Digital may have killed the instant camera, but don’t count Polaroid out of the game just yet — as the dirt’s being packed over their legendary instant film, the company’s rolling out a new twist with the Polaroid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer. Able to connect to both your phone and digital camera (via Bluetooth and USB, respectively), the pocket-sized printer whips out borderless stick-back 2×3″ prints in 60 seconds that are smudge-proof, water and tear resistant. Which reads a little ho-hum til you get to the interesting part: there’s no ink cartridge involved. The magic in the box? ZINK technology — which stands for Zero Ink — breaks through the ink barrier with 100 patents to deliver a special printing paper, an advanced composite material with 100 billion embedded cyan, magenta an yellow dye crystals that are activated via heat pulses to deliver the final printed picture. Talk about bonkers.
No word on pricing (their online shop hasn’t even got the product listed yet), but keep your eyes peeled for this one.
(Skip to the end for photos taken with this camera.) Don’t judge a camera by it’s LCD screen — this may be the biggest lesson we learned with the Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd. While using the camera and adjusting the color and available manual settings, we were sure that every picture was going to come out blurry and with an overly blue hue given what was being displayed by the preview LCD screen; changing from one pre-set camera mode to another seemed to barely alter the color composition of the image in the viewfinder, but after downloading batches to the computer we found a completely different set of pictures than what had been displayed on the camera. Why would there be a color disconnect between the LCD and actual picture? Can’t be sure, but in trying to correct the apparent blue overtones we managed to do some real overcompensating; nothing that a round in Photoshop couldn’t fix, but it’s an extra step you might rather do without.
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Hats off to whoever put mental muscle into this one — made of high quality silicon rubber, Camera Armor is custom-fit to wrap around your most-loved (and expensive) digital SLR camera to protect against knocks, bangs and drops, the kind of “oops” moments that can eventually take your camera out of commission. The Armor is specifically designed for each camera model for a perfect fit (currently available for popular Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Fuji and Sony models) and includes a clear polycarbonate LCD shield for screen viewing. The kit also includes Lens Armor that serves as a lens hood to help minimize those awful scratches that become more difficult to buff out over time. Guaranteed for life, Camera Armor is great for outdoor use, working with multiple cameras, or other activities where full-time protection is required without a lot of additional bulk or weight. Available from Omega Satter, pricing from $39-$89 (depending on product and model type).
It’s not a rumor anymore. Due to deliver to market on September 20th, Amazon’s gone live with their shopping cart for the much anticipated Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP SLR Camera making it available for pre-order at the jawdropping price of $1299.99. Will it be worth it? You bet.
No new/official pictures are available yet, but the spec list speaks volumes. First up on the good news block, the EOS 40D Digital SLR’s 10.1-megapixel CMOS APS-C size image sensor has been significantly improved thanks to the use of larger microlenses over each pixel to reduce noise and expand sensitivity up to ISO 3200. The next generation EOS delivers a 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor that captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints, a large 3.0-inch LCD display with enhanced Live View and broadened color gamut, 6.5 frame-per-second continuous shooting capability (for bursts of up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images), sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system; integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit, powered by BP-511A, BP-511, or BP-512 lithium-ion battery pack with images stored on CF cards. And if you’re a rugged photographer, all the better — Canon design engineers made the EOS 40D SLR’s magnesium alloy exterior even more ruggedly dependable than its predecessors with upgraded dust and weather-resistant construction, particularly around the camera’s connection ports, battery compartment, and single-slot CF memory card door. If you accidentally open the compact flash card door while the camera is writing to the card, a warning will pop up on the LCD screen and an open door “alarm” will sound, but the image(s) will continue writing to the memory card without interruption.
Check out the full spec list on Amazon for more fantastic features — look out, shutterbugs, there’s a great new toy on the market.
Did you manage to catch the Perseid meteor shower this past Monday? I mean, REALLY catch it? Imagine being able to take incredibly zoomed photos — or even videos — of your favorite celestial events. Ok, now imagine that there’s already a product out there that won’t cost you an arm and a leg and we’ll tell you about the Telescope with Video Capture available at Gadget Universe.
