The new Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone offers a lot to mobile photographers with a 1/2.6-inch 16MP sensor, video with up to UHD (4K) resolution and a F2.2 lens. Samsung has recently released a Galaxy S5 hands-on video that talks about the camera and shows some of the new imaging features. See video
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
We’re at the CP+ show in Japan, where Fujifilm is showing a new teleconverter for the X100S. Attached in the same way as the existing WCL-X100, the new TCL-X100 increases the X100S’s effective focal length to 50mm, without effecting the minimum aperture. Details are scarce but unofficially we understand that the new converter will be available later in spring, for around $ 300. Click through for some hands-on impressions.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
One of the stands we didn’t get a chance to visit at CES 2014 was that of Sakar International. Its Vivicam IU680 (as seen by digitalcamera.jp) at first looks like a competitor to Sony’s QX models and JK Imaging’s Kodak Smart Lenses. However, a closer look reveals that the lens module is interchangeable. We say lens module, rather than lens because it appears to be the same 10-30mm lens/sensor combination shown by Sakar at last year’s CES under the Polaroid brand.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
CES 2014: Canon has announced the PowerShot N100, which it’s calling a ‘Story Camera’. The feature that gives it this moniker is its rear-facing camera, which captures an image of the photographer at the moment the shutter is released (this works for stills and video). The photo or video from the rear camera is then put into one of the corners of the image that was taken. Photo quality should be a strong point, as the N100 uses the same lens and sensor as the PowerShot S120. Other features include a 3-inch LCD that tilts upward by 180 degrees, 1080/60p video recording, and Wi-Fi with NFC.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Nokia is sharing the first examples of its new Raw DNG file format, soon available on both its forthcoming Lumia 1520 phablet and the Lumia 1020 smartphone. Available for download from the company’s blog, Nokia promises that its DNG files are high quality. See for yourself on connect.dpreview.com.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Urbex & Parkour. ]
Combining harrowing first-hand experiences, vivid images and historical context, urban explorer and photographer Bradly L. Garrett takes his readers on a stunning in-depth tour through the hidden world of urban exploration and building infiltration. This trip passes through the sewers and subway tunnels of London, over bridges and skyscrapers of New York, and slip you in between derelict buildings and abandoned places around the world.
Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City (from Verso Books) is more accessible than a manifesto yet more revealing than a manual. In highly readable and engaging prose, it manages to combine personal storytelling and thoughtful reflection with factual urban histories and practical tips for exploring secret spaces.
If you are looking for a coffee-table book of eye candy to flip through, this is not the one for you, but there are plenty of those already. Instead, this is a rarer sort of volume that goes far deeper, drawing on meticulous notes, handmade maps, diligent research and many years of direct experience.
Like something from a China Miéville or Neil Gaiman novel, this author reveals that there truly is a layer of fantastic mystery behind, between or below the surfaces of any city. With stories of personal adventures, from climbing skyscrapers under construction to descending into derelict subway tunnels, Garrett conveys the hot sweat and cold fear experienced in his travels. At the same time, he manages to provide commentary that goes beyond the level of an explorer and into the realm of researcher and philosopher. His combination of first-hand and historical knowledge make this a book worth reading.
The heavy volume may have travel anecdotes and photographs, but it is also not lacking in powerful insights and revealing opinions. Discussing Detroit, Garrett reveals the complexities of a city that is known for its abandonments but is simultaneously in many ways and places a “light, bright, vibrant, beautiful place” that is “full of life, events, politically active citizens, great places to go out” as well as “a plethora of sites ripe for infiltration.” He notes that “as images of decay had become culturally ubiqituitous in this city” many photographers have focused too hard on “sharp, vibrant, long-exposure photography” that produces stylized and idealized imagery that “look uncomfortably similar to traditional photos of colonial explorers, evoking images of white men sticking flags in the soil.” Detroiters sick of their city being seen as a one-sided wasteland will appreciate the author’s even-handed and open-minded approach to and appreciation of their home – and this is just one of many such examples.
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Triggertrap, maker of several camera triggering tools, is seeking support via Kickstarter for another product aimed at trigger-happy photographers. Redsnap is a modular triggering system that starts with the Redsnap base block to which you can add sensor blocks, each designed for a different kind of photography. Four sensor blocks are currently in the works, including a high-speed laser sensor, high-speed sound sensor, high-speed light sensor and a Passive Infrared Sensor. Learn more on connect.dpreview.com.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]
NeverWet has been making headlines as the silicon-based spray that repels liquids from clothes and electronics, but this off-book use shows another fascinating application that may be even longer-lasting: urban art invisible until poured upon.
As part of a Home Depot competition, Nathan Sharratt decided to create stencils and spray NeverWet onto streets and sidewalks, resulting in areas of deflected moisture surrounded by soaked concrete. Like invisible ink, the sprayed areas remain hidden until another liquid is applied.
Given criticism of NeverWet when applied to shoes (apparently it can discolor or leave residue) and phones (touchscreen and durability issues have been reported), this may prove to be a more persistent, if unintended, long-term application of the product.
And for any interested subversive artists, it could prove a unusual boon when bothered by police: how will the authorities justify arresting someone for spraying an invisible coating on a public surface? Meanwhile, best of luck to Nathan in the contest – a win here is surely deserved!
Short-form instructions for those looking to (officially: don’t!) try this at home or in the neighborhood: “Step 1: You need a stencil. You can do something simple or use an image that includes a fair amount of detail. I created my own stencils from cardboard, but there’s no reason you can’t use a ready-made or store-bought stencil. Just know that NeverWet will get sprayed on that, too. Step 2: Place stencil on concrete. I recommend that you only try this on light-colored concrete for best results. Step 3: Spray the NeverWet into the cut-out areas of your stencil according to the manufacturer’s instructions found on the label. I did two base coats and two top coats.”
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Photojournalist Ben Lowy famously brought mobile photography to mass media when his Hipstamatic images from Kabul, Afghanistan were published by the New York Times Magazine in 2011. He’s also well known for an image of Hurricane Sandy taken with his iPhone which made the cover of TIME Magazine last year. Today on Connect we look at some of his most recent work using EyeEm’s new Clara filter to document life in Sarajevo.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Just a week after announcing it was licensing the Kodak brand name, JK Imaging has been showing a Micro Four Thirds camera at a press conference in China. Details are vague but the camera, reported to be called the S1, does appear to be sporting the official Micro Four Thirds logo. The camera, which will offer Wi-Fi for communication with smartphones, is said to be based around a Sony CMOS sensor. (via PetaPixel)
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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