Tiny Trippy Double Exposure Camera Is a Great Alternative to LSD [Cameras]

By Sam Biddle Oct 11, 2011 1:20 PM 5,287 13

Acid: expensive, kinda hard to come by, awful hangover. But the pretty colors—I know. Consider Photojojo's Double Exposure Digi Cam instead: it'll merge two images (or videos!) into one warped, dreamlike scene. And it's very small.

It may not be super cheap for a novelty camera—$130—but the effect looks like a lot of fun, and as mentioned, it's tiny, so tucking it away in a bag is a given. The 3.2 MP sensor might also sound disappointing, but the allure of the distorted double exposure is its gritty (lack of) fidelity; think of it as being part of the ironic photo filter family. And hey, you can always use it on acid. [Photojojo]

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What's So Great About the iPhone's New Camera? [Video]

The camera in the iPhone 4S is going to be better. We suspected as much, but now we know exactly how it's going to be better.

It's faster. Much faster. We're talking half a second in between photos, so if you missed the moment you won't have to wait for an eternity for another try. Most of the other leading camera-phones take two to three times that long.

It's bigger and brighter. The images it takes will be 8 megapixels at 3264x2448 pixels. That's some nice resolution right there. But, as we've said before, ISO is as important as megapixels. Sometimes adding more pixels into the same, small area actually decreases the image quality if the sensor can't handle it. Thankfully, the image sensor is going to be backside illuminated (like the iPhone 4, the myTouch 4G Slide, and Sony's newer Xperia phones), which will get it 73 percent more light (more than the iPhone 4, too). In other words, photos you take when the lighting isn't great will suck less. It's got a larger, f/2.4 aperture, too, which isn't much bigger than the iPhone 4's, but it will give it another little boost.

It's sharper and more vibrant. The five element lens should give you a cleaner image, theoretically. It should make it 30 percent sharper than the iPhone 4 (which had a four element lens). They also included a hybrid infrared filter. This is the kind of thing you usually just see on DSLR cameras. It should give you more accurate and more vibrant colors, and reduce red ghosting and chromatic aberrations which sometimes happen around light sources.

It's cinema-ier. Video hasn't been left out. It will shoot 1080p video at up to 30 frames per second, which means it should look good on your HDTV and not be stretched unnaturally. However, when a small camera shoots at 1080p sometimes the edges get warped, and there can be a pesky flicker due to the rolling shutter effect. We'll have to see if this is continues to be a problem on this camera. Either way, it will definitely take advantage of the backside illuminated sensor, but it remains to see what the bitrate will be, which has a large effect on the resulting quality. Anyway, welcome to 2011, Apple!

UPDATE: Now with video (see above).

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Before the Cheap Digital Camera, There Was the Kodak FunSaver [Past Perfect]

Despite teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, Kodak will forever be legend. Slides! Kodachrome! Advantix! In the 2000s, they morphed into a maker of easy-to-use digital cameras and pocket camcorders. But looking back, there's one product more indelible than the others: the FunSaver.

A disposable camera? Admittedly, the FunSaver was no technological achievement. It was probably the furthest thing from such a distinction. But it took the concept of disposable cameras mainstream. I used them. You used them. Unless you're currently going through puberty, we've likely all used one at some point.

Save for hobbyist photographers who probably scoffed loudly at the thought of disposable cameras, these things were great. If you lost it, you were only out six bucks and a single roll of photos. Even better was the UNDERWATER disposable camera. It was like I was holding the future in my 10-year-old hands.

Of course, for those of us who are scatterbrained dolts, we got these photos developed just as infrequently the rolls of film in our normal cameras. Except instead of a compact cylinder, we had had these blocky white/yellow/red/black boxes littered about the house.

The digital camera rendered the FunSaver obsolete once they landed in the sub-$200 price range. In fact, nearly all non-SLR cameras went the way of the dodo after the year 2000.

I think my mother still has an entire bag of undeveloped FunSavers. I want to take them in and have them developed.

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A Camera Lens Fell Out of the Sky and Crashed Through This Woman's Roof [Cameras]

Having an inanimate object blow a hole in your roof after careening through the sky is a real bitch no matter what. But at least if it's a meteor or cruise missile, you understand how. But a Canon lens? What?

