Here's an interesting idea by Oregon-based engineering consultant Paul Anderson called The Daylight Viewfinder. The patent pending invention, which is in the process of raising $44,000 on Kickstarter, is a suction mountable, sun blocking viewfinder/app combo that allows you to take great pictures with your phone (currently iOS only) even in bright daylight.
The ability to connect your camera to your smartphone wirelessly is starting to really gather some steam. Unfortunately, up until now, that technology usually required a WiFi connection and an adapter that often cost some serious dinero. But if all you're looking to do is share the photos you take instantly sans WiFi network, you don't have many options. Enter CloudPic Mobile.
Huge news came out of the Facebook universe today with little to no warning: Facebook has launched its own camera app. Seemingly out of nowhere, the social networking giant has launched its own "Facebook Camera" camera app that, of course, connects directly to your Facebook account, making it that much easier to take, upload, tag, and comment on your photos.
4K video is the realm of high end cinematography gear right? Maybe not. Two new 16MP sensors announced yesterday by OmniVision may be bringing smooth 4K video technology to everything from compacts to smartphones. The sensors, which are the tiny 1/2.3-inch format, can record 4K (3840 x 2160) video at 60fps, or even higher resolution (4608 x 3456) at 30fps.
Nokia made quite a splash earlier this year by unveiling the PureView 808 -- a smartphone with a large 41-megapixel sensor and a high quality Carl Zeiss lens. The 8-minute behind-the-scenes video above -- filmed entirely with the phone, by the way -- is the story of how this device was born, starting from a napkin sketch in a Tokyo bar. Nokia is currently the world's largest manufacturer of cameras, and devoted 400 employees toward the creation of the PureView 808.
Slow-motion video is usually the territory of expensive equipment like the Miro M120. Alternatively, if you're not looking to shoot professionally, you can always take the video you capture on your phone or regular camera and slow it down, but the results are usually choppy and (sadly) nothing you'd want to broadcast on YouTube. Fortunately, there is another way; iPhone videographers who own the 4S now have a free, fun alternative in a new app called SloPro.
Shoebox is an app by 1000 Memories that lets you turn your iOS or Android smartphone into a scanner for digitizing old paper photos (the photos don't have to be old, of course). The app goes far beyond manual snapping and cropping: it uses edge detection to help you crop, color balance to compensate for lighting, and auto-flattens the resulting image to adjust for your camera's tilt. You can download it for free through the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
The future of consumer photography could very well be with new sensors, or more compact interchangeable lens cameras, or 41-megapixel smartphones; but why not cameras that are wirelessly tethered together? Thats what SynchroCam can do, and for a free app it's pretty cool.
Some time ago Sony announced a new series of "stacked" CMOS sensors that would bring a new level of quality to smartphone cameras. And now, several months later, rumors are floating about that Sony's new LT29i smartphone -- codenamed the Hayabusa -- will be packing a 13-megapixel version of the new tech.
There are a number of products out there that make child photography more child friendly by distracting the kid with colorful or disorienting objects. The newest member in this space is iCandy, a DSLR mount that turns your smartphone into a tool that makes your camera more appealing to youngins. For the low price of $99 (yup, it's kinda pricey), you can elicit smiles and other expressions by displaying photos and videos on your phone as you snap away at infant faces. The creator is currently …
Here's a brief glimpse showing Nikon's new $59 WU-1a wireless adapter in action, being used to control a D3200 DSLR (the only camera supported at the moment) using an Android (the only mobile OS supported) smartphone. The video is in Chinese since it was created by Taiwanese website Mobile01, but it clearly shows the two main features of the adapter: transferring photos from cameras to phones and shooting remotely using the phone as a live view.
If you've ever found yourself wishing you could take an iPhone picture of the night sky -- or a cool slide under the microscope for that matter -- than your wish could soon become a reality. The startup Arcturus Labs are in the process of funding a new product called Magnifi, an iPhone case/adapter that allows you to attach your phone to a microscope, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical instrument.
About a week ago rumors of an iPhone app that could shoot in RAW format raged across the Internet. The app in question, the 645 PRO by developer Jag.gr, was to be the first camera app for the iPhone to achieve this feat. And although by all accounts the app is a very impressive and useful app, it turns out that shooting in true RAW isn't among its features.
Want to attach your smartphone to your tripod without buying a special mount? Two large binder clips can do the trick. Simply attach the clips to your tripod and then use the handles to cradle your phone. playstationfive has uploaded a step-by-step tutorial over on Imgur.
To promote its new One X phone (and the camera on it), HTC came up with the bizarre idea of doing a skydiving fashion shoot with photography student Nick Jojola and model (and professional skydiver) Roberta Mancino. During the photoshoot above the Arizona desert, Jojola plummeted to Earth at 126MPH while Mancino whizzed by at 181MPH, giving the photographer a tiny window of 0.8 seconds to squeeze off the shot.
