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Posts Tagged ‘Selfie’

Video: This DIY ‘$10,000 selfie stick’ holds a cinema camera and boom mic

04 May

Filmmaker, photographer, and self-professed coffee addict Peter McKinnon has created his own rendition of the infamous selfie stick… on steroids. Meet the $ 10,000 Selfie Stick. This fun, gimmicky DIY creation is McKinnon’s upgrade from the much-maligned (and for a time ubiquitous) pole used to hold a smartphone for self-portrait purposes.

In his video of the project, McKinnon heads to the local hardware store where he purchases bolts and other hardware, as well as a pair of goalie sticks for hockey. The sticks are combined together using tape, and the bolts are used to mount a $ 6,000 cinema camera and $ 400 boom mic (and three Canadian flags) onto the sticks.

The end result? A massive, heavy “selfie stick” that outshines anything you can get off the shelf, but has absolutely no practical use.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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PETA monkey selfie lawsuit lives on, judge rejects attempted settlement

17 Apr
Photo: David Slater

It’s the copyright lawsuit that refuses to die. In September 2017, PETA finally settled its monkey selfie lawsuit with photographer David Slater, ending years of financially destructive litigation. However, a request to dismiss the case has since been rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which points out in a newly published order that it’s not required to honor the dismissal request.

The decision to proceed with a ruling appears to be the Ninth Circuit’s way of preventing PETA from dodging a legal outcome that would interfere with potential future litigation of a similar nature. The Court’s order states, in part, that:

…denying the motion to dismiss and declining to vacate the lower court judgement prevents the parties from manipulating precedent in a way that suits their institutional preferences.

The Ninth Circuit further narrows down the thought process behind continuing the lawsuit, stating in the order:

As one of our colleagues once warned in a similar context, “courts must be particularly wary of abetting ‘strategic behavior’ on the part of institutional litigants whose continuing interest in the development in the law may transcend their immediate interest in the outcome of a particular case.”

PETA’s settlement was anticipated last year after signs surfaced indicating the courts weren’t in the organization’s favor. In July 2017, for example, PETA’s attorney faced a series of questions from judges including whether the organization’s relationship with the monkey was of the nature that it could sue on the animal’s behalf. Before that, a federal judge in San Francisco found that the monkey doesn’t have legal standing to sue.

By settling—assuming the case were dismissed and a lower court’s judgement vacated—PETA could dodge a ruling that it may not like; a ruling that could establish a precedent that would prevent it from filing similar lawsuits on the behalf of animals in the future. The Ninth Circuit’s order also states:

We note that although PETA joins Appellants in the motions to dismiss the appeal and to vacate the district court judgment, and claims to have reached a settlement agreement with Appellees, it also points out that Naruto is not a party to the settlement agreement. It appears that the settlement agreement would not bar another attempt to file a new action.

A final ruling in the case is forthcoming.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Vivo V9 smartphone packs a 24MP front-facing camera and AI selfie software

27 Mar

Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo has launched a new flagship smartphone called the V9. This mid-tier model sports a design clearly inspired by the iPhone X, as well as one other very notable feature: a 24MP F2.0 front-facing camera. Whereas many smartphones still feature a low-resolution front camera, Vivo elected to put its higher-resolution camera on the front and pair it with its Face Access 2.0 security feature and AI-based Face Beauty selfie software.

As with previous Vivo models (and in case the front-facing camera resolution isn’t evidence enough), the V9 focuses on high-end selfies as a selling point. In this case, Vivo offers a feature called AI Face Beauty that is said to use machine learning determine things about the person featured in the selfie such as age and skin tone. That feature will ensure selfies “truly represent” the user’s beauty, according to The Verge.

The user will also have access to AR Stickers and will be able to unlock the phone using the front camera with Vivo’s Face Access feature.

On the back, dual 16MP + 5MP cameras, and inside there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 SoC, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage. Finally, you’ll use the phone through its 6.3-inch 2280 x 1080 19:9 FullView 2 display, complete with much-maligned iPhone X-like notch.