California woman Debbie Payne was minding her own damn business when her entire house shook, the San Jose Mercury News reports. When she checked to see what'd caused this tremor, he equally startled neighbor pointed to a somewhat destroyed, two pound 24-105mm Canon lens lying on the ground. The gear had punched a hole clean through Payne's roof. But where did it come from?

The FAA's investigating the obvious explanation that it dropped out of an airplane, but is that really so obvious? Did someone open the door to their plane and try to take a photo? How did just the lens fall down? The FAA itself is stumped: "This is an unusual occurrence—even proving this came from an aircraft could be difficult," lamented a rep.

So where else could it have come from? Not space—it would have been vaporized. Was it catapulted from a nearby town? Did some sort of massive bird drop it from its talons? Is this the start of some new, modern Old Testament-style plague, to punish us for our consumer whoring ways? Are we all to die by the same things we drool over and purchase? Payne's lucky to have escaped without a lens-sized hole blown through her body—but somewhere, some guy thought, Ah, fuck I can't believe I just dropped my lens. [Mercury News via PetaPixel]

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Ricoh GR Digital IV: A Fast Camera Gets Faster [Cameras]

Ricoh's new GR Digital IV is stocked with the same 28mm f/1.9 lens (fast) that made its predecessor awesome and a new .2 second autofocus. (Faster.)

How much faster? Twice as fast as the GR Digital III. The key to the blazing focus speed is the hybrid AF which combines the information from Ricoh's new external autofocus sensor with the internal one. Ricoh also added a continuous AF mode that shoots 1.54 fps.

What else is new? The high-resolution three-inch LCD has been upgraded to 1.23 million dots. The sensor's been equipped with a new stabilizer to help reduce blur. And unlike most things that get faster, the GR Digital IV also got a little fatter, growing 7mm to 32.5mm wide.

Like the GR Digital III and the brand new Canon S100 this camera is a serious photographer's pocket camera. But while the S100 got some refreshed hardware, the GR Digital IV is stuck with the same lens and 10 megapixel CCD sensor—very nice but not new. At least when its available sometime soon, the GR Digital IV will come in an eye-catching limited edition white. (Don't ask why a photographer wants to be eye-catching.) No word on price. [Ricoh]

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The Gundam Leica Camera That Doesn't Really Have Anything to Do With Anime [Cameras]

When I first heard about a new Leica camera being designed by Kunio Okawara-sama, the man responsible for the mechanical design of the insanely popular Gundam anime series, I nearly shit myself in excitement. Then I saw what it looked like.

I believe "disappointment" is too weak a sentiment. This "Okawara Factory" limited edition—only 200 will be produced—V-LUX 30 is a regular V-LUX 30 but has a laser engraved design that makes the camera appear as if it is in the process of disassembly. Wait, that's it? $1150 for a camera that just looks like it's been partially stripped. What. The. Fuck. [Highsnobiety via Peta Pixel]

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The ContourROAM Action Camera: Small, Cheap, and Mighty Fine [Video]

We just got some playtime with the ROAM, a new action-minded video camera from Contour. It's strong, no-frills design and 1080p video makes it very competitive with similarly-priced GoPros.

The build quality is terrific. It's just an aluminum bullet, and it's light, compact, and streamline. The 170 degree, rotatable lens pack a serious wide-angle and makes it tempting to point it at yourself while you're doing something stupid (see video). It's incredibly simple: push the switch forward, then it's on and recording. Smart, fast, and saves power. You can get a ton of different mounts for everything from your head to your handlebars to your surfboard. The battery meter lets you know exactly how much juice you have left, and it's got a laser site so you can tell you're shooting straight. It can shoot up to 1080p at 30fps, and it's waterproof (like all gadgets should be), rated to withstand 1 meter (roughly 3 feet) for 30 minutes.

