360Photography

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  • Condition One unveils rugged ‘Bison’ rig for outdoor VR documentaries

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    Production studio and early VR adopter Condition One has created its own rugged VR camera for internal use called ‘Bison,’ a name which references the first thing the company’s founder Danfung Dennis recorded with an early prototype. The camera won’t be put up for sale, and will instead be used to help create future VR features.

    The company showcased Bison at NAB recently; the rig features a total of 16 cameras that produce 360-degree stereoscopic 3D videos with 3D positional audio. Videos are recorded at 48 fps with a combined 5.7K resolution. According to Condition One’s website, Bison can shoot footage at distances as close as 60cm/2ft, has a 2 hour recording time, a thermal management system, custom aluminum rig, custom carbon fiber tripod, remote trigger with a 792m/2600ft range and tablet control.

    Final footage is created using Condition One’s proprietary 3D 360 stitching algorithms and software; the company describes the process as being ‘a fully automated production pipeline’ that it claims is the fastest and highest quality in the industry. Companies and teams interested in creating movies with Bison will need to team up with the studio to gain access.

    Via: Wired

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Maximum sharpness: Nikon’s automated AF Fine Tune explained

    Among the features introduced in Nikon’s new D5 and D500 DSLRs, we’re very excited by automated AF Fine Tune. This feature allows users to quickly fine-tune their specific camera bodies and lenses, maximising the chances of a sharp shot and avoiding the lengthy process of trial-and-error tuning that was previously necessary. Watch our video and read our in-depth analysis.

    What’s the problem?

    If you’re a DSLR shooter, you may be acutely aware of consistent front or back-focus issues with some of your lenses, particularly fast ones like F1.4 primes. Mirrorless users tend to not have such issues, because their cameras focus using their image sensors. When a mirrorless camera says it’s achieved focus, generally it’s actually in focus. That doesn’t necessarily hold true with DSLRs, which use a secondary phase-detect sensor under the mirror as a sort of proxy for focus at the imaging plane. This makes DSLR focus sensitive to misalignments between the secondary AF module and the image sensor, and also requires calibration of the optics inside the module itself. Furthermore, the way these phase-detect AF modules makes them sensitive to certain lens aberrations, like spherical aberration.

    Manufacturers of DSLR bodies and lenses do a lot of calibrations to make sure that this isn’t an issue, calibrating every AF point at the factory, writing look-up tables into lenses, and more. But the reality of tolerances is such that you’ll be best off if you calibrate your particular copy of a lens and your particular copy of a body yourself. That’s what AF Fine Tune, or AF micro-adjustment as Canon calls it, is all about.

    State of the current art…

    Up until now, this calibration procedure has required cumbersome procedures for accurate calibration. We’d often set a camera up on a tripod and align it to a LensAlign (which has a sighting tool), then have to change the set up to test different subject distances, lighting, or lenses. Some photographers even try to Fine Tune on the spot by trying different values and seeing if a real-world target looks sharper or not – but this method is extremely prone to error. Solutions like FoCal have tried to automate the procedure, but again, the requirement of a chart and a computer is cumbersome.*

    … disrupted

    Nikon’s new automated AF Fine Tune makes things as easy as child’s play. It uses contrast-detect AF in live view, which focuses using the image sensor and is nearly always accurate, to calibrate its own phase-detect AF system. Watch our video above to get an idea of just how easy it is to calibrate your lenses on the new D5 and D500 cameras.

    A couple of things are worth keeping in mind. For some lenses and systems, the optimal calibration value can change for different subject distances. This isn’t necessarily always the case, but you may wish to calibrate for the subject distances you’re most likely to shoot for any particular lens. For a good all-round calibration, we’re told that using a target approximately 40x the focal length away strikes a good balance.

    The key here is to play around a bit. Try a couple different distances, a few different runs, and make sure you’re getting a consistent result. Sometimes we’ve found the optimal value to change with lighting temperature, but this sort of thing is precisely why the automated procedure is so valuable: if you’re running into trouble with focus, you can – right at the wedding reception you’re shooting – set the camera on a table, point it at a static object, and calibrate your camera in under 10 seconds. Yeah, we timed ourselves.

