Aug 31

Fujifilm X10 Photos and Specs Leaked

Posted in: leaks, Today's Chili

These leaked shots show the X10 is going straight at the Canon G12’s market

Just like its big brother the X100, Fujifilm’s X10 is not so much launching as leaking out a drip at a time. Now we have some proper product shots and specs for the high-end digicam intended to go up against the Canon G12, the Nikon P7100 and the Panasonic LX5.

The biggest similarity to the retro-styled X100 is the use of manual knobs and dials: Everything from aperture and shutter speed to exposure compensation and zoom are controlled by dials. There’s an optical viewfinder, too, but likely not the innovative hybrid electronic/optical found in the X100.

The back

The zoom is 4x, the top ISO is 12,800 (although you’ll need to drop to a lower resolution to get it) and the rear LCD is a disappointing 2.8-inch, 460,000-dot model.

Other leaked specs include auto-bracketing of exposure, ISO, dynamic range and film simulation modes, and a “360-degree motion panorama” feature.

From previous rumors, we’re expecting the price to be around $500, and the rumblings in the Internet say that the official launch may be tomorrow. If the image quality is goo, and Fujifilm didn’t mess anything else up (like the viewfinder), then this manually-controlled camera could be quite the hit.

The Fujifilm X10 name is confirmed, more specs available online [Photo Rumors]

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Aug 30

LG launches ‘RoboKing Triple Eye’ smartphone-controlled vacuuming robot

Posted in: camera, household, Ifa2011, korea, LG, remote control, RemoteControl, robot, RobotApocalypse, Robots, sensor, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili

You won’t have to leave your post on the couch, but you will have to lift a finger to your smartphone in order to tidy up with LG’s ‘RoboKing Triple Eye’ VR6180VMNV robot vacuum. Unlike it’s purple cousin who spends his time looking inwards, this little guy is always looking outward with its three cameras, capturing video and sending it to your smartphone or PC over WiFi. The robot uses sensors to create a plan of attack map of your home, allowing you to move it around by clicking the filthiest parts. Like a well-trained puppy, the dust buster also responds to voice commands from up to 5 feet away and it doesn’t even bark — only emitting 48dB of sound while sucking up dust. Of course, laziness of this caliber doesn’t come cheap, as it costs 899,000 Korean won, or around $840 bones.

LG launches ‘RoboKing Triple Eye’ smartphone-controlled vacuuming robot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 30

12 Stay-Dry Glimpses Into the Subaquatic

Posted in: photography, shooting challenge, Today's Chili, top

Underwater photography is inherently intriguing. Colors cool and gravity gives way to currents. Here are your 12 underwater entrants from this week’s Shooting Challenge. More »

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Aug 30

Izon Spy Camera Streams Video to iOS Devices

Posted in: security, Today's Chili

Monitor the baby, or make a celebrity-style sex tape. You decide. Photo credit Stem Innovation

Izon is a “remote room monitor” which beams video across the Internet and onto the screen of your iPad, iPhone or iPod. It might also be described by a more cynical person than myself as a kind of lifestyle spy camera.

The Izon is a white plastic stick which swivels on its dome-shaped magnetic base to be easily pointed at whatever you want to spy on. Then, when away from home or office, you can dial in via a companion app and enjoy a live stream of whatever is going on. You could check in on your baby whilst away on a trip, for example, or watch impotently from afar as burglars empty your house and smear their feces across its walls before they finally steal the Izon too, and its high-quality video stream blinks out.

Once connected to your home Wi-Fi network, the Izon’s stream can be viewed over Edge, 3G or Wi-Fi, and you can also tell it to keep an eye on a specific part of its field of view using a motion sensor. It can also listen for noises, and will send a push alert to your device when anything is detected.

Only you know whether you want or need such a thing, but if you do, then its nice to know there’s such a user-friendly option out there, and one which costs a reasonable $130. Just one thing: if you do buy one, be careful when you and your lady or gentleman get frisky in the same room: The Izon has a function which will automatically upload video to YouTube.

Izon product page [Stem. Thanks, Matt!]

