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Archive for February, 2017

This video is great reminder why you should follow posted signs in National Parks

04 Feb

The 61G lava Ocean Entry event happening on Hawaii’s Big Island has been in the news a lot lately. If you somehow haven’t yet seen the dramatic footage of red-hot lava spewing from the side of a cliff, well, you’re in for a treat. But as enticing as it might be to onlookers and photographers trying to get a better view, mother nature just provided a gentle reminder why you should stay a safe distance away.

See also: exhibit B. It may seem obvious that the edge of a cliff next to a lava ‘firehose’ as it’s called is nowhere for a tripod, but not everyone seems to get that. A park official tells ABC News that she sees people crossing boundaries from designated viewing areas to unsafe zones every day. Geologists are monitoring the area daily for signs of trouble, but the most recent collapse occurred without warning.

Photo courtesy USGS. The image above shows the cliff pre-collapse.

Consider this your daily reminder to obey posted signs in natural areas and to get your shot from a designated viewing area – lava or no lava.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CloudFisher: Low-Tech Net Turns Fog into Drinking Water for Morocco

04 Feb

[ By SA Rogers in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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In a semi-arid region of Morocco, where tap water is a luxury but fog is plentiful, a fog-harvesting net based on the structure of a spider’s web naturally collects moisture from the air. Engineer Peter Trautwein of the German Water Foundation volunteered his time to develop CloudFisher, a structure that looks like no more than a fence from afar. Get closer, and you’ll see a metal framework supporting the stretched nets, with gutters and tubing directing the collected droplets to tanks.

The nets are placed along the area around Mount Boutmezguida, which is known for being one of the driest parts of Morocco, but also the foggiest. When the wind blows, it pushes moisture into the complex woven netting, effectively trapping it. Rubber expanders holding the nets to the frames reduce the impact of wind pressure on the net to keep them from breaking.

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CloudFisher is the result of many years of study, as Trautwein experimented with various structures of net to see which ones yielded the most water. Ultimately, monofilaments were the most effective. The netting’s tiny triangular openings fill with water, which then trickles down to the collector at the base.

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The CloudFisher system was installed with the help of NGO Dar si Hmed and won the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Momentum for Change Award. It’s capable of harvesting between four and fourteen liters of water per square meter of net, ultimately producing up to 36,000 liters (9,510 gallons) of water a day for the area’s 800 residents.

Walking on Water: Fun Non-Newtonian Fluid Experiment

When you step into a pool of water, you fully expect your foot to fall right down to the bottom, unless you’re under the delusion that you’re the savior of mankind. But if that water has just the …

H2O to Go: Bike Bottle Makes Water from Thin Air as You Cycle

Using air flow and solar energy, this ingenious device creates up to 16 ounces (a half-liter) per hour of drinkable water via condensation as you ride, quenching your thirst just when and where …

All Azure: The Monochromatic City of Chefchaoen, Morocco

Morocco is renowned for its colors, with its cities awash in vivid shades of red, purple, green and gold. But things are a little different in Chefchaoen, a town in the northwest nestled among …

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[ By SA Rogers in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Despite recent stumbles, GoPro still plans to release HERO6 this year

04 Feb
GoPro’s HERO5 models were delayed last year due to production issues.

Despite having a rough go of it over the last several months, GoPro is still committed to releasing a HERO6 action-cam later this year. The company experienced production delays with its HERO5 action-cam as well as a recall of its Karma drone, so some industry analysts were concerned that GoPro might be moving to a 2-year production cycle.

That’s not the case, according to CEO Nick Woodman, speaking during the company’s earnings call transcript:

“Yes, we can confirm there will be new cameras and other accessories released during the year and new camera namely being HERO6. But we’re not going to share any information as to the timing or any other details around the release of those new products as you can imagine.”

It should come as no surprise that the company is keeping its next-gen HERO under wraps but regardless, it’s good news for action-cam lovers who want the latest and greatest.

Source: Seeking Alpha via Engadget

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony image sensor sales increase, camera and Xperia sales drop

04 Feb

Sony has announced its financial results for Q4 2016 and the numbers show that the Japanese company’s image sensor division has performed well. Within the semiconductors segment, image sensor sales have increased by 40% year-on-year which is largely due to significantly increased sales of image sensors for mobile devices.

Digital camera sales have slightly decreased from 1.8 to 1.6 billion units, resulting in a 9.6% revenue decrease. On the plus side, the company has noted a continued improvement in terms of product mix, with a shift to high value-add models.

