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NASA astronaut Jessica Meir uses Nikon D5 to snap two space selfies

31 Jan

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir caught the public’s attention over the weekend when she published two selfies captured during a spacewalk using a Nikon D5 camera. Meir has shared a number of images from the International Space Station since her arrival in September 2019, though few were as impressive as her full-body selfie captured as a reflection in ISS solar panels.

Fine, visor up this time – but at least the magnificent Earth still makes an appearance too. All #spacewalk #selfies (and other photos) made possible with a Nikon D5 with a 28 mm lens in a protective housing (visible in center of 2nd photo). #SelfieSunday pic.twitter.com/AlmUjvCWDj

— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) January 26, 2020

Meir shared the images on January 26, tagging them with the #SundaySelfie hashtag. One is a traditional shot of her face while the other image is a full-body shot of Meir in her spacesuit as seen reflected in some solar panels. The Earth is visible as a bright band of light behind her, as are bits and pieces of the space station.

As for the camera, Meir explains that she used a Nikon D5 camera with a 28mm lens and special protective housing that enables the camera to operate in space. NASA ordered a total of 53 unmodified Nikon D5 DSLRs from the camera company in 2017 with the intention of using them for recording ISS activities, as well as vehicular activities and astronaut training.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Vantage Robotics Snap drone receives receive FAA-certification for flights over crowds of people

21 Nov

Normally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibits flying drones commercially over people in the United States. However, Vantage Robotics’ compact 4K-capable camera quadcopter Snap is now the first drone to receive FAA-certification for flights over crowds of people for both emergency and non-emergency purposes.

The Part 107.39 waiver granted to Rutherford County, Tennesee is a first for a county government in the United States. This is due to the drone’s comprehensive set of safety features, including protected rotors and a lightweight design that lets the drone break into several smaller and less dangerous pieces in the event of a crash.

Brian Robertson, Chief Information Officer for Rutherford, says in the press release:

‘Demands of today’s local governments mean we must function in as many scenarios as possible. The ability to safely and appropriately maneuver our aerial assets over and near event personnel or participants gives our program several new possibilities. Whether for routine coverage of numerous events such as Main Street’s Jazz Fest in May, Uncle Dave Macon Days in July, or during incidents such as the November 6 tornado, the ability to capture the gravity or details of these events from the unique perspective is a major addition to this public service.’

This is a small step towards more drones flying overhead at large events and in crowded areas. More information is available on the Vantage Robotics blog.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Throwback Thursday: Pokémon Snap

14 Apr

Photography makes guest appearances on plenty of video games, but it has rarely been the entire point of a game. Pokémon Snap is a rare exception, and if you ask any child of the 90’s who owned a Nintendo 64, it’s a heck of a way to spend hours of your time.

Pokémon Snap debuted in North America in June 1999, and gameplay is extremely simple. You play as Todd Snap, a guy on a perpetual Pokémon safari armed with a camera and a few tools designed to elicit interesting responses from the Pokémon: a Poke-flute and an endless supply of apples and ‘pester balls.’

The objective, per usual, is to ‘catch them all’, but in this game, catching them means taking a photo as you coast around Pokémon Island in a cart. At the end of each level Professor Oak rates and scores your photos based on composition and subject matter. Being the late ’90’s you are shooting film (looks like Fuji maybe?) so you have a limited number of frames to work with on every outing.

And that’s the whole game: figuring out what series of events or combination of annoyances will make Pokémon show themselves and provide the most photogenic reactions. Lure Pikachu to a surfboard with a trail of apples, and voila: surfing Pikachu photo. You could also hit them with pester balls, which seems like a poor way to treat a Pokémon, but you get a lot of points if they faint for your photo. And here’s a fun fact – apparently ‘participating Blockbuster stores’ would make small prints of your best Pokémon shots if you brought your cartridge in.

If you never played it then I imagine it sounds pointless at best. And if you offered it to a kid who’s grown up on a steady diet of big-budget, modern blockbuster games, I’m sure it looks about as exciting as Pong. But it was an unlikely hit with my generation, selling 1.5 million copies and achieving ‘cult classic’ status.

I didn’t have any particular interest in Pokémon or photography at that point, but I spent countless hours playing Pokémon Snap. It was irresistibly cute and rewarded experimentation. Before its US release IGN predicted it would be ‘a game solely intended for a Pokémon-crazed Japanese audience,’ but were eventually won over, calling it ‘an addictive, surprisingly fun gem of an experience that definitely deserves a rent.’ Looking back at the game almost two decades after its release, I’d still say that sums it up pretty well.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon D5600 review: making connectivity a snap?

