There are certain things we like at Gizmodo HQ. Instagram is one. Chocolate is another. Oh, if only they could somehow be combined without getting goo in your phone. Oh, wait, they can! Meet Cocoagraph. Vintage-style photos, printed on delicious chocolate squares. Yes, please? More »
Today Canon has done a marvelous job of beating up the news with bits of excitement on their brand new Canon EOS M camera system, the latest bit being some accessories not yet available to the public. What you’ll be seeing here that’s different from what’s been revealed earlier today is a lovely new body jacket of many colors, matching neck straps, and an additional Speedlite for you flash shooters. You’ll want to keep your pocketbooks open until September for these pieces of hardware add-ons for sure.
First you’ll see the Speedlite 90EX, this little item a pocket-sized flash you can quickly slip on to the head of your EOS M in real mobile fashion. This device is right between the 270EX II and the RC-6 also revealed today, with the largest costing somewhere around $200 USD and the smallest (the 90EX) costing closer to $90. The RC-6 is a controller that allows you to control the camera and its flash – and video – from afar for right around $25. Final prices on these devices of course depend on your region and choice of store.
There are a couple of straps you’ll be able to buy in each of the different colors that he body jackets come in – black, white, red, and brown. There’s a wrist strap ER-E1 that’s made for hand-holders and a neck strap EM-E1 for hanging out around your head. The EG23-CJ body jacket is an interchangeable series of colors to match or mix and match your way to fashionability, each of them with a lovely material that’s comfortable to touch. The straps will ring up around $30 USD while the jacket will be closer to $45 USD when the time comes – sooner than later!
[via Canon Japan]
Canon EOS M Japan reveals accessories coming late September is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
There have been plenty of false alarms in recent months, but Canon’s first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC) is finally here — in fact, we’re holding it in our hands. The EOS M is clearly reminiscent of a point-and-shoot, such as the company’s high-end PowerShot S100. Sure, Canon could have added some of the dedicated controls that its professional user base would demand, but photojournalists aren’t the target here, for a few reasons. Canon’s primary motivation, at least from an official perspective, was to create a camera that serves to bridge the gap between pocketable compacts and full-size DSLRs with a simple user interface designed to educate, not intimidate. Also key, however, was avoiding cannibalization of the company’s low-end and mid-range Digital SLR models, which clearly still have a place in the lineup one tier above this ILC.
Consumers willing to sacrifice hardware controls for a touchscreen-driven UI won’t be missing out on much else — functionally, the EOS M is a near-clone of Rebel T4i with the same 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 processor and 3-inch touchscreen. Even the advanced two-stage focusing system has made its way from the T4i, which utilizes both phase-difference and contrast AF in order to achieve focus more efficiently when capturing video. The housing design and lens mount are unlike any other that Canon has produced, however, combining features from other models without completely eliminating the need for a DSLR, or a compact for that matter. If you can get by without granular controls, you’ll do just fine here — the design really is spectacular. With an $800 price tag, the EOS M falls within the upper tier of the mirrorless category, and it remains to be seen whether it will be an obvious pick when it finally hits stores in October, a month after competitors tease their own products at the massive Photokina expo in Germany. How does it fare today? You’ll find our impressions just past the break.
Gallery: Canon EOS M hands-on
Continue reading Canon EOS M mirrorless camera hands-on (video)
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Canon EOS M mirrorless camera hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I had to put my camera in the shop again. Who would have thought I’d have so many problems with a high end Nikon? Stupid problems really… the latest was the USB connection that I use to download thousands of pictures on a weekly basis became loose and failed to maintain the connection with my computer. The guy at the shop said I should never use the USB and that I should get a card reader. Really? That’s disappointing.
In my search for a card reader, I found this neat little item, and while it’s not very new, I somehow had never heard of it. (Don’t ask me how that happened.) Check out a Sandisk SD card that is hinged, and folds down, revealing a USB adaptor, what a great idea! Now I can eliminate the USB cord all together and simply pop the card out of the camera and offload my pics right to my PC.
The Sandisk Ultra II is a relatively standard memory card that’s quite ample in its performance, featuring 15MB/sec Read/Write speeds and useful for almost any kind of photography. The Sandisk Ultra is also capable of some pretty solid transfer times between the card and your PC. The only downside I can find to this nifty little card is that 4 GB’s is the largest card they make, but with such easy data transfers, all without the pesky cords and wires, and with an under 25 dollar price tag for the 4 GB I guess I’ll just get a few of them. Available for your transferring pleasure at amazon.com. Did you guys already know about these? It’s okay, you can tell me.