The phone has launched in India where it is priced at Rs 22,990 / $ 355 USD / 284 EUR. Availability and cost in other markets isn’t clear at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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HTC U11 Eyes smartphone features a dual selfie camera with live bokeh

17 Jan

HTC has launched a new variant of its U11 smartphone called the HTC U11 Eyes, and it’s built specifically for selfie takers (cue eye roll). The name “Eyes” refers to the handset’s chief feature: dual front-facing cameras, which resemble a pair of eyes and bring features like live bokeh and post-focusing to selfies.

HTC packs some other premium features into the model, including an 18:9 ratio Full HD+ 6″ Super LCD 3 screen and a “flagship camera” on the rear, but other than the front-facing camera, the handset is more-or-less the same as the regular HTC U11.

The front-facing camera is comprised of dual 5MP BSI sensors behind F2.2 aperture lenses, which support Full HD 1080p video capture in addition to stills. The selfie cameras produce “studio-quality portraits,” claims HTC, with Bokeh Mode being the most notable feature. In that mode, selfie backgrounds are blurred in real time, though users also have the option of adjusting it manually after the fact.

The model’s front camera also supports Screen Flash, HDR Boost, Voice Selfie, Auto “Beautification,” Auto Selfie, and Selfie Panorama. The rear camera, meanwhile, features a 12MP HTC UltraPixel 3 with 1.4?m pixel, BSI sensor, OIS, F1.7 aperture, an LED flash, and UltraSpeed Autofocus. HTC has included a “Pro Mode” with manual control for its rear camera, including 32-second long exposures, Raw support, and manual control.

Cameras aside, the HTC U11 Eyes has a high-capacity 3930mAh battery that supports up to 28.8 hours of talk time (depending on the network) as well as Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, IP67 water- and dust-resistance, Edge Sense squeezing support, HTC USonic audio tech, active noise cancellation, and Face Unlock.

Availability outside of China and pricing isn’t clear. Engadget reports that its “local sources” put the price potentially at HK$ 3,200, which is equivalent to about $ 410 USD and 334 EUR.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The JOBY GripTight PRO TelePod is a tripod… and a grip… and a selfie stick

06 Jan

Joining the GorillaPod Mobile Rig recently launched by JOBY comes another new product from the company: the GripTight PRO TelePod. This little telescoping tripod doubles as a lightweight extending pole and is designed primarily for professional video creators working with smartphones or small cameras, such as an action cam.

The JOBY GripTight PRO TelePod supports both landscape and portrait modes, as well as adjustable tilt for selfies. The tripod weighs 359g / 12.7oz and sports the company’s GripTight mount, as well as a hand grip, extended grip, and both elevated and tabletop tripod modes. A removable Bluetooth Impulse Remote Shutter enables users to capture shots remotely.

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In addition to the tilting tripod mount, the GripTight PRO TelePod includes a cold shoe PRO mount for accessories, and a Pin Joint mount for action cameras like GoPro. The tripod can be extended to lengths up to 79cm / 31in and is made from fiberglass-reinforced nylon plus stainless steel. The tripod’s legs have three positions and a maximum flattened leg span of 36cm / 14in.

The GripTight PRO TelePod is available from JOBY’s website now for $ 100 USD.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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PETA and David Slater settle copyright lawsuit over monkey selfie

14 Sep
Photo: David Slater

PETA has announced that it has settled its copyright lawsuit against photographer David Slater over his iconic “monkey selfie,” a self-portrait allegedly taken by a macaque named Naruto. The image went viral a few years ago, ultimately catching the attention of PETA, who argued that Naruto—not Slater—was the image’s legal copyright holder. This spurred a lawsuit that has dragged on for about two years.

The legal issues began shortly after the monkey selfie went viral. Various sites used the image without Slater’s permission and refused to cease use on the claim that Slater didn’t own the copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office didn’t prove helpful in the matter, having issued an official guidance stating that copyright could only be granted to a work that was created by a human.

PETA swooped in soon after, hitting Slater with a lawsuit in 2015 on behalf of Naruto, the macaque it claimed captured the photo (there’s some debate on this topic). The resulting legal spat drained Slater financially, but things began looking up this past summer when courts questioned whether PETA even had the legal standing to bring a lawsuit on Naruto’s behalf, among other things. As anticipated, the courts’ push against the lawsuit has seemingly spurred a settlement.

