The Modern Materialist : Cameras

Cameras Within Cameras

Steph Auteri — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:36:00 GMT

[Photo via]

I've always loved the matryoshka concept, and have often wished I could apply it to other objects in my life. Such as:

wine bottles within wine bottles
bookshelves within bookshelves
coffee mugs within coffee makers
books within books
shirts within shirts (perhaps this is why I temporarily fell sway to faux-layering)

So it's no surprise that I've found myself smitten by cameras within cameras:

[$54, Etsy]

[$49, Etsy]

[$54, Etsy]

Each camera case in hine's shop is handstitched with a button & crocheted yarn closure. For digital cameras (when are DSLR bags going to get this cute!?), the interior dimensions are about 3 5/8" x 1 1/8" x 2 3/4".

[Via Modish]

Sip n' Snap

Laureen Mahler — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:02:00 GMT

When I was a little kid, I had this recurring dream that the entire world was made of Capri Sun. It was absolutely vivid, with Capri Sun weather patterns, Capri Sun clothing, meals made of various liquid and solid forms of Capri Sun, even Capri Sun cars that were filled via plastic straws at Capri Sun gas stations. God, I loved that stuff. And if my dreams of a world made of juice are ever to become a reality, these juice box cameras might be the first step:

[2,280JPY, Fuuvi]

These 35mm cameras are shaped like juice and they take real, actual pictures. The shutter release? Shaped liked a little straw at the top.

Only one thing could prevent this from being the most awesome product of all time: can I still drink juice out of it?

[via Gizmodo]

Downsizing: Your Camera Bag

Steph Auteri — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:06:00 GMT

Shutterbugs: Do you really want to carry around the monstrous camera bag/backpack every time you leave your house?

[$29.95, MoMA]

For those of you with simple point-and-shoots, this cute camera case matches function with style

For those of us with DSLRs (why God, why!?), this case only fits compact cameras.

Canon EOS Stores More Than Pictures

Steph Auteri — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:58:00 GMT

This is me with my old Canon EOS, making a funny face because I cannot believe how much I love my camera. I mean, I had never loved a camera this way before.

But then the new Canon came along:

[$94.99+, eBay]

The Canon 5D Mark II USB Dlash Drive has 4 GB of space. And is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Related posts on Crave, Gizmodo, and Zungua.

Dell's Answer to Portable Printing

Steph Auteri — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:21:00 GMT

I've mentioned the Polaroid PoGo several times in the past few months. It's an instant mobile printer that allows you to send pictures from your PictBridge-compatible digital camera, or wirelessly from your Bluetooth-enabled camera cell phone.

It seems that Dell has stepped up with a competitive product.

[$99, Dell]

The Dell WASABI PZ310 Mobile Printer, just announced today, also uses Bluetooth to connect wirelessly to a variety of devices, and there's also a PictBridge port on the side for wired printing. Each printer also ships with stick-back photo paper.

[Via Crave]

Hey! LEGO My Camera!

Shaun Seneviratne — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:02:00 GMT

Eff that lomograpy shi'!

This LEGO Camera is sadly not made from real LEGO pieces. But who knows, maybe you can tack LEGO blocks on the top or bottom and create a tower, or something.

[Via DVICE]

Heir to the Polaroid Throne?

Steph Auteri — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:19:00 GMT

I already posted about a camera available at Urban Outfitters for a mere $130 that prints out credit card-sized, Polaroid-style photos. Looking for an upgrade?

The XIAO Tip-521 is a 5 megapixel camera that both stores your images and prints them on paper like the classic Polaroid. It features Zink’s ink-less printer, and comes with 20 sheets of paper, a high resolution 2.48-inch LCD display, 16MB of internal memory and SD/SDHC slot, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery.

[$499.99, AudioCubes]

[Via GearCrave]

Travel Tip: Make Your Pictures Pop

Alex Zalben — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:08:00 GMT

One of my biggest annoyances with taking a camera with me while traveling is the lack of tripods. Or rather, it's annoying enough to lug a camera around, let alone a tripod as well. Problem solved:

The bottle cap tripod hooks onto any regular bottle mouth, eliminating the need for annoying, heavy tripods. Rock on.

