This is a 17 minute video showing Kai over at DigitalRev (the same guy that painted a Nikon D90 pink) putting a Canon 400D and Nikon D70 through various torture tests. The tests include stabbing them with knives, dropping them down escalators, smashing them with elevator doors, using them as stilts, and more.
It’s painful to watch, and not just because beautiful cameras are being abused — the video is much too long. However, it’s interesting to see how much damage entry-level DSLR cameras can take and still remain functional.
Here’s a fun video that compiles quite a few clips from movies where “experts” look for clues to mysteries in videos and photographs, often “enhancing” them in ridiculous ways before suddenly discovering something earth-shattering.
As you know, scriptwriters often try to make their characters sound like experts by having them drop random technical terms, whether or not the things they say actually make sense. This is usually seen in science fiction movies where the scientists are forced to somehow explain how non-existant technology works in layman’s terms, but here’s a funny example for all you photogs to enjoy.
If you’re a fan of the Polaroid SX-70, this promotional video from the 1970s should stir up warm fuzzy feelings. If you’ve never used one, watching this might give you a better idea of why so many are obsessed with it.
Even if you’re already a SX-70 fanatic, you might learn a thing or two from certain parts of this video that shed light on exactly how the system works.
British musician Robbie Williams was recently featured in Nikon’s “I AM NIKON” advertising campaign, with a commercial showing a fun experiment he did at a concert in 2003. He asked his audience to pull out their cameras and, on his cue, fire off the flash. The resulting scene was pretty awesome to behold. The full clip of the experiment is above. Read more…
We all know pointing your DSLR directly at the sun for extended periods of time isn’t too healthy for your sensor, but what about laser lights like the ones used at concerts? Turns out those can be even more lethal for your camera, even with very brief exposures.
Here are two videos shot with DSLR cameras that show a laser briefly passing over the camera and damaging the sensor permanently. Both were shot with Canon 5D Mark II cameras:
See the white line that appears immediately after the laser sweeps across? Read more…
A few guys in Los Angeles recently convinced their friend to let them borrow his new iPhone 4 (that he waited 4.5 in line for), and got onto a rooftop with the help of another friend. Using some large helium balloons, they attached the iPhone and started recording 720p video of downtown LA as it rose up to 1000 feet into the air on the end of a kite string. They also made a fun behind-the-scenes video of their project.
This setup is definitely cheaper than an RC plane or helicopter, and somewhat safer and more stable than a kite.
Here’s a photograph titled, “The Inexplicable Occurrence” by Toronto-based photographer Scott McClellan:
What’s neat is that rather than use fancy “Photoshopping” to add the random objects flying around, McClellan captures each element in the scene individually and merges them together into a completed piece. The technique is the same as the one we wrote about in “7 Steps to Taking Clone Photographs“.
Here’s the neat behind-the-scenes video showing how the photograph was shot:
If you have someone who can help catch things you throw around, you can try this yourself at home!
Ever wonder how top photographers deal with their files? Chase Jarvis just put out an awesome blog post and behind-the-scenes video describing his entire workflow from capture to backup. You’ll probably be surprised at how much backing-up his studio does for all its data, and how much storage space they deal with. He points out at the end that all his strategies are scalable, so you don’t need to have infinitely deep pockets to achieve roughly the same amount of redundancy (albiet on a much smaller scale). I guarantee you’ll find this video interesting!
If you’re interested in seeing specific details, head over to the blog post for more images and text.
This beautiful video shows world champion freediverGuillaume Néry plunging into Dean’s Blue Hole, the world’s second deepest underwater sinkhole. It was filmed by Julie Gautier, a French freediving champion, using a Canon 5D Mark II. Gautier filmed the video while freediving herself, and the stunts were filmed over four afternoons.
Though the video is an artistic project and doesn’t show a single dive (reaching the bottom is likely impossible), it’s a beautiful film and one of the more unique uses of the 5D Mark II that we’ve seen.
Early last month we shared a creative viral video Google made to show off the fast rendering speed of their Chrome browser using super slow motion. Rival browser Opera has released a “super slow motion” video of their own to show that their browser is faster than a potato. Enjoy.
