Although it might not seem like much, the photo above might just be the most extraordinary image you have ever seen. Not because of crazy high megapixel count or amazing composition or even subject matter -- we've seen images of planets orbiting stars before -- but because it is the first ever image of a planet and its star over 63 light years away.
Is the Ladibird an iPhone case, a fully-functioning camera or a cleverly designed smartphone add-on? The answers, in no particular order, are yes, yes and yes. The upcoming device manages the increasingly difficult feat of pioneering a new and potentially useful category by turning an iPhone into a seriously capable portrait camera.
Oh GoPro, the action cam crown must rest uneasy on thy sweaty brow. CES has been flush with announcements of new entrants in the wearable camera market, and now Polaroid joins the scrum with a handful of new models. (All manufactured by Polaroid licensee and troubled asset specialist C&A Marketing.)
Admit it, you've always wanted walk around a rainforest hunting Arnold Schwarzenegger using your cool thermal vision and shoulder cannon, and now you can... sort of. While the shoulder cannon is still pending, and your chances of getting Mr. Schwarzenegger to a rainforest of your choosing are slim, a new smartphone case dubbed the FLIR ONE will turn your iPhone into an awesome thermal camera of your own.
Thanks to CES, this week has been filled to bursting with new gear announcements that are either exacerbating your Gear Acquisition Syndrome (G.A.S.) or simply exhausting you. After all, how many "world's first [this]" and "world's lightest [that]" can you take before it all starts to blend together? …
Unfortunately, what with major changes at the helm and making sure that we hit 2014 running, we weren't able to make it to Vegas for CES this year. And I say unfortunately because, not only does it mean we'll have to wait a minute to get hands on with some of the new releases, but it also meant missing cool demonstrations like the ones you see above.
There's something awesome about vintage ads. This rings especially true for photography ads, because while technology ads of the past for things like computers or other gadgets might seem comically archaic, the text in something like this Leica M4 ad could very well be seen in the next Pure Photography-like campaign.
In the most recent installment of police officer vs. photographer, a UK man who began taking pictures near the scene of a car accident was approached by an irate officer who yelled and cursed at him, confiscated his camera and threatened to arrest him and make his life a "living hell."
Editor's Note: After the piece was published, we were made aware of a deal WeSellLikes is running that gives away 1,000 likes to anybody who writes about their website. We wanted to make it clear that we did not know about this deal nor do we have any intention of taking them up on their offer... although the irony did make us chuckle.
Samsung was the first to announce some of its new offerings pre-CES, but the company didn't let all of its cats out of the bag right away. In addition to the NX30, Galaxy Camera 2 and 16-50mm f/2-2.8 premium lens already announced, Samsung yesterday also refreshed its SMART camera lineup with a few point-and-shoots and two superzooms, one of which packs dual grips and monstrous 60x zoom.
Liquid Image, mainly known for its line of scuba masks with integrated underwater cameras, is getting into the action cam business in a big way with the first model to support media streaming via a 4G LTE phone connection.
When you think of the Jersey Shore what are the first things that come to mind? The beach? The ocean? The amusement park rides? Summer? But there is one sight that goes completely unnoticed by so many shore goers each and every year in the town of Cape May. That sight is the night sky!
Sony is looking to take 4K video into the mainstream at CES this year by releasing its first compact camcorder that supports the beyond-HD standard.
Panasonic is looking to boost its appeal to high-end shooters with a new line of super-fast Leica lenses, starting with a 42.5mm f/1.2 model that was introduced Monday at CES.
One of the cool, though not all that useful, announcements to come out of CES yesterday night was of Lexar's new "world's fastest memory card." The announcement is cool because, well, it's the world's fastest memory card. It's not useful (at least not yet) because chances are very good you don't own a camera that can take advantage of it.
Seeing how well DSLR and mirrorless camera enthusiasts get along, Sony has apparently decided to erase the verbal distinction between the two by sliding its latest mirrorless model into the Alpha line.
