Showing posts with label photographers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photographers. Show all posts

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Augmented Reality Photography

App Puts Virtual Images on Physical Walls
by Jessica Lum

LZRTAG is a free Android app that lets you generate QR codes associated with uploaded images — mostly animated .gif images. The codes can be printed out and placed on walls and other surfaces. When scanned with the Android app, the codes call up the associated image and display it in an augmented reality on your phone.

This could also be a novel concept for photographers displaying work in galleries: instead of physical prints on walls, photographers could potentially display digital work in augmented reality.

Potentially any areas where QR codes could be placed can now become virtual photo galleries, accessible to anyone with a smartphone.

Cool.

The display possibilities are endless.

As are the possibilities for augmented reality photo art.


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The First Full-Frame Point-and-Shoot Camera

Sony RX1 Hands-on Preview
dpreview.com

This isn't just Sony's most serious compact camera, but arguably the most serious compact camera we've ever seen. It features a full-frame sensor and a fixed 35mm F2 lens, making it a real heavyweight in terms of lightweight photography. Sony has said it is targeting professional photographers and we see no reason to question that.

If it lives up to the promise (and a lot of that will depend on how fast the autofocus works, and how dependable it is in low light), the RX1 could easily become a classic, used by photojournalists and other working pros who need a small, flexible camera with excellent image quality. The image quality samples we've seen have been confidence inspiring, offering the low-light performance and shallow depth-of-field that only really come from having a fast lens in front of huge sensor.

Sony DSC-RX1 specification highlights

24MP full-frame (24x36mm) CMOS sensor
35mm F2 lens
ISO 100-25600
Focus range switch for focus down to 0.2m (14cm from the front of the lens)
Dedicated aperture ring
Five user-customizable buttons
Multi interface hotshoe (combines ISO 518 standard contacts and proprietary connector)
1.23M dot RGBW 'WhiteMagic' LCD
1080p60 HD movies in AVCHD (50p on PAL region models)
Focus peaking to aid manual focus
Bulb mode and threaded cable release socket in shutter button

The lens, which is designated as a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* features a leaf shutter for essentially silent operation (though you can engage a sound effect if you wish). This design means the camera can sync with flashes all the way up to its 1/2000th maximum shutter speed, as well as allowing the lens to reach closer to the front of the sensor.

Many photo enthusiasts have been dreaming of a full frame point and shoot for quite some time. Now that Sony has been first to introduce one it will be very interesting to see how and with what other manufactures respond.



Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Visual Revolution

Five Ways the Cell Phone Camera Has Changed the Way We Live
By Jeff Balke

5. Search by photos.

... Functions like Google Goggles which allow you to point your camera phone at, for example, the Statue of Liberty, and have it return all sorts of information about it as well as Google's "search by photo" function which will seek out any identical or similar photos to one you upload and solving the mystery photo problem for everyone.

4. Sharing our photos with others.

... The dreaded family slide show is a thing of legend as were the litany of children and pet photos filling wallets and purses. Fortunately, with photo sharing websites like Flickr, apps like Instagram and photo galleries on Facebook, your friends can look through your photos at their leisure instead of yours...

CameraPhone from Justin Hackworth on Vimeo.

3. Turning amateurs into pros, pros into amateurs.

I'll be the first to admit that I was always rather queazy about the use of filtered images. First, there were just the dreary self-portraits taken with old school film cameras that seemed to proliferate on Flickr and Polaroids of naked girls covered in chocolate that passed for art. Then, there was Hipstamatic and Instagram, the apps that turn your digital images into dirty-looking shots that appear as if they were birthed from a Holga found in someone's grandmother's attic. But, the filters are used less as the fad has faded and more and more people are using these apps to take really fantastic photos and treat them creatively. And pros are using these toy apps to expand upon their artistic repertoire. In truth, these are the same kind of creative tools pros used to use in darkrooms. They are just more easily accessible and that's a good thing.

2. Documenting our daily lives.

This might be the most fascinating aspect of having a camera in one's possession every day is the ability to document everything that happens. Sometimes, it can be inane and ridiculous, but in the hands of someone with an idea or creative spark, it can turn into something fascinating....

1. Citizen journalism.

The first photos of US Airways flight 1549 that crash landed in the Hudson came from people with cell phones on a passing ferry, not from CNN or Reuters or some local news helicopter. While the beating of Rodney King may have been caught using a digital video camera, dozens of other photos and videos of violence -- some fascinating and poignant, others ridiculous and pointless -- litter the web and inform us of things we wouldn't see otherwise. As badly as the credibility of journalism has been damaged by biased news networks, self-promoting blogs and just plain bad reporting, everyday people are proving that a picture does say a thousand words and giving all of us an opportunity to shed light on the truth.



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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Camera Wars

Say hello to our little friends.



We're assured that no cameras were hurt in the making of this video.