January 2011

Michael Zhang

Custom Cup Made from Real Canon 300mm L Lens

Forget those fake plastic (but wildly popular) mugs that look like Canon lenses, there's a one of a kind custom lens cup made from a real $1,300 Canon 300mm f/4 L lens being auctioned on eBay. Kai over at DigitalRev had an accident while shooting a video about the lens and, instead of tossing it out, they decided to convert it into a cup and auction it off for charity (all proceeds will go to help victims of the recent Australian flooding).

Michael Zhang

Amazing Camerawork with a Steadicam, a Segway, and Sprinting

This semifinal performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 has an awesome steadicam shot starting at 2m35s. While it might seem like they used a super high-tech RC helicopter or some computer-generated trickery, it was actually done with a segway, a steadicam, and a whole lotta talent.

Michael Zhang

How to Prove Your Loyalty to Canon

Julio César Assis is a hardcore Canon fan. To show his loyalty to the brand and his allegiance to fellow Canonites, he decided to have the logo tattooed on his bicep.

Michael Zhang

Pint-Sized Toy DSLR Complete with Swappable Lenses

Ordinary DSLR cameras too big and bulky for you? Check out the CHOBi CAM ONE, a DSLR-style toy camera the size of an eraser that actually has lenses you can swap in and out. It shoots 1600×1200 still photos and VGA video at 30 frames per second.

Randy Sarafan

How to Build a DIY Camera Foot Switch

I needed a foot switch for my DSLR camera so that I could take hands-free pictures. On a long-shot, I went down to the local Radioshack to see if they had one. As expected, they didn't have any camera foot switches, but I did luck out that they had all the parts necessary to build my own. Here is how to throw together a 5-minute camera foot switch with easily obtainable parts from Radioshack.

Michael Zhang

Alan Taylor Leaving The Big Picture for The Atlantic

After Alan Taylor started "The Big Picture" photo blog over at the Boston Globe in 2008, it quickly became one of the most popular sections of the website. In addition to starting a large format photo blogging trend among news organizations, it has also won two Webby Awards and a SXSW nomination for "Best Blog". Taylor announced yesterday that he will be leaving "The Big Picture" to start up a new photo blog over at The Atlantic called "In Focus". His last post at The Big Picture will be on January 21st, 2011, and In Focus will be officially launching in February.

Michael Zhang

Nikon Rumored to Announce Mirrorless Pro Camera in April 2011

Nikon's entry into the mirrorless camera market may only be a few months away. Mirrorless Rumors is reporting that, according to "good sources", Nikon will unveil a new mirrorless system in April 2011. Unlike the existing EVIL cameras on the market today (e.g. Sony NEX, Samsung NX, and Micro Four Thirds cameras), the new system will not be geared towards amateurs and photo enthusiasts, but rather professional photographers.

Michael Zhang

Hunting for Sun Dogs in the Sky

If you love both traveling and photography, a fun photo project might be to shoot through a checklist of atmospheric phenomena. You probably know about auroral lights, but have you heard of parhelia, aka sun dogs? These are bright spots of light in the sky, often seen on a bright halo around the sun when it's low in the sky.

Michael Zhang

An Epic Way to Show Off Your Favorite Polaroid Photographs

Creating plexiglass clones of your Polaroid photos is a classy way of showing them off, but Lori Andrews' (aka the 10 cent designer) has an equally awesome method: she picked 154 of her favorite Polaroid pics and had them neatly framed under glass for her kitchen.