Michael Zhang

Founder, Editor

Michael is a photography enthusiast, entrepreneur, and programmer based in Northern California near San Francisco. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with two degrees in computer science.

Articles by Michael Zhang

Michael Zhang

Luma Introduces the LoopIt Sling for Lighter Cameras

The LoopIt is a new camera sling by Luma designed to be smaller, lighter, and more affordable than the Luma Loop. Both slings use a lanyard and connector that slide along the camera strap and connect to cameras via any available strap mount point. The push-to-release swivels are manufactured at the same factory that invented the swivel used by the US military, with tolerances that supposedly exceed the ones used in combat.

Michael Zhang

360° Degree Camera Inspired by the Eye of the Fly

The folks over at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have created a camera modeled after a fly's eye that provides a 360° view of the world. Packed with the 100 small cameras, what the camera captures is combined on a computer to provide a single 3D view of the world.

Michael Zhang

CNN Reports on Professor Wafaa Bilal’s Surgically Implanted Head Camera

CNN recently did a story on NYU professor Wafaa Bilal and the camera he had implanted on the back of his head. The video above gives you a glimpse into what it looks like and how the system works. Turns out it wasn't a working camera that was permanently embedded into Bilal's skull, but rather a baseplate to which the wired camera can be mounted magnetically.

Michael Zhang

Russian Software Firm Breaks Canon’s Authenticity Verification, Big Time

Dmitry Sklyarov of Russian software company ElcomSoft announced yesterday that the encryption system used by Canon to prove the authenticity of photographs is flawed and unfixable. This is the system that's used to prove that images were not altered after being captured by the camera, and has applications in things such as court cases.

To prove their point, ElcomSoft published a series of ridiculous and obviously "Photoshopped" images (e.g. the astronaut planting a Soviet flag seen above) that all correctly pass Canon's authenticity verification.

Michael Zhang

PBS Documentary About White House Photographer Pete Souza

Here's a interesting little teaser video for "The President’s Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office", a PBS documentary that premiered on November 24th, 2010. It takes you behind the scenes with Pete Souza, the official White House photographer who follows President Obama around everywhere he goes, capturing tens of thousands of photographs every month.

Michael Zhang

Camera Graffiti on Canvas by Joe Suta

Threadless' in-house graffiti artist Joe Suta creates 3 giant (48'' x 36'') paintings for their Chicago store window each week, which are then sold through the Threadless website for $250 a pop.

Michael Zhang

Kuwait DSLR Ban Turns Out to Be False, Photogs Breathe Sigh of Relief

Last week one of the big stories in the world of photography was that Kuwait had banned the use of DSLR cameras in public places. The story originated with an article in the Kuwait Times, and was then widely reported by publications ranging from The Guardian to Amateur Photographer. People were in disbelief that a country would take such an unreasonable stance against a particular camera technology while leaving others legal (e.g. mobile phones, compact cameras, etc...). Turns out the whole thing was a big hoax.