[$10, Charles & Marie]

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Follow Up: Flip Mino HD

Alex Zalben — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:32:00 GMT

A little while ago, I reviewed the Flip Mino, a teeny, tiny video camera that I gave a pretty much rave review to, with one or two quibbles. Specifically, though I was surprised by the sound quality, the video was low quality, YouTube level, "you get what you pay for." Well, Flip, you've solved my problem:

As of this morning, Flip has the new Flip Mino HD which tapes up to an hour of 720p HD footage. Which is to say, the lowest end, but still very high end footage. Also, reportedly, they've redesigned the import software, which was my other slight qualm with the unit. I'll try to snag one and do a hands on for you guys, but in the meantime, for $50 more than the Mino, you could do no worse than the world's tiniest camera.

[$230, TheFlip.com]

Label Whore: Paul Smith

Steph Auteri — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:01:00 GMT

Obviously, I would never pay $135 for this tie, as much as I might wish for my husband to incorporate more floral into his wardrobe. Nor would I pay $140 for this towel, $615 for this dress, or $845 for this jacket, as much I really want to.

Surprisingly, one of Paul Smith's niftiest new products is eminently affordable:

Can I just say: I want this. Bad.

It's a limited-edition fisheye camera, complemented with Paul Smith's signature bright stripes. Love.

[$150, Paul Smith]

The Polaroid is Back!

Diana Vilibert — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:28:00 GMT

The Polaroid is back, and Ron Jeremy has nothing to do with it. That picture of me and ol' Ron was taken on a digital camera--so how did it end up on a Polaroid? With the PolaDroid!

PolaDroid lets you drag and drop digital photos into the application, and spits out a "Polaroid-like" picture.

[Poladroid]

You'll Flip For These New Designs

Alex Zalben — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:36:00 GMT

A while back, I posted a review and video of the Flip Mino, a handy little pocket-sized camcorder. While I haven't used it a whole ton, as it was immediately replaced by my new toy (the iPhone; hey, I can only carry so many things in my pockets before my pants burst off), there's some cool-ish news we got from the Flip people themselves:

Flip has partnered with Cafepress, and will post tons of professional designs for the Mino. In addition, you can design your own Mino, and sell it online. From the official press release:

"The makers of the acclaimed Flip Video(TM) family of camcorders today announced a next-generation personalization platform that invites consumers to choose from thousands of professional designs or custom design their own Flip Mino camcorder. This new online marketplace, created in partnership with CafePress, gives consumers the option to share their designs with the community to earn commissions for themselves or non-profit causes. For the first time ever, a consumer electronics company has given full design control to consumers, raising the standard for mass-market personalization."

Yeah, I already said that.

[$170, TheFlip.com]

One Picture Perfect Bowling Bag

Steph Auteri — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:24:00 GMT

So. I was in a bowling league back in junior high.

I had a purple bowling ball bag with a matching purple bowling ball that had my initials etched into it.

I was also the worst bowler on the league, but at least I had style.

What's in my bowling bag now?

Well, if I had this sweet bowler bag from Acme Made, I'd keep my dSLR equipment in it.

Various color combos will be rolling out in November and December, and will be available for $40.

[Via Gizmodo]

Equations: Camera + Coffee

Alex Zalben — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:33:00 GMT

[PICForme]

[Via Gearfuse]

Make The iPhone Super Dorky

Alex Zalben — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Look at the iPhone: it's pretty cool, right? But what if you want it to look super, super, dorky:

That's a 6x zoom lens that attaches to your iPhone's camera lens, via a fitted plastic case, and then makes you the laughing stock of the world. That second part is included free.

[$18, Think Geek]

In the News: Polaroid Played Us

Steph Auteri — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:01:00 GMT

Gadgets blogs across the Internets are all abuzz with the news of Polaroid's forthcoming camera, one that combines digital camera technology with their PoGo (which is used to print photos on the go).

Amateur Photographer has the lowdown, and are even helping to design the new camera. You can help out, too, by suggesting camera specifics over here.

The final product is due to be out in 2009.

Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Alex Zalben — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Miss Polaroids? Then why not let everyone know that you are Miss Polaroid:

Like my word play there*?

