Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Alice Camera, the AI-powered computational photography camera that hooks up to your smartphone has just launched for pre-order through Indiegogo. Alice’s goal is to make it easy for creators to create, by essentially bolting a Micro Four Thirds lens mount and sensor to your smartphone.
You can shoot photos or 4K video footage, taking advantage of the display and computational photography power of your smartphone. From there you can quickly and easily share to your social media following.
Portable power has become a big deal over the last few years as more photographers and filmmakers are discovering the joy of getting out of the studio and shooting on location. And thanks to new battery tech, gone are the days of noisy generators (for some of us anyway).
This one from Omnicharge, though, definitely ranks up there amongst the beefiest I’ve seen, though. It’s the Omni Off-Grid Power Station and it’s an absolute monster, capable of delivering up to 1500 Watts of continuous power. As with previous Omnicharge products, like the “Ultimate” (review here), the new Off-Grid Power Station is being funded through IndieGoGo.
Hooking a sensor up to your phone isn’t an entirely new concept. Sony tried something similar a while ago and then gave up. Chinese manufacturer Yongnuo has also had a go at this idea although that one never seems to have actually been released. Now, it’s the turn of British company photogram.ai with the Alice Camera – a Micro Four Thirds sensor and mount that you slot your phone into.
It’s billed as an “AI-acceleraated computational camera” built from scratch specifically for content creators. It has a Micro Four Thirds lens mount with a quad-bayer sensor capable of producing 11-megapixel AI-enhanced images, and your smartphone essentially becomes the user interface. At least, that’s the theory. Right now it’s still in the concept/prototype stage.
After the success of their campaign for the 50mm f/1.8 1.33x Anamorphic lens, Sirui has taken to Indiegogo again to launch their new 35mm f/1.8 1.33x Anamorphic lens. The campaign has gone live today with pledges starting at just $599 to get one of these low-budget anamorphic lenses of your own.
CamFi is a popular name when it comes to remotely controlling your camera. But two of the things you typically can’t control via a simple smartphone app are the zoom and exact focus of your lens. There are various options out there when it comes to video, but they typically tend to require a gimbal to work alongside them.
Well, now, CamFi team have a solution. It’s called the CamFi ZF and it connects to the CamFi Pro, Pro Plus and a couple of other models via USB and adds focus and zoom control to the smartphone app to let you take charge remotely over WiFi. The project’s currently on Indiegogo although it doesn’t have long left to go.
The Sirui 50mm f/1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens was the talk of IFA in September and it wasn’t long before Sirui released the specs. Initially, it was rumoured to cost around €500 ($555) and be released at the end of this year. Then that price was bumped to €700 ($770) with availability in January. Now, Sirui has taken to Indiegogo to launch the lens with prices of $599 for early birds and $699 regular price.
Power is a constant struggle for camera rigs, especially when you want to go a bit more run and gun. Sure, you can use internal batteries in everything, but then you have to carry a bunch of spares, and with some cameras, you’re fighting with the cage whenever you attempt to swap it out.
We showed you the Indipro Power Grip recently from PhotoPlus 2019, but now there’s a new one just launched on Indiegogo, which looks to be sized more like your typical SmallRig handle but claims 8,000mAh of power, and output straight to your camera’s dummy battery.
This summer, Canon turned to crowdfunding in an attempt to launch Canon IVY REC, a tiny clippable action camera. After a successful IndieGoGo campaign, Canon is now making IVY REC publicly available. This little action cam is made to go anywhere with you and shoot in harsh conditions, and it could hopefully succeed where Nikon KeyMission failed.
This is a little strange. Canon appears to be going the crowdfunding route with their new IVY REC camera. It’s the one they showed off at CP+ 2019 earlier this year that is rumoured to be one of three new cameras aimed at the younger generation scheduled for release this year. But instead of doing what they usually do and just announcing and releasing a product, they’re going to Indiegogo.
The Mine S bills itself as “the world’s most versatile modular MIDI controller”. And while it’s primarily designed for the lights of DJs, VJs, producers, lighting techs and musicians, MIDI controllers also offer advantages for photographers and video editors, too. It’s currently running on Indiegogo, it’s 150% funded with a week still to go.
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