August 4, 2011

Here's a fun blast from the not-so-distant past: the video above is a short clip from the TV show "Call For Help" that originally aired back in September 2003. In it, tech broadcaster Leo Laporte chats with digital photography pioneer Mikkel Aaland -- who, by the way, was introduced to digital cameras by Ansel Adams -- about the evolution of digital cameras up to that point. It's an interesting glimpse into a time when the Nikon D100 was the state of the art.

Japanese electronics giant Pioneer is dipping its toes in the digital camera industry. It has partnered with camera maker Asia Optical to make Pioneer branded cameras in Brazil to sell in the Chinese market. The company aims to have sales of half a million units by 2015. Up to this point, the company had focused on things like car audio systems, television, and DVD players. It'll be interesting to see if Pioneer can find a foothold and steal some market share from the big players.

Here's really random/strange/stupid idea inspired by a comment left yesterday, but have you heard of anyone "printing" a photograph onto their skin using a negative under sunlight? Seems like it would produce a correct positive image of a negative.

Street photographer Bruce Gilden has a pretty distinct style of getting into strangers' faces and firing off a flash held in his other hand. Eric Kim -- who recently started doing street photography full-time -- created this behind-the-scenes video showing himself employing Gilden's trademark style, though instead of a Leica he uses a Canon 5D. The lens he's using is a Canon 24mm f/2.8, and the flash is a YN-560.

It took Steven Silton two hours and 150 tries to capture this amazing photograph of a water drop showing an MC Escher painting.

Most people balked at the $100 price tag of LockCircle's professional body cap when it was announced last month, but one thing is certain: manufacturing them is a lot more complicated than injecting some plastic into a mould. This behind-the-scenes video shows how the cap is crafted out of solid billett aluminum in 79 different steps. Ordinary plastic body caps should suffice for more DSLR owners, but perhaps the company will find customers among hardcore shooters who need the extra sealing for …

Facial recognition features are appearing in everything from cameras to photo-sharing sites, but have you thought about the different security and privacy concerns it introduces? Fast Company has published a piece on how mobile apps in the future may be able to quickly look up your identity, your personal information, and perhaps even your social security number! …

What happens when 3 guys spend 44 days flying 38,000 miles on 18 flights to 11 different countries, capturing moments of footage at each location with two cameras? Check out this epic short film based on the concept of "movement" and you'll see!

Thom Hogan has some news from reliable sources regarding Nikon's upcoming mirrorless announcement: …