From Napkin Sketch to 41MP Phone: How the Nokia PureView 808 Came to Be
Nokia made quite a splash earlier this year by unveiling the PureView 808 — a smartphone with a large 41-megapixel sensor and a high quality Carl Zeiss lens. The 8-minute behind-the-scenes video above — filmed entirely with the phone, by the way — is the story of how this device was born, starting from a...
DIY Backpack OctoDome for Lighting Solo Shoots
When photographer Ian Spanier was assigned to shoot 4-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler at his home in Vegas, the budget wouldn’t allow him to hire an assistant. Still, this was an important shoot, the editor of Muscular Development had stuck his neck out to get him this gig, and he wanted to do as good...
Tree Leaves as “Pinhole Cameras” During a Solar Eclipse
If you went outdoors to observe the solar eclipse yesterday, you might have noticed that the shadows cast by trees had suddenly become quite strange. The tiny gaps between leaves act as pinhole lenses, projecting crescent shaped images of the eclipsed sun onto the world below. Here are a couple videos showing the same thing:...
Time-Lapse of Yesterday’s Solar Eclipse
Photographer Cory Poole created this time-lapse video of yesterday’s solar eclipse using 700 photographs shot through a telescope that filters out the sun’s photosphere and captures its chromosphere. Wikipedia has some neat photos of the e...
The Economics of Leica Camera Pricing
Have you ever wondered how Leica chooses its pricing for its high-end cameras? J Shin has written up a great post over at Leica Rumors that offers a geeky and lengthy explanation of the economics behind the company’s pricing decisions: Every time there is any kind of a product-related announcement here and elsewhere, there are...
Ricoh Patents Shock-Absorbing Lens Caps
As the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but why not make it better? That’s probably the attitude Ricoh is approaching their newest patent with, because they’re making modifications to one of the few pieces of camera equipment that hasn’t changed since the early days — the lens cap. The patent isn’t...
Man Chucking A $10,000 Canon Projectile
Reuters photographer Murad Sezer was shooting at an uber-important soccer final in Turkey last Saturday when he found himself in the midst of a massive clash between frenzied fans and police officers. In the chaos, fans started picking up everything they could get their hands on to use as projectiles, including camera lenses. Sezer writes,...
30 Minute Video Limit in Digital Cameras May Be On Its Way Out
News recently broke that the 30 minute (or rather 29 minute and 59 second) time limit on DSLR video may soon be a thing of the past. Interestingly however, the reason for the potential change has nothing to do with updated hardware or software. The only reason DSLRs don’t already shoot longer video is because...
Giza 3D: A Historically Accurate Online Recreation of the Giza Plateau
Several weeks ago we mentioned a new Google Maps feature that allows you to take virtual tours of famous locations all over the world. And now — coming out of a partnership between design firm Dassault Systèmes, Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts — you can take a historically accurate, 3-dimensional, online...
Images on Fabric, Making Photos You Can Wear
If you’ve ever had the urge to clothe yourself in photography — or just wanted an easy DIY guide for getting photos onto fabric — Wearable Photos courtesy of Photojojo offers a great solution to your sartorial dilemma. If you intend on making clothing then you’ll need to have some sewing ability, but if that...
USA Today Sending US Presswire Photographers to the London Olympics
Over the last couple of weeks, USA Today has been under fire for deciding not to send their seasoned veteran photographers to cover the London Olympics. Having just bought US Presswire last September, parent company Gannett have decided instead to use the photographers and contractors at their disposal through them. That in itself wouldn’t be...
How To Make a 150-foot Wireless Remote by Hacking a Garage Door Opener
While working on some light painting shots, Sawo from Enlightpaintment was frustrated that he had to keep running back and forth from his camera. Even using an IR remote he was adding seconds of unnecessary exposure during which he wasn’t actually doing anything but running. So, in a fit of creativity, he decided to put...