    The result

    Here’s an example of how Fine Tune helped calibrate our Nikon 24/1.8 to our D5. Roll your mouse over the ‘OFF’ and ‘ON’ buttons to see Sam’s eye sharpen up. If you click on the main image, you can see the full image in a separate window, where you’ll notice that the ‘OFF’ shot is front-focused on Sam’s nose, while the ‘ON’ shot is focused correctly on his eye. We placed a single AF point over Sam’s left eye (on camera right) for focus in both cases.

    AF Fine Tune OFF
    (focused on nose)
    AF Fine Tune ON
    (focused on eye)

    In this case, for this lens paired to this body, automated AF Fine Tune found a value of +14 was best. This indicates that for correct focus, the camera has to shift focus backward an arbitrary 14 units from the focus reading the phase-detect sensor makes. In other words, out of the box, this lens on our D5 front-focuses. If it had back-focused out-of-the-box by a similar amount, we might have expected the automated procedure to find -14 to be the optimal value.

    How we’d like to see this feature evolve

    AF Fine Tune currently only writes one global value per lens. This means the calibration value can’t be adjusted for either end of a zoom. Furthermore, only the center point can be calibrated – the camera assumes that the calibration at the factory ensures all points are consistent with one another and, importantly, the center point. Finally, as mentioned earlier, sometimes the optimal value can change based on subject distance.

    Canon cameras currently at least offer to microadjustment values for either end of a zoom, but don’t offer any sort of automation to help you out. Sigma and Tamron USB docks allow for calibration at either end of the zoom, and for 3 to 4 different subject distance ranges, allowing for a high degree of accuracy of calibration. Unfortunately, entering 4 different subject distance ranges for two ends of a zoom mean the user has to literally set up the camera 8 times, with some sort of test target for accurate assessment – hardly practical for most working photographers.  

    The key here is automation: automating opens up a world of opportunities, and automated Fine Tune is an important first step. We’d even imagine a future implementation where calibration data for all focus points is stored and learned from over time. Every time you calibrate a particular point, the camera could retain subject distance information (passed on to it via the lens), and over time learn the best calibration values for each point, for all subject distances, for different temperatures and lighting as well (the latter are often minor concerns).

    To sum up…

    Nikon’s automated AF Fine Tune is truly one of the most welcome features we’ve seen added to a DSLR in recent times. We’ve wondered for years why camera companies don’t use their contrast-detect AF to self-calibrate their phase-detect systems, instead relegating calibration to a cumbersome end-user experience.

    Automated Fine Tune changes all that. It’s a really useful feature that takes a lot of guesswork and cumbersome aspects of calibrating yourself out of the equation, allowing you to do it on the spot, at an event, anywhere, on the fly. In fact, anyone working with shallow depth-of-field imagery should absolutely perform this procedure. Wedding, newborn, portrait, lifestyle, photojournalist, and even sports photographers: take note.

    * We really like Reikan FoCal for research purposes though: you get a plethora of data for how a body/lens combination behaves at different subject distances, on different days, under different lighting, and even a map of the optimal calibration value per AF point. Of course, since you can only enter one global adjustment value into your camera, this information is a bit more academic, but if you want to get an idea of the behavior of your system, there’s probably no more comprehensive tool than FoCal.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Super stable: Panasonic GX85 pre-production sample gallery

    Photo by Jeff Keller

    The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 / GX80 takes just about everything we like about the GX8 and crams it into a body size that’s a lot more in line with the older GX7. In the shrinking process, you lose the high-res tilting viewfinder, the new 20MP sensor and weather sealing. But don’t think you’re getting a bad deal; you gain Panasonic’s Dual-IS feature while recording 4K video (the first camera to do so), you get an updated 16MP chip that now lacks an anti-aliasing filter, and there’s a new JPEG mode dubbed L. Monochrome.

    We’ve taken a pre-production GX85 with us around the Puget Sound region with a variety of lenses to see how it measures up.

