Hasta La Gadget!

How did the world’s foremost manufacturer of robotic camera mounts advertise its flagship product? Simple: it grabbed it, a Canon EOS 7D and some round-trip tickets to Dubai, and set about shooting the largest billboard in the world. Local photographer Gerald Donovan shot a nearly 45 gigapixel panorama of towering spires, desert and sky with his new GigaPan Epic Pro and a couple of the company’s engineers for logistical support. You’ll find the zoom-in-practically-forever image at our source link, a PR and making-of video after the break, and the cash to buy yourself a similar rig in your offshore bank account.

Update: Gerald Donovan writes in to let us know that while GigaPan did help him sort out technical issues in uploading the approximately 1,000,000 images that make up the finely-detailed panorama, the company did not sponsor or commission his work. Incidentally, he’s been shooting panoramas of Dubai for some time now. GigPan did revel in the aftermath, however, as a PR after the break shows.

Continue reading GigaPan Epic Pro helps create 44,880 megapixel panorama of Dubai skyline, world’s largest digital photo

GigaPan Epic Pro helps create 44,880 megapixel panorama of Dubai skyline, world’s largest digital photo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Impossible Project‘s new Polaroid-licensed film is going on sale in the UK this week, and the folks over at 1854 just got a nice little press packet in the mail which included some of the surely sought after film. The black and white only (color’s been promised for a later date) film, coupled with a Polaroid camera should obviously lead to some seriously ancient looking snapshots and… surprise, surprise — it does! Now, there are only a very few test shots (taken with a Polaroid SX-70) included for review here, so it’s hard to gauge overall quality of the output, but we have to say the snaps we’re seeing look so antiquey that it’s actually hard to tell what we’re even looking at in the photo — is it the ghost of John Wayne? Is that Charlotte Bronte or Lady Gaga hanging tough in the foreground? Still, we have to say we’re intrigued with the whole idea of producing photos this sepia-toned and grainy, especially at our next in-house competitive rave off. Hit the source link for more test shots.

Impossible Project’s Polaroid film gets tested, looking pretty old-timey originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gigapan’s robotic camera mounts are a favorite among hobbyists who want to create large panoramic pictures. Now the company is going after professionals whose powerful cameras need a sturdier rig.

Gigapan has released the Epic Pro, a mount that can handle DSLR camera and lens combination of up to 10 lbs. Earlier versions of the mount were created for lightweight and compact cameras. The Pro, designed with a magnesium chassis and aluminum arm, weighs about 8 lbs including the battery pack. It’s features include the ability to adjust time between exposure, motor speed, aspect ratio and picture overlap.

A year ago, Gigapan launched its first robotic camera mount called Epic that automates the process of taking different images to compose the ultimate shot. The mount allows photographers with almost any point-and-shoot digital camera to click photos without worrying about missing details that might ruin a picture when it is eventually stitched together. A software program called Stitch that comes with the device allows the photos to be blended together and uploaded to GigaPan.com where users can zoom into the detail, explore and share.

The Epic Pro mount will be available in April, says the company, and it will cost $895. The hobbyist focused Epic 100 costs $450 and the smallest rig Epic designed for compact digital cameras is $350.

See Also:

• Hands-On With the Gigapan Epic 100 Panorama Robot
• GigaPan Releases Camera Rig for Automated Panorama Photos
• First Look: Gigapan Epic 100, The Panorama Robot
• New Gigapan Shoots HDR Images, Works with Bigger Cameras
• 18-Gigapixel Panorama Offers Breathtaking View of Prague
• Camera Add-On Brings You Billion Pixel Images

Photo: GigaPan Epic 100 (Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com)

Digital cameras are fantastic for letting us experiment, take tons of photos, and search for the perfect shot. Digital picture frames and at-home prints are often poor substitutes for real photos. Get a great print at one of these five photo-printing sites.

Photo by Shermeee.

Once upon a time people took photos and dutifully carted their film down to the photo shop to get developed, waiting to see how the photos turned out. Now people immediately check whether or not the shot was good on the display of their digital camera, and more often than not stuff the photos onto their hard drives or upload them to their Flickr accounts, but never get around to actually printing them and preserving them in a physical form. If you’ve been meaning to get around to printing more photos and saving them from their fate of digital obscurity, the following five Lifehacker reader-selected sites can help you.

For the sake of consistency among the pricing notes, each site’s price will be listed as the current price (as of 1/17/2010) for one 4×6 and one 8×10, two of the most common U.S. photographic print sizes and good indicators of the overall pricing scheme at the site. Pricing is only one element of photo printing, however, and we would strongly suggest reading our notes here and checking out the individual sites before selecting one over the other based on a few cent price difference.