According to an announcement posted to PETA’s blog on Tuesday, Slater has agreed to settlement terms that require him to donate 25% of future revenue from the image to charities that protect macaques like Naruto. PETA still maintains that Naruto and other macaques like him are, “worthy of having legal ownership of their own intellectual property and holding other rights as members of the legal community.”

The settlement was not a victory for the photography community, however. NPR reports that both Slater’s legal team and PETA have jointly requested that the 9th Circuit Court throw out a ruling made by a lower court that found animals incapable of owning copyrights.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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PETA is close to settling that ridiculous monkey selfie lawsuit

09 Aug
Photo: David Slater

PETA may be close to settling its lawsuit involving ‘Naruto’ the macaque monkey and a selfie it allegedly took using photographer David Slater’s camera. Per PETA’s 2015 legal claim, Naruto (the monkey) owns the copyright to the image, not Slater, because the animal took the selfie on its own—that lawsuit, which has dragged on for the better part of two years, has left Slater broke.

Slater’s troubles began shortly after the photo went viral, as multiple entities refused to remove the image from their publications on claims that Slater wasn’t the copyright owner. That boiled over into an official guidance issued by the U.S. Copyright Office, which stated that, under U.S. law, a copyright can only be issued on work created by a human. This effectively left the image without a copyright.

Joining the bandwagon soon after that guidance was issued was PETA, with its 2015 legal claim on behalf of the monkey. PETA argues that the monkey itself owns the copyright because it took the image; all the while, Slater continued to assert his own copyright claim over the image. The matter ultimately ended up in court.

Last month during oral arguments, PETA’s attorney was grilled by judges on several topics, including whether the company has a suitable relationship with ‘Naruto’ the monkey to bring a lawsuit on its behalf, as well as whether a non-human animal has the legal standing to bring a copyright lawsuit. This itself followed a case dismissal by a federal court in California, which found that a monkey isn’t legally able to hold the image’s copyright under the U.S. Copyright Act.

All signs point toward the courts siding against PETA in this lawsuit, and so it perhaps isn’t surprising that PETA is moving toward a settlement of the case. The most recent developments in the legal matter is that PETA and Slater have entered into settlement talks following the aforementioned oral arguments. Per a joint motion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit:

The parties have agreed on a general framework for a settlement subject to the negotiation and resolution of specific terms. The parties are optimistic that they will be able to reach an agreement that will resolve all claims in this matter.

The terms of this potential settlement weren’t detailed.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Panorama selfie goes horribly wrong, leads to viral photo

18 Jul

Need a bit of comic relief this Monday? How about nightmare fuel? This panorama selfie gone-wrong provides a little bit of both. The photo was captured by Mitchell Flann, who was using his Samsung Galaxy S7 to take a selfie of himself and girlfriend Erika Gomos.

They were using the phone’s Wide Selfie mode, which requires that you stand still while the camera is panned up to 120° to capture more of the scene. According to Samsung’s website, Wide Selfie “puts an end to getting cropped out.” While that’s technically correct, it did a bit more than that for Flann when Erika sneezed halfway through the selfie.

The nightmarish shot they captured has gone ‘viral’ as they say, earning an insane 150K upvotes on Reddit.

“We’re on vacation in Budapest and I couldn’t even enjoy the scenery at parliament because of the tears,” Flann said on Reddit. Apparently they’ve been taking photos like this across Europe, with some pretty fun malfunctions along the way, but nothing else has turned out quite like this.

Photo © Mitchell Flann, used with permission.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photographer behind famous ‘monkey selfie’ is broke after years-long copyright battle

14 Jul
The infamous photo, captured when the monkey pressed the shutter, has become the subject of a years-long copyright dispute that has left Slater broke. Photo: David Slater

Freelance photographer David Slater, once one of the most talked-about photographers in the world because of his serendipitous ‘monkey selfies,’ is now considering dog walking… or giving tennis lessons. According to The Guardian, the selfsame selfie that made Slater famous has left him broke after years of legal disputes between Slater and both Wikimedia and PETA.