    Click to see our Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX85 / GX80 pre-production samples gallery

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Learning curve: LensRentals examines a series of linear focus motors

    To the point…

    Quick and to the point: that’s the reasoning behind the use of linear focus motors, but it’s less true of the latest blog post on the subject, over on LensRentals.com. That’s what we love about the crew’s in-depth teardowns. In their latest post they tear apart a series of linear drive lenses and discuss the various designs they’ve encountered. Some are pretty robust and others, well, take a look for yourself…

    Click here to read the LensRentals Blog post about Linear Electromagnetic Motor focusing

    The need for new designs

    The ring-type focus motors [pictured above] that were traditionally the default choice for high-end DSLR lenses are not especially well suited to the needs of mirrorless cameras or video shooting. Contrast detection autofocus requires not just being able to move a focus group quickly but also the ability to stop it, then drive it back in the other direction, all with high precision. Video requires silent and carefully-controlled focus drive, to allow smooth refocusing while the camera is recording. These different requirements have prompted the adoption of new types of focus motors.

    Linear electromagnetic motors

    Among the more popular alternatives to ring-type drive is the linear motor, which features a permanent magnet and a coil of wire that, when electricity is run through it, slides along a bar parallel with the magnet. In principle these fulfill the things demanded of them: fast, precise and quiet (we’ve been very impressed by how fast some of the linear motor lenses we’ve used can be).

    Surprisingly, the internet has very few good diagrams of these designs, but you can sometimes recognize lenses that use this type of motor because the focus element rattles around when the camera is switched off. This is because in many linear motor lenses the focus element is only held in position when power is being provided to the focus coil – the rest of the time, the focus carriage can just slide up and down its rails. This isn’t true of the Sony and Zeiss designs that much of the blog post discusses – these appear to have some sort of brake to stop this disconcerting behavior.

    Rattle and, er, break

    Generally we don’t worry too much about this rattling, but perhaps we should. LensRental’s experience with large numbers of hard-worked lenses reveals that not all linear motor designs are the same. Early Sony motors attach the moving coil to the focus element carriage with just a single blob of glue. Oddly enough, this can fail; leaving the coil racing up and down the rail but with the focus element uncoupled. Later designs do a better job of securing the moving coil to the carriage, prompting Roger Cicala to define two categories within lenses of this kind: Type 1 motors and Type 1a designs that are very similar but don’t break so readily.

    No right answer

    As well as highlighting a failure mechanism of poor designs, Cicala and Co’s teardowns hint at a fundamental shortcoming of linear motor’s capabilities. Fujifilm’s use of two, three and four linear motors in some lens designs suggests that they struggle to move large, heavy lens elements quickly, taking a brute-force approach.

    This is also likely to explain why Sony adopted three different focus drive technologies (linear electromagnetic motor, piezoelectric direct drive and ring-type motors, sometimes in combination) in its recently-announced GM series of lenses: because there isn’t yet a single technology that provides all the necessary characteristics in a way that works for all lens designs.

    Results, not technologies

    Like LensRentals, we’ve seen very different results between the best and the worst examples of each lens motor type, which is why we try to concentrate on performance, rather than technology, when we write about lenses. We’ve also been lucky not to experience any of the motor failures (perhaps better described as motor detachments), that LensRentals has seen, but it’s interesting to see the designs of lenses improve as manufacturers become more experienced at using each technology. Or, as in the case of the Sony 70-200mm F2.8 pictured here, a mixture of technologies.

    We also hope Cicala makes good on his promise to look at other emerging focus technologies, and the ways in which they’re developing, in the coming weeks.

    Click here to read the LensRentals Blog post about Linear Electromagnetic Motor focusing

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Huawei clarifies Leica involvement in P9 camera design

    Huawei has released a statement clarifying Leica’s involvement in creating its P9 and P9 Plus camera module. Read more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Nikon announces delays for DL-series and other compacts

    Nikon has announced delays of some recently announced compacts, including the DL-series compacts, the Coolpix A300/A900, B500/B700 and the KeyMission 360. In a statement issued today, Nikon also indicates that its part suppliers in the Kumamoto Prefecture affected by recent earthquakes are experiencing delays which will have an inevitable impact on production across much of its product range, but it’s unclear to what degree the revised shipping dates are related. Sony appears to be one of those affected suppliers, as its sensor production is currently shut down, and a Fujifilm subsidiary that produces LCD components may also have a trickle-down effect. 

