Hasta La Gadget!

Vincent van Gogh The Harvest, 1888 (detail), Tilt-shifted by Artcyclopedia

Converting Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings into tilt-shift “photographs” isn’t really a gadget, but who cares when the results are this good?

The inevitable experiment was carried out by Artcyclopedia back in the summer, when 16 of the absinthe-sipping, ear-hating painter’s pictures were run through Photoshop. The results are presented in a sometimes startling gallery.

Tilt-shift has had an interesting history. I first saw it in a gallery in Rome, and the photos were shot from high-points and helicopters using a large-format camera with a proper tilt-shift lens attached. These lenses are usually used for architectural photography, and involves tilting the lens upwards to squeeze in the top of a building while keeping the film-plane parallel to that building to avoid converging verticals. Tilting the lens like this also alters the plane of focus, letting you cut a slice of sharpness through an image.

This effect mimics the view we get of miniature models, with focus falling sharply off due to the camera being so close to its subject. So strong is this effect that it makes real landscapes seem to be tiny reproductions.

The technique came out of the camera and into the computer, and now there’s even an app for that. Applied to Van Gogh’s impressionistic paintings, it actually makes them seem more real, as it one had actually taken a photograph of a tiny landscape rendered in staccato yellow strokes.

Spend a few minutes checking the pictures out. Then do exactly what I’m about to do: go hit Google image search for old paintings of other artists and fire up Photoshop.

Tilt-Shift Van Gogh [Artcyclopedia via the Giz]

See Also:

• Tilt-Shift Comes to the iPhone
• Plungercam: DIY Tilt-Shift Lens
• Lensbaby Tilt Transformer Marries Nikon Lenses to Micro Four …

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Big surprises, eh? Sony Ericsson has been playing fast and loose with its calendar yet again, as it has just announced that the hotly (and by now angrily) anticipated upgrade to Android 2.1 for its X10 family of devices won’t be happening until late October. We were given the gravest of assurances that the end of September would be the time our tragic wait would end, but nope, apparently “we need a couple of more weeks before we are ready to start the roll-out.” Just so we’re clear, this isn’t Android 2.2, which is Google’s current highest iteration and has been around for months now — this is the upgrade to 2.1, aka Eclair, aka the software that’s not too far away from its first birthday. SE is trying to console users with promises of HD video and continuous autofocus bundled into the Xperia X10 update, but then there’s also word that different configs of the phones will get the update at different times. So don’t be surprised if your French-speaking X10 Mini is still doing the Donut deep into November.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Sony Ericsson pushes Android 2.1 upgrade for X10 family back to ‘late October’

Sony Ericsson pushes Android 2.1 upgrade for X10 family back to ‘late October’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sony Ericsson Product Blog  | Email this | Comments

This one’s been expected and rumored for a long time. Now it’s official: Blockbuster has initiated “pre-arranged” chapter 11 proceedings. Under the plan, Blockbuster’s debt would be reduced from $1 billion to about $100 million when implemented. The press release states that Blockbuster is currently evaluating its US store portfolio as part of the recapitalization process. For the time being, all 3,000 stores will remain open. However, we’ve been told by a trusted tipster that up to 1,000 could be shed before things are said and done. Now make no mistake, Blockbuster is still open and wants you to know that it’s business as usual during the restructuring — the details of which you can read in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Blockbuster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Blockbuster files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Miquel Àngel García, head of Olympus Europe, has stated that his company will no longer make new Four Thirds lenses. In Japan, the smaller, mirrorless Micro Four Thirds cameras have already captured 40% of the market, and these cameras and their smaller lenses will be Olympus focus in future.

García spoke to Spanish site Quesabesde at this year’s Photokina show, and the whole interview is worth reading (it’s in Spanish, but Google’s translation is pretty good for once). While you will of course still be able to buy existing Four Thirds lenses, and Olympus hasn’t yet said it is giving up on Four Thirds bodies (like the brand-new E-5), it is clearly moving away from SLRs altogether. In fact, García thinks that interchangeable-lens compacts will break the Nikon-Canon duumvirate of the global camera market.

“But it is very important to have broken the DSLR market status quo” says García, “There are two brands that for years have been allocated 80% of the global market. And this will change.”

Olympus is, in some ways, like the Apple of the camera industry. Since the original half-frame Pen film camera, through the tiny SLRs it has made over the years and the Trip series of high-end compacts, Olympus has been an innovator. García mentions that his company was the first to add sensor-cleaning and live-view to its cameras. But Olympus is even more like Apple in its willingness to drop old technologies when it sees they are dying.

I have mentioned before that the SLR is destined to be a niche tool, something for professionals who need its flexibility, while the rest of us switch to mirrorless compacts. The commenters on that post vehemently disagreed, but it seems that at least one camera company thinks the same way.

No estamos desarrollando más ópticas Cuatro Tercios [Quesabesde]

See Also:

• Olympus EP-1 Pen Gaining Fans Daily
• Sony Fights Micro Four-Thirds With Lens-Changing Compact
• Cosina Joins Micro Four Thirds Team, Announces ƒ0.95 Lens
• Olympus 600mm Zoom-Lens is World's Tiniest
• 5 Reasons to Ditch Your Digital SLR

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

If you’re looking to don a pair of NVIDIA’s 3D Vision specs, a 120Hz monitor is your ticket to the game, and BenQ thinks that its LED-backlit variation on the familiar 23.6-inch 1080p panel is the most gamer-centric you’ll find. While the base doesn’t seem to swivel like the Alienware OptX AW2310 nor component video in like the ASUS VG236H, it does feature adjustable height, allegedly low input lag for split-section reaction times, not to mention a bevy of display scaling modes for VGA, DVI and HDMI. There’s also the always-desirable picture by picture mode so you can have two inputs pumping out video content side-by-side; BenQ helpfully suggests you use it to entertain yourself with a movie while you wait for that perfect headshot. Boom? Find it in Europe this October, and “worldwide thereafter” at an undisclosed price. Press release after the break.

[Thanks, John N.]

Continue reading BenQ intros 23-inch XL2410 3D monitor for your stereoscopic camping delight

BenQ intros 23-inch XL2410 3D monitor for your stereoscopic camping delight originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments