News

Here’s a Look at Panasonic’s New ‘Post Focus’ Feature in Action

Back in July, Panasonic announced an upcoming feature called "Post Focus" that allows photographers to select their focal point after photos are shot. Instead of using light field technology like Lytro or an array of cameras like Light, Panasonic's feature uses rapid-fire focus bracketing.

Panasonic has begun publishing videos around the world that show how the new feature works.

An Ultimate Photographer’s Handbook, Inspired by a 100-Year-Old Find

In 2013, a century-old notebook was found in the summer belt at Cape Evans, Antarctica. It belonged to George Murray Levick, who photographed Robert Falcon Scott's last expedition to the continent from 1910 to 1913. Restored by the Antarctic Heritage Trust, the notebook was titled "Welcome Photographic Exposure Record and Diary 1910" and contained pages of Levick's notes, including dates, descriptions, and exposure times.

Inspired by this historical photographer's notebook, Galaxy has decided to create the ultimate notebook for analog photographers -- one that's based on some of the great handbooks from decades (or over a century) past.

This Cap Doubles as a Gray Card for Light Metering

Starting in late 2014, COOPH (The Cooperative of Photography) began selling multi-functional clothing items designed with photographers in mind. One of the products is the Gray Chart Cap, a series of caps that have gray undersides that help with light metering.

Reuters Issues a Worldwide Ban on RAW Photos

Reuters has implemented a new worldwide policy for freelance photographers that bans photos that were processed from RAW files. Photographers must now only send photos that were originally saved to their cameras as JPEGs.

LifePrint Prints Augmented Reality Photos That Come to Life in Your Hands

LifePrint is a new portable photo printer that aims to change the way photos are experienced. Instead of printing static photos that capture a single moment in time, LifePrint uses augmented reality to let you embed a video inside a printed photograph. The video can be watched by pointing a smartphone camera at the print.

Bye Bye Gura Gear: Company to Sell All Camera Bags Under the Tamrac Brand

The Tamrac brand of camera bags has been around for nearly 4 decades now, and it looks like it will continue to live on much longer. Gura Gear, on the other hand, ends here.

When Tamrac went bankrupt last year, Gura Gear swooped in and acquired the company's brand and assets. Now, a year later, Gura Gear has decided to drop its own brand name in favor of the older Tamrac brand. Thus, Gura Gear will be no more.

Camera Sales May Be Stabilizing After a Few Years of Freefall

The camera market has been struggling in recent years, with Canon, Nikon, and Sony all recently reporting drops in camera demand from a year ago. But there may be a sliver of positive news for camera makers: sales appear to be stabilizing a bit after a few years of huge drops.

Photographer’s Business Booms After Her Viral Act of Kindness

Selfless acts of kindness are sometimes rewarded in a big way, and that's what photographer Dana Gruszynski has been learning lately.

Last month, we shared how Gruszynski came to the rescue when a wedding photographer didn't show up at a couple's wedding. Gruszynski, who heard about the story from her cousin at the wedding, surprised the couple with a free photo shoot that faithfully recreated the wedding. The story went viral, and now Gruszynski has been overloaded with inquiries.

Someone Crashed Their Camera Drone Into the Giant Ferris Wheel in Seattle

Here's another story that illustrates why the US government is racing to create a national drone registry that attaches each drone to a name: on Wednesday, someone apparently tried to fly their DJI Phantom drone through the Seattle Great Wheel and failed, causing the drone to plummet to the ground and smash a basketball-sized hole in a plastic dining table.

PETA’s Lawsuit Over a Monkey Selfie Copyright is Now Even More Bizarre

In September, the animal rights group PETA filed a lawsuit against photographer David Slater, arguing that the monkey who took a series of viral selfies with Slater's camera in 2011 should be the rightful copyright owner.

If you thought that was strange, get this: the legal battle has now evolved into a dispute over the pictured monkey's identity and gender.

An Open Letter to Performers, Published on Behalf of Thousands of Photographers

Restrictive concert photography contracts have been a big story in the photo world over the past several months. Taylor Swift, the Foo Fighters, Dweezil Zappa, and Janet Jackson have all made headlines for their extremely strict -- and often rights-grabbing -- contracts that photographers and reporters must sign before covering a concert.

Now a number of the media industry's biggest associations and organizations have published an open letter to performers on behalf of thousands of photographers and journalists in the United States.

Use ‘InstaAgent’ for Instagram? It Stole Your Account Password

If you have the app "InstaAgent" on your phone to track the people who visit your Instagram account, you might want to delete it now. The app has been banned by Apple and Google from their app stores after it was discovered that the app steals account passwords and posts ads without permission to people's photo feeds.

Eyefi Acquires OKDOTHIS and Leaps Into the World of Photo Sharing Apps

Eyefi is best known for its Wi-Fi-capable memory cards that allow photos to be beamed to computers and mobile devices directly from cameras. Wi-Fi is appearing as a built-in feature in more and more cameras, though, and Eyefi has been pivoting its business in recent days.

Today the company jumped into the world of mobile apps by announcing that it has acquired OKDOTHIS, the photography inspiration app and community that was created in 2012 by photographer Jeremy Cowart and the Nashville-based app startup Aloompa.

Is Samsung Shuttering its Camera Business?

