternative

There is an extremely talented landscape photographer called Thomas Heaton whose YouTube videos I find very instructive and entertaining. Recently he featured a new product he was sent to try out: the Loupedeck, a physical console that lets you control Lightroom (the main software I use to sort, catalog and edit my photographs).

Triggertrap Open Sources Its Mobile Dongle Hardware

As Triggertrap continues winding down its business, their Triggertrap Mobile Dongles are becoming increasingly difficult to find. But there's some good news now: the company has decided to open source the hardware, making it is possible to build your own dongle.

Google’s Guetzli Makes JPEGs 35% Smaller Without Hurting Quality

Google has just released a brand new, open-source JPEG encoder called Guetzli that can do two very neat things. First, it can decrease JPEG file size by 35% without a noticeable decrease in quality, and second, it can increase the quality of an image without increasing file size at all.

Get More Performance Out of Your X-Trans Sensor with This Free Software

In my previous article on the difficulty FujiFilm’s X-Trans sensor has preserving fine color detail, I used the free software Darktable to process the RAW examples. I showed how, specifically in terms of color detail, Darktable was able to do a better job than FujiFilm’s own processing.

Build a DIY Flickr Auto-Uploader with Raspberry Pi

Flickr generated a lot of bad feelings back in March 2016 by making its Auto-Uploadr app a Pro-only feature. If you're not Pro but would still like the convenience of automatically uploading new photos, you can build a custom gadget that does it for you.

How to Shoot Bullet Time by Swinging an iPhone on a String

Skier Nicolas Vuignier recently shared a viral video in which he created "bullet time" footage of himself skiing by swinging an iPhone 6 around his head using a special contraption he built himself.

The original 3-minute video can be seen above, in case you haven't watched it yet. It amassed well over 3.5 million views in just a couple of weeks.

My Free and Open Source Photography Workflow

After several years of trial and error, I finally have a complete RAW photography workflow in Linux that I am happy with.

The applications in this workflow aren’t just native to Linux, they are also free, open source software (FOSS). There is no need to dual boot, use WINE or a virtual machine. It’s a pure FOSS photography workflow running in Linux.

VSCO Keys Lives On By Going Free and Open Source

In early September 2015, we reported that VSCO was discontinuing its VSCO Keys keyboard shortcut software for Lightroom. There's some good news today: instead of killing off the product, VSCO has decided to turn it into a free and open source project.

The Focal Camera: An Open Source Modular Camera

Over the past year, Dutch artist Mathijs van Oosterhoudt has been developing a new camera system. No, it's not a high-tech digital system that's intended to go up against the major camera companies. Instead, it's an open-modular camera system that's intended to teach people how to build complex cameras. Its name is The Focal Camera.