[$15, Shanalogic]

[Via Geeksugar]

*It always helps when you point out how clever you are. That's a fun tip.

Zoom In On My Empty Wallet

Steph Auteri — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:48:00 GMT

I love me my Nikon D40X. I use it constantly for blogging, and when I take it out to events, people are invariably impressed, despite the fact that I use it on fully automatic. My only complaint? I'd like a lens with a greater zoom (mine's 18-55mm). I have my eye on this 18-200mm lens...

[$679.99, J&R]

...but it costs almost as much as my flippin' camera!

It is compatible with all Nikon DX digital SLRs including the D300, D60, and D40(!). Me want.

[Via Crave]

Roundup: Camera Bags

Steph Auteri — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Last night, I skipped out on my office gig early to go and photograph a corporate event (because apparently I am a professional photographer now...a professional photographer with this in my bag).

As I stood awkwardly among the polished masses, with my bulky black camera bag, I had to wonder why camera bags as a whole were so overwhelmingly ugly. After all, laptop bag designers have already shown us that their utilitarian totes can be chic as well.

I whined to Charlotte — my friend and fashion consultant — about it this morning, and she instantly found me a slew of stylish camera bags. After the jump, the best of the best:

[$179, Shootsac]

[$58, Kenneth Cole]

[$105.50, Amazon]

[$22.50, Kodak]

Any more you guys know about?

Related: Camera Couture

Aerial Shot

Steph Auteri — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:30:00 GMT

This is the type of image I imagine would result from use of the Flee Digital Camera, but I could be wrong. And I must admit, I'm intrigued.

The Flee is a digital camera designed specifically to take photos after you’ve launched it into the air. It is bluetooth enabled and will transmit the photos it takes directly to your cellphone. This piece of possible awesomeness was designed by Turkish designer Hakan Bogazpinar.

[Via Oh Gizmo!]

Press Release: Nikon D700 Launch

Steph Auteri — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:00:00 GMT

I love my Nikon D40X. It's pretty much impossible to take a bad photo, and I use it constantly for both event recording and blogging. Still, with all of the upgrades coming out in a seemingly constant stream, it's tough not to wonder what those upgrades have that mine doesn't.

[$3,000, Nikon]

Today, Nikon announces their launch of the D700, which will be available come the end of the month.

What does it have that my D40X doesn't? Aside from that $3K price tag? Check out this side by side comparison here.

Flip Mino Review + Video!

Alex Zalben — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:30:00 GMT

I got a chance to do a hands on review for the new Flip Mino, a teeny tiny camcorder that won't break your budget. Check out the exclusive video review, and info on where to buy it, below:

[$180, Amazon]

Hands On: Samsung’s Still Cameras

Alex Zalben — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Wrapping up my look at Samsung’s Spring Fever Showcase, I got a chance to play with pretty much the entire line of Samsung still cameras. Ironically, I took photos of them with my Sony still camera. Boy, aren’t the pictures bad, Samsung? Wouldn’t they better if I took them with a Samsung camera? You know, for research purposes? Cough.

In any case, there’s a ton of product available on the line, ranging from low end point and shoots, to higher end cameras with a ton of features, but a still relatively small form factor.

Personally, I was far more taken with the low end cameras. They have a large view screen, crisp color (they start at 8 Megapixels, for goodness sake), and took pictures fast and cleanly. The L100 is a nice start to the line, and at $200, isn’t a bad thing to carry around.

On the other end, you have the i8, a camera that doubles as a media player, with room for video, still pictures (natch), and music. The picture was similarly crisp, and the whole thing is slick enough that it wouldn’t look out of place in Miami. Which means it’s super cool. This one is $300, but if you want a camera with some extra features, it might be worth checking out.

Check out more info on the i8 here, and the L100 here.

Hands On: Samsung’s Camcorders

Alex Zalben — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:30:00 GMT

As mentioned earlier, last night I attended Samsung’s Spring Fever Showcase, and checked out a bunch of their upcoming goods and services. What I neglected to mention was that I was there because the lovely and talented Stephanie Auteri couldn’t make it. See? Bloggaz be lookin’ out for each otha.

