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Archive for December, 2016

Throwback Thursday: Apple QuickTake cameras, pioneers of consumer digital photography

28 Dec
Apple QuickTake 100. Photo by Carl Berkeley

While Apple Inc. is known for being a pioneer in the world of computers and smartphones, it also produced some of the first consumer digital cameras. The QuickTake 100, built by Kodak and priced at $ 750, had a unique binocular-like design and captured images at a whopping 640 x 480. It wasn’t designed for a day of shooting. In fact, the internal memory filled up after just eight shots. An RS-232C port was used to transfer photos (in QuickTake or PICT format) to your Mac.

Apple QuickTake 100. Photo by Carl Berkeley

The QuickTake 100 had a fixed 50mm equivalent F2 lens, an optical viewfinder and an LCD info display on which to adjust settings. As you can see, there was no way to review photos on the camera – you needed a computer for that.

The successor to the 100 – the QuickTake 150 – came about 15 months later. This model, priced at about $ 700, looked identical to its predecessor, but offered twice the storage and support for more image formats (even PCX, for those who remember it). It included a macro conversion lens and also supported Windows PCs. Not wanting to leave original QT 100 owners out in the cold, Apple released a firmware update that essentially converted it into a QT 150.

QuickTake 200. Photo by Jared C. Benedict.

Apple and Kodak parted ways after the QuickTake 150, with 1997’s follow-up, the QuickTake 200, being built by Fujifilm. In fact, Fujifilm sold a nearly identical camera itself – the DS-7. The QuickTake 200 had a more traditional design and had a 48mm equivalent F2.2 lens. 

QuickTake 200. Photo by Jared C. Benedict.

By far the most important addition to the QT200 was a 1.8″ LCD display. Finally, there was a way to preview and review your photos without having to get out a serial cable. For those seeking an optical viewfinder, Apple included one which you could clip onto the camera. Other new features on the QuickTake 200 were a mode dial, limited aperture and focus adjustment, and a SmartMedia card slot.

While they were some of the first consumer digital cameras, the QuickTake cameras didn’t take off as the ‘big names’ got into the business. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the QuickTakes, along with the LaserWriter and ahead-of-its-time Newton PDA were unceremoniously killed off.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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All dPS eBooks – $9 Today Only

28 Dec

On the twelfth day of Christmas dPS gave to me …

It’s the last day of our 12 days of Christmas sale and for today only, you can get any of our photography ebooks for just $ 9.

Rather than pick a few to share, we thought we’d put EVERY single book on dPS for sale for just $ 9.

9 ebooks

There are 23 titles to choose from

Topics include photographing portraits, landscapes, travel, kids and much more.

There’s also eBooks on special effects, black and white, flash photography and even natural light photography.

Check them all out here.

Even our $ 50 Going Pro eBook is just $ 9.

It’s a $ 9 eBook spectacular! There’s also no limits, grab as many as you like. But only in the next 24 hours.

Check them all out before time runs out.

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The post All dPS eBooks – $ 9 Today Only by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Gear of the year: Allison’s choice – Fujifilm Instax mini 90

28 Dec

Let’s get a few things out of the way first: yes, the Fujifilm Instax mini 90 is a three-year-old camera. No, it is not a digital camera. Yes, it was my favorite camera of the year. Now let’s proceed.

I bought the Instax mini 90 in March, but I spent almost two years up until then talking myself out of buying one. It was hard to justify the expense to myself. I have access to many nice digital cameras, and I always have a phone on hand, why buy a little plastic film camera that costs about a dollar per exposure? I put it to the back of my mind, but a little pang of jealousy struck every time I saw someone else carrying one. 

The mini 90 isn’t my first instant camera. I bought a Polaroid at Best Buy during college, which must have been during the very last days that anyone could buy a Polaroid at Best Buy. It was sort of cumbersome and it definitely wasn’t cool-looking, but there was something about it that got everyone excited about when I brought it out. I took plenty of snapshots of friends, but eventually ran out of film and didn’t buy more. Now it sits in a drawer at my parents’ house.

One of many ridiculous baseball game instant photos taken this year.

It was spring when I finally realized I should just buy the mini 90. After that, it was with me for pretty much every milestone event of the year. It was there when my sister visited and we went to one of the first baseball games of the season. I brought it to North Carolina where my boyfriend and I caught up with friends and met their babies. It came along to a tennis tournament with my family, when friends visited and to more baseball games than I want to admit to attending.

