Photography

The Hasselblad Lunar has gone on sale, which could be good news if you think the mirrorless camera market has been sadly lacking in wood, carbon fiber, and jeweled buttons. Billed as an "ultimate luxury mirrorless interchangeable lens camera," the Lunar will sell for US$7,000, despite being based on, and having almost identical specs to, the Sony NEX-7.  Read More

After what feels like weeks of hype, Leica has finally unveiled its much-teased Mini M. Officially revealed as the Leica X Vario (Typ 107), the new camera is a 16.2-megapixel shooter with an APS-C format sensor and a 18-46-mm zoom lens. But, while it's obviously been designed to look like the iconic Leica M, this isn't the compact system alternative many Leica fans had hoped for.  Read More

The continuous panorama function on digital cameras and smartphones can create stunning photographs in the right hands. But, to get that shot just right, those hands need to be steady. The Spinpod is a portable motion control unit which is designed to make creating panoramas easier, while removing the need for you to spin on the spot.  Read More

Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living is a new book featuring the work of Canadian photographer and master disassembler, Todd McLellan. The book features images of the inner workings of 50 everyday items from bicycles and chainsaws to modern day computers and phones, with each component painstakingly laid out with geometric precision. McLellan hopes that the imagery of the disassembled objects will help people appreciate the elaborate and efficient designs of modern technology, while exposing the beauty and quality of older items.  Read More

Although one can begin to explore amateur astrophotography with a smartphone camera or a webcam, today's tool of choice for this pastime is a special-purpose, cooled CCD camera. The case in point is the new STT-8300M astrocamera from Santa Barbara Imaging Group (SBIG).  Read More

A team of scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore has developed a new image sensor from graphene that promises to improve the quality of images captured in low light conditions. In tests, NTU claims it has proved to be 1,000 times more sensitive to light than existing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or charge-coupled device (CCD) camera sensors in addition to operating at much lower voltages, consequently using 10 times less energy.  Read More

Not long ago we reviewed Photojojo’s Pocket Spotlight, a compact LED light source for use with smartphone cameras – or even with stand-alone cameras, for that matter. While the Spotlight just provides a single intensity of “white” light, the company’s new Kick is considerably fancier. It can be remotely-controlled via an iPhone app, and set to any color under the rainbow.  Read More

At first glance, the Nikon Coolpix A looks like a typical, if slightly retro, compact camera. But, it actually contains a large APS-C sensor, the same size found in most DSLRs. It also boasts a relatively speedy f/2.8 18.5-mm fixed lens, which should enable it to take photographs rivaling the quality of much bigger cameras. After getting a brief pre-release hands-on with the camera, we've now had the chance to spend some quality time with it, to see if it lives up to the potential.  Read More

The Joby UltraPlate is a new universal quick-release plate which enables photographers to attach both a tripod and a shoulder strap to their camera. What makes this plate stand out from the rest of the field is that both accessories can be connected simultaneously, meaning no more unnecessary fiddling when moving between tripod and hand-holding a camera.  Read More