Sony upped its forecast for the financial year but the new figures would still mean a 34% fall in sales volume and a 17% fall in sales by value, compared with 2015.

Things don’t look quite as good in the phone division. The company shipped a total of 5.1 million Xperia phones in the quarter, which is down by around 33% year-on-year. Total mobile revenue for the quarter was ¥249bn ($ 2.2bn). Sony blames lower than expected sales in Europe for the decrease. The forecast for the fiscal year, which ends in March, was also lowered from 17 million to 15 million units.

You can find all of the details at Sony’s investor relations site.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Grab a free copy of DxO OpticsPro 9 while you can

04 Feb

DxO is running a promotion through February giving away free licenses for OpticsPro 9, its Raw processing software. You’ll miss out on the latest camera/lens support and features offered by OpticsPro 11, but hey, it’s free.

To get in on the offer you’ll just need to provide DxO with an email address to which you’ll be sent an activation code. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to upgrade the license, so you’ll have to buy the latest version outright if you want support for the most recent cameras and lenses. You can check DxO’s list of supported cameras and lenses here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Studying high-res satellite images on your lunch break can help uncover new archaeology sites

03 Feb
You gotta start somewhere – GlobalXplorer participants’ first mission is to look for pits that signal looting.

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an archaeologist, you might want to take a look at GlobalXplorer: a browser-based app that trains ordinary citizens to analyze high-resolution satellite imagery for signs of looting and previously unknown sites. It’s the brainchild of Dr. Sarah Parcak, a National Geographic Fellow and Space Archaeologist (really!) whose techniques have identified 17 potential pyramids and 3,100 potential settlements in Egypt.

Dr. Parcak won 2016’s $ 1 million TED prize to turn her vision for citizen-powered, satellite-based archaeology into a reality. Launched this week, GlobalXplorer is available to anyone with an internet connection. Participants register to the site, watch a training video and get started by looking for signs of potential looting in satellite images. There’s a ‘gamification’ factor too – you can level up once you’ve gained enough experience and start looking for the really exciting stuff, like signs of currently unknown archaeological sites. 

GlobalXplorer’s imagery is provided by DigitalGlobe’s commercial satellites courtesy of a customized version of the Tomnod crowd-sourcing platform. For now, the journey starts in Peru, where citizen archaeologists are examining 200,000 square km of land. If you’d like to channel your inner Indiana Jones, head to the GlobalXplorer website and get started.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Stunning time-lapse captures the seasons of Norway

03 Feb

Norway is an amazing place and this time-lapse by Morten Rustad definitely does the region justice. Morten says that he travelled some 20,000km, took some 200,000 images, filling 20 terabytes worth of hard drive space to put this film together. Sit back, turn off the lights, crank the sound and definitely enjoy this one in HD.

To find out more about the film and how Morten went about putting it together please visit his website. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Lighting 103: How to Gel Big Lights

03 Feb

Abstract: How to economically gel umbrellas, beauty dishes and soft boxes

When using bigger lights (such as an Einstein e640, seen above) gelling gets a bit more complicated and expensive. Why? Big lights have protruding flash tubes and modeling lights, and potentially big modifiers.

But for each kind of modifier, there are workarounds that will allow you total gel coverage without having to buy large sheets of gels.Read more »
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Nikon D5600 sample gallery

03 Feb

New to the US (but not to the rest of the world), the Nikon D5600 builds on the strengths of its mid-range predecessor. Its well-regarded 24MP APS-C sensor is complemented now by SnapBridge (a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/NFC combo), an improved touchscreen experience and a new time-lapse feature. We’ve had the D5600 on hand long enough to put together a preliminary sample gallery.

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See our Nikon D5600 sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Creative Cloud subscribers in the UK and Sweden can expect price hikes starting next month

03 Feb

Citing ‘fluctuating foreign exchange rates’, Adobe has notified Creative Cloud subscribers in the UK and Sweden that they can expect to see their fees increase soon. The price hikes will take effect starting March 6 for month-to-month subscribers; members who have paid for a full year will see a price increase when they renew their plans.

Prices vary by plan, but users are reporting around a £10 per month increase. Emails sent to affected members pointed to a page on Adobe’s support site with an explanation:

‘Currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly over the last few years. Like many US-based global companies, Adobe is making pricing adjustments in a number of countries to offset fluctuations in foreign exchange rate. Starting on March 6, 2017, the price of Adobe products in the United Kingdom and Sweden will be increased. Existing customers will receive information about their subscription pricing directly from Adobe.’

Are you affected by the price increase? Let us know in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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