This week the folks at Nikon have revealed their next big move in the point-and-shoot camera world with the Nikon Coolpix S800c, an Android-powered shooter. This camera brings on GPS embedded within for geotagging and Android 2.3 Gingerbread will be bringing on the software we grew to love more than a year ago. This camera also has 10x wide optical zoom and 1080p video capture.
You'll find a 16 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor inside this device prepped to bring on some high quality photos right out of the gate, and a 3.5-inch OLED WVGA touchscreen sits at the back for your interactive experience with Android. The software on this device will certainly not be a hindering move here by Nikon even though it is a couple generations behind the newest Google smartphones, as most of the upgrades since Gingerbread have been on the smartphone side of the equation.
On the other hand, Nikon hasn't been too forthcoming about what Android will be doing here on this device. You'll be able to connect with a wi-fi connection to the web, which means you'll be able to instantly upload images first of all, but how and with what we'll be connecting to this device to load up apps to its 4GB internal storage is still somewhat of a situation in the dark.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
A camera that can see around corners
I know this sounds like something in a sci-fi movie or a superhero comic, but this is a real-world technology we've made possible with a camera that is aware of the travel time of light, an imaging technique that can create movies of light in motion with an effective rate approaching a trillion frames per second: the speed of light.Canon recalls thousands of T4i DSLRs for allergy risk.
Before I joined the MIT faculty in 2008, I had done deep research in "computational photography," a field of new imaging techniques dramatically improving the capture and synthesis of photos. But, I knew there was more to photography than just depicting what the eye can see. I wanted to create a camera that could see beyond the line of sight. The speed of light isn't infinite: light travels about a foot per billionth of a second.
I spoke to top researchers in ultrafast lasers and photonics to understand what was currently possible. When I did, most of them asked some version of: "Why? Why spend years building a camera to look around corners when no commercial application is screaming for it and no funding agency has a call for it?" In addition, it's rare to shoot light pulses and analyze at such high speeds in large environments. Ultra-fast imaging experiments are usually limited to centimeter- or smaller-size samples.
Before I joined the MIT faculty in 2008, I had done deep research in "computational photography," a field of new imaging techniques dramatically improving the capture and synthesis of photos. But, I knew there was more to photography than just depicting what the eye can see. I wanted to create a camera that could see beyond the line of sight. The speed of light isn't infinite: light travels about a foot per billionth of a second.
I spoke to top researchers in ultrafast lasers and photonics to understand what was currently possible. When I did, most of them asked some version of: "Why? Why spend years building a camera to look around corners when no commercial application is screaming for it and no funding agency has a call for it?" In addition, it's rare to shoot light pulses and analyze at such high speeds in large environments. Ultra-fast imaging experiments are usually limited to centimeter- or smaller-size samples.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Canon recalls thousands of T4i DSLRs for allergy risk
The popular T4i digital camera is getting a major recall, after a report from a consumer led them to discover that the rubber grip used on the camera can cause a skin rash. Approximately 68,200 cameras have the defect, but only 22,100 of them were actually distributed; the rest were held in inventory.
The culprit is a chemical used in the grip material that caused at least one consumer to develop "a minor rash." Canon employs a similar rubberizing technique on several of its other cameras, but it says that the defect is limited to a single manufacturing run of the T4i grips.It appears to be an extension of an earlier recall back in July that affected a smaller number of cameras, but as the serial numbers are different this time around, whatever problem they detected then has apparently also been found in more units.
Canon says not all of the cameras being recalled are guaranteed to have the problem, but they are pulling all the units that came off the assembly line at that time just to be safe.If you have a T4i, you can find its serial number on the bottom plate. If the second digit is a 3 or 4 and the sixth digit is a 1, you are advised to contact Canon to have the grips replaced, free of charge naturally.
The culprit is a chemical used in the grip material that caused at least one consumer to develop "a minor rash." Canon employs a similar rubberizing technique on several of its other cameras, but it says that the defect is limited to a single manufacturing run of the T4i grips.It appears to be an extension of an earlier recall back in July that affected a smaller number of cameras, but as the serial numbers are different this time around, whatever problem they detected then has apparently also been found in more units.
Canon says not all of the cameras being recalled are guaranteed to have the problem, but they are pulling all the units that came off the assembly line at that time just to be safe.If you have a T4i, you can find its serial number on the bottom plate. If the second digit is a 3 or 4 and the sixth digit is a 1, you are advised to contact Canon to have the grips replaced, free of charge naturally.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Smart camera guide for sports enthusiasts
Active shutterbugs who enjoy shooting sporting events sometimes run into the problem of images turning out blurred due to camera shake. In some cases, prized moments are missed because of sluggish cameras or the lack of proper technique.
Curiosity's camera mast erected Although high-end dSLRs makes getting the winning shot easier, these cameras are typically too expensive for mainstream users. Though more affordable entry-level mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs) are capable of 5fps burst-mode shooting, there are more portable compact cameras that boast much faster burst rates.
The ideal snapper for sporting action should have a fast maximum shutter speed (1/1000 or faster) and be capable of shooting in burst mode of at least 8 fps in order to freeze fast moving action. Since you won't always have the luxury of getting front row seats, a long zoom lens that reaches 300mm will give users the ability to get a closer view of the action.
Curiosity's camera mast erected Although high-end dSLRs makes getting the winning shot easier, these cameras are typically too expensive for mainstream users. Though more affordable entry-level mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs) are capable of 5fps burst-mode shooting, there are more portable compact cameras that boast much faster burst rates.
