Apple details Photo Stream as its own social network

Apple first introduced Photo Stream back with the debut of iOS 6 and iCloud but today they showed us a little bit more about this social network in disguise. Yup, we said it. This is their new social network type photo sharing and commenting system called Photo Stream so check it out below.

Photo Stream with iCloud and iOS 6 on the iPhone 5 synchronizes your photos on all your devices, and now you can share those Photo Streams with friends. When your friends see new streams pop up, they can view and comment on them as well. You can follow all of your favorite friends just like Instagram. We heard a little on this before, but everything is getting official now.

That brand new improved and thinner 8 megapixel camera will be snapping away some quality photos for both you Instagram users, and soon you Photo Stream users. Photo Streams will be accessible from iOS devices, Aperture, as well as PC’s and Mac’s. We have a feeling Android smartphones won’t be able to enjoy or follow these streams — which makes sense. I’m sure we’ll be learning more about Photo Streams as things continue and we have a feeling Apple has big plans for this “social” feature.

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Apple details Photo Stream as its own social network is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Shooting Challenge: Isolated Motion Blur [Shooting Challenge]

When you don’t want blur, it’s the worst. But when you can control it—even isolate it in the frame—blur can be beautiful. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, you’ll capture a clear subject in a world of motion blur. More »

Impossible Instant Lab offers Polaroid stills from your iPhone snaps

The Impossible Project isn’t content with restarting Polaroid’s abandoned instant film production; it also has a Kickstarter, offering a decidedly odd-looking way of getting instant prints from your iPhone. Rather than plugging in via the dock connector, as we’ve seen other mobile printers do, the Impossible Instant Lab takes an altogether more accordion-like approach, basically slapping the iPhone on top of a modified Polaroid camera base.

A collapsable bellows-style assembly extends, to sit your iPhone – or, indeed, any other smartphone with a sizable display – on top. At the bottom there’s a manual shutter and the guts of a Polaroid camera: to use it, you load up the Instant Lab app, pick the photo you want a hard copy of, and slide open the shutter.

There’s a signal to indicate when the exposure – powered only by the phone’s own backlight – is ready, and then it’s a case of closing the shutter and pushing the button; the photo itself is spat out the front. The battery is doog for up to 150 shots, and you can use Polaroid 600 and SX 70 film.

Although it seems a bit gimmicky, it’s obviously found appeal with enough Kickstarter backers: they’ve already pushed it past the $250,000 goal by more than $55k, with 25 days left to run. Mass production should start in mid-February 2013, and the retail price will be $299.

[via Technabob]


Impossible Instant Lab offers Polaroid stills from your iPhone snaps is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Impossible Instant Lab Turns Your Digital Images into Polaroid Photos

Nothing is truly impossible, not if you’ve got the Impossible Team on your side. They’re known for producing instant films for Polaroid cameras when Polaroid officially shut their factories down.

Now they’ve come up with another first that instant photography lovers will love: the Impossible Instant Lab.

Impossible Instant Lab1The Instant Lab is literally the first and only one of its kind in the world. What it does is take the digital images on your iPhone and turn them into instant Polaroid prints. Who knew that was actually even possible?

Apparently, these guys did. All you have to do is fire up the Instant Lab app, put the phone in the cradle, and slide the shutter on the base of the device open. Wait a few minutes while it does its thing and presto! The instant physical copy of your digital photo will be ejected all retro and awesome-looking.

The Impossible Instant Lab is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, where a minimum pledge of $229(USD) will get you your very own Instant Lab unit. If you hurry, you can become one of the Early Birds who can get the Instant Lab for just $189.


Hasselblad H5D coming December with new focus system, design, up to 60 megapixels

Hasselblad H5D brings new autofocus and design, no shortage of damage to bank accounts

Medium format camera fans, brace for impact: there’s a new Hasselblad coming. The H5D supercedes the ages-old H4D with a True Focus II system that — we’re told — is both more accurate and immediately confirms its lock. Hasselblad has also reworked the body for a more rough-and-ready feel, giving the H5D bigger controls, an extra-bright viewfinder and better weatherproofing. A new RAW + JPEG capture mode, improved wide-angle-to-macro lens conversion and a fresh 24mm f/4.8 lens have also been added to tempt studio photographers. If all this sounds alluring, H5Ds will be available in 40-, 50- and 60-megapixel versions (plus 50- and 200-megapixel Multi-Shot variants) this December. We likely won’t know the effect on our bank accounts until at least a September 18th media event, but we wouldn’t assume any kind of populist pricing — Hasselblad’s tendency towards five-digit figures may limit any first-hand exposure to a rental.

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Sony reveals the Alpha A99, its first full-frame flagship since 2008’s A900 (hands-on)

Sony Alpha A99 is the company's first fullframe DSLR since 2008's A900, we go handson

It’s not every day that a digital SLR manufacturer releases a new full-frame camera — in fact, it’s not even every year. Sony’s last top-end model, the A900, was first released four years ago, so you better believe its successor offers an overflowing boatload of enhancements. The Alpha A99 is a flagship if ever there was one, crushing every other Sony still camera in terms of capability, both when it comes to stills, and in the HD video realm as well. With this $2,800 behemoth, the company is targeting both professional photographers and leading filmmakers, with plenty of features that will appeal to both. The centerpiece is an all-new 24.3-megapixel Exmor sensor (nope, it’s not the rumored 36MP chip you might be expecting), which features an increased photodiode area for boosted low light quality (up to ISO 102,400). The camera also features what Sony’s calling the “world’s first dual-AF system,” which includes two different phase-detect AF systems, including the same 19-point system on the A77, plus an additional 102 points on the imager itself.