In case you’ve not been following this strangest of copyright battles, the details are as follows. In 2011, Slater traveled to Sulawesi, Indonesia where, by his account, he managed to coax some macaques to start playing with his camera gear. Slater did this on purpose, he says, because he was having trouble getting a close up wide-angle shot of the monkeys with their eyes open.

His gambit worked. One of the macaques took a few ‘selfies’ that immediately went viral, earning Slater a few thousand pounds… then the legal troubles started.

Wikimedia refused to take down the photo at Slater’s request, claiming that he wasn’t the copyright holder since he didn’t press the shutter. Then the US Copyright Office ruled that animals cannot own copyrights, leaving the photo ostensibly author-less. And finally, since Slater continues to claim copyright, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued him on behalf of the macaque in 2015.

That pretty much brings us to yesterday’s article in The Guardian, in which Slater admits that years of legal battles have left him broke and ready to ‘pack it all in.’ He couldn’t even afford the airfare to attend his own trial in San Francisco this week—instead, he watched a livestream of the trial from his home in the UK.

Slater’s current predicament isn’t just a cautionary tale for photographers who dream of going viral, it offers fascinating insights into the archaic laws surrounding authorship and copyright. Of course, the idea that this case might prevent future photographers from going through something similar is probably small consolation for Slater at this junction.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Panasonic Lumix DC GX850 review: Lean selfie machine

11 May

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX850 (known as the GX800 and GF9 in some regions) is the brand’s most compact interchangeable lens camera (as of Spring 2017) and uses the same 16MP Four Thirds sensor as several of its siblings. Sold kitted with a 12-32mm collapsible zoom, stand-out features include a 180-degree flip-up touch LCD, Panasonic’s excellent Depth-from-Defocus AF and 4K video capture.

At its core the GX850 represents a combining of Panasonic’s style-oriented GF-line with the ultra-compact-oriented GM-line and replaces both the GM5 and GF8. However, its most similar sibling currently on the market is the larger, EVF-sporting GX85.

Key features:

  • 16MP Four Thirds MOS sensor
  • 4K/30/24p video capture
  • 4K Photo mode for 8MP stills at 30 fps
  • 5 fps bursts with continuous AF
  • 3″ 1.04M-dot touch LCD flips ups 180 degrees
  • Wi-Fi

Panasonic’s core customer for this camera is the casual user seeking a carry-everywhere-cam for documenting friends or family. This user is someone who prefers a selfie-screen to an EVF and favors ease-of-use and compactness. Since this ‘lifestyle’ camera buyer is likely to use the camera for a range of different types of photography, we’re going to see how it performs in a range of situations.

The rivals

Though the GX850 is Panasonic’s most entry-level camera, this segment of the mirrorless market has a lot of strong contenders to choose from. We’ve compared it to several of its most direct competitors below:

  Panasonic GX850 Panasonic GX85 Fujifilm X-A3 Fujifilm X-A10 Olympus E-PL8 Canon M10
MSRP w/ kit lens $ 550 $ 800 $ 600 $ 500 $ 650 $ 600
Sensor 16MP Four Thirds 16MP Four Thirds 24.2MP APS-C 16MP APS-C 16MP Four Thirds 18MP APS-C
Image stabilization Lens-only 5-axis in-body + lens Lens-only Lens-only 3-axis in-body + lens Lens-only
AF system Contrast-detect Contrast-detect Contrast-detect Contrast-detect Contrast-detect Hybrid AF
Viewfinder n/a 2.76M-Dot 0.7x n/a n/a n/a n/a
Screen 3″ 1.04M-dot 180° tilting touch 3″ 1.04M-dot tilting touch 3″ 920k-dot 180° tilting touch 3″ 1.04M-dot 180° tilting
(no touch)		 3″ 1.04M-dot 180° tilting touch 3″ 1.04M-dot 180° tilting touch
Number of control dials 1 2 2 2 1 1
Hotshoe No Yes Yes No Yes No
Burst rate w/ AF-C 5 fps 6 fps 6 fps 6 fps 3.5 fps 4.6 fps
Video 4K/24/30p 4K/24/30p 1080/60/24p 1080/30/24p 1080/30p 1080/30/24p