    The Nikon DL18-50, DL24-85 and DL24-500 1″-sensor compacts were originally scheduled for a June release, and a new shipping date has yet to be determined. Nikon cites ‘serious issues with the integrated circuit for image processing’ as the cause for the delay.

    According to Nikon, the Coolpix A300 and B500 will be delayed until May 2016, and the Coolpix A900 and B700 are pushed back until July 2016. All four were originally scheduled for an April release. The news is worse for the KeyMission 360 action cam. Originally expected this spring, it won’t ship until October 2016.

    Press release:

    Update on digital camera release

    April 20, 2016 TOKYO – Nikon Corporation announced today delays in the release of new digital cameras and the effects of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.

    Delays in the release of new digital cameras

    The new Nikon compact digital cameras, COOLPIX A300 and B500 will be available in May 2016, the COOLPIX A900 and B700 will arrive in July 2016 and the Nikon KeyMission 360 action camera will be available in October 2016 as more time is required for software adjustment.

    The new COOLPIX products were originally scheduled for release in April and the KeyMission 360 action camera was announced for a spring 2016 release.

    In addition, the premium compact cameras, Nikon DL18-50 f/1.8-2.8, DL24-85 f/1.8-2.8, and DL24-500 f/2.8-5.6, will be delayed due to the serious issues with the integrated circuit for image processing built into the three new premium compact cameras, originally scheduled for a June 2016 release.

    The new release date has yet to be determined and we will announce the information as soon as it is decided.

    The effects of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes

    The suppliers of parts for Nikon products such as digital cameras with interchangeable lenses, interchangeable lenses, and compact digital cameras, which include those mentioned above, were affected by the series of earthquakes that started on April 14 in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan, and this will inevitably impact our production and sales.

    We are currently investigating the situation, and we will announce the details as soon as they are confirmed.

    We sincerely apologize to our customers, business partners and all those who have expressed interest in these models for the delays. We are making every effort to bring these models to market at the earliest possible date without compromising on our standards and the total Nikon product experience.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Lytro poised to forever change filmmaking: debuts Cinema prototype and short film at NAB

    Lytro debuted its Cinema prototype to an eager crowd at NAB 2016 in Las Vegas, NV.

    Lytro greeted a packed showroom at NAB 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada to demo its prototype Lytro Cinema camera and platform, as well as debut footage shot on the system. To say we’re impressed from what we saw would be an understatement: Lytro may be poised to change the face of cinema forever.

    The short film ‘Life’, containing footage shot both on Lytro Cinema as well as an Arri Alexa, demonstrated some of the exciting applications of light field in video. Directed by Academy Award winner Robert Stromberg and shot by VRC Chief Imaging Scientist David Stump, ‘Life’ showcased the ability of light field to obviate green screens, allowing for extraction of backgrounds or other scene elements based off of depth information, and seamless integration of CGI elements into scenes. Lytro calls it ‘depth screening’, and the effect looked realistic to us.

    ‘Life’ showcased the ability of Lytro Cinema to essentially kill off the green screen

    Just as exciting was the demonstration of a movable virtual camera in post: since the light field contains multiple perspectives, a movie-maker can add in camera movement at the editing stage, despite using a static camera to shoot. And we’re not talking about a simple pan left/right, up/down, or a simple Ken Burns effect… we’re talking about actual perspective shifts. Up, down, left, right, back and forth, even short dolly movements – all simulated by moving a virtual camera in post, not by actually having to move the camera on set. To see the effect, have a look at our interview with Ariel Braunstein of Lytro, where he presents a camera fly-through from a single Lytro Illum shot (3:39 – 4:05):

    The Lytro Cinema is capable of capturing these multiple perspectives because of ‘sub-aperture imaging’. Head of Light Field Video Jon Karafin explains that the system is made of multiple lenses (we see what appears to be two separate openings in the photo below), and behind each lens, in front of the sensor, is a microlens array consisting of millions of small lenses similar to what traditional cameras have. The difference, though, is that there is a 6×6 pixel array underneath each microlens, meaning that any one XY position of those 36 pixels under one microlens, when combined with the same position pixel under all other microlenses, represents the scene as seen through one portion, or ‘sub-aperture’ of the lens. These 36 sub-aperture images essentially provide 36 different perspectives, which then allow for computational reconstruction of the image with all the benefits of light field.