Anywho, one of the highlights for me was checking out Samsung’s line of consumer camcorders. It’s not a large line, and admittedly so; you can see all of them up top. Basically, there’s one Mini-DV cam, one DVD cam, and the rest save to SD cards. Which makes a lot of sense. Physical media isn’t very long for this world, and SD cards are pretty much the way to go. They don’t take up as much battery as a hard drive, and are more easily translatable to other places of input.

So how were the cameras? Well, if you’re looking for something super professional to shoot your movie on, this is probably not your answer. However, the top of the line shoots 1080p, which is pretty nice for a relatively cheap camera. And, it saves up to 90 minutes of footage on the included flash card. Again, pretty nice.

There’s also a feature which Samsung says is their most popular, which allows you to spin the camera using just the hand grip. It’s cute, but I can’t imagine using it for anything but filming Cloverfield 2. A lot of people don’t agree with me, though, as the feature has been expanded to the whole line of products.

There is included software, which natch, I’d suggest you skip. And it was unclear what file format the video can be saved to, though it was implied that you could open everything in Quicktime. Again, you’re probably going to want to do that.

Oh, and there’s a pop-up flash, used for still pictures, which clearly shows that Samsung’s focus is on the consumer, not the prosumer or professional. Not being snarky (yes I am), it’s just REAL camera-men don’t use a flash.

So how do these cameras stack up against similar ones? Ummm… I don’t know. I think to properly appreciate how a camcorder works, you really need to test it out in a number of different lighting situations, rather than one moodily lit reception area. And, you don’t know how well or annoying the controls are until, again, you’re called on to use them at a moments notice.

That being said, based on the time I spent with them, this seems to be a solid camera with a good resolution. The price for the high-end is $899, which is mainly you paying for the 1080p, I think. Though if you’re going to use an HD Samsung TV to broadcast your footage? It may be worth it.

Oh yeah, and they're YouTube branded or something.

Check out more about it here.

Tiny, Waterproof, Video

Alex Zalben — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:30:00 GMT

The Xacti DMX-CA8 will go on sale in Japan at the end of May, but let’s hope it makes it over here sometime soon… The little guy saves all files in an included hard drive in an easily importable format, and is also, you know, waterproof. Only up to an hour though, so don’t go hanging out underwater for days at a time. Because your camera would break. No other reason.

Check out a video of it in action:

[Via Akihabara News]

The MM Interview: Brian Heater and the Tiniest Camcorder

Alex Zalben — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:30:00 GMT

The MM Interview is a feature where I talk to people I like about stuff they love. Today I’m chatting with Brian Heater a writer for PC Magazine by day, and a comic book authority at night (almost literally… He works for PC Mag during the day, and blogs about comic books at night). As a man about town in two different worlds, Brian needed a handy video camera to document all his outings and aboutings, which how he came across the Flip.

MM: Okay Brian, tell me a little about yourself.

BH: Hi, I’m Brian. I live in New York. Between the hours of 9 AM and 6 PM, I help run the blogs over at PC Magazine, including Gearlog.com [gadgets], Appscout.com [software], GoodCleanTech.com [green technology], and Technoride.com [car tech]. It’s a pretty great gig—one day it’s big breaking a big eBay scandal, and the next it’s hitting a keyboard with a baseball bat. At night I do music writings for publications like The New York Press, Spin, and The Onion. I also run a comic book site called The Daily Cross Hatch and weep softly to myself. Not over anything in particular, really, I just think it’s healthy to have a good cry from time to time, just so long as you don’t wake the neighbors.

MM: I said a LITTLE about yourself, Brian… ANYway, why did you end up looking for a video camera? Or were you not looking for one, and just stumbled across the Flip?

BH: The Flip found me, really. It showed up in the mail, hoping to find purchase in the pages of PC Magazine. The thing has rarely left my side since. In fact, it’s thanks almost entirely to the little camera that we began shooting videos for Gearlog. We have a video team here at PC Mag, but with the filming, editing, and various other post-production chores, things can be a bit sluggish, especially given the fact that the majority of that team is based out of San Francisco. With the Flip, production times are limited to the 3-5 minutes of shooting and the amount of time it takes to upload to YouTube (which, admittedly sometimes takes a bit longer than I’d care to mention). The Flip has a USB arm that flips out (hence the clever name), connecting directly to your PC. All files are saved in .AIV, so there’s no conversion needed before uploading. It’s all just drag-and-drop. [Check out a few sample videos, here.]

