January 2013

The "flash units" found on the backs of smartphones may be getting more powerful, but the general idea has largely remained the same: use a powerful LED light that can illuminate a scene when you need a little extra light. The power output doesn't really stack up to the flashes found on compact cameras, but Google has one solution for making the flash a bit brighter.

In a recently published patent, the company outlines the idea of placing multiple LED flashes on smartphones, perhaps in a ring around the camera unit.

Lomography has announced a brand new line of film called LomoChrome, and the first product is LomoChrome Purple 400. Available in both 35mm and 120 formats, the film allows photographers to shoot infrared-style photographs without any special gear or filters.

Polish photographer Marcin Ryczek captured this gorgeous black-and-white photograph of a man feeding ducks and swans in Kraków, Poland (here's a high-res version of the photo).

Olympus isn't the only camera company toying around with the concept of cheap body cap lenses. At the CP+ show in Japan, Pentax took the wraps off a body cap lens of its own for its Q system line of mirrorless cameras. Officially called the "Mount Cap Lens," the accessory is a pint-sized hyper-focal lens that will reportedly produce toy-camera-style photographs.

In December 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City featured an interactive art installation by Philip Worthington called "Shadow Monsters". The exhibit was created using a computer, a camera, two projectors, a light box, and some clever software. When visitors stepped in front of the light box, their shadows were magically transformed into creatures that were brought to life through sound and animation.

Photographer Joseph O. Holmes saw the unique exhibition as a photo project opportunity. However, instead of photographing the resulting monsters, he decided to turn the camera on the participants themselves, capturing their monster-making activities as a series of silhouettes.

Disappointed that the full-frame Sony RX1 compact camera doesn't come with an optical viewfinder? Don't worry: you can use the camera's hot shoe to attach a sweet/strange-looking universal turret viewfinder! That's how DSLR Magazine customized theirs in a recently published review.

A number of years ago, England-based photographer Dave Miller wanted an at-home darkroom, but didn't have the luxury of converting a spare room in his house into one. He did, however, have a nice garden area that wasn't being used, so he decided to upgrade the grassy area with a shed -- a darkroom shed.

The company formerly known as RIM changed its name to Blackberry yesterday, and launched a new flagship smartphone called …

Brighton-based photographer and product designer Maxim Grew recently came up with the idea of building an instant camera out of a Polaroid film holder and a stack of wooden popsicle sticks.

For her projects titled Égarements and Quotidien, French photographer Cerise Doucède creates elaborate scenes by hanging objects from the ceiling, creating swarms that look computer generated but aren't.

Twitter and Dropbox aren't really known as premier destinations for sharing photographs online, but both companies are taking steps toward changing that. Both companies unveiled new features today that are geared toward making photo sharing and viewing through their respective services an easier and more enjoyable experience.

Last week, we pointed you to a piece by the New York Times on how Fujifilm is …

French optical filter company Cokin has launched a new line of lens filters under the brand name Pure Harmonie. The new filters are unique in that they're the thinnest and lightest in the world -- the UV filter in the set measures only 3.3mm (~0.13in) thick!

The Brazilian advertising agency Y&R recently came up with an extremely clever series of photographs for Colgate to promote the company's line of Total dental floss. Check out the three couple portraits in the post and see how quickly your eye is drawn to the weirdness.

Reikan Technology, the company behind the FoCal automatic lens calibration tool, tells us that it has released a new web-based tool for researching the performance of camera and lens combinations.

Have you always wanted to see what the world looks like from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest manmade structure in the world? Dubai, UAE-based photographer Gerald Donovan was recently given the opportunity of shooting a photograph from the peak of the massive skyscraper. Not just any ol' photograph, mind you, but an immersive 360-degree panorama that makes you feel like you're actually there!

It seems camera companies are trying to target Japanese anime fans these days. In September 2011, we wrote about how Leica had teamed up with the designer of Gundam (not to be confused with Gangnam) for a limited edition mech-themed V-LUX 30 digital camera.

Now Pentax, the king of bizarre special edition cameras, has forged an anime partnership of its own. The company has announced a limited edition line of Q10 mirrorless cameras that carry Neon Genesis Evangelion branding and colors.

This is probably the most beautiful video you'll see today, this week, and perhaps even this year. Titled "Full Moon Silhouettes," it's a real-time video captured by photographer Mark Gee at Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. Gee writes,

Nikon just overhauled its entire compact/superzoom lineup, so we thought we'd give it a go at a broad overview. New camera models are the Coolpix P520, L820, AW110, S9500, S9400, S5200, and S31; and all of them are trying to compete with your smartphone by offering a mix and match of great zoom, Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS.

There's a new photo sharing app in town called Reactions. That news isn't particularly unique or exciting in itself, but the developer behind the app is rather noteworthy: it's legendary hacker George Hotz (AKA "geohot").

After all of those serious news reports and lens announcements, we thought it would be fun to share something on the whimsical side. You've seen camera lens mugs, now we give you a lens-shaped humidifier that'll keep the dry skin away over the next few months.

Professional photographers have a choice to make: buy a car, put a down payment on a house, or buy Nikon's new 800mm f/5.6 FL ED VR behemoth. Obviously the last one, right? Well, maybe not, but still, this thing is impressive.

It was announced as "in development" way back in July, we got to see one in action at the Olympics in August, and now it's finally here -- and it was kind enough to come attached to a $17,900 price tag.

Last week, Apple unexpectedly booted 500px's photo sharing app from the iTunes App Store. At the time, Apple said that the issue was the app's ability to search for photos featuring artistic nudity. Since then, reports have also stated that Apple received complaints of child pornography in the App, leading 500px to launch an ultimately unsuccessful search for these images.

Whatever the issue was, it seems it has been fixed to Apple's specifications. The app is now back in the iOS app store and available to download.

Over the past three years, Foodspotting has made a name for itself by using user-generated pictures to help you find the tastiest dish in the vicinity. And even though we've seen an anti-photo movement in upscale restaurants recently, the app clearly still has a lot to offer. We say clearly because reservation company OpenTable just agreed to buy the company for $10M in cash.

It's a big day for lens announcements, and we're not even done yet. Sigma showed MFT and E-mount some love, and now it's Tamron's turn to make mirrorless owners happy. Earlier today, the company officially announced development of its first ever Micro Four Thirds lens: the 14-150mm F/3.5-5.8 Di III VC.

Mother + Daughter is an ongoing series of portraits by North Carolina-based photographer Carra Sykes. Each diptych features one portrait of Sykes and one portrait of her mother, with both women wearing the same clothes and holding the same pose.

Sigma is making camera lovers happy today with the announcement of four new lenses. Well, actually it's one new lens and three new versions of old lenses, but it's good news all the same. All of the new lenses are part of Sigma's sleek ART product line, and were announced today at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013 in Japan.

Professor Isao Echizen from Tokyo's National Institute of Informatics seems to think that photography and facial tagging are infringing a bit too eagerly on your privacy. So, in a bid to avoid being surveyed (perhaps by the all-seeing eye of the ARGUS-IS) he's designed a pair of anti-photography glasses.

Ever since Canon’s new 24-70mm f/2.8L II arrived late last year, lens reviewers …

We've seen Instagram photography on "jewelry" before, but nothing like this. JewelGram is the Kickstarter baby of engineer Gianpiero Riva and jewelry designer Michele Marzotto, and if they get fully funded, we may start seeing high quality Instagram rings and pendents all over the place.