    The 36 different perspectives affords you some freedom of movement in moving a virtual camera in post, but it is of course limited, affected by considerations like lens, focal length, and subject distance. It’s not clear yet what that range of freedom is with the Cinema, but what we saw in the short film was impressive, something cinematographers will undoubtedly welcome in place of setting up motion rigs for small camera movements. Even from a consumer perspective, consider what auto-curation of user-generated content could do with tools like these. Think Animoto on steroids.

    Front of the Lytro Cinema, on display at NAB 2016. We see two openings, though it’s not clear how many main imaging lenses exist in the prototype yet.

    We’ve focused on depth screening and perspective shift, but let’s not forget all the other benefits light field brings. The multiple perspectives captured mean you can generate 3D images or video from every shot at any desired parallax disparity (3D filmmakers often have to choose their disparity on-set, only able to optimize for one set of viewing conditions). You can focus your image after the fact, which saves critical focus and focus approach (its cadence) for post.* Selective depth-of-field is also available in post: choose whether you want shallow, or extended, depth-of-field, or even transition from selective to extensive depth-of-field in your timeline. You can even isolate shallow or extended depth-of-field to different objects in the scene using focus spread: say F5.6 for a face to get it all in focus, but F0.3 for the rest of the scene.

    Speaking of F0.3 (yes, you read that right), light field allows you to simulate faster (and smaller) apertures previous thought impossible in post, which in turn places fewer demands on lens design. That’s what allowed the Illum camera to house a 30-250mm equiv. F2.0 constant aperture lens in relatively small and lightweight body. You could open that aperture up to F1.0 in post, and at the demo of Cinema at NAB, Lytro impressed its audience with – we kid you not – F0.3 depth-of-field footage.

    The sensor housing appears to be over a foot wide. That huge light field sensor gets you unreal f-stops down to F0.3

    But all this doesn’t come without a cost: the Lytro Cinema appears massive, and rightfully so. A 6×6 pixel array underneath each microlens means there are 36 pixels for every 1 pixel on a traditional camera; so to maintain spatial resolution, you need to grow your sensor, and your total number of pixels. Which is exactly what Lytro did – the sensor housing appeared to our eyes to be over a foot in width, sporting a whopping 755 million total pixels. The optics aren’t small either. The total unit lives on rails on wheels, so forget hand-held footage – for now. Bear in mind though, the original technicolor cinematic camera invented back in 1932 appeared similarly gargantuan, and Lytro specifically mentioned that different versions of Cinema are planned, some smaller in size.

    The Lytro Cinema is massive. The sensor is housed in the black box behind the orange strut, which appears to be at least a foot wide. It comes with its own traveling server to deal with the 300GB/s data rates. Processing takes place in the cloud where Google spools up thousands of CPUs to compute each thing you do, while you work with real-time proxies.

    So what does 755MP get you? A lot of data, for starters. We spoke to Lytro some time back about this, and were told that the massive sensor requires a bandwidth of around 300GB/s. That means Lytro Cinema comes with its own server on-set to capture that data. But processing that data isn’t easy either – in fact, no mortal laptop or desktop need apply. Lytro is partnering with Google to send footage to the cloud, where thousands of CPUs crunch the data and provide you real-time proxies for editing. One major concern with Lytro’s previous cameras was the resolution trade-off: recording angular information means that spatial resolution is sacrificed. The Illum had a roughly 40MP sensor, yet yielded only roughly 5MP images, a roughly 10-fold resolution cost. With 755MP though, even a 10x resolution cost would yield 76MP – well above the requirements for 4K video.**

    Thousands of CPUs on Google’s servers crunch the data and provide you real-time proxies for editing

    Speculation aside, the 4K footage from the Lytro Cinema that was mixed with Arri Alexa footage to create the short ‘Life’, viewed from our seating position, appeared comparable to what one might expect from professional cinema capture. Importantly, the footage appeared virtually noise free – which one might expect of such a large sensor area. Since image data from many pixels are used for any final image pixel, a significant amount of noise averaging occurs – yielding a clean image, and a claimed 16 stops of dynamic range.

