Taking photos is one of the main ways people use smartphones these days, and phone makers are trying all kinds of ideas for one-upping its competitors in photo features. ASUS just showed off its latest idea today: a powerful xenon flash dongle that attaches to the back of the phone.
For telephoto lenses with huge front elements, screw-on filters aren't very practical or economical. Thus, for certain lenses, companies like Canon and Nikon offer drop-in filters that slide into a slot close to the rear element.
There's a new product that hopes to use this same style of filter for smaller camera-and-lens combos. Called OWL, it's the first drop-in filter adapter.
miggo is an innovative new camera accessory that can serve two purposes. It can be used as a padded camera strap, but when you're done shooting, the strap can be transformed into a protective case for your precious camera.
Wilson Tse and Craig Hansen of British Columbia want to make it easier for photographers to switch their cameras between accessories such as straps and tripods. The duo has created a new universal camera mount system called the Monkey Latch that aims to tackle this issue.
It's a quick release system that lets you move your camera from one accessory to another in just seconds with one click.
How cheap and minimalist can you make a DSLR intervalometer? A camera hacker who goes by Glitchmaker recently wanted to find out, and the SHTTTRRR is the result of his experiment. It's a small low-power device that uses only an on/off switch and a button for setting the interval.
The Flex is a new light solution that comes in the form of a bendable white mat covered with LED lights. It's designed to be a flexible (literally) light source for photographers and videographers that can illuminate spaces that traditional lights may be too clunky for.
The CASE Remote is a new wireless camera controller that attaches to your DSLR and turns your smartphone or tablet into a wireless remote you can use to control your camera.
In Brook, Indiana, a town of about 1,000 people, there's a small business called CameraBands that specializes in recycling camera equipment into bracelets and rings. If you ever break your favorite gear far beyond repair (i.e. it's destined for the junkyard), you can ship it to CameraBands instead of tossing it to have it transformed into very different forms.
Custom SLR's C-Loop strap mount is a popular accessory for relocating a camera's strap ends from two corners of the camera to a single point at the tripod mount. This swiveling mount point allows the strap to stay untangled and out of your way.
Today, the San Francisco-based company is announcing a new version of the mount that's specifically geared toward smaller camera bodies. It's called the C-Loop Mini.
If you're a fan of thrifty DIY substitutes for camera accessories, here's a quick and easy one for you: you can easily carry spare batteries (and other items and accessories) on your camera or bag strap using two strips of Velcro.
Chinese camera gear company Yongnuo has introduced a new model to its affordable line of wireless flash triggers: the RF605.
A followup to the RF602, RF603, and RF603 II, the RF605 introduces grouping to the company's affordable line of transceivers.
The FlashDisc by Fstoppers is a portable softbox that can fit into your pocket when its not in use, thanks to a design that allows it to fold up in a manner similar to portable light reflectors. It allows photographers to achieve soft directional light in situations where larger softboxes are impractical.
What you see above is one of the most unusual pieces of lighting gear we’ve ever chanced across. Looking a bit like a prop from the upcoming Star Wars film, this contraption is actually a macro flash adapter designed by Polish photographers Agnieszka and Ernest Lysak.
Canon's 100D (aka SL1) is the world's smallest and lightest DSLR, and one that's marketed heavily towards women. In what is perhaps another bid to appeal to the female demographic, Canon UK is launching a limited edition camera bag that's designed specifically for the Canon 100D White.
Looking for a fashionable way to always have a Lightning or MicroUSB charging cable at hand? Look no further than this sleek tassel -- it's actually a compact charging cable in disguise!
ONA products are best known for their fashion-savvy looks and impressive build quality, but their latest product takes it one step further by doing some good while looking good. It’s called the Sahel, and it's the result of a partnership between ONE and charity: water that will net the charity 'part' of the proceeds.
Sick of wiping and blowing dust off your lens filter? Check out Hoya's new line of EVO Antistatic lens filters, which actively repel dust particles to keep them from sticking to the glass.
About 88,000 people in the U.S. are missing all or part of an arm, and among the things that are difficult or impossible for them to do is use an full-size camera. Smaller point-and-shoots and phones allow simultaneous holding and operation, but anything bigger is out of the question without a tripod.
If versatility is the name of the game, then the Lollipod is doing its best to win that game. A new product currently making the press rounds, the Lollipod combines the functionality of a tripod, monopod, boom, lighting stand and selfie stand into an extremely portable and easy-to-use package that will come in handy in a slew of different situations.
Light painting is something that takes a lot of time and patience. Even after many trial and error attempts, nailing the exact look you're going for can be a challenge. pixelstick is a crazy new tool that aims to change all that, making mind-blowing light paintings something even artistically challenged photographers can create.
A basic description of it is: it's a stick-like device that lets you print digital images into long exposure photos.
Want to give your plain-looking camera a dash of color? Kapsones can help you do that. It's a new line of custom lens hoods -- the company describes them as "jewelry for your camera" -- that launched recently over in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Are ordinary macro lens attachments for your smartphone not enough for you? Want to zoom in closer? 22-year-old mechanical engineer Thomas Larson has just the lens for you. It's called the Micro Phone Lens, and is a tiny little attachment that instantly lets you focus on and capture very small subjects.