Video shooters will find 1080/60p and 24p options with AVCHD 2.0, including uncompressed output through HDMI (with simultaneous output to a monitor) and phase-detect focus support in video mode. There’s also a 6 frames-per-second burst mode, 14-bit RAW output for stills, the same 921k-dot Xtra Fine twilt-and-swivel LCD included with the A77 with WhiteMagic and TruBlack, and the same OLED viewfinder found on the A77, NEX-6 and NEX-7, that offers slightly boosted functionality thanks to the full-frame sensor, letting photographers snag a realtime depth-of-field preview without dimming the finder. It also offers a 34-degree viewing angle and color tone adjustment control. Because the A99 offers a translucent mirror, Sony was able to eliminate the pentaprism to keep the size and weight at bay, making the DSLR lighter than the Nikon D800 and Canon 5D Mark III. Jump past the break for our hands-on.

Continue reading Sony reveals the Alpha A99, its first full-frame flagship since 2008’s A900 (hands-on)

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Sony reveals the Alpha A99, its first full-frame flagship since 2008’s A900 (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s Cyber-shot RX1 compact camera packs a full-frame sensor, ‘fits in your palm’ (hands-on)

Would you believe us if we told you Sony packed a full-frame sensor in a Cyber-shot-branded camera? It’s true! Say hello to the RX1, a “compact” digital camera for pros that’s packing the same 24.3MP Exmor CMOS sensor introduced today with the A99. Calling the rangefinder-esque one-pound shooter small might seem off-base, especially considering the Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2.0 fixed prime lens protruding from its front, but it’s not so huge (3-inches high by 4.5-inches wide) up against its tiny sibling, the RX100 — taking into account how much larger the RX1’s sensor is, well, that’s when this editor’s jaw basically dropped. While it’s not a “pro-NEX” as many had hoped, Sony explained that it chose a fixed lens to avoid the bulk of a lens-mount. We were able to get some eyes-on time with an engineering prototype of the unit, so click past the break for more details, close-ups and a brief video overview.

Continue reading Sony’s Cyber-shot RX1 compact camera packs a full-frame sensor, ‘fits in your palm’ (hands-on)

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Sony’s Cyber-shot RX1 compact camera packs a full-frame sensor, ‘fits in your palm’ (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony NEX-6 mirrorless cam squeezes in between 5R and 7 with WiFi, EVF and dedicated mode dial (hands-on video)

Sony NEX6 mirrorless cam squeezes in between 5R and 7 with WiFi, EVF and dedicated mode dial handson video

Does the NEX lineup need another model? Sony reckons it does. Meet the NEX-6. The company’s latest mirrorless camera looks nearly identical to last year’s top-of-the-line NEX-7, with the exception of a new dedicated mode dial, that lets you switch between aperture- and shutter-priority, manual, or scene modes with a hardware control rather than a need to jump into the menu. It offers the same pop-up flash (with a bit more power), a 3-inch 921k-dot TruBlack tilting LCD, an identical 2,359k-dot OLED electronic viewfinder and a strikingly familiar design. And that’s where the similarities screech to a grinding halt.

The NEX-6 is a hybrid camera of sorts, merging the best of the NEX-7 and the new 5R into a compact ILC that Sony says is its first to offer “full DSLR functionality.” You won’t be able to snag full-frame captures, as with Sony’s brand new Alpha A99, but the 16.1-megapixel APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor should get you well on your way. There’s also low-light shooting through ISO 25,600, 1080/60p video, a 10 frames-per-second continuous shooting mode, the new Fast Hybrid autofocus system first introduced with the NEX-5R and a new Multi Interface Shoe that lets you interface with a bunch of new accessories, including a hot shoe-mounted XLR mic input rig ($800). Join us past the break for our impressions and hands-on video.

Continue reading Sony NEX-6 mirrorless cam squeezes in between 5R and 7 with WiFi, EVF and dedicated mode dial (hands-on video)

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Sony NEX-6 mirrorless cam squeezes in between 5R and 7 with WiFi, EVF and dedicated mode dial (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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18 Photos That Use A Simple Trick To Be Perfectly Sharp [Shooting Challenge]

You never know with a handheld photograph. Will it be sharp? Or will it be a smear. But for this week’s Shooting Challenge, we shared a simple trick to make sure your shots come out great, no matter the camera. More »

Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible

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.

Insert Coin Impossible Instant Lab

Going back to a physical medium isn’t just for vinyl lovers. The Impossible Project (TIP) wants to make our iPhone photos equally concrete through its extra-simple Impossible Instant Lab. Don’t worry about setting up AirPrint or otherwise jumping through software hoops: the Lab captures the screen and prints it to Polaroid-compatible instant film as a keepsake. The design is even collapsible and battery-powered in the event you’d like to hand out hard copies on the spot. It’s no hobbyist effort, either, with a Leica designer and a former Polaroid factory both involved in making the Lab a reality. TIP is planning to move beyond its initial iPhone 4 and 4S support to include future iPhones and, if all goes well, more commonplace Android hardware.

Investing in this Kickstarter project sidesteps novelties like t-shirts in favor of the real product — and provides a very strong incentive to buy early. Backers quick on the trigger can pay as little as $149 for a Lab with a voucher for free film, or about half the $299 retail price. Pay the full cost and you’ll get a special black version with an extra voucher, while $2,000 will provide both a gold edition and a trip to the ex-Polaroid factory in Enschede, The Netherlands. Cameras could be in retro photographers’ hands as soon as February, but only if TIP reaches its $250,000 funding goal by October 8th. If your parents would like a little more than a Facebook photo gallery as a souvenir, or Instagram just isn’t nostalgic enough, you can hit the source link to show support and make the Instant Lab real.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible

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Insert Coin: Impossible Instant Lab makes iPhone photos tangible originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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