    That’s incredibly impressive, given all the advantages light field brings. This may be the start of something incredibly transformative for the industry. After all, who wouldn’t want the option for F0.3 depth-of-field with perfect focus in post, adjustable shutter angle, compellingly real 3D imagery when paired with a light field display, and more? With increased capabilities for handling large data bandwidths, larger sensors, and more pixels, we think some form of light field will exist perhaps in most cameras of the future. Particularly when it comes to virtual reality capture, which Lytro also intends to disrupt with Immerge.

    It’s impressive to witness how far Lytro has come in such a short while, and we can’t wait to see what’s next. For more information, visit Lytro Cinema.

    * If it’s anything like the Illum, though, some level of focusing will still be required on set, as there are optimal planes of refocus-ability.

    ** We don’t know what the actual trade-off is for the current Lytro Cinema. It’s correlated to the number of pixels underneath each microlens, and effective resolution can change at different focal planes.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Kumamoto earthquake keeps Sony sensor factory shuttered

    The major earthquakes that struck Japan on April 14th and 15th have closed Sony’s Kumamoto factory, which primarily manufactures sensors for digital cameras. Due to ongoing aftershocks and inspections of the buildings and manufacturing equipment, it’s not clear when the Kumamoto factory will be back in business.

    The company’s factories in Isahaya City and Oita City were shuttered briefly, but have since resumed normal operations. Sony says that the impact on its financials is ‘currently being evaluated.’

    Nikon says that it too is affected by the earthquakes due to damage at their component suppliers (Sony is a known supplier of Nikon’s sensors), which has greatly delayed the release of its three DL enthusiast compacts, the KeyMission 360 action cam and a pair of Coolpix cameras. 

    Press Releases:

    Status of Sony Group Manufacturing Operations Affected by 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes

    (Tokyo, April 18, 2016) Sony Corporation (“Sony”) extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the earthquakes in Kumamoto.

    Due to the earthquake of April 14 and subsequent earthquakes in the Kumamoto region, the following Sony Group manufacturing sites have been affected:

    Operations at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kumamoto Technology Center (located in Kikuchi Gun, Kumamoto Prefecture), which primarily manufactures image sensors for digital cameras and security cameras as well as micro-display devices, were halted after the earthquake on April 14, and currently remain suspended. Damage to the site’s building and manufacturing lines is currently being evaluated, and with aftershocks continuing, the timeframe for resuming operations has yet to be determined.

    Although some of the manufacturing equipment at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Nagasaki Technology Center (located in Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture), which is Sony’s main facility for smartphone image sensor production, and Oita Technology Center (located in Oita City, Oita Prefecture), which commenced operations as a wholly-owned facility of Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation on April 1, had been temporarily halted, the affected equipment has been sequentially restarted from April 17, and production has resumed. Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kagoshima Technology Center (located in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture) has continued its production operations after the earthquakes, and there have been no major effects on its operations.

    Sony has confirmed the safety of all of its and its group companies’ employees in the region affected by the earthquakes.

    The impact of these events on Sony’s consolidated results is currently being evaluated.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Prime time: Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN | C full-production sample gallery

    We had our first opportunity to shoot with the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary at CP+, spending some time with a pre-production lens taking in Japan’s freshly snow-coated landscapes. With a full-production lens in hand and good weather in the air, we’ve put the Sigma 30mm through its paces a little closer to home. Designed for Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-mount cameras, the featherweight prime is at home on Sony’s a6300 and a6000. Take a look at what this combo can do.

    Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN | C real-world sample gallery

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Miggo wants to ‘DSLR your iPhone’ with the Pictar grip

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    Accessory manufacturer miggo has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new iPhone grip that it says brings DSLR-style controls to many current iPhone models. The Pictar grip uses conventional buttons, wheels and dials to deliver a traditional camera experience that makes the photo feature of the phone easier to navigate, and the company claims the app that complements the grip allows greater camera control than the standard iPhone interface.

    While most devices that connect wirelessly with smartphones do so using potentially battery-draining Bluetooth, the Pictar grip communicates with an iPhone app using high frequency sound that humans can’t hear but which the phone’s microphone can. It’s definitely a unique approach, and it’s not clear whether it will drive your dog crazy.

    Turning the wheels and dials creates unique tones that instruct the app what it is the user wants to do. All of the controls can be customized to suit the user, but by default one of the top plate dials is set to deliver exposure compensation while the finger wheel on the front of the camera is used as a zoom or, when pressed, to switch from front to rear cameras – for selfies.

    The Pictar grip is adjustable which allows it to work with a range of past, current (excluding the larger 6s Plus) and future models, and as there is no physical communications plug or socket the company says its device is not reliant on Apple maintaining its current form factor or connections.

    The Pictar grip provides a cold shoe for microphones and lighting, as well as a tripod socket on its base. It is powered by a CR ½ AA battery which miggo says will last between six and eight months. The miggo Pictar will cost $ 90 and, if the campaign is successful, will come to market in December.

    For more information see the miggo website, and the Pictar Kickstarter campaign page.

    Press release:

    miggo Transcends the Limitations of Mobile Photography with the Launch of Pictar

    Inspired by classic camera design, Pictar unleashes the true photographic power of iPhones

    New York – miggo, which first made its worldwide debut with the innovative Strap & Wrap and Grip & Wrap protective carrying solutions for digital cameras, today unveiled its most revolutionary offering yet – Pictar. High-tech and cutting edge, Pictar is an ergonomically advanced Camera-Grip for the iPhone that brings the familiar controls of a DSLR right to users’ fingertips.

    Key features of Pictar include:
    – Five user programmable wheels/buttons for full user control.
    – Ergonomic grip for one handed use.
    – Revolutionary communication between hardware and App via ultrasonic sounds.
    – Compatibility with most iPhone models (4-6s and planned support for future models).
    – Control over iPhone camera features not possible in the native App.

    While the digital camera incorporated in each new generation of the iPhone has improved dramatically, what has stayed the same since its introduction is the way consumers hold the device and navigate its features and settings. With that in mind, when it comes to taking a photo, it’s not very ergonomic and simply does not compare to the traditional experience offered by that of a dedicated DSLR. Advanced shooters welcome a DSLR’s physical controls which put frequently used settings right at their fingertips – something Pictar was designed specifically to replicate. By bringing these physical controls to the iPhone, Pictar offers unprecedented control and gives users the ability to take their iPhone photography to a completely new level and transform the way they use it to take photos and video.

    “As the adage goes, the best camera you have is the one you have with you,” said Guy Sprukt, co-founder of miggo. “It’s no secret that one of the most popular smartphones in the world is also one of the most widely used digital cameras.  The image quality of the phone can rival that of some of the best digital cameras on the market. With Pictar, we’re looking to give users – whether they be professionals or social shutterbugs — the ability to DSLR their iPhone and completely unleash its full potential.”

    The Pictar project is the result of over a year of extensive research and development focusing on alleviating the shortcomings as it relates to the ergonomics and control of the iPhone. miggo’s product design engineers devoted significant resources to developing a solution to address these shortcomings and help deliver an experience that’s more natural, more comfortable, and that delivers better results.

    Key shortcomings addressed by Pictar include:
    * Poor control – while touchscreens have proven to be the method of choice for many of today’s mobile devices, they simply aren’t fast enough when it comes to navigating menus or accessing camera controls. Because of this, users choose to simply press capture or record i.e. take the pictures on Auto and fail to truly experience what the iPhone could offer.

    * Uncomfortable grip- sleek and slim, the iPhone simply does not offer users a comfortable or secure grip when using the device to capture photos or videos. Due to the way users are forced to hold the phone, it’s often easily dropped or results are often not sharp enough because of an unsteady hand, especially when operating with just one hand.