[ SD card with Built in USB – Simple Genius copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Rumors of a Canon mirrorless camera have circled the web since long before Nikon’s foray into the compact ILC space. And while that manufacturer’s model fell far short of some expectations, it appears that Canon’s iteration may in fact have been worth the not-so-insignificant wait. Unlike the Nikon 1 Series, Canon’s new EOS M isn’t a drastic departure from the company’s existing mid-range DSLR lineup. In fact, under the hood it’s quite similar to the Rebel T4i, with an 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 processor, 3-inch 1.04MP smudge-resistant touchscreen and the T4i’s new hybrid autofocus system, which pairs both contrast and phase-difference AF for speedier, more accurate performance. Externally, however, the EOS M looks more like a cross between the PowerShot G1 X and S100, tipping the scale at 14.2 ounces with the included EF-M 22mm f/2 STM kit lens, compared to 27.4 ounces for the T4i, and 19 for the G1 X. It’s physically smaller than the G1 X as well, and only slightly larger than the pocketable S100. The camera offers a sensitivity range in line with the competition, ranging from 100 to 25,600 (extended) in still mode and 12,800 (extended) when shooting video — captured in 1920 x 1080 format at 24, 25 or 30 progressive frames per second. There’s also a continuous shooting mode at 4.3 frames per second with fixed focus and exposure.
The EOS M’s control layout should be more familiar to Canon point-and-shoot owners than DSLR users — as one component of the size compromise, dedicated buttons are replaced with touchscreen options and a bit of menu diving. There’s also no electronic viewfinder, though a full-size hot shoe is included with full support for Canon’s lineup of Speedlite flashes, including the new $150 90EX strobe and ST-E3-RT Transmitter, and the GP-E2 GPS Receiver. Though the camera lacks certain direct controls, it still supports full manual shooting, even in video mode. There’s also a built-in stereo mic with manual level adjustment. In addition to that 22mm kit optic, Canon is offering an EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens for $300, or you can add the $200 EF-EOS M mount adapter to enable use with existing lenses. The $800 EOS M kit is set to ship in October, and will be available in retail stores in black, though Canon’s online store will also stock a white model (which will be paired with the same black lens). You can peek at both configurations, along with the new lenses and accessories in the gallery below. Then shoot past the break for the full PR from Canon.
Gallery: Canon EOS M mirrorless camera
Michael Gorman contributed to this report.
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Canon unveils EOS M mirrorless: 18 MP APS-C, EF compatibility, $800 in October with 22mm lens originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Stop taking pictures of your food. You’re a lousy photographer, and I’m tired of looking at your photos. They are disgusting. While you may be excited about the delicious / unique / unfathomably fattening food you are about to consume, that does not mean you need to mark the occasion with an Instagram or Twitter post. Just don’t. Eat your 17 pound burger, or your pizza with a fried shrimp crust, or your bacon ice cream sundae, and keep it to yourself.
[Image credit: RJ Aquino]
I have been searching for accompanying images for this story for a while, and I finally found one. A Twitter friend posted this lovely image of Chicken Fried Bacon. You may have never heard of chicken fried bacon, but I live in Texas, and we invented frying things unnecessarily. We invented the corny dog, a hot dog dipped in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Chicken fried steak is our state bird. At the Texas State Fair, you can eat fried everything from ho-hoes to Frito pie to beer to butter. Yes, someone dips frozen butter in batter and fries it in oil. It’s not just a heart attack waiting to happen. It’s an offense to God and cows alike.
[Image credit: Chris Sorensen]
So, anyone surprised by chicken fried bacon? No. In fact, it could actually be pretty good. I’m not endorsing its consumption, but bacon plus fried must equal delicious, right? Except, look at that photo. It looks like dried dog poop in a serving tray. That’s not an exaggeration. It is the most disgusting looking food photo I have ever seen. And the accompanying hashtag to go with this picture? #sowrongitsright. No. No. Just . . . No.
Food photography is hard. It takes hours and hours to get the perfect shot used in commercials and promotional materials. The ice cream melts. The burger gets dry. The cheese goes from melty-gooey to stiff and still. Food does not behave. Which is why food photographers often have to augment their photos with unnatural, inedible substances. Concrete is used to stiffen milkshakes. Soap is used to create frothy bubbles. Plastic is used with wild abandon.
If professional food photographers have trouble making food look good with all of these tools at their disposal, how could you possibly imagine you can make your food look good when you snap a shot with your cameraphone? You cannot. Your food looks awful. Instead of making me drool, or envy your experience, or marvel at the spectacle, it simply makes me nauseous. If that’s what you’re going for, congratulations, you have succeeded.