It's been a long time coming, but today the popular photo snapping and sharing app Instagram finally launched for Android phones. While it offers the same filters as its iOS counterpart, the new app has a look and feel that's geared towards Android's interface. Some features are absent from the initial release (e.g. tilt shift, blur, live preview), but upcoming updates will bridge the gaps. The app is available as a free download from Google Play.
Etsy seller Roberto Altieri creates unique iPhone/iPod charging docks out of old -- and hopefully defunct -- Pentax and Minolta SLR cameras from the 1960s and 1970s.
Rock Photographer is a new iPhone game that can be described as a mix between "Guitar Hero for photography" and "Pokemon Snap for adults".
Can't wait to use Instagram on your Android smartphone? The company has put up a new "coming soon" page for the impending Android app launch, and submitting your email address will provide you with a notification the moment the app becomes available to the public.
Framed is a beautiful and creative short film about a photographer taking pictures in the woods when he encounters something unexpected. French filmmaker Mael Sevestre filmed the entire thing using an iPhone 4S and built a custom rig for recording footage through the old twin lens reflex camera seen in the film.
Trigger Happy is a new product that lets you use your iOS or Android smartphone as a fancy camera remote. It consists of an app and a one-meter-long cable that goes from your phone's audio jack to your camera. Besides acting as a simple remote shutter release for shake-free shots, the app offers bulb functionality for timing long exposures, an intervalometer for timelapse photography, HDR mode, and bramping. They're also working on lightning detection, audio waveform detection, face detection, …
Wolfram Alpha has added a new in-app purchase option to its knowledge engine app that brings advanced image analysis and manipulation to iOS devices. The $0.99 add-on allows users to use photos taken on the fly or from their Camera Roll as input. They can then use the app to do things such as analysis, sharpening, edge detection, and apply various effects. You can find a list of available commands here.
Back in January, Polaroid unveiled its SC1630 Smart Camera that's powered with Google's Android operating system. Now, more manufacturers may be gearing up to have the popular smartphone OS built into their cameras: Samsung and Panasonic are both reportedly exploring this idea. Regarding what this means for consumers, Engadget writes, …
Here's a super cool trick: instead of buying a special macro lens for your smart phone, simply use a drop of water! Carefully place a drop of water over your lens, carefully invert the phone, and voila -- instant macro shots with the cheapest lens you'll ever own. Alex Wild over at Scientific American has more details on the technique and some great sample shots taken with it.
If you're an Android user patiently waiting for Instagram to arrive on your phone, your wait may soon be over. Instagram founder Kevin Systrom showed off the company's upcoming Android version at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas this past weekend. The app is currently in private beta, and is set to be released soon. TechCrunch's Kim-Mai Cutler writes, …
When commercial sports photographer Nick Laham arrived at photo day during the New York Yankees' spring training last Monday, he had to compete with a legion of photographers for space and time. He ended up occupying one of the bathrooms in the facility, turning it into a makeshift studio.
Want to upgrade the camera on your iPhone for free? SmugMug has launched a new iOS camera app called Camera Awesome that puts a number of fancy features at your fingertips, including separate focus and exposure selection tools, a one-touch "Awesomeize" button, fancy guide lines (e.g. horizon, rule of thirds, golden rule), and effects (textures, filters, and frames).
The private photographs on your phone might not be as private as you think. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that iOS has a loophole that allows third-party apps who have access to location information to also access (and copy) your entire photo library without any further notification or warning. A couple days later, Android was also found to have a loophole that's even worse -- any app that can access the Internet can copy photos to a remote server! Both companies have …
When Los Angeles resident Hector Siliezar visited the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza with his family in 2009, he used his iPhone to snap some photos of a pyramid called El Castillo. After snagging a lightning strike in the third shot, Siliezar was surprised to see that he had also captured what appeared to be a beam of light shooting up from the pyramid towards the heavens. Jonathon Hill, a researcher who works with NASA's mars imagery, tells MSNBC that it's probably the result of an iPhone …
After announcing its impending arrival last year, Adobe today officially launched Photoshop Touch for the iPad and Android-powered tablets. The app offers many of Photoshop's core tools: …
Here's some good news for all you iPhoneographers out there: Apple's upcoming iOS 5.1 update -- the rumored release date is March 9th -- will feature a new unlock screen that's designed to make accessing your iPhone (or iPod) camera as easy as unlocking your phone. They've decided to include a new fixed camera slider button next to the unlock slider -- simply slide this icon up to reveal the camera! Currently, the fastest way to access the camera is to double-tap the home button and then click …
Back in 2010, we shared that Facebook had a zombie photo problem: a test photo that we deleted from the service in October was still accessible for four or five months. Ars Technica has been following up on the issue, and reports that a fix is on the horizon: …
A funny photography-related remix of a well-known Dueling Analogs comic.
Here's a short and sweet video in which Chicago-based food photographer Stephen Hamilton shares some tips on how to take photographs of food using your smartphone. One tip is to use a white napkin as a makeshift reflector to fill in some of the shadows in the shot.