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Aug 29

Hello Dolly: CineSkate Puts Wheels On the GorillaPod

Posted in: Today's Chili

When I saw the CineKkates, I thought “Why would you want to put wheels onto a short tripod and wheel your camera around on the ground?” Then I saw the promo video, shot with the CineSkates itself. Check it out:

CineSkates is a Kickstarter project so popular that it achieved its $20,000 goal in a day, and then blew past that up to $141,000 (and counting). It’s simple: a set of three skate wheels attaches to the feet of a GorillaPod Focus, and you twist and bend its jointed legs until the wheels are lined up the way you want them. A ball-head up top lets you set the camera to your preferred angle, and then you start shooting.

The idea is that you now have a tiny, portable dolly for shooting video, only this dolly doesn’t just, erm, dolly along. It lets you perform swoops and curves depending on the angles set for the wheels.

The CineSkates clamp onto the ball-shaped feet of the Joby GorillaPod. There are two parts: The wheel assembly contains the wheels and a bracket, and the clamp section joins this to the tripod. The modular design is there to enable future expansion — robotic wheels and mounts for different tripods are both planned.

You can pick up the CineSkates by pledging $150. The retail price on launch will be $200. Pledge $275 and you get the CineSkates plus the tripod and ballhead, which will go for $350 in stores.

CineSkates [Kickstarter]

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Aug 29

Panasonic’s Lumix ‘X’ Lenses: More Expensive With Less Features

Posted in: lumix, micro four thirds, Panasonic, Today's Chili

Panasonic’s new ‘premium’ lenses drop the focus and zoom rings. Photos Panasonic PR

Panasonic has launched a pair of new non-Leica-designed lenses for its Micro Four Thirds range of cameras. The emphasis is on making these new lenses small and light, and to this end Panasonic has removed somewhat essential features.

Speaking to the British Journal of Photography, Panasonic’s UK Lumix boss Barney Sykes said that “Leica has very strict standards when making lenses. This would not have conformed to Leica’s standard.”

The two lenses are power-zoom models (you zoom in and out by pressing two buttons instead of twisting a dial), like you’d find on compact cameras. Also replaced by buttons is the manual focus ring. There’s a 14-42mm ƒ3.5-5.6 and a 25-175 ƒ4-5.6 model. The 14-42 in particular is tiny when the zooming center is retracted — barely larger than the tiny 20mm pancake.

The lenses are the firs tin Panasonic’s new “X” line, which denotes high-end optics, and are supposedly of better quality than the current lenses.

Sykes says that the lenses use “digital technology to get the same quality” as the lenses designed in collaboration with Leica. This, presumably, means that there’s a lot of correction going on in-camera. We’ll be able to test this when we get our hands on one by comparing the in-camera JPG files with the RAW files processed in Lightroom. If the camera is making corrections, then the unprocessed RAW file should show the naked image.

The 45-175 will cost $450 and be available in September. The 14-45mm will cost $400 in November.

Panasonic goes it alone for new X lenses [British Journal of Photography]

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Aug 26

Photographer Makes Huge 8 x 10-Inch Digital Camera Back

Posted in: Today's Chili

Mitchell Feinberg made the world’s biggest digital back. Photo credit Mitchell Feinberg

Only in the world of photography could a piece of gear that costs “equal to the cost of a good size house – before the housing crash” be considered a money saver. But that’s exactly what photographer Mitchell Feinberg claims for his 8 x 10-inch digital camera back.

After months of calling around, Feinberg managed to convince somebody to build the back for him (actually two backs — a pro always carries a spare). It fits directly onto the back of his Sinar 8 x 10 plate camera, and can capture an image in 30 seconds.

Curiously, despite the cost, the back isn’t used to make the final captures. That role still goes to film. The back, named the Maxback, replaces the Polaroids that Feinberg usually uses to make test exposures, which were fast running out. This explains why this huge investment saved money. Feinberg:

I used to shoot on average 7.5 Polaroids per photo, and I shoot between 400 to 500 images a year. That’s at least 3000 Polaroids. At 15 bucks a pop. Or about 50K per year, minimum. Polaroid was at one point my highest single cost.