The CES announcement train keeps on rolling with another one we saw coming thanks to the ever-increasing accuracy of rumor sites. Nikon has officially launched the consumer-level D3300 -- complete with a few hardware upgrades and a new kit lens -- as well as the long-rumored 35mm f/1.8G full-frame lens and a few new CoolPix models.
After many a rumor indicating that this very thing would happen, Nikon has officially announced that the followup to the flagship D4, the D4S, is in development and will be on display at the company's booth at CES in Vegas over the next few days.
It's a good year for glass at CES in Vegas. First Samsung debuts its first premium 'S' lens, then Fuji comes out with the 56mm f/1.2R, and now Sigma is joining the fray by releasing two new lenses: an all-new 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art series lens and a significantly updated 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Macro lens.
Sorry, Mom, but playing with your food rocks. Especially if you do it with the imagination and exacting detail that French photographers Akiko Ida and Pierre Javelle have poured into their series MINIMIAM.
A few months back I got to see the mighty, ever-reigning dinosaur kings of rock, the Rolling Stones. I had a general admission ticket and a small pocket camera, and arrived many hours early so as to worm my way clear up to the front.
We've said it before, but it bears mentioning again: smartphones might be bludgeoning the compact camera market, but that doesn't mean camera companies aren't putting up a fight. Fuji's new superzoom lineup is kind of a case in point, but a better example are the three new point-and-shoots just released by Canon.
We've known since late 2012 that the Instagram logo lookalike Socialmatic camera would go from concept to reality, and since early 2013 that it would arrive with Polaroid branding, but now Polaroid is giving us specs and announcing that the Socialmatic will arrive in stores this Fall.
What do you get when you mix time-lapse photography, lip syncing to a Queen song and an insane amount of dedication? We imagine you get something like Day 1 by Matt Perren: a one photo per day time-lapse video that took him THREE YEARS to make.
The final pre-CES announcement from Fuji is completely unexpected, but one that the company is nevertheless very excited about. It's called the Instax Share SP-1 Printer, and it's a compact wireless Instax printer that you can carry around with you, basically giving your smartphone the ability to act like an instant camera.
The black version of the X100s wasn't the only camera Fuji decided to announce ahead of CES. Four other cameras are making their official appearance today: three superzooms, one of which is the world's first weather sealed bridge camera, and a new rugged compact.
Despite many a rumor of a new X-Series camera coming at CES, Fuji didn't have a brand new shooter up its sleeve -- at least not that we know of. Instead, the company is debuting the much-requested all-black version of the X100s, and a super fast "portrait perfect" XF 56mm f/1.2R premium lens.
As a website, we're trying to move away from sharing rumors and the like, or at the very least be much more selective. This is happening for a few reasons, but one of them is that, unless you are very selective, you're bound to share something blatantly wrong. And worse yet, in your rush to be one of the first to report on it, you might do serious damage to your credibility.
We're starting to suspect that wild animals the world over are collecting action cams for some nefarious plot... well, either that or wild animals like carrying away shiny objects, but we prefer our first theory. We've seen birds, cheetahs and hyenas all make away with GoPros, and now it seems the crustaceans are getting involved too.
Apple might be intent on making high-speed burst mode a 'thing' in future iPhone models, given that the Cupertino tech giant just acquired a one-man startup known for building an app that could push the iPhone to 20-30fps burst without sacrificing resolution.
Earlier this week, when stumbled across this two-hour presentation by iconic portrait photographer Greg Heisler, it took all the will power we had not to share it with you right away. In our world, being the "first" to report on a story is often very important, and it's an impulse we often have to resist because we're intent on getting the story right.
A Little Background...
Build-it-yourself cameras can be both fun and educational. For photography types, a camera like the Konstructor or the Last camera makes for a fun weekend project that you can then take out on occasion when your inner hipster is calling, or give as a gift to a budding photo enthusiast.
