News entries for December, 2013

 

 

Right as the weekend arrives -- and in the US, the post-Thanksgiving shopping weekend continues -- we've got our regular Firmware Friday roundup for you. This week has been particularly active on the firmware front: We have news from Blackmagic, Canon, Fujifilm, Olympus, and Ricoh for you.

We'll get the...

 

 

Fujifilm announces upcoming firmware updates for several of its X-system cameras. A new firmware version for the X-Pro1 flagship model will be released on December 5th, with firmware updates for the X-E1, X-E2 and X100S models coming on December 19th. Fujifilm promises new functionality that has been added based on...

 

 

For many photographers, the words "Made in Japan" on a lens have almost religious significance. With the move by many camera manufacturers to manufacture their products outside of Japan where labor is less expensive, those three magic words are harder and harder to find. There's a relative newcomer in the...

 

 

Think of Hong Kong, and the picture in most people's minds is probably of the city itself: built-up, densely populated, teeming with life, activity and neon signs. There's another side to Hong Kong, though, one most tourists don't get to see. Almost three quarters of Hong Kong's land is made up of remote...

 

 

The Red Epic Dragon is the current king of Red's lineup of impressive cinema devices. Capable of delivering 6K video, it's already wowed us with its impressive dynamic range. But to really put it through its paces (and try out a high-end gimbal), Luke Neumann, Doug Holgate, and Nathan Garofalos stuck the Red Dragon...

 

 

A new breakthrough in imaging technology from MIT could allow for more accurate 3D tracking and sensing, and tackle the thorny problem of how to detect transparent objects — all with a camera that costs just $500. This "nanocamera" was debuted at Siggraph Asia, and represents a major breakthrough in 3D sensing.

 

 

Why settle for Instagramming your food, when you can also food your Instagram? In a move that puts a new spin on the term "food photography", UK startup Boomf will print your Instagrams on marshmallows.

Currently in the UK only, £12 (around $20) will get you a box of nine marshmallows, each printed with an...

 

 

Photographer Laya Gerlock has proven that you don't need a high-end lighting rig to take excellent product photos. In fact, he manages to take professional looking photos using just an iPad and an iPhone as light sources — by using them for light paintings.

As demoed in the video below (and furthered at DIY...

 

 

Nikon made a splash last month when it announced the Nikon DF, a full-frame DSLR whose design takes you back in time to the film days, merging the control-rich aesthetic of F-series film cameras with modern digital design. We're happy to report we've got an early production unit in the IR Lab, and we've posted...

 

 

It's that time of year again, Black Friday. As we head into the biggest shopping day of the year, we've put together a running tally of the week's best camera and photo gear deals -- adding new ones as we find them and removing those that expire. We've also put together a list of pre-announced in-store...

 

 

Tokina USA has today announced that its AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 type-II wide angle zoom lens for cameras with an APS-C sensor will soon be available in A-mount for Sony Alpha DSLRs. Announced recently in Japan, where it has already been available for a week, the...

 

 

What would you do with 500 table tennis balls, a blacklight, and a photo location with an incline in it? If you're photographer Marcus Schindler from Germany, what you'd do is to use the ping pong balls both as a long-exposure subject and light source, casting an eerie light-painted glow under the...

 

 

We've seen more than a few iOS camera apps over the years, but this one has to rank as among the most unusual. Created by Junsik Kang of Seoul, Korea-based software developer J2WORK, the 'I PIXEL U' app does pretty much what it says on the label. Take a photo or grab one from your gallery, and I PIXEL U will...

Not long a go a short snippet of code was discovered that gave away that Google was working on implementing RAW file capability into its Android mobile operating system -- we reported back then. In an interview with CNet that was published yesterday, Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano has now confirmed that Google is indeed working on implementing such functionality into...

 

 

The world of high-end cameras just got a little smaller, with Leica purchasing large format camera makers Sinar. Details are still a little sketchy, but it appears that neither company is willing to discuss the terms of the deal, or what it will mean for either brand.

While we haven't seen a press release in...

 

 

Cloud Pink is an innovative installation by Korean artists Everyware, and it allows you to do something that anyone lying on a grass field on a sunny day has always wanted to — touch the clouds and the sky. By combining a soft screen and interactive software, every touch of the surface sends clouds billowing and...

 

 

Last month, Sony's announcement of the 20.2-megapixel Cyber-shot RX10 bridge camera was met with a mixture of excitement and confusion. Some immediately saw the Sony RX10 for what it was, and were absolutely thrilled. Others were confused by the pricing and design: Weren't the days of thousand-dollar-plus...

 

 

In the past couple of days, some interesting news has come to light that could spell big changes for Apple in terms of interaction and photography — or could end up just being more purchases and patents for the company to add to its arsenal.

Recently, Apple confirmed that it purchased Israeli company PrimeSense,...

 

 

Hot on the heels of the Blackmagic Pocket Camera getting Raw video comes another firmware update — but rather than add functionality, this fixes a niggling bug with motion blur when shooting with 180° shutter.

You can see the before and after in the video below, but the complaints amongst the users was that when...