Digital Cameras

Even though much ado has been made about the high quality of the iPhone 4’s camera, when it comes down to it, it’s still a point-and-shoot. As such, photos taken with it tend to have a fairly deep depth-of-field – that’s nice for getting as many things in focus as possible, but not great for getting those fuzzy-background professional-looking portraits and artsy shots. One solution is to use something like the iPhone SLR Mount, which lets you use SLR lenses on your smartphone’s camera. A much less costly alternative, however, is to use Reallusion’s Big Lens app. Read More

If you've been holding off on getting a GoPro HD HERO actioncam ... well, you were right to wait. Today, the California-based company announced the release of its HD HERO2 camera, which is claimed to be "2X as Powerful in Every Way." More specifically, it has an 11-megapixel image sensor (as opposed to the regular camera's 5 mp), along with a new processor that is said to be twice as fast, and a redesigned lens that GoPro claims is both twice as sharp and capable of a complete 170-degree field of view even in widescreen 1080p mode. There's also good news for consumers who think the existing HD HERO is all the camera they need. Read More

So, you’re looking at that one photo you took, and wishing that the flower in the foreground was in focus instead of the person behind it? Well it’s no big deal, just go in and shift the focus. Oh yeah, that’s right, you can’t ... but you will be able to soon. California-based Lytro, Inc. announced today that its consumer light field camera is now available for preorder, and should be shipping early next year. It is the first camera of its kind made for the general public. Read More

Canon is to upgrade its flagship EOS 1-series digital SLR camera from March 2012 when the weatherproof US$6,800 Canon EOS-1D X will supersede the EOS-1D Mark IV and EOS-1Ds Mark III. Among the many new features of the EOS-1D X is a new 61-Point High Density Reticular AF system, AF continuous shooting at 12 fps (14 fps with mirror lock-up), a full-frame 18.1MP CMOS sensor, an ISO range of 100-51200, the world's fastest shutter release lag (as short as just 36 milliseconds), and full high definition movie recording. Read More

Strange though it may seem, despite manufacturers going to great lengths to provide the very best in image quality, there are quite a number of snappers who long for the kind of warm and fuzzy (and often accidental) creations from the good old days of 35mm film cameras. Olympus or Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera owners looking for a cheaper alternative to the kind of soft edging and background blur effects offered by the likes of Lens Baby might well be interested in SLR Magic's 35mm f1.4 toy Micro Four Thirds camera lens. Read More

Taking pictures is about to get a lot more fun if computer engineer Jonas Pfeil and his colleagues have anything to say about it. A recent graduate from the Technical University of Berlin, Pfeil and his team designed and built a working prototype "ball" camera- a foam-studded sphere (about 8 inches in diameter) peppered with 36 tiny 2-megapixel cell phone cameras. Throw it in the air and it captures an image at the top of the ball's trajectory. Talk about redefining photography- one day, snapping pics may give way to "tossing" them. Read More

"Lo-fi" photography using film cameras such as Holga has made something of a comeback in recent times, with creative types embracing the ability to do things like snapping double exposures. The pocket-sized, 3.2-megapixel Double Exposure Digi Cam offers a way to try out this effect without the use of image editing software or a trip to the dark-room. Read More

Mobile phone cameras generally aren't known for their fantastic image quality. One of the reasons for this is the fact that most of them have fixed-focus lenses, as opposed to the autofocus lenses on all but the cheapest stand-alone cameras. The phone cameras partially compensate by using a small aperture to maintain a good depth of field, but this limits their use in low-light situations. Of course, their lenses could automatically focus by moving in and out (like those on larger cameras), but this would draw considerable power from the phones' batteries. Now, however, Norwegian scientists have unveiled a low-power autofocus lens for mobile phone cameras, that works like the human eye. Read More

Most digital still cameras these days are fairly capable in the video department and there are numerous examples of camcorders that can snap high resolution photos. JVC says that its new GC-PX10 is neither format, but a true hybrid of both. Capable of capturing 12 megapixel stills and recording full high definition 1080/60p video at 36 Mbps, the all-in-one solution also benefits from a new high speed imaging engine, a tilting LCD monitor, and a 10x optical Konica zoom Minolta HD lens. Read More