DigitalRev's Cheap Camera Challenges are a big hit here at PetaPixel. Watching a pro use a less-than-capable camera to try and create something worthwhile is both hilarious and educationally valuable. Case in point: check out what cinematographer Phillip Bloom was able to do with a Barbie Camera and some creativity.
The last couple of days have seen the east coast battered by a huge blizzard known as winter storm Hercules. Thousands of flights have been grounded and many schools were closed yesterday as entire cities began digging themselves out of snowfall that ranged from just a few inches to almost two feet in some areas.
What happens when you try to take a nighttime shot without a tripod? Apparently, a ghost wanders into the frame and cocks up the whole thing. At least that's what British photographer Jules Annan is claiming happened to him.
In our State of the Blog Address, we asked you what you want to see more of on PetaPixel, and one of the suggestions that came up most often was Tutorials, Behind the Scenes videos and other helpful educational content like that.
Got a couple of boxes of old transparencies and a bare window? Then designer/upcycler Scott Sherwood has come up with a great idea that will put those slides to functional, creative and colorful use.
Yes, we're all fascinated by what you had for lunch. But sometimes actual news/history is shared in the Instagram universe, and now there's a convenient new way to browse through and find pictures of those events.
Photography companies love catchword marketing. They like catchwords because photographers make assumptions about what those words mean, even though the words really don’t mean anything. So basically, they say nothing, but it makes you believe something.
Photography is hardly a cheap hobby to pick up, but even within photography, some branches are more expensive than others. And ranking pretty close to the 'most expensive' side of that line is astrophotography... at least the kind that will yield incredible photos like the one you see here by photographer Mike Hankey.
This'll video will wake you up... or at least make you feel like your Friday isn't NEARLY as exciting as it could be. As part of their Hero3+ Adventure Series, GoPro teamed up with zoologist Kevin Richardson (better known as the Lion Whisperer) to show the special bond he shares with the big cats and shed light on the dilemma of habitat loss.
It turns out the rich, famous and powerful of today bear a striking resemblance to the rich, famous and powerful of yesteryear -- at least if you trust the photo series Iconatomy by George Chamoun and the followup series Then & Now by Marc Ghali.
We try to stay away from sharing too much of the same thing (although, admittedly, we've occasionally slipped up and shared the EXACT same thing more than once) but with 2013 officially in the rearview, it seems only right that we share at least one "one second per day" video from this past year.
Certain indie filmmakers may be all in love with shaky-cam production values, but for the rest of us, nausea still isn't terribly valued as a special effect. So huzzah to the ShadowCam S-5, an upcoming stabilizer for DSLRs and pro series cinema cameras (Red Epic, Canon C models, etc.) that promises to dampen motion like no other stabilizer.
The past year saw a mini-boom in musicians discouraging or outright prohibiting fans from taking photos at gigs, pitched mainly as a "pay attention to the music" measure. But now the trend is attracting a sort of venue where reckless flash photography would only seem to add to the experience: electronic dance clubs.
Forget Times Square, the place every photographer wishes they were on New Year's Eve 2014 (or is it 2013?) was Dubai. Why, you ask? Because this year the city set the world record for the largest fireworks show, and captured the entire thing on camera for posterity's sake.
Sad news came out of Atlanta, GA, where a veteran Associated Press photographer suffered a fatal heart attack on the field shortly after the conclusion of the Chick-fil-A Bowl this last Tuesday.
Wrapping up the announcements from Samsung today were two new pieces of glass, at least one of which might just get your Gear Acquisition Syndrome acting up. The new lenses are a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 Power Zoom and Samsung's first ever Premium 'S' lens: a 16-50mm f/2-2.8.
The second and final major camera announcement out of Samsung today was the successor to the Android-powered Galaxy Camera, aptly named the Galaxy Camera 2. Although it boasts many of the same specs as the first Galaxy Camera, the new shooter is a more powerful and lighter version that's sure to score points with lovers of the first model.
