Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
It’s been a while since virtual reality has left sci-fi movies and became available to the masses. And now we can even take photos in virtual world. Design studio dotdotdash has introduced D3-U, the first camera of this kind.
Dotdotdash synchronized the announcement of the D3-U with the VIVE Tracker, which was announced at CES 2017. These two combined enable you to take photos in the virtual world, and even more than that.
CES 2017 may over, but the gear and technology announced over the weekend is still in the news. For Razer, though, CES 2017 appears to have been something of a bittersweet event. Let’s start with the good news. Razer introduced the world to Project Valerie, the world’s first triple 4K display laptop. And oh boy does it look sexy. With a company like Razer, you know it’s primarily intended for gamers. It does, however, open up many possibilities for video and photo enthusiasts and professionals.
I’ve been using multiple monitors on my desktops now ever since switching to Windows 98. It’s why I’ve come to despise working on laptops. If I have to go mobile with a single screen, I’d sooner just go with a tablet. If the tablet can’t handle it, then it can wait until I get back to a “real computer”. Something like this does make me reconsider my choices for the future, though.
The film so famous that Paul Simon wrote a song about it may be coming back. Kodak’s Kodachrome was the choice of both hobbyist and professional photographers for years. It was first released in 1935, and production ran all the way until 2009. Despite digital already having taken a firm grasp on the world of photography, it upset many photographers who still shot both film and digital.
During a discussion at CES on The Kodakery podcast, they briefly mentioned the re-launch of Ektachrome, and the possibility of Kodachrome actually going back into production.
At the end of 2016, Bellus3D announced taking a selfie game to a new level. They planned to do it with a 3D face scanning camera for mobile devices, which should enable users quick, high-quality and cheap 3D face scanning. At CES 2017, they demonstrated it. It’s the camera that makes extremely accurate 3D face models on a budget and in a matter of seconds. And as soon as this year, they are planning to make it available for the masses.
It seems that Microsoft aren’t the only ones who’ve been working on a control dial you can use on a display. At CES2017, Dell introduced what it claims is the “world’s first horizontal smart workspace”. It’s called the Dell Canvas, and it’s a 27″ 2560×1440 resolution touch sensitive display.
Dell also announced a new 32″ 8K desktop monitor capable of displaying 1.07 billion colours. It has 100% coverage of both the AdobeRGB and sRGB colour gamuts, but it’s not cheap. Known as the UP3218K, it has a resolution of 7680×4320 (280ppi pixel density), and costs an impressive $4,999.
I still remember clutching a pair of Nikon D100 bodies back in 2004 when Nikon announced the insanely high resolution 12MP D2x. It seemed so wild back then when other high end bodies were still only 4-8MP. People lamented on various forums about “the laws of physics” and how quickly the megapixel race would end. Oh, how short sighted we all were. We’re spoiled by today’s sensors.
With entry level models today at 24MP, and higher end bodies going 36-50MP, it just seems nuts by comparison. But, that’s not enough for Canon. Oh, no. At CES this year, Chuck Westfall (the real one, not the fake one), was showing off Canon’s 250MP APS-H sized (1.3x crop) sensor. Chuck says that it’s unlikely we’ll see this sensor in a DSLR any time soon, but it does hold some exciting possibilities for the future.
Along with the news about re-launching Ektachrome, Kodak seems to have some other news, too. At CES 2017, they announced the global launch of their on-demand photography service KODAKIT. Although the app was launched almost a year ago, the online service is now available worldwide. It covers 37 countries and 92 cities.
Historically, Kodak is known as a camera company. But over the last decade or so, they have fully switched to producing other technological solutions and systems. However, it seems they are slowly getting back to their photographic roots. The last announcement they made is not about launching a new camera or revival of an old film, but it is photography-related. They have created KODAKIT – the service that is supposed to connect photographers and customers all over the world. But is this service really bringing something new to the market?
Steadicam, the devices famous for stabilising Hollywood’s footage for decades, are refocusing their efforts towards phones. Tiffen, Steadicam’s owners, have just announced the Steadicam Volt. Taking square aim at the influx of motorised handheld gimbals launched recently, the Volt works a little differently. It also offers advantages over those motorised gimbals we’ve come to know.
It’s also been awarded as an Honoree of the 2017 CES Innovation Awards. Tiffen have released smartphone stabilisers before. The Steadicam Smoothee, for example. Unlike the Smoothee, though, this one is electronic. They’ve teamed up with drone makers, Yuneec to load it up with some pretty cool stabilisation tech. This lets it achieve camera moves no current motorised stabilisers can.[Read More…]
Kodak issued wonderful news at CES 2017. To the joy of all film lovers, they are bringing back the legendary Ektachrome Still Film. The company plans to reformulate and produce the Ektachrome 135 still frame. In late 2017, the film will be back on the market. Also, Kodak is re-launching Ektachrome Super 8 film to go along their recently introduced Super 8 movie camera. So, both photographers and filmmakers have something to look forward to!
This year’s CES has brought us some interesting news. Polaroid is one of the brands that launched a new product at CES 2017. After Snap and Snap Touch, they bring another instant camera that combines analog and digital technique. Only this one produces 3 x 4“ prints, unlike the previous two models which produce smaller, 2 x 3“ prints.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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