Hasta La Gadget!

I like to consider myself a fairly serious amateur photography. I love taking pictures. I do find that I end up taking more shots than I thought I would with my iPhone. I mean, the iPhone isn’t really meant for real picture-taking, but sometimes the phone lets you get a shot you would have missed altogether, and it is a handy item for those “about town” shots with your friends. Now if there was a fun and convenient way to print those pictures out…

Well, our friends over at Hammacher Schlemmer must have been listening, because they are introducing the Wireless Smartphone Photo Printer. Connecting over a WiFi network, this small, relatively portable photo printer connects to almost any iPhone or Android-powered smartphone and prints amazing, vibrant color photographs.

The Wireless Smartphone Photo Printer will enable you to print photos taken with your smartphone from just about anywhere in your house, with no pesky cables, cords or wires. This convenience alone will encourage you to start actually printing pictures again, instead of simply sharing them online. I can’t remember the last time I actually held a photograph!

The pictures are printed on special patented paper which is embedded with yellow, magenta, and cyan dye crystals, (no ink!) the process produces rich, vibrant photographs that are waterproof and also resist fingerprints, dust, and scratches. What’s better than that?

The Wireless Smartphone Photo Printer comes with a paper cartridge for 10 prints and it is compatible with all iPhones,  iPads, and iPod Touch models running iOS 3 and up and Android-powered devices running OS 2 and up. The Smartphone Photo Printer is available from Hammacher.com for under 220 bucks. Santa? Are you listening?

[ Wireless Smartphone Photo Printer – Great Pictures, No Ink! copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

A frequent gripe of Lytro camera owners has been the hands-off nature of the photography, with that signature infinite focus about the only real fine-tuning that’s on tap. As of a fresh firmware upgrade, the light-field camera is much friendlier to demanding shooters. The unconventional point-and-shoot now lets owners manually adjust the ISO sensitivity (80 to 3,200) and shutter speed (1/250th of a second to 8 seconds) as well as lock the exposure or invoke a neutral density filter. Regardless of their precision demands, anyone who was already sold on the concept still gets a few perks with today’s refresh: the 8GB model now comes in Seaglass green and a Target-exclusive Moxie Pink, and there’s both a $30 sleeve as well as a $60, accessory-friendly case for those who’ve fully committed to the Lytro lifestyle. Neither upgrade will bring higher resolutions or video, but they’ll go a long way towards accommodating those who were at least on the fence. Check out an interactive sample of the shutter speed control’s benefits after the break.

Continue reading Lytro camera gets manual controls, new colors and accessories for exacting light-field fans

Filed under: Cameras

Lytro camera gets manual controls, new colors and accessories for exacting light-field fans originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lytro‘s innovative light field camera was announced back in June, and it promised the ability to adjust the focus on an image even after it was already taken. That’s quite a concept and one that we’re pretty excited to see in action. Lytro has finally unleashed its camera to all consumers worldwide today.

To celebrate the launch, Lytro is also introducing some new features to its camera. Users will now be able to manually control shutter speed and ISO, as well as the ability to lock in exposure and adjust a Neutral Density filter. The new controls actually don’t create a fully-manual experience, but it’s certainly a start and it’s better than no control at all.

It turns out that the more settings users change, the harder it is to achieve the unique focus effect, so Lytro was a bit reluctant to give users too much control, but the company said that manual controls was a hotly-requested feature, so they ended up putting some in the camera. The shutter speed can go as fast as 1/250th of a second, or you can do long exposures for up to eight seconds. The ISO can go from 80 all the way up to 3200.

The Lytro camera sells for $399, which is actually about the same price as a decent used mirrorless camera that comes with full manual controls. However, if you’re looking for something that allows you to change the focus after you’ve taken the shot, this is probably the camera for you. However, the target market for this device is probably only for a select few of specialty photographers.

[via The Verge]

Lytro camera launches worldwide, adds manual controls is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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