I can easily retrace my year in instant photos because they’re arranged on the wall by my desk. For every photo that made the wall, though, there were a lot of terrible photos – overexposed, underexposed, blurry, group selfies with somebody cut right out of the frame. But I guess I like the trial and error part of the process too. You work within the constraints of the system, learn what works and what doesn’t and gradually get better results. Even a bad instant photo is one that I feel like I actually made, and I learned something from the process. And when they come out looking just right, well that feels pretty good.

This goofy shot is probably my favorite photo of 2016 and I had a horrendous head cold when it was taken.

Obviously, one of the main joys of instant photography is that you get something you can hold at the end of the process. I don’t print many photos lately, so having it built into the process by the nature of the thing is kind of a treat in itself.

And I think that’s one of my favorite things about an instant photo – you can physically give the photo to someone else. You don’t get to text someone a copy, or tag them on Facebook, or email it to them later. I mean, you can snap a picture of it with your phone and do all that, but handing someone a photo that doesn’t exist anywhere else is pretty special. I gave away a lot of photos this year, and by that measure, it was a pretty good year indeed.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Architectural Polychrome: Vintage Interactive Color Guidebook by Le Corbusier

28 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

corbusierbook

Created by Le Corbusier, one of the most famous architects of the Modern movement, this vintage Polychromie Architecturale: Die Farbenklaviaturen book features interactive pop-up and pull-out pages to illustrate ideal color combinations for architectural and interior designers.

color-book-interiors

Developed for and published by a Swiss wallpaper company, a rare first edition of the 1931 original volume is being auctioned in New York, its paper sliding elements and color sample storage pockets still functional and intact.

color-book-cover-le-corbusier

Like much of his work, which treated architecture as “machines for living in,” Le Corbusier saw color as something that could be systematized for the modern era. These, in turn, could effect the health and happiness of building occupants. His polychromatic custom color systems included a “color keyboard” for matching hues and shades across the spectrum.

interactive-pallette-color-book

Also as with his other systematic efforts, Corbu boiled down color selection to key components like mental effects, weight and depth, perception and unity – these parallel the logical and reductive approach of his “five points” for designing architecture. Color combinations were designed to take advantage of the positive potential in mixing and matching.

interactive-book-auction

Lighter and more natural colors could warm rooms while darker shades could camouflage parts of a space. He also designed wallpapers that took his color theories into account, combining them with rational geometries to form modern patterns. Despite the rarity of the volume and fame of its author it is expected to sell for only a few thousand dollars at the Swann Auction Galleries.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Gionee M2017 comes with 2x optical zoom and 7,000 mAh battery

28 Dec

Gionee is a relatively new name in the smartphone world but the Chinese brand has already established itself in Asian markets and is growing quickly in the Western hemisphere as well. With a price tag of approximately $ 1,000, its latest model, the M2017, places itself firmly at the luxury end of the mobile device spectrum; but looking at the specifications, that seems justified.

The M2017’s headline feature is its battery. The engineers have combined two 3500mAh units to create a massive 7000mAh battery that rivals those on some tablets. Gionee claims the device offers  32 hours of talk time or 26 hours video playback on a full charge. Quick Charge 3.0 is supported as well.

The camera specs sound very interesting, too, although Gionee has not provided too much detail. For now we know that the device features a dual-cam with a 12 and a 13MP sensor. This combination allows for 2x optical zoom, like on the iPhone 7 Plus, or a 8x digital zoom. The front-facing camera comes with an 8MP resolution. 

The rest of the specification reflect the luxury price point as well. Images can be viewed and composed on a 5.7-inch dual curved QHD AMOLED display. In terms of memory, there are 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Unfortunately though there is no microSD-card slot, and for some strange reason, Gionee decided to use the mid-range Snapdragon 653 chipset to power the M2017.

The device is made from premium materials, weighs in at 238 grams and, despite the massive battery, is 10.78mm thin. There is no information yet on international availability, but we’d certainly like to have closer look at that dual-camera.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Apple rumored to work on 5-inch iPhone with vertical dual-cam

28 Dec

According to the Japanese blog Mac Okatara, Apple might introduce a new smartphone model in 2017 with a 5″ display to slot in between the existing 4.7″ and 5.5″ variants. The report, which originates from a Taiwanese supplier, also says the new mid-size iPhone would use an iPhone 7 Plus-like dual-camera, albeit with a vertical lens alignment rather than a horizontal one.

This rumor is in line with multiple other reports which have stated that in 2017 Apple will launch three rather than two new iPhone models. Alongside updated versions of the current models with 4.7″ and 5.5″ LCD displays, a new premium model with OLED display technology is expected. This device could also feature Apple’s dual-camera technology. 