CIPA battery life

 210 290 410 410 350 255
Dimensions 106.5 x 64.6 x 33.3 mm 122 x 71 x 44 mm 116.9 x 66.9 x 40.4 mm 117 x 67 x 40 mm 115 x 67 x 38 mm 108 x 67 x 35 mm
Weight 269 g 426 g 290 g 331 g 357 g 301 g

As you can see from the chart, the two areas the GX850 has an advantage over its direct competitors include 4K video capture and size/weight.

The number of control dials is definitely a differentiator in this class. The GX850 has just one, located slightly awkwardly on the back. This view also shows its USB-charging and HDMI port.

Social, portrait and pet photography

The camera’s small size, touch capability and selfie screen make it an appealing choice for casually snapping images of friends, family and pets.

The default exposure behavior in its full auto mode, which is called Intelligent Auto (iA), tends to be sensible: the camera tries to maintain a shutter speed that is one over the focal length or greater. However, if the camera senses subject movement in iA mode, it will automatically increase the shutter speed, at the expense of ISO sensitivity. And if the shutter speed drops too low because of a lack of light, the camera will warn you that the shot might have blur due to camera shake. The GX850 never deploys the pop-up flash though, unless the user does. 

‘The default exposure behavior in Intelligent Auto mode tends to be sensible’

When shooting moving subject like kids or pets indoors, the GX850 does not always choose a fast enough mode to freeze the action, even if it senses movement. One way around this is to switch the camera into ‘Sport/Action’ mode, represented by a tiny running figure on the dial. However this mode still won’t always provide a fast enough shutter speed, but should be a better option than any of the other auto settings.

This is a good camera for casual photos of friends. And if you take the time to process the Raw files, as we’ve done here, you can get some great results. Photo by Dan Bracaglia

Face Detection is turned on by default out of the box (when using the iAuto mode) and is quite useful for documenting fellow human beings. In most cases, when Face Detect is engaged, the camera will lock focus on the most prominent person in one’s frame. Of course if the face is too small, obstructed, or there simply is not enough light, this mode will occasionally fail. And if no face is detected, the camera defaults to its 49-point area mode, which tends to focus on the nearest or most central object. 

Most users of this camera will leave it in JPEG mode and be totally satisfied. However to get the most out of the GX850, we recommend shooting Raw. The above image was processed through Adobe Camera Raw and ‘pops’ significantly more than the out of camera JPEG. In general, we found JPEG color to be a tad washed out, and skin tone color can occasionally look a little off.

You want a selfie screen? You’ve got a selfie screen.

Selfie screens are par for the course in this entry level class of camera. By default, when you flip the screen up, the camera uses a 3 sec timer before a photo is taken, and a countdown is displayed to prepare you for the decisive moment (this can be switched off).

There are also several ‘beautifying’ filters that can be applied to make your selfie sing, including a ‘Soft Skin’ and a ‘Slimming Effect’ filter. Both of these are adjusted via sliders ranging from 0-10. There is also a background defocus option that simulates a shallow depth-of-field. These options are fun to try, but mostly pretty silly.

As selfie, with no beautifying effects applied. A selfie with ‘Slimming’ and ‘Soft Skin’ set to 10/10.

Sharing images with the GX850 is also fairly straightforward. There are multiple ways to connect the camera to one’s device (you’ll need to download the Panasonic Image App first), though sadly the camera does not offer NFC to make life easier for Android users.

The first time you connect you’ll need to pull up Wi-Fi in the main menu, located at the bottom of page 1 in the ‘wrench menu,’ and select ‘Wi-Fi Function.’ There you can generate a local Wi-Fi network and connect your smart device. The app also allows you to control the camera remotely.

Sometimes you just have to share that delicious plate of pancakes with the world. The GX850 makes zapping photos from the camera to your smart device fairly painless, once you set up the connection. Photo by Allison Johnson.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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