    Pictar features five external controls which operate key settings and includes a patented, revolutionary interface which utilizes high-frequency dual tone sound to activate and control the camera, saving significant battery power compared to standard Bluetooth connectivity. In addition, the ergonomically designed grip allows for one handed operation and sharper images.

    In addition, users will also benefit from the optional hand and neck straps, which offer peace of mind, saving Pictar and the user’s iPhone from damage in the event of accidental drops. Both straps feature quick release buckles which enable the user to effortlessly switch between both to suit their needs. Moreover, for safe storage, miggo also includes a stylish padded pouch. Manufactured from neoprene, the pouch will protect Pictar when not in use and can also be attached to a belt or bag for easy transport.

    External controls and features include:
    1. Multi-state shutter button – electronically calibrated to provide maximum sensitivity, just like that of a traditional DSLR. Pictar’s shutter button offers a “half press” mode to lock focus and exposure for easy tracking of a moving object or to create a desired composition, as well as full-press for immediate shutter release.

    2. Zoom ring – located right under the index finger, the rotating zoom ring alleviates the need to touch the screen to pinch-and-zoom, making it easy for the user to zoom in and out with just one hand. The zoom ring can also be programmed and changed by user to suit specific needs.

    3. Selfie button – clicking the zoom ring will switch between the iPhone’s front and back camera for easy “selfie” shots.  Like the rotation of the zoom ring, the button can also be programmed and changed by user to suit specific needs and control other settings.

    4. Exposure compensation wheel – located on the rear of Pictar, the exposure compensation wheel helps the user determine the exact level of exposure. Based on the user’s preference, the exposure compensation wheel – like Pictar’s selfie button and zoom ring – can also be programmed and changed from its default setting to control other features

    5. Smart wheel – customizable, the smart wheel allows users – beginners and advanced – to control a variety of functions. In default mode it changes the camera’s preset modes: sports, landscape, portrait and for the more advanced users, full manual, aperture priority and more. Advanced photographers can choose to program the smart wheel to control other functions, such as manual mode, shutter speed, iso, flash modes and white balance settings.

    6. Tripod mount – for those photographers looking for added stability, for landscapes or for video recording, Pictar offers a ¼” standard tripod mount located on the bottom of the device.

    7. Cold shoe – located on top of Pictar, the integrated cold shoe will allow users to mount a variety of LED lighting accessories or mics for added creativity and control.

    A powerful, dedicated app featuring patented high-frequency dual tone sound control:
    Pictar is designed to communicate with the iPhone via a dedicated camera app which unlocks key features inaccessible on the native app to iPhone users. Each of the physical controls found on Pictar drive a specific function or setting and does so using high-frequency dual tone sounds. Each physical control is assigned a specific tone, and with each turn of a dial, press of a button or turn of a wheel, Pictar omits a sound that – when detected by the app – generates a corresponding action. The high-frequency dual tone (18,500 – 20,000 khz) is inaudible to the human ear and significantly increases battery life when compared to Bluetooth connectivity. Using a standard CR ½ AA battery which is easily found worldwide, miggo estimates 6-8 months of use before the need to replace the power source is required.

    The Kickstarter campaign is now live with an introductory price of $ 90 USD. Full retail availability is slated for December 2016.

    miggo was founded 2013 by a group of designers with extensive experience in developing award-winning camera cases and bags, as well as a passion for bringing to market innovative concepts for carrying and supporting cameras. In just three years, miggo expanded its portfolio to include patented game-changing camera carriers, multi-functional camera and binocular straps and innovative compact tripods. These products are successfully marketed in over 30 countries around the world.

    Today, with two highly-successful Kickstarter projects under the company’s belt – the 2014 “Strap & Wrap” campaign and the 2015 “agua” campaign – miggo returns to Kickstarter for the third time with its sights set on the trend of mobile photography. With Pictar, the company’s new state-of-the-art grip enclosure, miggo is giving consumers the ability to truly unleash the power of their iPhone camera and take their mobile photography to a completely new level. 

    For more information please visit www.mymiggo.com or follow us on Facebook.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)