As always, this kind of rumor is best taken with a pinch of salt but we were quite impressed with the iPhone 7 Plus dual-camera in our full review and would love to see the technology integrated into a smaller form factor. We should know more by September 2017.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Happy Holidays 2016 from the dPS Team

28 Dec

happyholidays2016

Merry Christmas from the team at dPS! It’s Christmas day already in Australia where most of the team is based, and we’d like to wish you the happiest of days from all of us here at dPS.

Thank you for being a regular reader and fan of dPS and for helping us to be able to continue to provide photography education for you and other photography enthusiasts. However you celebrate this holiday season, we hope you have a good one.

Cheers!

Jake Vince

By Jake Vince

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Global digital photography market value to grow to $110.79 billion by 2021

28 Dec

The digital photography market, including cameras, software and processing equipment, is expected to grow to $ 110.79 billion by the year 2021, according to a new report from Zion Market Research. The research firm valued the digital photography market at $ 77.66B USD in 2015, and anticipates a 6.1-percent growth rate between 2016 and 2021. Asia Pacific is expected to represent the greatest regional market growth during this time frame.

According to the report, Asia Pacific is estimated to hold a ‘significant’ share of the digital photography market due to growing economies, with North America coming in second. The research firm anticipates an increased demand for replacement devices among consumers in Europe and North America, while Asia Pacific countries have seen digital photography market growth due to, among other things, ‘steady income’ in select countries. Also contributing to expected market growth in coming years is ‘strong product penetration’ throughout Latin America.

Social networks including Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr are helping drive digital photography market growth, as well as software including Photoshop and other photo editors. ‘Digital photography allows consumers to take professional quality photos themselves,’ the study notes as one driving force, as well as digital photography’s suitability for a variety of industries beyond the scope of traditional photography, including surveillance, science, machine vision, and more.

Via: Globalnewswire

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Don’t Miss Out: These 12 Photography Deals Will Disappear With 2016

28 Dec

Over the last 12 days we’ve presented you with some amazing daily deals on photography training resources in our 7th annual 12 days of Christmas.

12 days

The savings this year were our biggest yet and we had a lot of really positive feedback from readers who picked up some fantastic deals.

As in previous years we did get a few sad messages from readers who missed deals along the way asking if there was any way to get them.

As a result – today we’re opening all 12 deals back up again for one last chance. You can find them all here or listed below.

So if there’s a deal you regret missing or you might have missed one of our emails – you’re in luck. Here they are!

  • Deal 1: Save 50% on this Trade Photography Guide (it’s just $ 5)
  • Deal 2: Save 76% on this Mega Portrait Photography Bundle (course, eBooks and more)
  • Deal 3: Save 70% on our Lightroom Mastery Course (hottest deal of the 12 days)
  • Deal 4: Save 67% on our Lightroom Presets (transform your images in a click)
  • Deal 5: Save 60% on these Professional Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets
  • Deal 6: Save 60% on these Landscape Photography Courses (from two of our favorite photographers)
  • Deal 7: Save 85% on this Drag and Drop Lightroom Collage Tool (includes bonus)
  • Deal 8: Save 65% on this Camera Skills and Light Skills Training (satisfaction guaranteed)
  • Deal 9: Save 77% on this Portrait Photography Training (includes 4 exclusive bonuses)
  • Deal 10: Save 85% on our Our Photo Nuts Courses (PERFECT for beginners)
  • Deal 11: Save 60% on Black and White Photo Artistry Course (this was very popular)
  • Deal 12: All dPS eBooks – just $ 9 (there’s 23 to choose from)

All these will be available until midnight US Eastern time on 31st of December, after that they will be gone for ever (just like 2016) – so get to it and grab yours today!

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dPS 2016 Holiday Schedule

27 Dec

I hope you’re knee deep in festivities and good food by now. With the holiday season in full swing, I just wanted to send you a quick note about what to expect here at dPS over the next week. The dPS team is taking a little down time so we can give our writers a break and time with their families too. This is what will:

Sean MacEntee

By Sean MacEntee

From the next week – the best of dPS 2016

It’s time again for me to go through last year’s articles and find the best, most popular ones, for you. Starting off tomorrow with the hottest landscape articles, we’ll have a new topic each day, with several articles for you to read or review on each one.

dps-2016-best-of-the-1

Starting off 2017

After all the parties are over, we’ll get back to our regular schedule of two articles a day on January 2nd (Australia time). For the first couple days you’ll see the wrap-up of the Best Of series, and just one post per day from us, then it’s back to business as usual.

So expect some good reading coming up. If you have some time you can catch up on a few articles you may have missed or focus on learning a new, specific technique.

Also remember to keep an eye out for our 12 Days of Christmas sale for some great photography deals.

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