Japanese lens manufacturer Tamron has announced it has revamped its SP lens range, starting with the SP 35mm F1.8 Di VC USD and the SP 45mm F1.8 Di VC USD. As a company that usually produces zoom lenses it’s surprising to see the first two SP models are fixed focal lengths primes, boasting new design values inside and out according to Tamron. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
An abandoned building becomes the setting for a surreal installation of colorful criss-crossing yarn as artist duo Toki seeks to render music in physical form. Recent architecture grads Toluwalase Rufai and Khai Grubbs present their visual soundscape as part of their ‘Synth’ series, temporarily altering public space “through establishing rhythm, movement, transparency, and ephemerality.”
The setting is a dilapidated building on the corners of Channing and Reed streets in Washington, D.C. It took the artists two days to install an undisclosed amount of yarn, winding it around support columns and occasionally using nailed-on boards for extra support. The project was completed guerrilla-style, and D.C. residents who tried to get in to see it in person report that it has since been cut down, with ‘No Trespassing’ signs posted on the property.
The first yarn piece Toki created was carried out in a more accessible place, enabling the public to watch the piece take form over a period of three days. They hoped that occupying an abandoned building would “engage the viewer on an urban exploration… inciting a sense of wonder.” This edition of the series may not have been up long, but there will be more installed throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
“Our initial decision to create this series was more impulsive than planned, and influenced by the desire to express the music we hear three-dimensionally,” say the artists. “These creations allow us to represent the sound of music as physical worlds. They start with lines of distinct colors you can follow and the more you immerse yourself, the more they blend in and the more you surrender to the symphony of color. Similar to music, the space we create allows you to slip between worlds, to be in two places simultaneously.”
Yarn bombing is graffiti that grandmothers approve of! They consist of quickly knitted additions to street objects and sculptures. Why? Because it’s fun!
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Has there ever been a cozier-looking bus cruising around the streets of London than this neon yarn-bombed double decker dubbed the No. 7up? The beverage brand …
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What seems at first to be narrow rays of turquoise light streaming in through the stained glass windows of a vacant Gothic Revival church turn out to be over …
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[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]
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Korean lens brand Samyang has announced a new series of video lenses under the Xeen name. They feature wide apertures and resolution that the company says is aimed at users who shoot 4K and above footage. There will be 24mm, 50mm and 85mm focal lengths initially, and three more to follow next year. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Ricoh has announced it is to push back the availability date of its premium Pentax-D 70-200mm lens, as it needs more time to ensure it meets the standards required for a member of the Star-lens series. Initially due this Spring, the HD Pentax-D FA* 70-200mm F2.8ED DC AW is now set to arrive in Autumn. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Hasselblad has announced a new aerial camera that it says provides the ‘ultimate’ in image quality for aerial photographers. The camera, the Hasselblad A5D, has no moving parts and as such avoids unintentional internal mechanical movements that aircraft vibrations can cause. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
f-stop gear, maker of rugged camera bags, has introduced three new models and a refreshed existing model to its Mountain Series. The Ajna, Sukha, Shinn and Tilopa offer increased durability and ripstop Nylon shells for weather-proofing. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
There’s so much to look at in the new Mad Max movie, from that ridiculous double-necked flame-throwing guitar to all of those terrifying spiked weapon-hurling vehicles, you’d have to watch it a dozen times to take it all in. Fury Road is just the latest film in the series to dazzle us visually, inspiring all manner of copycat creations and post-apocalyptic designs, including lethal-looking kid-sized vehicles, disaster fashion and fantasy architecture.
Maybe putting a six-year-old behind the wheel of a car covered in real metal spikes isn’t the best idea ever, but we’re still sad that this series of Mad Max-inspired Power Wheels isn’t actually real. The set is part of ThinkGeek’s annual April Fool’s Day stunt – but the site made one of its joke products into a real thing you can buy before (the Star Wars Tauntaun sleeping bag) so maybe the popularity of the movie will lead to less-lethal versions of these awesome little vehicles becoming available for purchase. The photos are fun, anyway.
The glossy black body of a 1932 Ford 3-window couple comes together with Formula 1 aesthetics and functionality in this rendering by concept designer Aleksander of Muscle Car Invasion, who started sketching it in 2009 when the fourth Mad Max movie was first announced.
Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t have quite the same emphasis on bizarre post-apocalyptic fashion as the previous three films, which makes sense, anyway: who would spend so much time on their appearance in a world where everyone is reduced to the single instinct of survival? But the series has made a huge impact on post-apocalyptic fashion, and Fury Road echoes the dark, rough-around-the-edges futuristic style seen everywhere from high fashion runways to indie designers’ Etsy shops. From Gareth Pugh sending his models down the runway with black foreheads a la Imperator Furiosa to a striking 2013 Mad Max-inspired editorial by Harper’s Bazaar, these visuals are all over the fashion world. The works pictured here include Rick Owens, Boris Bidjan Saberi and helmet designer Devtac. Style.com has a gallery of 18 more images.
Jumbled yet unfussy, made of junk yet somehow sort of minimalist, the architecture in Mad Max is all about making use of whatever materials are available in surprisingly creative ways. Capetown, South Africa-based designer Justin Plunkett embodies this aesthetic with a series of fantasy structures made by layering 3D illustrations on top of photographs he has taken in some of his home city’s most down-and-out neighborhoods.
Over the past half-century, the James Bond movie franchise has inspired countless suits, man caves and cheesy spy gadgets, but it has also led designers and …
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If you want something comfortable and conventional you might want to look elsewhere. If you are looking for bold and creative furniture designs you are in the …
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Wallpaper isn’t what it used to be. New ideas and revolutionary techniques have allowed artists and designers to bring two-dimensional surfaces to life. What’s …
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[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
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Italian accessories brand Manfrotto has announced a new model in the 190 range of tripods that is lighter and more compact than others in the series. The Manfrotto 190Go! is designed for traveling photographers and those working on location who require an eye-height tripod that packs away to take up as little space as possible. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Accessories brand Fotodiox has introduced a cherry wood hand grip for the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 III that it says is ‘inspired’ by the Hasselblad Stellar special edition cameras first launched in 2013. At $ 59.95 it makes a somewhat more affordable solution, even when you add the price of the camera, than the $ 1650 Hasselblad wanted for last year’s Stellar II. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Instant film manufacturer Impossible has launched what it calls a Generation 2.0 film called B&W 2.0. The company claims it’s not only sharper and clearer than previous Impossible products, but also develops much quicker. The new film is the result of a new chemical formula for Impossible that has been developed by former Polaroid research chemist Stephen Herchen. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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