If you’ve got a shoebox or album full of old photos that you want to digitize, but for some reason don’t want to go to the scanner route, the VuPoint Digital Photo Converter provides a somewhat easier solution. You just place your photograph on one of the included trays (they come in various sizes for photos up to 5×7) and then slide it into the converter. Instead of a moving scanning head, the VuPoint uses a 5 megapixel digital camera that allows for up to 1,800 dpi and 10 bit color. While the converter can automatically deal with exposure and color balance, it does come with additional software (XP & Vista only) for more advanced tweaks or cropping and resizing. At $149.98 from Taylor Gifts it’s a bit more expensive than the cheapest scanners on the market, but I guess they’re mostly selling ‘ease-of-use’ with this thing.
While National Geographic can easily be considered the place to go if you’re looking for photos of life on Earth, if you’re interested in what’s happening away from our planet you’ll have to turn to NASA. And thanks to a partnership with the non-profit Internet Archive, accessing NASA’s image and video libraries just got a whole lot easier. The NASA Images website went live this past week, and features 21 NASA image collections merged into a massive and easily searchable online resource.
Over the next 5 years the partnership will see millions of photos and thousands of hours of video added to the site including imagery from the Apollo missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and experimental aircraft and spacecraft spanning NASA’s history. Unfortunately while the site appears to be getting hit pretty hard at the moment (in other words it’s almost unusably slow) it does appear to be well laid out and will most likely end up occupying a good chunk of my weekend.
Have you ever been browsing Flickr and thought that some of the pictures are just incredible? It’s true that there are a lot of great pieces up on there, which have been taken by amateur photographers. It seems that Getty Images has taken notice, and wants to pay some of those people for their excellent works.
Getty has entered into a partnership with Flickr to comb their database of images in search for pieces to license. The photographers would then be asked to participate in their program, which would compensate them (the same rates as Getty pays contracted photographers) for using their images. They would take the necessary steps to make sure the images are released and licensed legally.
I think this is a great idea for the amateur photographer that might want their work a little more recognized. Sure, if Getty purchases a pic from you, you aren’t technically amateur anymore, but you also don’t need a fancy studio or business to get your work purchased.
This morning Nikon officially announced their D700 digital SLR, which you can basically think of as a D3 that’s been crammed into the considerably more compact body of a D300. While that makes the D700 the company’s first compact professional DSLR, there are some trade-offs when you compare it to the D3. While it has the same 12.1 megapixel full frame FX sensor and image processing engine as its bigger brother, it does use a different viewfinder prism that only gives you about 95% coverage. It also has a different shutter that’s only good for 150,000 exposures compared to the D3’s 300,000, and a smaller battery. It’s also lacking an LCD info panel on the back and only features a single compact flash card slot. But on the other hand it does include a built-in pop-up flash, and even a self-cleaning sensor.
The D700 should be available sometime in late July which is of course perfectly timed to get it in the hands of the thousands of photographers who’ll be attending the Olympic games in August. It has an estimated price of $2,999.95 but that’s just for the body. If you decide this is your first SLR camera you’ll need to get yourself a lens as well. And for a full break down of all the D700’s features and specs I suggest checking out the official press release on Nikon’s website.
I love my Nikon D70 as much as I did when I first took it out of the box the day it was released. But I have to admit that over the years I’ve become jealous of more recent Nikon DSLR models which feature considerably larger LCD displays. Rumors about the new D700 have got me itching to upgrade, but that’s unfortunately an expensive solution to the problem. If you’re in the same boat but can wait until tomorrow, Uniden will be releasing the UNX-8507 which is basically a 3X magnifying glass you can place over your camera’s LCD display allowing you to get a closer look at the image you just snapped.
The magnifier features a rubber housing which allows it to be placed over the LCD on the back of any digital camera (be it an SLR or a P&S) and also ensures it’s not going to scratch your display. While I don’t necessarily recommend relying on just the LCD preview to proof your shots (a DSLR can provide far more valuable image data with histograms and such) it could be particularly handy for those with poor vision. And like I already mentioned, it should be available tomorrow for about $47.
