Do you mind if I record you reading this article? Chances are, if you’re reading this on screen, there’s a webcam in your PC or laptop or mobile phone that could be hacked and track what you’re doing. Hackers do this all the time. Digital etiquette, however, makes such invasive technology impossible. Or so you […]
We’ve reported quite a bit on Google’s Project Glass in the past. Exciting times ahead, developers are about to receive the first “data glasses.” Right, they have a built-in camera that might turn out as quite a boon for adventurous photographers who are not depending on high megapixels count, RAW files and perfect sharpness, but […]
The future moves closer to reality: Google recently unleashed its inner Evel Knievel in a stunt-filled demonstration of its secretive futuristic computerized glasses. Google co-founder Sergey Brin ran onstage in San Francisco sporting a prototype of the Orwellian device, asking, “Who wants to see a demo of Glass?” The crowd roared, “Yes!” Google Glass — […]
A few years ago anyone would have laughed off the idea of a camera phone somewhat replacing traditional gear. The smartphone though changes the landscape does exactly this. Or Steve Jobs did. Apple’s rivaling visionaries in Mountain View are about to go beyond of what’s making sense today: Google is pitching its Project Glass eyewear […]
GoPro seems unbeatable these days. Since their IPO the company’s share value has increased dramatically. No surprise. No outdoor adventure without the small box camera. Yet, camera shake destroys many a happy adventure souvenir. Now mighty Microsoft solves this problem with a new technology. Not only is the PC vs. Apple battle back. Microsoft’s on […]
These days it’s not good enough to be an excellent photographer if you want to be known. Today’s top professional photographers spent years perfecting their craft and sharing it online in clever ways. Their ability to use social media and photography to produce human connections is a useful lesson to those associating the word “photography” […]
Interesting graphs by the organizers of Photokina who recently ventured to Japan for a sales pitch, as reported by DC.watch. They had bad news for established camera makers. Not only is the digital imaging market transforming itself at an astonishing speed. Never have more pictures been taken, but never have fewer digital cameras been used: […]
In this digital day and age, not only smartphones and consumer cameras are booming. Surveillance is big business. As cameras become ubiquitous and able to identify people, more safeguards on privacy will be needed. It is getting ever easier to record anything, or everything, that you see. This opens fascinating possibilities — and alarming ones. […]
The jury is out on the newest Olympus. The innovative camera maker, pioneering the Four Thirds and then Micro Four Thirds standards, angers trolls and pleases loyal users with its bold OM-D E-M1. Working photographers and pros alike, here’s an as matured as compact camera that “only the most neurotic pixel peeper will find anything […]
Wish I had a grip on coding… Say bye to proprietary chains. Great hardware, but you either just get along with Sony’s software because you have to. Or you hate it. Now Sony kinda goes the Samsung open source way. Sony is opening up its camera API to anyone that wants to write a remote […]
By SARAH COLEMAN If you believe the hype, the next great technological frontier will be in the realm of vision, with digital tools embedded in glasses or in contact lenses to record, analyze and enhance what we’re seeing and doing. It’s called augmented reality. But some futurists have brought up another possibility, “deletive reality.” After […]
Photokina 2012 once again shows the industry’s latest and greatest — and gives some hints of what’s to come. Let’s have a look into the crystal ball to get a glimpse of the future of photography. How will we be taking pictures in the not too distant future? There are always reasons to dump present […]
By KAREL VAN WOLFEREN Sony has inched closer to making it possible for us to realize even modest large format photographic quality from a camera body we can hold in the palm of our hand. Medium format quality is already within reach of its new 42MP sensor, and Hasselblad will have to come up with […]
Another invention that will make life even harder for journalists and media professionals — an app called Meerkat, allowing people to transmit live video from your smartphone. One reason for the rapidly growing popularity of the app is certainly its ease of use. Authenticate via Twitter, and the live transmission can be started with just […]
Microsoft makes many right moves currently. The announcement of the smart Band for instance is right down my alley. It will smoothly interact with the first (and probably last) Nokia phone I got in a long time, the Nokia Lumia 830. I didn’t only leave the iOS ship for the Lumia’s stellar 10MP Zeiss camera […]
Am in the market for an upgrade to my trusty old iPhone 3GS — right, not the latest piece of hardware, but still does what it’s expected to do. Android and Microsoft smartphone hardware is pretty amazing these days, just to mention the PureView technology the latter got from Nokia and the more innovative Google […]
In the coming two years, major changes in sensor technology lie ahead. With the exception of Fujifilm cameras based around EXR and X-Trans image sensors and the Foveon-based camera lineup from Sigma, almost every digital camera on the market today has a Bayer color filter array, named after inventor and Kodak scientist Bryce Bayer. Bayer […]
Yet another new model? Wasn’t the latest iteration of this camera released only a few months ago? Right, that lineup’s ready for another upgrade… What number eh name again? Improvements? Take Nikon, serving the high end, midrange, upper entry and entry level market with a plethora of similar names. It takes a mathematician’s analytical skills […]
+++ The File is continuously updated with the latest A7(R) reviews and hands-on reports. See further below. +++ Sony, in another bold move, raises the bar a full-frame and demolishes the status quo: its long rumored, eagerly anticipated and latest imaging device is palm-sized, takes interchangeable lenses, has a very responsive focus system, large bright […]
Quite often we just believe what we want to believe or what we’re told to believe. The occasions are rare when we forge our own path to find out for ourselves what’s right to believe and what not. That’s exactly what Aram Pan did, a Singapore photographer specialized in commercial virtual tour photography. He wanted […]
Everyone talks Olympus OM-D E-M1. You get a lot of camera — for a serious amount of money. For some photographers, it may be too much camera for too much money. Take the closest competitor, Panasonic’s Lumix GX7. Its kit with the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm for $999 costs less than half of the Olympus. […]
Here some quick first impressions after I played bit with the Olympus OM-D E-M1. Talk evolution rather than revolution. While the body is slightly larger than that of the original OM-D, the E-M5, it doesn’t feel that much bigger. With the battery grip and 12-40mm F2.8 attached it’s a comfortable package. Less stylish than it’s […]
If you see the advantages of Micro Four Thirds, if you like compact gear, innovative imaging technology and all of this packed into a state-of-the-art body with cutting edge design and contemporary finishes, then you should give Olympus’ new flagship camera, the OM-D E-M1, a very good look. Not cheap at $1,399 the body and […]
By BRIAN SWEENEY I’ve put together another article, this time on the C-Sonnar. “Once upon a time” optical engineers wrote books aimed at photographers wanting to understand more about the instruments that they use. They actually explained things like “focus shift” and “spherical aberration.” I’ve tried to apply lessons learned from Carroll Bernard Neblette (Photographic […]
By DAVID HOLLIDAY Cambodia is a very interesting place to be a photographer at present. It slowly climbs out of the period in history so full of horror and darkness into a vibrant and happening place that is quickly developing. People say it is booming now. It certainly has changed in the three years I […]
It doesn’t happen too often that Leica announces a new camera. May 10, 2012, was an über-day in Leica terms. The German “boutique” camera maker announced a digital M rangefinder true to its very essence and stripped down to photography’s bare essentials: the Leica M Monochrom (specs), an 18MP camera with a unique black-and-white sensor […]