We’ve shared before that the Canon 5D Mark II was used for scenes in Captain America and Iron Man 2, but if you think that’s crazy, get this: the upcoming movie ‘The Avengers‘, which features an entire team of Marvel superheros, contains scenes shot with the iPhone 4. The movie’s cinematographer Seamus McGarvey tells IFTN,

The beauty of photography or cinema is that you make every choice based on the content at hand. On The Avengers, I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film.

Assuming he was using an iPhone 4 rather than the recently announced iPhone 4S, the scenes were captured at just 720p and 30fps.
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Photographer Zack Arias has an interesting piece on why he doesn’t think photographers should feel threatened by others who offer their services for absurdly low prices:

Think of the brides out there who don’t have a budget but want some photos of their weddings. Maybe there are young couples getting married who don’t have the parents to pay for a big event or they don’t want to start their young family in debt but they would like someone to come take some pictures. Are you saying that if they can’t afford a $3,000+ photographer then they don’t deserve photos? Are you saying that if they can’t afford a Mercedes then they shouldn’t be allowed to drive? Shame on you. Not everyone can afford pro level prices. That doesn’t mean they can’t have some level of photographic services available to them.

[...] I’ve laid this all out to make the point that cheap photography has its place. It has its place for clients who can’t afford much and it has its place for photographers trying to build something from nothing. It’s part of becoming a full time working photographer in an age when so many want to become a photographer.

Cheap Photographers Only Kill Themselves, Not The Industry [Zack Arias]

Casetagram is a service that makes custom iPhone cases using Instagram photographs. The case comes in four different templates, and cost $35 each with free shipping worldwide.

(via Mashable)

Artist Brian Hart creates amazingly detailed light painting photographs, sometimes spending nearly 20 minutes exposing a single one. The above photo, titled “apartment light drawing”, took 17 minutes to draw.
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Eddie had a hard time finding a camera strap he liked, so he decided to make his own in the style of some rifle slings he found online. The slings were weaved together using 550 Paracord (parachute cord), which has a breaking weight of 550 pounds. He found some for sale for $7 at his local army-navy store, and weaved together his own rugged DIY camera strap.
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After being spurned back in early 2008, Microsoft is supposedly on the hunt to acquire Yahoo once again. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is working on putting a bid together with Silver Lake Partners, the company that Microsoft recently purchased Skype from. If the buyout succeeds this time, Microsoft will also become the owner of Flickr, which Yahoo purchased six years ago.

In other news, Google recently revealed that 3.4 billion photos have been uploaded to Google+ in the past 100 days. Seems like the service is becoming a popular option for photo sharing.

(via WSJ via Mashable)

Canon’s new 1D X DSLR shoots at a whopping 14 frames per second, but did you know that it’s not the first Canon SLR capable of that frame rate? Nearly 30 years ago, back in 1984, Canon unveiled the “F-1 High Speed Motor Drive Camera”: a camera powered by huge battery packs that could chew through a roll of film in 2.57 seconds.

(via Canon Camera Museum via PopPhoto)

Here’s a cross section view of the consumer light field camera unveiled by Lytro yesterday. Many people have been wondering about the camera’s output resolution. The official specs are enigmatic in this regard, as the resolution isn’t listed in megapixels (it boasts “11 Megarays”). If the diagram is to scale, however, we can learn a little about the sensor’s size. The camera is listed as being 41mm tall, so the sensor appears to be between 7.5×7.5mm and 10.5×10.5mm — roughly the size of a Fujifilm X10 sensor.

Update: Photographer Jim Goldstein did his own calculations can guesses that the photos are equivalent to 1-2 megapixels.

When the X100 was announced a year ago, some people accused Fujifilm of ripping off the look of Leica’s rangefinder cameras. The retro look worked though, and retailers have had a hard time keeping the camera in stock. Now Fujifilm is making another Leica-esque move by releasing a limited edition version of the X100.

Only 200 units will be sold in Hong Kong, and it looks like the only difference is that the black covering has been replaced with light brown leather. Maybe the next special edition will be wrapped in ostrich skin…

(via Facebook via Photo Rumors)

Our camera stickers are fun, but for something more personal you can make your own 35mm film stickers. All you need is a sticker making machine that usually costs between $10-$20 online or in your local craft store. You can use any film you’d like, though slide film is recommended because it’ll give you positive image stickers. With film manufacturers struggling, any reason to buy more film is a good reason!

DIY: Make Easy & Fun 35mm Film Stickers! [Photojojo]