So how many megapixels does this monster have? Just ten, amazingly, although they have plenty of space to lounge around in. The files are — once cropped to 8 x 10 — 3285 x 2611 pixels. Feinberg says that the image quality is excellent, but “not exemplary, […] similar to a very high quality amateur camera of similar resolution.”

Most impressive is that Feinberg got this done. Many of us have dreamed of converting our favorite film camera to digital, and Feinberg did just that.

Mitchell Feinberg’s 8×10 Digital Capture Back [A Photo Editor via PetaPixel]

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Aug 25

Panasonic Lumix FZ150 builds on FZ47 superzoom, adds CMOS sensor, 1080p video

Posted in: camera, lumix, Panasonic, Today's Chili


Last month, Panasonic’s Lumix FZ47 made some (rather subtle) waves with its full manual video mode, lettering you control aperture and shutter speed while capturing in 1080i. Now, the company just announced its higher-end FZ150, which replaces last year’s FZ100, adding 1080p AVCHD capture, a stereo mic with noise cancellation, and a 12 fps burst mode. Image-related improvements include a 12.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 25-600mm (24x) f/2.8-5.2 Leica lens with nano surface coating, faster autofocus, a new Venus Engine FHD Pro processor, and sensitivity up to ISO 3200. The FZ150 retains its predecessor’s 3-inch LCD and 0.2-inch EVF — both also present on the FZ47. There’s also a new side-lever control, letting you adjust zoom and focus with secondary levers positioned just to the left of the lens. Panasonic’s latest superzoom cam will ship in late September with a $500 sticker price. PR after the break.

Gallery: Panasonic Lumix FZ150

Continue reading Panasonic Lumix FZ150 builds on FZ47 superzoom, adds CMOS sensor, 1080p video

Panasonic Lumix FZ150 builds on FZ47 superzoom, adds CMOS sensor, 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 25

SignalGuru uses a smartphone camera to help you manage traffic lights, save fuel

Posted in: Apple, camera, cellphone, iPhone, mit, mobile phone, MobilePhone, smartphone, Today's Chili

Nothing burns fuel (or patience) faster than stop and go traffic, something MIT researchers are hoping to minimize with SignalGuru. The smartphone-based system commands you to slow down or speed up based on whether the light is green, yellow or red to help avoid gas-guzzling activities like idling and accelerating — reducing fuel consumption by 20 percent. Unlike Audi’s Travolution system that relies on WiFi and 3G to communicate with traffic lights, this latest development uses your smartphone’s camera to detect signal status and create a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory (GLOSA), which will predict and learn traffic light patterns. So far it’s only been tested on the iPhone in Massachusetts and Singapore, but researchers hope to expand and commercialize the system, eventually including voice prompts and features like GPS navigation with add-ons such as parking space availability and local gas prices. Anti-road rage technology not included.

SignalGuru uses a smartphone camera to help you manage traffic lights, save fuel originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Sony A77 DSLR Sports Fancy Transparent-Mirror Tech

Posted in: sony, Today's Chili

Like a quantum mongrel, Sony’s A77 is neither mirror-equipped or mirrorless. Photo: Sony

Yet another new camera announcement for today. This time it’s Sony’s SLT-A77, the SLR equivalent of the NEX7 mirrorless compact, also announced today.

The A77 has two very cool new features. First is Sony’s new translucent mirror tech. This uses a pellicle mirror instead of the usual silvered glass panel. It lets the light pass through to the sensor, yet allows some (in an SLR) to be reflected up to the viewfinder. That means you can shoot very fast because the mirror isn’t constantly slapping up and down like a stupid dog’s tongue on a hot day.

But the A77 doesn’t have an optical viewfinder. In this case, the mirror is used to siphon off some light to the phase-detection AF system, which lets it focus as fast as an SLR, and yet still manage a live-view. And what a live view. This one comes courtesy of the 2.4 million-dot finder, also found in the NEX7.

The lack of a mirror also speeds things up. The A77 can shoot its huge 24-MP images at an almost absurd 12 fps.

You also get a maximum ISO of 16,000 (it’s the same sensor found in the NEX7), 1080p video, a 921,000-dot LCD and a mess of in-camera special FX.

How much does Sony want for this beast? Body only, you’ll pay around $1,400. It should be available in October.

A77 press release [Sony]

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