If there were ever a perfect camera accessory for all our self-portrait-
crazed Fotolog fanatics, this is it: the Quik Pod® extendable handheld tripod. No more outstretched arms and skewed compositions (although for some I know that’s a crucial aesthetic choice). Just screw your cam onto the standard tripod mount, extend the shatter-resistant polycarbonate and aluminum shaft, activate your self-timer, and smile!
From vale__vedder
From tabarruk
There’s even a small mirror that lines up right under the lens, so you can make sure you, and all your friends, are in the shot. Of course it works for more than just portraits—at a full 18.5″ it’s long enough and sturdy enough to offer great still or video views over crowds at concerts, sports events, parades, etc. And at just 3.5 ounces, it’s lighter than some cellphones—totally worth carrying around everywhere. Happy snapping!
From deeiiviid__vlc
From kah5
Now this looks hot. Japan’s Komomura Corp. has released a new version of its digital tribute to the legendary twin-lens Rolleiflex 6×6, first introduced in 1929. The MiniDigi AF is 5 MP (although it’s interpolated from a 3 MP sensor), and produces images in the classic Rollei square format. You flip up the hood atop the camera and look down to compose a scene, on the tiny but clear 1.1 TFT screen.
While most of the handsome chrome-and-aluminum styling is not functional, you actually do have to wind the crank a full turn to prepare the camera’s next shot! While there are no scene modes and no flash, and the shutter lag is a drag, the experts at popphoto.com nevertheless admire the nostalgia factor: “Think of it as the ultimate photographic conversation piece: something to bust out at the family reunion, camera club social, or anywhere old-time photographers are likely to gather and talk shop. It is cute, it is cool, and it can actually grab a few photons for good measure.” At $399, it’s a pricey guilty pleasure, but a welcome antidote to our current regime of point-and-shoot conformity.
Well it sure looks like the semi-annual Sorry, Your Camera is Obsolete! Season is upon us. Buckets of new Nikon, Canon, and Fuji digital point-and-shoots and SLRs are being announced this week, in advance of their actual unveilings, at the industry-leading Photo Marketing Association ’07 trade show March 8-11 in Las Vegas. One of the best places to get clear info about new cameras is DP Review. They summarize the model’s new features quickly, highlighting the improvements and design changes that might actually matter, before offering the maker’s press release, and enough pics to get a good sense of things. And of course they do a great job of following up with in-depth previews and then reviews of the most promising releases. DP’s preview of PMA, with info on 81 new products (so far) that have been announced in the past 7 weeks, is here.
The most intriguing looking model unveiled this week is the Canon PowerShot TX1 (pictured above), an Elphish-sized cam that wants to be held vertically, emphasizing its branding as an HDTV (1280×720 pixel, 30 frames per second) movie camera. It’s also got a 10x zoom with optical (not electronic) image stabilization. Yeah, we think we might want to test this kid out. Hello, Canon?
Just in time for Christmas, an exciting and new, totally unique camera design. Made with toys, no less! Unfortunately, it’s one-of-a-kind, and the creator is not taking orders—yet.
Adrian Hanft’s 35mm Lego Camera is a fully-functioning pinhole camera, with an internal shutter and ingenious advance-and-rewind mechanism, made almost entirely with stock Lego parts. (He modified one piece for the rewind knob.)
See his site for some nice explanatory animation, like this shutter view:
There are also pics of an earlier model and a medium-format version here, and a link to instructions on how to make the medium-format model, here.
And for good measure, these Lego cams take great pictures, as seen in Hanft’s gallery.
I hope he starts production by next Christmas.
Minox, the German company famous for its 8×11mm-format spy cam, has recently released the MINOX DC 1011 Carat, a 10-megapixel point-and-shoot plated in 24k gold, with 10 tiny diamonds surrounding the lens. Retail? About $1,600. Say Bling!
Well the rumors were true: Nikon has just announced the new D40, its entry-level 6.1-megapixel DSLR which it says is the company’s “lightest, most compact and easiest to use digital SLR ever.” At a list price of $599, which includes an 18-55mm Nikkor autofocus lens, it’s also the cheapest. (But even with the lens, I’m not sure that’ll be low enough to really catch on with the masses.)
Check out the in-depth preview of the D40 at dpreview.
Via Engadget, images of a possible new budget-minded Nikon digital SLR were discovered a few days ago on a German merchandiser’s Web site, but they were quickly taken down. Is this for real? No one knows yet. But pushing the DSLR market down below $500—if this camera is real, and if that is the plan—may not be a terrible strategy. While it could easily cannibalize sales of the solid and very pro-minded D50, it could make up for that in laying the foundation for a brand-new category: entry-level DSLR. We’ll see.