01 Mar

The D5600 is the company’s mid-range DSLR and it’s the smallest and best-connected, yet.

Nikon has been on something of a roll, making solid DSLRs with good ergonomics, dependable metering, some of the best image sensors, often very good (often industry-leading) autofocus and a JPEG engine that gives results that lots of people like.

However, falling camera sales and rivalry both from smaller mirrorless models and the convenient, perpetually available smartphone means that producing a really good little DSLR isn’t quite enough. The D5600 aims to address this by making it as painless as possible to get the images from the camera to your phone, meaning that you get the huge benefit of a large sensor camera but with as small an energy barrier as possible.

As such, the addition of SnapBridge is virtually the only change between this and the older D5500. It may sound like a minor change but, to us, we feel it’s likely to be the making or the downfall of this model and perhaps it makes more sense than adding an array of clever but bewildering additional features and modes, as many rival makers seem to do.

Key Features:

24MP APC-S CMOS sensor
39 point AF sensor with 9 central cross-type points
2,016-pixel RGB sensor assists AF tracking and metering
Up to 5 fps continuous shooting
‘SnapBridge’ Bluetooth/Wi-Fi communication
1080/60p video capability
Time-lapse movie feature

SnapBridge

At its heart, SnapBridge is primarily a Bluetooth-based system which uses a low-energy connection to stay connected to your smart device (and sidestep the hurdles that mobile OSs might otherwise place in your way) and to transfer images. Although the camera is Wi-Fi capable, that capability is used solely for remote live view operation and video transfer.

We weren’t very impressed the first time we encountered SnapBridge: it seemed unfinished and not very well suited to the D500 where it first appeared. The high likelihood of the photographer wanting full resolution files and the camera’s propensity for generating lots of images made it a poor fit for that camera. However, on the mass-market D3400 it seemed much more likeable: you take the photos and 2MP versions appear on your phone shortly afterwards.

The needs of the D5600’s users are likely to lie somewhere between these two extremes, so we’ll see how well it does.

Review based on a camera running firmware v1.0. All SnapBridge commentary amended to reflect the behavior of firmware v1.1 and both iOS and Android app version V1.20

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Polaroid puts Snap Touch digital instant camera on display

20 Sep

Polaroid licensee C&A Marketing is showing an upgraded version of its original Polaroid Snap digital instant camera. The Polaroid Snap Touch adds a 3.5″ LCD touchscreen on the back of the camera for easier framing and control of the menus and settings. Images are captured on a new and improved 13 MP CMOS sensor and the new model is capable of recording 1080p Full-HD video. Images and video footage are saved on a microSD card up to 128GB in size.

Remote connectivity through Bluetooth to the Polaroid Print app for iOS or Android allows for printing from other devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and the app also offers editing functions including a range of filters and digital stickers.

As before, at the heart of the camera there is an integrated printer that uses using ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology, allowing for 2×3” prints in under a minute. Up to ten images can be queued, so that you can keep shooting while printing is still in progress. Selfie shooters will appreciate the self-timer and a pop-up selfie mirror for easy framing. The Polaroid Snap Touch is available in several colors and can now be preordered for $ 179.99.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Oh Snap! 15 Abandoned & Shuttered Fotomat Film Kiosks

09 May

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Rendered obsolete by technology, hundreds of abandoned Fotomat drive-thru photo development kiosks still stand in suburban shopping center parking lots.

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Founded in the mid-1960s, Fotomat specialized in drive-thru, “One Day Photo Service”… that’s right kids, people once had to wait until the next day to see photos (presumably of dinosaurs) they took with their clunky analog cameras. By 1980, over four thousand yellow & blue, pyramid-roofed Fotomat kiosks were scattered across suburban parking lots from coast to coast. Built to last on cast-concrete berms, hundreds of abandoned and re-purposed Fotomat kiosks still stand, reminding us of better days and good times cast in Kodachrome.

Wooden It Be Nice

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Fotomat Corporation sold out to Konica in 1986 – a timely move to be sure, considering the late-1980s advent of film processing minilabs that reduced photo development time from a day to just an hour. Now that’s progress! The subsequent introduction of digital cameras and then, camera-equipped smartphones were the final nails in Fotomat’s coffin.

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While some Fotomat booths were re-purposed into key-cutting kiosks, coffee drive-thru’s and so on, others were reborn in wholly unexpected ways. Flickr user Patrick Cummins (collations) brings us this odd ex-Fotomat located in a shopping center parking lot in northern Toronto, Canada. The kiosk appears to have been made over as some sort of naturist art project before being abandoned for good.