For about the same price as you’d pay for a mid-range digital camera these days, you can pick up a professional digital camera with a built in telescope that lets you zoom between 15x and 45x with a full 60mm of light capture. And while this is great for star catching, the applications are limitless — take it to the game to pick easy photos of the goal line from 100 yards away, use it on hiking trips to capture wildlife without needing to get close enough that you disturb the area, or set up for beautifully zoomed landscape shots. If your digital zoom lens is a big disappointment, the Video Capture Telescope with a built-in 3.1 megapixel camera is ready to tackle your long shots.
The camera, able to record stills and video images, comes with an SD memory card slot and stores images in JPG format for easy sharing. Powered by 4 AA batteries, the unit will auto-power off after 17 minutes of inactivity to preserve your Energizer bunny, and arrives at your doorstep packaged with a tripod for easy stabilization. For $499.95, this may be the camera you’ve been waiting for to capture those faraway pictures.
Meet the little camera with a big zoom. We’ve had the chance to play with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 this month and had fun putting it to the test around town (photo slideshow below). With 12x optical zoom, this 7.2 megapixel camera is still compact enough to tuck neatly into your bag and hit the road, and the preset shooting modes are so easy your grandmother could figure it out without losing the curl in her hair. The intelligent ISO control automatically raises the ISO and shutter settings with moving subjects for clearer motion shots, and the thumb-controlled joystick on the face panel lets you adjust the exposure and focus (with clear icons on the 2.5″ 207,000 pixel LCD display) when you’re using the manual setting mode. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you frustrated when downloading all of your photos only to find half of them too blurry to proudly display, or fed up with precariously balancing your camera on rocks and odd perches to capture yourself in the outdoors? We’ve got you covered — this weekend Gadizmo had the chance to test drive the Monsterpod, a go-anywhere tripod that’ll glom on to just about anything to get you the perfect shot. The Monsterpod is a hand-sized neon orange disc with a swivel attachment that easily screws into you camera’s base and mounts anywhere with a gooey viscoelastic polymer-based bottom. Seriously, anywhere: walls, trees, marble, cement, steel, sheet rock, fences, poles, windows, cars… anything you can think of, really.
I’ll be honest, my achilles heel with photography is a persistently unsteady hand; last night I put the Monsterpod up to a real test and, using nothing but the standard night shot feature on the camera, tried it out under a moon-free sky. First I took shots holding as steadily as I could, and then another round with the camera mounted on the Monsterpod at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I rode home a little skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised to find a much clearer set of images delivered by the Monsterpod. I did, however, have some problems unsticking it from the rough rock wall and left a faint ring of orange goo behind, but this may have been a matter of pressing too firmly on the base, or not waiting long enough to remove it (the packaging indicates that the Monsterpod will hold its position from 1-10 minutes and support cameras up to 20 ounces, and it peeled perfectly off of the walls and windows). But even when not using the sticky base, it was helpful to have a flat, steady surface for added stability without carrying around a clumsy tripod stand.
The Out-of-This-World Monsterpod sells for $30 online and comes with 100% satisfaction guarantee — what’ve you got to lose?
It’s nearly summer, months chock full of weekend trips to the beach and poolside fun — why not take a waterproof camera along? Let’s face it, wrapping your Cybershot in a sandwich bag just doesn’t cut it (and take it from me, manufacturers don’t accept returns because you were a dope and thought “it’s not that wet out”). Past cameras touting waterproof functionality have often been clunky and out-of-this-world expensive; the Terrestrial and Aquatic Digital Camera is an affordable investment at $149.95
This 5MP digi cam comes with its own 100% waterproof transparent case for taking pictures underwater or out in the pouring rain, and slides out of its protective case in clear conditions for slimmer use. Waterproof up to 50 feet, the rubber gasket sealed case allows you to control the camera through molded rubber buttons aligned with the camera buttons, including a built in flash and 4x zoom lens, and preview/review your shots on a 2″ LCD screen. The camera comes with 16MB of built in memory but can be expanded with the use of SD cards from your other cameras. When you’re ready to share your shots, the USB port connects directly to your computer for download, or via the AV port to your TV for quick sharing. Pocket friendly at 7 1/4″ x 4 1/2″, pick up one for yourself (or Dad!) at Hammacher Schlemmer.