If you’re shooting in a studio or somewhere with a large external flash, it’s pretty much a given that a wireless triggering system will make your life a whole lot easier. At work we use a PocketWizard setup which consists of a large transmitter attached to the hot shoe of our camera, and a receiver connected to the flash itself. It works great, but the transmitter and receiver will run you about $400, which isn’t so great if you’re just a hobbyist. However, the CyberSync from a company called AlienBees promises to provide the exact same wireless functionality, but in a smaller package and with a price tag of about $130.
Like with the PocketWizard, the CyberSync has a dedicated transmitter which connects to the hot shoe on your camera, as well as a wireless receiver for the flash. You have your choice of sixteen different frequencies within the 2.4GHz band so you can avoid interference from other photographers, and the system has a usable range of up to 400 feet, barring any obstructions like walls etc. I also like the fact that the CyberSync transmitter uses a single cell battery instead of 2 AAs like the PocketWizard, which tends to make the camera I use a bit top heavy when it’s attached.
The CyberSync transmitter is available from AlienBees for just $59.95, while the receiver is $10 more at $69.95, and comes in either AC or battery powered versions.
Most of the time, flash totally blows. Even if you’ve got an expensive off-camera flash system, there’s just no way to get high-powered directed fake lighting to look anywhere near as good as natural ambient lighting. Presslite’s VerteX “light modifier” attaches to the head of your off-camera flash, and features two twisty surfaces that you can flip around (with one hand) to redirect some or all of your flash. One side of the panels has a specular surface for direct light, and the other side has a diffuser surface. Combine the surfaces and the twistyness to bounce your flash where you want it to get your ideal lighting. Looks like fun, and it’s only 35 bucks for a limited time.
At one point panoramic photos and interactive viewers like Quicktime VR were pretty popular online, but over the years they’ve kind of disappeared like so many other internet fads. However that doesn’t mean you still can’t take the occasional panoramic photo. In fact a lot of point and shoot digital cameras actually include the functionality to make shooting and stitching together a series of photos really easy. But what if your particular model doesn’t? The Panamatic is designed to mount on any standard tripod and ensures that each photo you take is properly lined up with the next.
Once it’s attached to your tripod and you’ve ensured it’s level with the built-in bubble center, you simply index the ratcheted wheel (which your camera is attached to) one click at a time around its own axis. A full rotation equals 12 photos which you can easily stitch together with any piece of software designed for that purpose. And if you’re shooting skyscrapers or other tall objects, the Panamatic can also be mounted in a vertical position but you’ll need to buy a third-party angled mounting bracket for your tripod. (It’s not included.)
The Panamatic seems to be exclusively available from Lenspen.com for $24.95.
If you’re a cellphone nut who demands all the latest features and advancements in their handset, you’re probably going to pass on the LG Secret. But if you’re a photographer or amateur videographer, the Secret might have one feature that would be hard to pass up. The 5 megapixel camera can record video directly to the Divx format at speeds of up to 120 frames per second. So it’s the perfect phone if you’re walking home and happen to encounter a Michael Bay-esque action sequence or giant tanker truck explosion.
Other features of the LG secret include a carbon fiber case which is not only strong, but also looks really cool. 100MB of internal memory that can be expanded with a microSD card, Bluetooth, a sliding keypad, FM radio, support for Microsoft Office documents and a Google package for surfing the web, accessing Gmail or watching YouTube videos. It will be available in May starting with a European launch, followed by Asia, South America and then the rest of the world.
I always get a kick out of things are shouldn’t be fuzzy, but are. The Moss Colorsplash FurCam is a 35mm film camera covered in a generous amount of real fur from fake rabbits, and it has a few features that make it a little better than your average 35mm point ‘n shoot. It’s got a bulb mode, which keeps the shutter open as long as you hold the trigger down (great for night shots), and a lomo flash: twist the end of the flash to select different color gel filters, creating some cool effects. Plus, with the included vinyl cover on, it kinda looks like a fluffy little dog dressed up in a bondage costume:
Can you seriously think of anything that couldn’t be vastly improved with a covering of faux rabbit fur? I can’t, and you can enjoy snuggling this camera for $80.
Related Tags: Digital-Photo-storage, Photography
Permalink | 
No Comments