Unloved In Lovington

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When you’re a Fotomac or Fotomate (as male and female staffers were cutely called) staffing a Fotomat kiosk in Lovington, New Mexico, your worst nightmare would be when the air conditioner conked out. At least one could compare miseries with whomever staffed that curious windmill booth in the near background. Flickr user Luis Capwell captured the poignant essence of this roofless abandoned Fotomat on March 5th of 2011.

A-Peeling

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abandoned-fotomat-4c

This faded & abandoned Fotomat kiosk in Dayton, Ohio lost its appeal long ago – even the OPEN/CLOSED sign has seen better days. “Yes, We’re Open”? No, you’re not.

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abandoned-fotomat-4e

A weathered coat of desultory grey/brown paint grudgingly reveals the booth’s original sky-blue walls through cracks encouraged by numerous bitter Ohio winters. Even the concrete is peeling. Flickr user Rob Anspach (Circa71) visited the decrepit former Fotomat at the Linden Shopping Center in April of 2009, if only to take photos – not leave them.

Forlorn & For Lease

abandoned-fotomat-5a

“The cute little hut with the big yellow roof”… now there’s a Kodak moment for ya! On August 21st of 2007, Flickr user Joe Balynas (muledriver) photo-documented the above ex-Fotomat (most recently, a drive-thru coffee shack) looking for a further reincarnation. The jumbo add-on fluorescent sign should help.

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Oh Snap 15 Abandoned Shuttered Fotomat Film Kiosks

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Oh Snap! Handmade GiftsPhotographers Will Love

23 Oct

Do you love shopping on Etsy? Us, too!

This global community of creators sell everything from home decor to handmade jewelry to fun photo-related doodads.

In fact, we found ten of THE cutest and most original Etsy products that awesome photogs like you are sure to love.

Read on and pick yourself up a treat—or get inspired to make your own!

(…)
Read the rest of Oh Snap! Handmade Gifts
Photographers Will Love (473 words)

Photojojo

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Posted in Equipment

Vantage Robotics’ new Snap 4K camera quadcopter is up for preorder

24 Sep

Vantage Robotics has a new 4K camera quadcopter called Snap, and it’s now up for pre-order. The company calls this a ‘flying camera’, one that fits in a backpack and is safe enough to grab out of the air with a bare hand. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Polaroid Snap instant digital camera prints 2×3″ photos

04 Sep

This year’s IFA show in Berlin saw the introduction of the Polaroid Snap instant digital camera. It features a 10 megapixel sensor and integrated ZINK Zero Ink printer that produces 2 x 3 inch adhesive-backed color photos using heat-activated dye crystals and a polymer overcoat rather than ink. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Road Blocks: LEGO-Like Modular Roads & Paths Snap Into Place

21 Jul

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

road blocks lego 1

New roads could be quickly and easily slotted into place, piece by piece, with a new Lego-like modular plastic system that makes the building process feel more like playtime. Prototypes of the PlasticRoad concept will soon be tested in a collaboration with the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, potentially replacing asphalt and tar with a strong, corrosion-resistant recycled aggregate made of plastic waste removed from the oceans.

road blocks lego 2

According to manufacturer VolkerWessels, these modular components can withstand temperatures between -40 and 176 degrees Fahrenheit and other harsh weather conditions, and are ideal for roads built upon structurally unsound ground like sand. It’s unclear whether they would shift around on surfaces like that over time, however, or how cars would handle on their surfaces when it’s rainy, snowy or icy.

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They’re hollow, so cables and utility pipelines can be installed under the surface, protected from the elements and easy to maintain. Quick installation means far briefer periods of disrupted traffic during construction, and the prefabricated panels can simply be transported to the sight and lowered into place. If they pass the tests, the PlasticRoad project could see its first real-life installation in Rotterdam within three years.

smart highways

The concept is reminiscent of other asphalt alternatives that have been proposed over the years, like ‘smart highways’ covered with dynamic paint providing useful information to drivers (pictured above) and heated, LED-light-embedded solar roadways. The latter concept has been dismissed by many critics as unrealistic, considering the vast expense involved in manufacturing and maintaining them and the likelihood that they would draw power from the grid anytime it’s not sunny.

360Photography

Posts Tagged ‘Snap’

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir uses Nikon D5 to snap two space selfies

Vantage Robotics Snap drone receives receive FAA-certification for flights over crowds of people

Throwback Thursday: Pokémon Snap