Sony NEX owners don’t exactly have a ton of lenses to choose from. There are many adapters out there for Leica, Nikon, Canon and other lens brands. But the latest from Metabones includes features that truly change the lens-adapter game. More »
Dust and moisture are the main enemies when it comes to keeping your photography gear in top working condition. That’s why everything comes with lens caps, and why you should maybe consider upgrading them all to BRNO’s dri+Caps which feature a compartment for a small packet of moisture-trapping silica gel. More »
Sony announced simultaneously in the US, Europe and in Japan the DSC-TF1 a new 16.1Mpix Super HAD CCD Camera that packs a nice 4x optical Zoon with Optical SteadyShot into a sturdy and waterproof (10m) body that also happen to be dust-proof and Freeze proof. The DSC-TF1 come with a 720p video mode, Beauty Effect, 360 Sweep Panorama Mode and advanced flash.
Finally the DSC-TF1 will be sold around $200 USD in the US, 200€ in Europe, £180 in the UK and 20,000 Yen in Japan.
There aren’t too many lens adapters that catch our eye, but the $600 Metabones Speedbooster has so many tricks up its sleeve that we can see it tempting a lot of serious NEX camera users — like us. Big words, but what it purports to do is nothing short of mind-boggling. First off, it adapts your Canon EF (full-frame) lenses to E-Mount, which is nice enough since there’s still a paucity of high-end glass for NEX users. But it gets better: the Speedbooster also makes your lens wider by a factor of 0.71x, shrinking an 85mm lens to 59mm, for instance — effectively making your NEX nearly full-frame. Other adapters can do some of that, but its final trick is the piece de resistance: increasing the speed of a lens by a full stop. That may sound impossible, but it apparently works by concentrating the extra light-gathering area of a full-frame lens down to the smaller E-mount sensor area, turning an f4.0 lens into an f2.8 lens, for instance. The adapter allegedly increases sharpness on top of all that, and brings “auto-aperture, image stablization, EXIF and (slow) autofocus support,” for late model EF lenses, according to Metabones.
Skepticism reigns until we can scope it for ourselves, but the adapter came out shining on Philip Bloom‘s video and photo tests so far, judging by his samples (below the break). The $600 price tag will likely dissuade casual users, but light-deprived indoor shooters (like us) or those shopping for new glass — who already have a bagful of EF-lenses — might take to it like a sugar addict to Trix. Metabones said they’ll start shipping the Speedbooster this month, and will come out with MFT and Fuji-X mount options, along with support for lenses from Nikon and Leica, among others. Check the source to see how to grab it, but the line forms behind us.
Continue reading Metabones Speedbooster promises faster EF lenses when mounted on NEX cameras
Filed under: Cameras
Via: Philip Bloom
Source: Metabones
Our CES plates were jam-packed full of eye-opening conversations this year. We had the chance to speak to top tech luminaries, entrepreneurs, celebrities and fellow journalists. Much of that opportunity arose from the return of our stage, parked right in the middle of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Grand Lobby. We blew things out this year, packing the schedule from the show’s opening on Tuesday morning to its close on Friday night.
Below we have a list of the interviews we did at this year’s show, both on-stage and off, so you can relive the thoughts, theories and comments that defined this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Continue reading CES 2013: Interview roundup
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Desktops, Cameras, Displays, Misc, Gaming, GPS, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Peripherals, Podcasts, Robots, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Wireless, Storage, Networking, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Sony, HTC, Nokia, Verizon, Sprint, LG, AMD, RIM, Lenovo, NVIDIA
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.
The fine folks over at Lomography are at it again, but this time, they’re out for something more than just quirky. In fact, this may be useful for many more people than those obsessed with retrofied / distorted photography. As so many established outfits are doing these days, Lomography has turned to Kickstarter in hopes of funding its latest endeavor. The Smartphone Film Scanner is a (comparatively) portable device that straps onto any iPhone and “most” Android phones. From there, you simply slide any old 35mm film you have laying around into the back, flip on the embedded backlight, and capture a photo of the negative using the included app. Once it’s digitized, you can flip it into a positive, stitch together a panorama, or even create a multi-frame animation. Naturally, it can be shared around the globe from there using your social media program of choice.
Head on past the break for a few demo vids, and tap the source link to hand over your credit card details — early birds can snag one for $40 + shipping, while those coming on late will be asked to fork over a bit more.
Continue reading Insert Coin: Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner does as its name implies
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Apple
Source: Kickstarter
Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we’ll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You’ll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won’t stick around long.
After taking a week off to get through the grind of CES, we’re back to serve up a handful of the best tech deals on the web. Two over-ear headphone options nab a spot on the list today with a 14-inch Ultrabook and a Sony point-and-shoot making the cut as well. Jump down past the break to see the entire lot, but you’ll want to act fast because these links aren’t likely to stick around long. As always, be mindful of those coupon codes should your selection require ’em.
Continue reading Slickdeals’ best in tech for January 14th: Over-ear headphones, cameras and SSDs
Filed under: Cameras, Laptops, Portable Audio/Video, Storage
Source: Slickdeals
There’s nothing quite like getting heavily sedated and having a big ol’ camera crammed down your throat so that doctors can take a look at your esophagus and cut out a little peice to study in the lab. A fun Friday night. Fortunately, endoscopy doesn’t have to be like that too much longer thanks to a small, easily-swallowable endoscope that requires no sedation at all, and returns a full 3D rendering. More »
CES is far from a top-tier trade show for the digital imaging industry, but that didn’t stop manufacturers from introducing new models. Android returned to Polaroid’s booth with the underwhelming iM1836 ILC, Canon opted for a square form factor with its PowerShot N and Fujifilm introduced a more powerful version of the X100. Nearly all of the cameras we saw at the show were created for consumers, with many options coming in under the $200 mark. Nikon and Samsung offered a few exceptions, but with Photokina wrapping up this past September and CP+ kicking off in just over two weeks, there are plenty of other venues for camera makers to introduce their higher-profile models. For now, though, it’s all about CES, so join us past the break for a closer look at some of this week’s biggest announcements.
Continue reading CES 2013: Digital cameras roundup
Here’s the sort of thing Kickstarter is all about: those ideas that are so head-bangingly simple you get genuinely angry you didn’t come up with them yourself. Someone from Mobi-Lens popped by the Engadget stage this week to show off the company’s new crowdfunded creations, lenses for smartphone and tablet cameras that clip onto the side of the device.
The company brought by the macro and fisheye versions, which we got to play around with a bit. After a bit of adjusting on our handset, we were more than happy to take them for a ride, shooting some shots of Tim’s Ken Block interview. We didn’t get the greatest shots in the world for the few minutes we played around with it, but what the company has managed to get over on its site should give you a decent idea of what’s possible. The macro took some interesting shots as well, but you’ve really got to get in extremely close to get it to work as intended.
The lenses aren’t cheap, at $40 bucks a pop, or $65 for two, but they’re definitely cool additions for those looking to mix up their own smartphone photography a touch.
Source: Mobi-Lens
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