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Instagram responds to video-focus backlash by testing portrait orientation photos in feeds

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The whole Instagram debacle over recent weeks with its focus on video content and the whole full-screen redesign – which now appears to have been halted – has caused it a lot of grief. The backlash from users has been quite vocal. After all, Instagram’s success grew off the back of the fact that it was a photo-sharing app and despite competition from apps like TikTok, that’s what Instagram users still seem to want.

It looks, though, that Instagram might have actually taken the response into account and is currently testing taller aspect ratio photos so that the photos in your streams can take up as much of the screen as Instagram Reels currently do. Whether or not that’ll be enough to appease users remains to be seen, but we’ve only been asking Instagram for the ability to post portrait orientation images for about a decade, so maybe.

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French scientist admits photo claimed to be from James Webb Telescope is actually a slice of chorizo

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It’s always fun when scientists pull pranks and people believe it. It’s especially so when it’s a prank about a hot topic of the day. That topic in this case is the James Webb Space Telescope, launched on Christmas Day last year and has been sending a steady stream of pretty epic imagery back to Earth since July 12th – less than four weeks ago.

Well, on July 31st, famed French physicist Etienne Klein posted a photo to his 91,000+ followers on Twitter that… Well, for many of us, it looked a little suspicious but was claimed to be an image created by the James Web Telescope remarking on its “level of detail”. Well, it turns out it wasn’t. It was a slice of chorizo.

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The Paparazzo is a DIY interchangeable lens digital camera based off the Raspberry Pi and PI HQ Camera module

I knew we’d eventually start to see some custom “portable” cameras being made based off the Raspberry Pi HQ camera after they announced it in early 2020. Have to be honest, didn’t think it’d take this long but here we are. Created by Billy O’Sullivan, the Paparazzo C/CS is a 12-megapixel C/CS mount interchangeable lens camera based around exactly that camera module and the Raspberry Pi 4.

As mentioned, it offers a 12-megapixel resolution – because that’s the resolution of the Pi HQ camera – with all of the features you typically get with the Pi HQ camera on the Raspberry Pi 4, although it’s essentially just a point-and-shoot based on the software. It sports a big LCD on the back, with a menu-driven interface and minimal button layout.

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Aputure has announced the MT Pro – Its first full-colour mini LED tube light

Aputure has announced its new Aputure MT Pro light – a compact 11.8″ RGBWW LED tube light designed for small-scale scenes and hiding in small places on set. The light comes in a kit along with a USB-C power cord, a 45° grid and a small mini tripod to which you can attach it inside a semi-hard zip-up case. As well as basic RGBWW operation, it features a bunch of built-in effects and can be remotely controlled from the Sidus Link smartphone app.

The diminutive footlong LED light contains 36 RGBWW “pixels” with 0-100% dimming with near-stepless increments and a colour temperature adjustable from 2000K up to 10,000K with green/magenta adjustments. Aputure says it can reproduce 90% of the colours in the Rec.2020 colour space, with CRI and TLCI of 95 and 98 respectively.

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Peter McKinnon has released a new multitool for photographers and filmmakers

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As photographers or filmmakers, we occasionally find ourselves in need of some kind of tool. Maybe we’re tearing down and rebuilding our video rig or perhaps it’s something as simple as tightening down the screw on a tripod plate. Whatever it is, occasionally (or often), there’s a need.

While there are a number of multitools on the market made specifically for photographers and filmmakers, like this one, this one or this one from SmallRig, Peter McKinnon believes they’re all a bit lacking and has spent the last year and a half designing his own. He also believes his is worth $95.

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Canon’s next mirrorless camera could be yet another cropped sensor aimed at vloggers

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Canon is fast investing in its lineup of RF mount mirrorless cameras. This year saw the announcement of two new APS-C mirrorless cameras from Canon: the R7 and R10. Now new rumours have been flying around that Canon’s next camera will also be a cropped frame sensor mirrorless camera intended to address the vlogging market.

The mirrorless line had previously been targeting the higher end of the market, with the R5 and R3 properly aimed at the needs of professional photographers. But usually reliable rumour site Canon Rumours has said that they have information that the next camera will be “a small form factor “vlogger”, which…will be close to the Canon EOS M6 Mark II in design.”

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How to modify the Plustek 8100 35mm film scanner to scan medium format roll film

Film’s resurgence in the last few years has left many analogue photographers with something of a problem, particularly if they want to shoot medium format film. That’s the lack of scanners on the market capable of scanning film compared to 20 or even 10 years ago. Sure, there are some out there that can do medium and even large format but they’re often prohibitively expensive.

So, photographer Christian Chapman decided to have a go at modifying his Plustek 8100 – a scanner designed for 35mm film – to make it scan medium format 120 roll film. As well as modifying the scanner and designing up some 3D printed replacement parts, he also had to modify the driver to make it scan further than it usually would for 35mm film. And he’s made it all available to download so you can do it yourself.

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These guys tested every video stabilizer so you don’t have to (but you probably still should)

If you shoot video, you know that you’re going to need some kind of stabilisation at some point in the process. Whether it’s a tripod, gimbal, a whole giant rig or simply relying on the camera or lenses built-in stabilisation, there are so many different ways out there. We can even stabilise in post, thanks to things like Adobe’s Warp Stabiliser and DaVinci Resolve’s gyro-stabilisation for Pocket cameras, or Sony’s similar tech.

Picking which one to choose for a given situation can be challenging, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience using all of the different methods out there. So, the team from Syrp Lab decided to give them all a try to see which worked best in which situations, from gimbals and IBIS to software stabilisation like that found in GoPros as well as the aforementioned Warp Stabiliser.

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Instagram Hates Photos: Where to Share Your Work Now

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Now that Instagram has transformed into a short-form video platform geared towards creators and influencers looking to go viral, where do we hobbyists and enthusiasts share our photos and find other photographers?

It’s not Flickr: the user base isn’t mainstream enough. It’s not Twitter either: that’s mostly topical posts like news and opinion. Discord isn’t really a social network, but a group chat. And Facebook is a joke.

It’s Tumblr. (Wait, hear me out).

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How to get your photos and videos backed up so you don’t lose them forever

Backing up is always a hotly debated topic. Even just whether to back up or not is often a cause of conflict in a lot of social media photography groups. And even if you have chosen to backup your work, you’ll see three million responses describing exactly how you should back everything up in order to ensure you never lose anything – and they’ll all be different. Ultimately, everybody has the workflow that works best for them.

But what will work best for you? If you’re just thinking about backing up your photos and video, or even if you do already but you want to learn more about other backup technologies, this video from Gordon Laing will set you off on the right foot. In it, he talks about a whole bunch of different backup options along with the pros and potential cons of each.

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