Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft may have been playing catchup to the iPod ever since it launched the Zune, but the Zune HD, which today materialized from a rumor to a real product, looks to be a rather nice piece of hardware.

The new player has a 3.3-inch capacitive OLED touch screen at 480 x 272 resolution, which will give some kind of multi-touch functionality and let you watch movies in 16:9 widescreen format. It also has Wi-Fi, an HD radio (what?!) and “HD Video Out”, for which you will require an optional dock (and an optional HDTV). Also, see if any of this sounds familiar:

Enjoy your favorite websites with a full-featured web browser including tap to zoom technology, built-in accelerometer, and touchscreen QWERTY keyboard.

<Cough> Safari <cough>. Will this be a mobile version of Internet Explorer? We hope not. Of course, success will come down to the software, something that the Zune isn’t exactly famed for. There is, though, one real killer app — music streaming over Wi-Fi. The iPod Touch can do this with some third party apps, but it looks like the Zune HD will use the Zune Pass subscription service and let you stream any track you like, direct. It’s a shame there’s not a 3G radio in there, too. Wait… Could this mean there’s a Zune Phone coming?

Product page [Zune.net]

Press release [PR Newswire]

Canon’s 5D MkII is hot, hot, hot in the indie video world. Much cheaper than a similarly specced video camera and able to use pretty much any Canon lens made since the 1980s, it shoots some stunning footage.

The problem has been exposure control, or the lack of it. Up until now, you had to shoot in auto-exposure mode. It was possible to use exposure compensation to tweak the light, or to use exposure lock, but these were clunky workarounds. A new firmware update has been announced which will allow full manual control of the camera while shooting video. Here are the additions:

• Full aperture selection
• ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1
• Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second

Curiously, the update will not be available for download until June 2nd, which makes this perhaps the first time ever that we’ve seen a teaser for a firmware update.

Press release [DP Review]

It’s not every day you see fine jewelry that looks this… blurry. Stolen Jewels are the creation of Mike and Maaike, who did a Google for low-resolution images of various famous, priceless pieces of jewelry — such as a ruby and diamond necklace made by Van Cleef and Arpels for Imelda Marcos — and then made them even lower-res before transferring them to leather. The result is what you see above: stunning, and arguably much, much preferable to their original, heavy counterparts. There’s one more photo after the break — hit the read link for the whole, beautiful line.

[Via Neu Black]

Continue reading Pixel jewels not made of real jewels, still likely unaffordable

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Pixel jewels not made of real jewels, still likely unaffordable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 May 2009 02:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, it’s no autofocus, but Canon’s sent word that a free firmware update is coming for the EOS 5D Mark II that’ll enable manual exposure control while shooting video, including ISO and aperture settings and shutter speed. Excited? Yeah, us too. No word on what else the update might entail, but it looks like we won’t have to wait long either, as the company’s saying to expect the download sometime in early June.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Digital Cameras

New Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware to add manual exposure control for video recording originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 May 2009 23:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I was psyched when Sigma sent me an 18-250mm lens to test, because I am lazy and love the idea of a single lens that I can use to take most shots. At $530, it seemed like a decent price for that much range. But then I got to thinking…

It’s still a good price for all that it does. It’s not a super fast lens—a decent F3.5-6.3—but it has an optical image stabilizer, which does wonders at the outer zoom ranges. The only other 18-250mm I could find any cheaper was this $450 Tamron, but there’s no mention of stabilization. I spent a week or so taking all kinds of pictures—here’s a sampling for you to critique, marvel at or simply disparage.

The trouble comes when you start doing math. If you bought an entry-level DSLR camera from Canon, Nikon, Sony or Pentax—all compatible with the appropriate models of this lens—chances are you already have a lens, more than likely something in the 18-55mm range. That means that the chances of you being able to pick up a complementary lens in the 55-200mm or even 55-250mm range for under $200 are high. Suddenly, you’re outfitted exactly like you would be if you bought this 18-250mm lens, and you’d probably have saved money doing it.

And as I said, it’s not a fast lens, and many would probably recommend something with more performance. If you’re going to buy multiple lenses, why not buy ones that are dedicated to particular tasks? I call your attention to this Listmania list on Amazon, which shows nice budget-minded Canon “prime” lens selections. If you’re looking at the used pricing (which we highly recommend is the way to go if you’re not a pro), you can see that $530 would get you two, maybe three really nice fast lenses to augment your kit lens, in assorted focal ranges.

I’m not going to bash Sigma—I’m not pretending to be experienced enough to know a great lens from a crappy one of equal spec, but my time with this lens—paired to a Canon T1i—has been fruitful, especially out of doors and in locations where a little extra zoom could reduce the need for cropping and the inevitable lack of crispness that comes as a result. A pro photographer buddy I was talking to recently said that Sigma was a reliable maker of cheap lenses to go with Nikon, Canon and other DSLRs. He said among his collection of about 12 lenses, a few were Sigmas.

In the end, I have to face down my own laziness: The smartest thing to do is not to buy the single 18-250mm lens and hope for some decent light. No, the smartest thing to do is put money into multiple lenses, Sigmas or otherwise, and learn when to use which.

Now, if you more experienced shooters want to share your knowledge of Sigma, Tamron, any of the big camera makers, or the wisdom (or stupidity) of buying lenses used, this here’s your chance. Please, hit the comments below. [Sigma]

In Summary:
Excellent single lens for covering range from 18mm to 250mm in an entry-level DSLR from Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Sony

Some camera kits already come with two lenses that cover 18-55mm and 55-200mm, or one that goes from 18-105mm or 18-200mm, making most of this lens redundant

Even though image stabilizer does allow for improved shooting in low light or at extreme zoom, there are better specialty lenses at each particular focal length, possibly cheaper when bought used