Photographer and developer Ben Syverson has created an iPhone camera app called Mattebox that mimics the Konica Hexar, a luxury point-and-shoot from 1993 that was powerful enough for professionals but simple and intuitive enough for beginners. It's one of the most beautifully designed camera apps we've seen yet, and comes with a number of fancy features baked into it (e.g. dual stage shutter release, highlight recovery, advanced B&W conversion). The app costs $4 over in the iTunes App Store.
Yesterday we wrote that Steve Jobs had been interested in Lytro's novel camera technology during the final years of his life.
In November of last year, Steve Jobs' official biographer Walter Isaacson revealed that Jobs had wanted to reinvent three things: television, textbooks, and photography. Last week Apple announced that it was reinventing textbooks with iBooks 2, which is intended to start a digital textbook revolution. The company is also rumored to be working on a Siri-enabled TV. Now, hints about what Steve Jobs wanted to do with photography are starting to emerge, and the murmuring is centered around one …
Smartphones are constantly getting better at imitating compact cameras, but so far we haven't seen many cameras that attempt to mimic smartphones. That changes today with the Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera, a 16-megapixel compact camera unveiled at CES. It's a point-and-shoot camera that's pretty much a smartphone without the phone. Powered by Android, the camera features a 3x (36-108mmm) optical zoom lens, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, 720p video recording, and geotagging. The …
If you thought our Leica iPhone skins are geeky, check out this new case made by the Japanese brand Gizmon. It gives your iPhone a fake rangefinder-style body that isn't entirely useless: the case's shutter button actually takes pictures and the optical viewfinder can be used to compose shots. Additional features include a lens mount, a tripod socket, and camera strap holes.
Want to travel the world through photographs? Wander is a new free app that can help you do that. It connects you with strangers around the world through photo-based conversation threads. Create a profile, and the app will suggest guides for you. Once you've established a connection with a "photo penpal", you share lives for a week through photo-based missions, allowing you to glimpse into what life is like for a person. Once the week is over, you're given a new guide to provide you with a …
Instagram is holding onto its place as the darling of the mobile photo sharing world. After adding a whopping two million new users in a month thanks to Thanksgiving and the release of the iPhone 4S, the app now has a shiny new trophy for its shelf: it has been selected as Apple's "iPhone App of the Year". The future is looking extremely bright for the 13-month-old, 7-man company: Goldman Sachs recently designated it as a potential IPO candidate and founder Kevin Systrom expects the membership …
With the introduction of iOS 5, Apple finally turned the iPhone's volume up button into a shutter button and its headphones into remote shutter releases. However, did you know that many Bluetooth headsets can now be used as wireless shutter releases? As long as your device can wirelessly increase the iPhone's volume (and not just its own) it should work. This means that even Bluetooth keyboards can be used as wireless remotes! …
Want a super simple macro lens for your phone without shelling out big bucks? You can use 3D printing to assemble your own! Shapeways user Lens42 has created a 3D model for a slide-on iPhone lens -- all you need to do is have the 3D model printed for $11 and to attach a $4 glass lens from Surplus Shed (part number L4471) using some superglue. If you have something other than an iPhone but know your way around 3D modeling programs, you make some measurements yourself and have a custom 3D model …
Apparently Annie Leibovitz is a proponent of the idea that the best camera is the one you have with you. When asked by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams about her camera recommendation to friends, the famed portrait photographer made a surprising pick: the iPhone.
Holga is selling an iPhone Lens Filter Kit that packs 9 separate "retro" filters into a single accessory using a rotary dial. While the design itself is pretty clever, the resulting photographs are a bit... strange. They sell for $25 over in the Holga store.
Dissatisfied with the disconnect between his giant photo collection on the Internet and his bare walls at home, architect and photo-enthusiast Steven Johnson set out to create a picture frame that would let him show off his photostream in real life. The result was Thumbtiles -- frameless frames designed for easy photo swapping rather than permanence. The 7-inch square frames are dead simple: each one is simply four removable wall dots and a transparent sheet that attaches to the dots using …
A couple days ago it was discovered that iPhones, iPods, and iPads running iOS 5 have a secret panorama mode that's hidden in the operating system. The feature can be enabled, but featured either a jailbroken device or knowledge in how to edit a particular iOS 5 preference file. Luckily for non-hackers, Redmond Pie has discovered an easy way to do this by taking advantage of iTune's backup feature. This tutorial will teach you how to get the panorama feature unlocked in 5-10 minutes.
Here's a comic strip titled "Photography Job Interview" by Endless Origami.
Developer Conrad Kramer was poking around in iOS 5 when he stumbled upon a hidden panorama feature built into the operating system. It allows you to create panoramic photos by simply sweeping your camera across a scene. If you're familiar with iOS, unlocking the feature involves changing a single line in a preference file (set EnableFirebreak to "YES" in com.apple.mobileslideshow.plist). People with jailbroken iPhones and iPods can also download the new Firebreak app in Cydia.
Regulatory paperwork published by the FCC recently has revealed details about an upcoming Belkin-made remote shutter release for the iPhone. In addition to allowing iPhoneographers to take pictures (or video) from a distance, the Bluetooth device also houses a detachable stand for propping your phone upright. No word yet on pricing or availability.