The first problem is lighting. Phone cameras require a great deal of light to take an excellent, appealing photo. That’s why most of your indoor shots look lousy, while brightly lit outdoor photos look much better. The color of the light also makes an enormous difference. Tiny cameraphone sensors tend to have more of a problem discriminating and balancing colors. Reds and greens are especially problematic. This leaves many food photos looking yellow indoors, and bluish outdoors.
The second problem is context. Sure, I can spot a burger from across a room. But how about a lobe of foie gras on a plate of lentils? How about slabs of gnarled, curly bacon fried dark brown in batter? How about a ghoulash of some sort with ingredients I could hardly name if it were right in front of me, let alone the subject of a poorly lit, off balance cameraphone photo?
“It’s time to stop glorifying food”
But my biggest problem of all with food photography is that it’s time to stop glorifying food. I hate the term “foodie,” but I do consider myself knowledgeable about food, food culture, and cooking. But I think we’ve taken a dangerous turn when it comes to an obsession with food on the Internet.
When people are extraordinarily happy with their food, they take a picture and share it. Why? Because they know their friends will relate. Because it makes them feel special and important to be eating something so tasty or unique. Because it’s a way of marking where you are and telling people what you are doing. Whenever we travel abroad, we always make special note of the food. When you think about it, that seems odd.
We spend 3-4 hours a day eating, at most. So, 1/8 – 1/6 of the day is spent at meals. What about the rest of the day? Sure, you can have a great night’s sleep, but you don’t take a picture of your bed afterword. When you have an easy commute, do you take a picture of the open road? When your boss is happy with a project you’ve completed, you don’t snap a picture and share it (confidentiality aside). I would fully expect to see photos of a movie poster if someone liked the film, but I’ve never seen that shot on social networks.
My problem with the current obsession with documenting our meals like photojournalists is that it only promotes more eating. And because we usually snap the most unique and unhealthy dishes, it promotes the worst type of eating. If I see a picture of a juicy, well-adorned burger before lunch time, I want a burger. If I see photos of the awesome dumpling shop you found, I want dumplings.
I don’t deny there’s a level of personal responsibility involved. Sure, it’s my job to make the right decisions for myself. I don’t have to open your photos. I don’t have to eat what you’ve photographed. But if our decision making process were so easy, weight problems would not be such an issue hanging around the waist of the public’s health. We’re already bombarded enough with photographs from professionals working for hours to make food look unnaturally appetizing.
Before you post photos of food, ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve? Is there really any positive benefit? At worst, you’re posting an ugly picture. At best, you’re showing off and glorifying your meal. If you don’t agree that it promotes an unhealthy obsession in our society, at least understand that it’s boring, unless you have the skill to do it right. Which you don’t. So stop shooting your food. You’re a horrible photographer, and I’m having enough trouble sticking to my diet without your help.
Don’t Shoot Your Food is written by Philip Berne & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you don’t want to feel inadequate about the camera gear you tote around all day, you might want to skip this behind-the-scenes look at the gear the Associated Press will be using to capture the 2012 Olympic games. More »
The image quality will not be good compared to a dedicated scanner, but I never expect miracles for $63: this is iPics2Go, a box that will let your iPhone 4/4S digitize paper photos, 35mm negatives and slides. More »
I have a big Canon DSLR which I never use. I also stopped using my compact a very long time ago, when the iPhone 3G came out—a classic example of convenience winning over quality. But this tiny beauty, Canon’s new EOS-M mirrorless camera with EF-M lens mount, is making me droll for a gadget again based on its looks alone. More »
The decline of film photography continues, with Fujifilm announcing the discontinuation of several of its films including Velvia 100F. “Due to decreasing demand globally we have to announce the withdrawal of some formats of Velvia 100F and Velvia 50″ Fujifilm product manager for professional film Gabriel Da Costa said of the company’s decision. “It is an unfortunate consequence of of digital capture, that some of the slower selling silver-halide lines will drop off the radar.”
Affected films include Fujichrome Velvia 100F in 35mm, 120 and 4”x5” formats, along with Velvia 50 in 4”x5” and 8”x10” formats. Fujifilm says that the last shipment of these films into the UK will be in December this year, though actual stock availability will depend on distributors supplies and the demand from consumers.
However, it’s not the end for film altogether, with Fujifilm arguing that it will merely become more niche over time. “Fujifilm will continue to manufacture a wide range of film” Da Costa said, “and the increasing support for our Choose Film group illustrates there is still a passion for film photography across the world.”
Choose Film launched back in 2008, a Fujifilm-led initiative that was nonetheless open to users of all brands of film. A combination of a social network for film enthusiasts and a showcase tool for their galleries, Choose Film currently has around 6,500 members.
If you want to stock up on some last-minute Fujichrome supplies, you can buy online here.
[via PhotographyBLOG]
Fujifilm axes select Fujichrome film as digital eats photography is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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