French smartphone device startup SmartMobilAccessoire is working on a new product called the Biiwatch. It's a watch-like device that's worn around the wrist, but instead telling you the time, it's designed to let you tell your smartphone when to snap a photo.
Custom gear maker Walter Pretorius of Walter Leica has come out with a new product for photographers who want a safe and fun way to carry additional memory cards. It's the Walter SD Card Holder, a tiny Leica M look-alike that has memory card slots of its own.
Light meters are less common now than they used to be. Now that we can see our photos right after we've shot them and delete, adjust settings and re-shoot, some people just don't see the merit in spending $300+ on a professional meter.
Of course, a light meter can be an amazing tool, and so the folks at Lumu Labs have designed one they're calling "the light meter of the 21st century": a tiny, iPhone attachable light meter that claims to perform far outside its price range.
Are you so crazy in love with photography that you would wear a lens-inspired wedding ring on your finger? If so, alternative ring company Titanium Buzz has a wedding band just for you.
The company has just launched a new product called the Camera Lens Ring. It's a simple ring that looks like something torn from the middle of a camera lens.
HoldFast Gear makes gear for photographers that you won't really find from other companies. Last year one of their big products was the MoneyMaker, a suspenders-style leather camera strap that looks like it popped out of an old detective film.
Today the company added a new eye-catching product to its lineup: the Bison Tote. It's a tote bag that's made out of bison hide.
Announced near the end of last year, Lomography's Belair X 6-12 is the world’s first 6x12 auto-exposure medium format camera.
If you love the idea of shooting medium format in a point-and-shoot manner but find the cost of buying the film prohibitive, Lomography now has a "fix" for you. The company has announced a new 35mm back for the Belair X 6-12 that turns it into a 35mm camera when you'd like to take breaks from 120 film.
Holsters are becoming pretty popular for keeping camera gear on your hip and at the ready, and now Washington-based gear company Rhino Camera Gear wants to bring the concept to batteries. It has unveiled a new product that's designed to cut a few seconds out of the time it takes you to switch out empty batteries for fresh ones.
The accessory is called the Rhino Battery Holster, and moves your juiced batteries from inside your camera bag to your side.
Back in 2010, we shared how artist Luke Jerram had created a wedding ring that can project tiny slide photographs when placed in front of a light source. After seeing that idea, Cambridge-based engineer John Ding decided that he wanted to make something similar for his sweetheart, Becky.
Ding spent the next two years designing a silver pendant that can project a photograph. He ended up creating what he calls the "Projecting Pendant."
Photographer Váncsa Domokos created a neat do-it-yourself camera accessory that uses optical fibers to control the direction and intensity of a flash unit's light. Instead of having light come directly out of the flash unit, the accessory redirects it through a thick bundle of optical fibers, allowing you to point the light in any direction -- and in different directions if you'd like.
We've seen a number camera-shaped pendant necklaces before, but here's one that's a bit different from the rest. It's a camera pendant that doubles as a small clock that hangs around your neck.
Sick and tired of your white Canon L lens clashing with your black lens hood? No? Oh well, Vello's new line of lens hoods probably isn't meant for you. The maker of 3rd party Canon lens hoods has launched three new lens hoods that come in white to match the color of Canon's high-end telephoto lenses.
Back in March 2011, we featured an iPhone app that lets you use your iPhone as a makeshift light meter. The app apparently works pretty well, but if you've been looking for a fancier solution involving your iPhone, one has finally arrived.
It's called the Luxi, and is a small clip on accessory that turns your iPhone into a proper light meter.
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.
Have you ever considered adding a prism to your camera bag? Washington DC-based wedding photographer Sam Hurd has done quite a bit of experimentation using an equilateral prism -- the kind used in schools to teach properties of light -- to add special effects to his photographs. The results are pretty interesting.
Fungus is one of the banes of a camera lens' existence. In humid environments, nasty things can begin to happen if some fungus spore-laden dust particles make their way into your lens. To prevent fungus from growing inside a lens, photographers often silica gel packets to control the amount of moisture in and around their glass.
A few months ago, we told you about a neat, open-source attachment created by modder Andy Rawson that could instantly turn your smartphone into a thermal imaging camera. At the time, Rawson was intending to sell the production models for $150 and otherwise open source the project for the DIYers out there. Well, add about $25 to the price tag and a ridiculously successful Kickstarter campaign and you've got the IR-Blue.
We're not sure how many punk rock fans moonlight as photographers (or the other way around), but those who do may find the new CamCuff a tempting camera accessory. It's a fashion accessory wrist cuff that doubles as a camera strap for those of you who aren't big on the neck variety.
Wireless adapters for digital cameras can be very pricey accessories, especially when you're dealing with high-end DSLRs. Manufacturers can squeeze more money out of those who pay thousands for a camera by charging hundreds for an adapter, even though a cheaper one could work just fine. What's more, the adapters are often designed specifically for certain cameras, making them useless if you change models or makes.