Menu

Subscribe

camera

Fuji Instax 210 Tips and Tricks

On focusing and using the closeup attachment lens: If you want to take portraits, use [the included closeup adapter]. With the camera focus set to infinity, the point of sharp focus becomes 1 meter. With the same [closeup] attachment the .9-3m focus setting gives pin sharp results at 45cm. (Selfie range) The depth of field […] » about 300 words

Summer 2013 Camera Options

I reviewed a lineup of cameras I’d consider to replace my aging Canon Rebel XTi and Panasonic Lumix LX3 back in February, but I’m on a roll after collecting some film camera party packs so I decided to update this list as well. Since I gathered my original list I’ve started using motion control robots and my photo habits have changed. […] » about 1600 words

Clarity from a distance

The sky looks big from earth, but it’s rather different the other way around. I’m not saying it’s not quite an experience, but inspecting the metadata on this photo of New York and surroundings taken on Christmas day, 2000, during the first International Space Station mission surprised me. To wit: it’s only a 180mm lens. […] » about 300 words

Adventure Cameras: Olympus vs. Panasonic

I’ve been keeping my eye on the Olympus Stylus Tough-8000. It’s reportedly durable and waterproof to 33 feet. But I’ve just discovered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1, also supposedly tough and waterproof (though only to 10 feet). The Panasonic, however, can shoot HD video and has a higher maximum ISO. The Panasonic also does some funky […] » about 200 words

Peephole DIY Fisheye Lens

Flickr blog I discovered the Peephole fish eye group. The idea is simple: us a $5 door peephole to give your camera a fisheye lens. Here are the instructions:

  1. Hold peephole against rim of camera lens.
  2. Set camera to “macro”. (the image is actually displayed on the inside face of the convex lens of the peephole. The camera must focus on the foreground image rather than the background image.)
  3. Zoom in to the point that the viewable “circle” is framed almost evenly.
  4. For best results, brighter lighting will avoid unwanted noise (grain)
  5. Enjoy and have fun.

You can buy a pricier model with the Lomo label on it (and if you go looking, you’ll find a “peephole reverser” which is probably useless for your photography…probably). Henry Gordon Dietz offers a lot more info.

Above is my first experiment with a peephole fisheye and my cheap video camera.

Camera Tossing

Memepool introduced me to camera tossing at Flickr, where there’s even a group for those who are willing to risk their camera for a chance at a shot of streaky lights. But not everybody tosses in the dark, it’s turned out to be a a new fad in self-portraiture. Click through for credits and more […] » about 100 words

Point ‘N Shoot

DefenseTech reported on the FireFly, a disposable camera that can be shot from the M203 grenade launchers used by US land forces. The cameras fly 600 meters in eight seconds, wirelessly sending pictures back to the soldier’s PDA. Now they’ll know what’s over that hill or around that corner. Not that soldiers don’t need this […] » about 200 words

Professionals Don’t Use Ofoto Or Wal Mart Photo Services

At least that’s the only thing a person can conclude from the stories at Copyfight earlier this week. This post reports on two stories where the photo services concluded that the photos to be printed were too good to have come from an average customer. Upon trying to order prints of her child, one Ofoto user found the following:

Your order has been cancelled because it appears your order contains one of the following… 1. Professional images.

And Wal Mart told another mother:

We can’t release the pictures to you without a copyright release form signed by the photographer.

At least Ofoto gave the mother the opportunity to sign an affidavit warranting that she was the photographer or had permission from the copyright owner. Wal Mart wouldn’t even accept that.

So, like I noted in the headline: Professionals apparently don’t use Ofoto or Wal Mart. I wonder if they promote that as a selling point…

Seltzer’s post notes the new copyright warning that Canon is putting in their camera manuals and the trouble{#157&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0} that the developers of the open-source Gallery image management software project found themselves in recently.