It’s also worth noting that reviewing photo-printing services is very similar to reviewing, say, netbook computers. The end products are so similar to each other that the real test of whether or not you like one photo service over another photo service is to upload a couple photos and see if the little things—like the bulk uploader, the built-in editing tools, and the ordering interface—are features you are comfortable with—just like something as small as the keyboard spacing can make or break a netbook purchase.

Snapfish ($0.09/$2.99)

Snapfish is the most generous of the photo printing sites in the Hive Five. They offer 50 free 4×6 photos to first time customers—and have done so for years—so it’s a great place to start when trying out different photo sites. They also have some of the lowest pricing on basic prints, like glossy 4x6s, you’ll find anywhere. Snapfish also offers a happy medium between storing and ordering prints online and sometimes wanting or needing them immediately. Snapfish allows you to order your prints for delivery through the mail or for in-store pickup at stores like Walgreen’s, Walmart, or Meijer. Snapfish has an upload tool called PictureMover that will auto-detect when your camera or camera card is inserted into your computer and optionally upload the photos to a new album. Snapfish has—rather confusing—tiered pricing for every product they offer. Rather than even attempt to decode their shipping tables, you should always stop by RetailMeNot and grab a “free shipping” coupon code—Snapfish is almost perpetually running free shipping deals.

Shutterfly ($0.15/$3.99)

Shutterfly doesn’t offer rock bottom prices compared to other online outfits—although for small prints they are certainly reasonable—but it does shine with the most polished organizing and sharing system of the sites featured here today. It’s obvious a lot of time and thought was put into making it really easy to share photos and prints with friends and family. Although Shutterfly doesn’t offer a variety of pickup locations like Snapfish, you can order prints through Shutterfly for pickup at Target stores that have in-house photo processing. Shutterfly also has tiered—albeit less confusing—shipping rates which start at $1.79 for basic shipping and rise accordingly. You can view them here.

Mpix ($0.29/$1.99)

MPix offers a wide variety of print sizes (25+) and a diverse portfolio of additional services like mounting on standouts and canvas printing. They also, unlike some of the cheaper outfits, offer silver-based black and white printing to help digital photographers really show off their black and white prints in a more authentic way. MPix, unlike many other online photo services, also deals in film, but the price per exposure for development, scanning, and uploading to your MPix albums is $0.19 per exposure—we cringe to think what an 8GB SD card would cost to process at the film-rate. Shipping starts at $3.00 per order, additional rates are available here.

AdoramaPix ($0.19/$1.28)

AdoramaPix is the photo processing division of the enormous Adorama photography store—offering photo development services for photographers was a natural extension of their retail business. They offer the largest selection of photo paper of any contender in the Hive Five. You can select from seven different papers including those from the Kodak Endura line, Kodak Metallic, and True B&W for better black and white photos. Adorama offers 25 free 4×6 prints with every new account. Shipping is $2.95 for 50 prints of 5×7 size and under, $4.99 for any size prints of any quantity. Additional shipping rates detailed here.

Costco Photocenter ($0.13/$1.49)

Many people use Costco for printing because of the convenience of uploading their prints and then picking them up later that day at Costco while doing their shopping. The strong point of Costco’s printing services is definitely a combination of reasonable pricing and in-store pickup. The mail-order side of things isn’t a strong point with longer-than-average shipping times and lack-luster support. That said, if you’re already a Costco customer and you’re looking for convenient pickup without a heavy emphasis on print or paper variety, it’s an easy sell. Shipping is free for 4×6 prints, variable pricing for larger prints.

Now that you’ve had a chance to look over the contenders in today’s Hive Five it’s time to cast your vote.

Have an experience with one of the above vendors—or bummed your favorite didn’t make the list? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Burglaries are an unfortunately commonplace event in daily urban life, but on some very rare occasions their outcomes give cause for celebration and maybe even a smile. Two young men from the Portland area, keen to get on the smartphone bandwagon without paying, broke in and stole a pair of Motorola Android handsets (along with other electronics) from a nearby household. What they didn’t foresee, however, was that one of the phones would have the free Lookout app, which automatically backs up all photos taken with the handset to a user-accessible server every night. So, in the midst of testing out their ill-gotten loot, the criminals provided the phone’s legitimate owner with enough visual clues for the police to swoop in and apprehend one of them. The search for his partner in crime continues, but the “gadget versus man” fight has already concluded with a clear win for what we presume was a Droid.

[Thanks, John]

Android photo backup app reveals burglars’ identities, stupidity originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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