The ideal snapper for sporting action should have a fast maximum shutter speed (1/1000 or faster) and be capable of shooting in burst mode of at least 8 fps in order to freeze fast moving action. Since you won't always have the luxury of getting front row seats, a long zoom lens that reaches 300mm will give users the ability to get a closer view of the action.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Curiosity's camera mast erected
The Curiosity Mars rover, stepping through a complex post-landing checklist in near flawless fashion, successfully raised its main camera mast and beamed down razor-sharp navigation camera views of its surroundings in Gale Crater that provide a hint of the spectacular vistas to come when the craft's high-resolution cameras swing into operation, engineers said Wednesday.
Mission manager Jennifer Trosper said the only anomaly of any significance since landing overnight Sunday -- trouble with a meteorological instrument -- turned out to be a procedural glitch and not a real problem at all. Along with erecting the remote sensing mast, Curiosity's high-gain antenna, which follows Earth across the martian sky to provide a direct communications link, was deployed and checked out after minor alignment issues were resolved. The high-gain antenna can be used to receive critical commands when two NASA satellites.
The Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, are below the horizon."We accomplished the main things of getting our high gain antenna session to work and we have now confirmed that all of our antennas and all of our links on the rover work perfectly," Trosper said. "We feel very confident that we have lots of data capacity now with all of these links. That was one of the major objectives of this first part of the mission, so that's fantastic."
Mission manager Jennifer Trosper said the only anomaly of any significance since landing overnight Sunday -- trouble with a meteorological instrument -- turned out to be a procedural glitch and not a real problem at all. Along with erecting the remote sensing mast, Curiosity's high-gain antenna, which follows Earth across the martian sky to provide a direct communications link, was deployed and checked out after minor alignment issues were resolved. The high-gain antenna can be used to receive critical commands when two NASA satellites.
The Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, are below the horizon."We accomplished the main things of getting our high gain antenna session to work and we have now confirmed that all of our antennas and all of our links on the rover work perfectly," Trosper said. "We feel very confident that we have lots of data capacity now with all of these links. That was one of the major objectives of this first part of the mission, so that's fantastic."
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
After 3 Years Lost in Forest, a Camera Reveals Secrets to Its Home
John Noerr and his 5-year-old son were chasing snakes in the Adirondacks last month when they stumbled on a grimy, expensive digital camera sitting in a foot of water in a stream.Mr. Noerr, a 39-year-old art teacher, took a screwdriver and pried open a flap that concealed the camera's memory card. Gore Vidal's colorful career behind (and in front of) the camera.He extracted the card, cleaned it off and put it in his computer.
On it he found a mystery.There were 581 pictures. Many seemed to be from New York City, 250 miles away. There were pictures from Union Square. There were pictures of a sign that said "real estate." A woman had taken a picture of herself in a mirror. The most recent picture, from June 2009, had been taken very close to the spot Mr. Noerr found the camera, north of Pharaoh Lake.
For three weeks, Mr. Noerr, who lives in Vermont but is spending the summer in the little town of Adirondack, N.Y., searched for the owner of the camera, a Canon Rebel XT that no longer appears to work.Dead ends were many. He noticed the name "Ziggy Comeau" on the real estate sign in the photo, called the agent and spoke with his wife, who didn't know anything about the camera.
On it he found a mystery.There were 581 pictures. Many seemed to be from New York City, 250 miles away. There were pictures from Union Square. There were pictures of a sign that said "real estate." A woman had taken a picture of herself in a mirror. The most recent picture, from June 2009, had been taken very close to the spot Mr. Noerr found the camera, north of Pharaoh Lake.
For three weeks, Mr. Noerr, who lives in Vermont but is spending the summer in the little town of Adirondack, N.Y., searched for the owner of the camera, a Canon Rebel XT that no longer appears to work.Dead ends were many. He noticed the name "Ziggy Comeau" on the real estate sign in the photo, called the agent and spoke with his wife, who didn't know anything about the camera.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Gore Vidal's colorful career behind (and in front of) the camera
His screenwriting career took more than a few notable turns. Most famously was 1979's "Caligula," the explicit look at the tyrannical and hedonistic Roman emperor. Wild sex scenes prompted gasps through the film world, as did the drama behind the scenes -- after disagreements with the directors and others on the film, Vidal had only limited control over the final product, as the movie was re-cut (with additional sex scenes) by producer and Penthouse chief Bob Guccione.
There were also plenty of adult themes in Vidal's New Orleans-set mystery "Suddenly Last Summer," a 1959 release that trafficked in murder, mental illness and (homo)sexual explicitness. Starring Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, Vidal adapted the picture from the Tennessee Williams play. Despite (or because) of its racy themes, the movie went on to be a big box-office hit.
Meanwhile, Vidal's novel "Myra Breckenridge," about a transgendered Hollywood actor, became the basis of a wildly campy 1968 movie starring Tom Selleck and Farrah Fawcett. And all this of course doesn't include a spate of teleplays as well as uncredited screenwriting gigs, with the author working as a contract writer for MGM at one point in his career.
There were also plenty of adult themes in Vidal's New Orleans-set mystery "Suddenly Last Summer," a 1959 release that trafficked in murder, mental illness and (homo)sexual explicitness. Starring Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, Vidal adapted the picture from the Tennessee Williams play. Despite (or because) of its racy themes, the movie went on to be a big box-office hit.
Meanwhile, Vidal's novel "Myra Breckenridge," about a transgendered Hollywood actor, became the basis of a wildly campy 1968 movie starring Tom Selleck and Farrah Fawcett. And all this of course doesn't include a spate of teleplays as well as uncredited screenwriting gigs, with the author working as a contract writer for MGM at one point in his career.
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