As you know, I was struggling a bit to come up with a good product to choose for this story. I wanted something bank-breakingly sexy. I mean, I’ve got an Apple notebook and an iPod, like everyone else in this city, but sometimes good things come in affordable packages. This sub $200 camcorder is firmly targeted at those us who couldn’t rush out and stand in line for the first iPhone iteration. It’s cheap, handy, and, according to David Pogue, has managed to snap up an astonishing 13-perecent camcorder market share in the US.

MM: Spoken like a true gadget writer. So, you like to break stuff, right? How sturdy is the Flip?

BH: I haven’t done any torture testing, per se (I’d be too sad to see my friend cut down in its prime), but The Flip lives in my messenger bag, most days, which is something that I would never consider doing to a more expensive camcorder. All said, it’s handled the daily dings fairly admirably.

MM: Any interesting or funny stories that have happened while using the Flip?

BH: Ha, a few, actually, most of which can be found on the above YouTube profile. The first video on the page was taken at this year’s CES. Someone in a fake “metal” wig was showing off a Guitar Hero-branded device involving a mini amp for playing “air guitar”—firmly targeted as people who can’t play real guitars, game guitars, or real air guitars all that well. We posted the video on YouTube, and in racked up somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 k hits fairly quickly. Naturally, it seemed like a good idea to maintain the page. On that same trip, we shot a video which will never see the light of YouTube, involving a colleague demonstrating a piece of urinal technology called the “Splash Guardian.” No actual urinating occurred, mind you—the segment involved fermented hops. In the end, however, probably best for all involved that the footage stayed buried. Other highlights from the YouTube page include a coworker hula-hooping to Wii Fit (he received some letters from admiring fans), dancing Japanese robots, and USB humping dog dongles.

MM: Okay, here’s my perennial last question: let's imagine a horrible day when the Flip breaks, permanently... Do you think you'll buy another one, or is there something else you have your eyes on?

BH: On my salary? Think I’m sticking with the Flip.

[$110, Amazon]

Sony Produces Sweet-Ass Future Camcorder

Alex Zalben — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:30:00 GMT

It’s funny, because the big story about the recently announced Sony HDVF-EL100 is its viewfinder, but just look at the whole thing. First of all, it’s white, which is a rarity for a high end, prosumer camera. Then there’s the barrel, which looks more like a video game gun than a camera. And then there’s the viewfinder itself, which is in an entirely different position than the regular place Sony sticks its viewfinders (the side).

And speaking of the viewfinder, let’s get to that, shall we?

For those of you who have little to no experience shooting in HD, you may not be aware that the still relatively new Hi-Def format is a finicky mistress. As it picks up more information, there are far more chances to really screw up an image, from shakiness, to focus, to the problem this viewfinder addresses, which is the brightness and contrast.

In particular, as you are picking up far more info, you’re also picking up far more nuanced shades of black and white, which means that when you’re shooting, you need a really good monitor. The usual solution is an extra, hi-def monitor that you buys separately, is super bulky, and difficult to use. This particular model addresses that problem in a totally logical way: build a hi-def monitor onto a hi-def camera, and stick it in a location that allows you to see in the same direction the camera is seeing.

The OLED monitor has a pixel resolution of 960 by 540, and it also delivers a wide viewing angle, a wide color gamut and extremely fast response time. So not quite 100% hi-def, but a fair bit closer than current on-board monitors.

No news on pricing, but the camera should be available later on this year.

[Via Sony]

Keychain Tripod!

Alex Zalben — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:30:00 GMT

I haven’t been the biggest fan of table-top tripods… I find that they tend to be unsteady, unreliable, and generally, pretty annoying.

However, when you have Bogen, a name known for quality tripod work, you trust ‘em. So imagine my pleasant surprise upon discovering the Bogen / Manfrotto Modo Pocket Tabletop Tripod, the tiniest little tripod, that also doubles as a key-chain! This is a cool little item that any camera hog can get behind. [$30, B&H]

[Via The Gadgeteer]