Rumors have been swirling around in the photo industry the past couple of months about Samsung pulling out of the camera industry. Samsung hasn't announced anything new in recent times, and its camera division has reportedly been bleeding money every year since the NX system was announced in 2010.

This is the Largest Stunt Explosion Caught on Camera

Want to set a new Guinness world record with a stunt explosion in your next photo or video shoot? You're going to have to beat the explosion in the video above.

The new James Bond movie Spectre has been awarded the Guinness World Record for "Largest Film Stunt Explosion." Rather than use CGI for the scene, the team opted for 8,418 liters of fuel and 33 kilograms of explosives.

How Facebook is Stealing Billions of Video Views

In a Nutshell created this 5-minute video that offers a simple explanation of the problem of "freebooting" on Facebook, when copyrighted videos are ripped from other sources (mostly YouTube) and uploaded to the service without permission. The videos then go viral, gaining attention for the uploader and ad views for Facebook, but leaving the original content creator out in the cold.

Mizzou Media Professor Melissa Click is Under Fire for Confronting Photojournalists

Earlier today, we shared a viral video of student photojournalist Tim Tai being confronted by activists while photographing the ongoing University of Missouri protests. One of the main people under fire for their actions in the video is Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media.

Cameraman Mark Schierbecker has just posted a longer version of his video (embedded above) that shows Click's role in the human media blockade more clearly.

Student Photojournalist Has Face-Off with Activists at Mizzou Protests

Ongoing student protests at the University of Missouri over campus race relations have dominated the media over the the past several days. Now a new video showing the group blocking a student photographer is sparking controversy and discussion about press freedom.

The 6.5-minute video above shows student photographer Tim Tai being blocked from a public area of campus on Monday while on assignment for ESPN.

Apple Surprises Photographers with Ultra Fancy ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Photo Books

Earlier this year, Apple launched a global ad campaign called "Shot on iPhone 6" that featured the company's favorite iPhone 6 photos, which were captured by 77 different photographers. The iPhone 6S has since replaced the 6, but Apple hasn't forgotten about how the photographers helped the phone become yet another hit.

The company has begun shipping out fancy cloth-covered coffee table photo books to the photographers as a special "thank you" gift.

Missile Test ‘UFO’ Captured in Photos and Videos

People on the West Coast of the United States were treated to a light show Saturday night after the US Navy quietly launched a test of an unarmed missile. As a bright white light shot across the sky and burned out as a blue haze, panicked people placed 911 calls with theories of giant meteors or aliens in UFOs.

Some people were in the right place at the right time with their cameras and were able to capture remarkable photos, videos, and even time-lapses of the "UFO."

Mary Ellen Mark’s Nikon FM2 is For Sale on eBay

Want to own a camera that once belonged to a photography great? Now's your chance. The estate of the Mary Ellen Mark is currently holding an eBay auction for a Nikon FM2 that was part of the late and great American photographer's collection. Mark passed away back in May at the age of 75.

Thoughts on Drone Registration by an International Press Freedom Coalition

The United States announced last month that it's creating a federal drone registry and will soon require that all drone owners register their devices in order to fly legally. While the move should help reign in the "wild wild west" that is the drone industry today, some are wary that over-regulation could hurt the rights of drone owners -- including the rights of the media to gather news.

In a piece we published back in September, drone owner Pablo Castro argues that his country, Colombia, has implemented "absurd, abusive, illogical laws" that make it virtually impossible for people to use their drones legally.

3RDi is a Camera for the Middle of Your Forehead

Think the Google Glass camera glasses are funny looking? Check out the 3RDi. Pronounced "third eye," it's a new camera that lets you capture your life while you're enjoying the moment by placing a camera smack dab in the center of your forehead, making you look like a camera cyclops.

Moo Business Cards+: Share Your Photos with a Tap

Want a high-tech way to share photos with others? MOO recently launched a new product called Business Cards+ that can help. On the surface, they look just like ordinary business cards that can be printed with personalized designs. However, inside each one is an embedded NFC chip that can trigger actions with a simple tap of an NFC-capable smartphone.

Akiwi is a Semi-Automatic Image Tagging Website

Akiwi is a new website that's designed to help you keyword photographs with minimal effort. It's a semi-automated image tagging system that is easier than manually tagging and more accurate than automatic image recognition.

Yahoo’s Image Search Now Pulls Personalized Results from Flickr

Yahoo is rolling out a revamped image search engine today that now includes photo results from its Flickr service. As long as you're signed in, the personalized Flickr results will include your own collection of Flickr photos, photos from people you follow, and other top public photos on the service.

B&H Photo Warehouse Workers Vote to Unionize

B&H workers have unionized after passing a 200-to-88 vote yesterday to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union. Last month, nearly 200 workers launched a protest and unionization campaign, accusing the photo retail giant of subjecting employees to long hours, unsafe work environments, inadequate training, and discrimination.

UK Prime Minister Mocked for Bad Photoshop Job of Remembrance Poppy

Remembrance Sunday is this week in the UK and the Commonwealth, and public figures are expected to wear remembrance poppies on their clothing to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. Prime Minister David Cameron is finding out the hard way this week that Photoshopping a poppy isn't viewed in the same way as actually wearing one.