Well, it's only waterproof to one meter. While there will be a waterproof housing for it in the near future, GoPro's $180 camera comes with a waterproof case rated up to 60 meters/180 feet. At the same time, that GoPro (the HD Hero 960) only goes up to 960p, so it depends which is more important for your applications: waterproofiness or resolution. The battery is built-in, which makes it solid, but you can't quickly swap in a new one when you're out in the field. Audio was also pretty quiet and muffled. The free Contour Storyteller application is not really an editor, as you can't even combine clips. The software might be handy for someone who just wants a quick and easy way of putting a few highlights online, but you'd be better off with even a very basic video editor.

At just $200 this is very much a viable competitor. The footage it takes looks very good. It doesn't have Bluetooth and GPS like Contour's higher end models, but if all you really need is an action camera that takes very nice video and is super easy to operate even in hairy conditions, you should definitely check this one out. Personally, I'm itching to do a Battlemodo with this, a GoPro, and a couple other tough customers. In the meantime, take a look at this hastily gathered test-footage.[$200 at Contour]

PSA: Do not strap this to your bike and go riding into oncoming traffic on a rainy night in Brooklyn. That is not what this product is intended for. Let reckless bloggers do stupid shit like that for you, and do not try it yourself. Capice? Good.

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Mobli Is a Camera App That Uses Photo Filters Smarter Than Instagram (Updated) [IPhone Apps]

Mobli is a camera app/photo sharing service that does a lot more than everyone's current fav Instagram. There's channels that allow you to see pictures from people, pictures by places and pictures tied to a topic/current event.

Along with that, Mobli offers a full fledged website (Mobli.com) that lets you see all the pictures posted. It's like a real photo sharing service! What's really smart though, is that in its latest update, Mobli will apply filters to your pictures on their servers. That means less strain on your phone, more life for your phone's battery.

As awesome as that sounds though, here's the not-so-secret about photo sharing networks: all that really matter is how many of your friends are using it. So no matter how good Mobli's tech is (and it's outstanding!), if everyone is on Instagram, well, everyone is on Instagram. Mobli is definitely on the right path to steal Instagram's thunder, especially since they have an app for Android. [iTunes via TechCrunch]

Update: They do have an app for Android! Find it here: Android Market

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Photojojo's Leather Camera Strap Makes Your DSLR Look Like Indiana Jones' [Cameras]

Dropping your expensive camera is terrible. Looking like a giant tool while you're snapping photos is also awful. Photojojo's "Handy Dandy Hand Strap" will take care of both, snuggly securing your cam to your hand, all while looking ruggedly beautiful.

There's nothing complicated about the strap. And that's a good thing. It's just soft padded leather that tucks into your camera's strap loop on one end and screws into the tripod mount on the other. Stick your mitt in, and you're ready to run and gun while the camera sticks to you. I can also see this as a way to turn your camera into a particularly sophisticated bludgeoning weapon, although that's not a use condoned by Photojojo, myself, Gizmodo, or its parent company. [Photojojo via Gadget Lab]

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Filmic Pro for iPhone: Like Whoa, Your iPhone Video Camera Is All Professional Now [IPhone Apps]

OOOH your iPhone videos look SOO NICE. And it's true, the stock cam on the iPhone 4 does a decent job for quick videos but if you wanted to stop being an amateur and use some real tools for video recording, Filmic Pro is what you need.

It's a video camera app that gives you a suite of features typically reserved for the pros. There's controls for screen resolution, frame rates, and framing along with focus and exposure locks so you can get the exact shot you want. Even more, you can monitor your audio, add some info to your video clips with a virtual "slate" and even encode your videos in a variety of formats. Basically, it's this whole toolbox of features that changes your dead simple cam to a "more realer" video camera (kind of like what Camera+ is for pictures, Filmic Pro is for videos).

There's just so much in this app, I don't even know where to start. The different shooting modes (Super 35 matte, double reticle, single reticle) give you quick preset options to record a scene as best seen fit (action shots require different needs than a close up shot, for example). Obviously, it's not something pros will use to replace their gear but it will make your YouTube videos (or Facebook, Tumblr, Vimeo vids) look like something a pro did—but you did it on a smartphone. Having Filmic Pro's whole suite of pro features at your disposable is like having all the maximum customization that Apple never wanted you to have. Of course, you're still going to be limited in quality but you'll have enough tweaks to maybe overcome it.

Filmic Pro

Download this app for:

The Best

Lots of tweaks!

The Worst

Takes time to get used to

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Nikon's First Rugged Cam (!), Super Bright Projector Mutant Camera and Pro Point-and-Shoot [Cameras]

So Nikon announced about a million new cameras today, including its first go-anywhere, do-whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-it point and shoot. It's like when Gizmo eats after midnight, except with Nikon cameras instead gremlins. Here's a quick rundown on each of them.

AW100
The AW100 is Nikon's first rugged point and shoot. Since we're pretty well behind all-rugged-everything, that's great to see. But what the hell took so long? Anyway, the AW100 is shockproof, waterproof (to 33 feet), and freeze-proof (whatever that means?). It packs a 16.1MP BSI CMOS sensor and has built-in GPS and internal mapping functions, like a travelogue to view your path. So you can use this thing to go snowboarding way out in the middle of nowhere, or like, search for Amelia Earhart.

Our current favorite rugged camera is Panasonic's Lumix TS3, but we we're crossing our fingers that the AW100 will jump into the lead. Its specs look great, and we've been waiting for a rugged cam from Nikon for too long for it to not be awesome. $430 in September.

P7100
If the P7100 looks familiar, it's probably because it's a gussied up P7000, with essentially just a 3-inch LCD and a new dial separating the two. But that's not really a bad thing, since the P7000 was a pro-worthy camera, with pretty stunning low light performance for a point and shoot. $500 in September.

S1200pj
Well if we're going to be shoving projectors into just about everything, why not our point and shoots? The S1200pj connects to either your computer or your iPad/Pod/Phone, can pull media from local storage or from online, and is 40 percent brighter than its predecessor. Nikon thinks you're going to use it to play 720p movies in your living room, but, umm, I'm pretty sure even college kids have too much dignity to resort to that. $430 in September.

S8200
The S8200 is the option for if you want a solid point and shoot, but don't want to drop $500 on the P7100. It's got decent video capabilities—1080p at 15, 60 and 120fps—and a 16.1MP sensor with optical zoom, but won't handle low light nearly as admirably as its big brother. $330 in September.

S100
The S100 has a sort-of-huge 3.5-inch, 820,000-dot OLED screen and a 5x optical zoom, which should probably make it the ultimate 2AM-in-a-bar, self-plus-one-shot camera. $300 in September.

S6200
There's not a whole lot to say about the S6200. It's got a 10x optical zoom, which is nice, but aside from that its features are a little, shall we say, dated? (Shoot in black and white! And sepia!) Still, it's got decent enough specs, and it's the least expensive of the bunch. $230 in September.

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The Thinnnnest Camera With a 12x Zoom [Cameras]

Canon is rolling out three new point and shoot cameras that'll take great pictures, fit in your pocket and won't break your budget.

The first of the trio is the 14-megapixel SX150 IS which has a 12x optical zoom, 720P HD recording and manual settings that you can tweak to your heart's content. It also has a 3-inch LCD and is available in conservative black or red. The SX150 IS will go on sale in early September for a reasonable $250.

Next in line is the 12.1-megapixel PowerShot ELPH 310 HS which has an 8x optical zoom, a 3-inch LCD, 1080P HD recording and a colorful coating of paint (your choice of purple, blue, pink, green and silver). The 310 HS will set you back $260 when it arrives in October, just in time for the holidays.

Finally, we have the 12.1-megapixel PowerShot ELPH 510 HS (shown above). This is the thinnest Canon camera on the market. It has a 12x optical zoom, 1080P HD recording, and a roomy 3.2-inch touchscreen display that makes it easy to navigate the menu system. It'll also let you touch to focus on a part of your image. You'll have to drop $350 if you want to grab the ELPH 510 HS when it arrives in October.

The three new PowerShots also have the DIGIC 4 image processing engine, the image stabilization (SX150 IS) and low-light capabilities (310/510 HS) that characterize Canon's compact camera models. In other words, they're great cameras that'll outdo your smartphone, but won't put a dent in your wallet like a DSLR. [Canon]

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