January 2012

Michael Zhang

Canon Face Recognition Feature Gives Friends Preferential Treatment

Canon's latest compact cameras at CES this year have some fancy new facial recognition features that assist in portrait shots. Up to 12 people can be stored in the camera. Simply snap a photo of your friends face, provide the friend's name (and birthday if you wish), and the camera will recognize your friend from that point forward. In group shots, the camera will give your friends' faces preferential treatment, making sure that they're properly in focus and exposed.

Michael Zhang

Classic Album Covers With Dead Band Members Removed

Reminiscent of the Fatescapes series we featured recently, LIVE ! is an ongoing project by Hatim el Hihi and Jean-Marie Delbes in which they post classic album covers that have had deceased band members carefully Photoshopped out of them.

Michael Zhang

Bathtub Self-Portraits in Bizarre Locations

Japanese photographer Mariko Sakaguchi has a curious self-portrait series in which she photographs herself sitting in a bathtub in all kinds of random locations, which range from business offices to lecture halls.

John Mueller

This Photograph Is Not Free

So this was the first sunset I captured in 2012. It cost me $6,612 to take this photo.

Michael Zhang

A Hands-On Tour of the Fujifilm X-Pro1

Here's a hands-on tour of the new Fujifilm X-Pro1 that was announced yesterday -- a gorgeous camera that has the photo world buzzing with excitement. There's been a lot of speculation on the camera's price, which hasn't been announced, with most sources reporting that it will be in the range of $1,600-$1,700.

Michael Zhang

Camera Glitches as Electronic Art

If you saw any of these images on the back of your digital camera after snapping a photograph, you'd probably want to get the camera checked out. Phillip Stearns, on the other hand, feels a sense of accomplishment. The Brooklyn-based shutterbug has a project called Year of the Glitch in which he publishes electronic glitches as art.

Year of the Glitch is a 366 day project aimed at exploring various manifestations of glitches (intentional and unintentional) produced by electronic systems.

Each day will bring a new image, video or sound file from a range of sources: prepared digital cameras, video capture devices, electronic displays, scanners, manipulated or corrupted files, skipping CDs, disrupted digital transmissions, etc.

The images in this post were created by cameras ranging from a Olympus C-840L compact camera to a Canon Digital Rebel DSLR.

Michael Zhang

New Fujifilm X-Pro1 Photos and Specs, Camera to Offer Film Simulation Modes

Fujifilm's beautiful X-Pro1 mirrorless camera isn't official yet, but we now have a clearer picture of what the system will look like after a few product pages for X-series lenses were accidentally published on Amazon (they've since been removed). In addition to new images of the camera itself, prices for the lenses were revealed: $500 for the 35mm f/1.4 and 18mm f/2.0, and $600 for the 60mm f/2.4. Also, get this: the camera will be able to simulate 10 different kinds of film (e.g. Provia, Velvia, Astia, B&W)!

Michael Zhang

Canon Unveils the G1X: A Large Sensor Compact Answer to the Mirrorless Craze

Unlike Nikon, which jumped headfirst into the interchangeable lens mirrorless game last year, Canon appears to be content with simply upping the sensor size in its existing compact cameras. Today the company announces the G1X, a new camera into the G-series line that offers a sensor large enough to compete with existing mirrorless camera systems.

Michael Zhang

Nikon Website Briefly Shows the D800

Earlier today, the official website of Nikon Germany briefly showed a mysterious camera in an image of the company's DSLR lineup. It was quickly removed, but not before screenshots of the page quickly spread across the blogosphere. The camera in the photo looks identical to the photo of the Nikon D800 that leaked in November of last year.

Michael Zhang

A Rundown of Nikon D4 Videos

Want a better idea of what the new Nikon D4 is like? In this post we've aggregated some of the various videos about the camera that have emerged in the past day, from hands-on demos and presentations to sample videos shot with the camera.

Michael Zhang

Nikon D4 Finally Becomes Official

After nearly a year of rumors, speculation, and leaks, Nikon has finally announced its new flagship D4 DSLR. The specs were already leaked, but here they are: 16.2MP, ISO that expands to 204,800, 10fps stills (11 if AE and AF locked), 51 AF points, a new full frame sensor, 1080/30p video recording, a 91K pixel meter (up from 1,005 pixels in the D3S), backlit controls, a 3.2-inch LCD with an ambient light sensor, a 0.12s startup time, and dual card slots (CF+XQD). It'll cost $6,000 when it hits store shelves in late February.

Michael Zhang

Photographs That Resemble Traditional Chinese Paintings

Don Hong-Oai was a San Francisco-based Chinese photographer who created beautiful images that resembled traditional Chinese paintings.

The photographs of Don Hong-Oai are made in a unique style of photography, which can be considered Asian pictorialism. This method of adapting a Western art for Eastern purposes probably originated in the 1940s in Hong Kong. One of its best known practitioners was the great master Long Chin-San (who died in the 1990s at the age of 104) with whom Don Hong-Oai studied. With the delicate beauty and traditional motifs of Chinese painting (birds, boats, mountains, etc.) in mind, photographers of this school used more than one negative to create a beautiful picture, often using visual allegories. Realism was not a goal.

Hong-Oai was one of the last photographers to use this technique, and was also arguably the best.

Michael Zhang

Amazing Visualization Showing a Year of Photos Around the World

The folks over at Triposo wanted to know when people around the world take pictures, so they harvested the timestamps and geolocation data from photos shared on the Internet and created this beautiful visualization showing one year of photos taken around the world (be sure to watch it full screen and in HD). It's neat seeing certain parts of the world light up with photo activity on special days.

Michael Zhang

Fujifilm X-Pro1 Photos and Specs Leaked

The Nikon D4 wasn't the only upcoming camera to have its photos and details leaked today: Fujifilm's retro-styled system camera also got the same treatment. Réponses Photo (the French magazine that leaked the D4) has leaked an article about the Fujifilm X-Pro1 -- previously believed to be called the X1 or LX10. A press release about the camera also appeared on Wells Fargo's website (screenshot here). We now know that the camera will offer a custom 16MP CMOS sensor, use Fujifilm's EXR processor technology, feature a second-generation hybrid viewfinder, and be launched with 3 fast prime lenses (18mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4, and 60mm f/2.4).

Michael Zhang

Nikon D4 Leaked by French Magazine

French magazine Réponses Photo has spilled the beans on the Nikon D4, one day ahead of its official announcement. A two-page scan from the magazine leaked onto the Internet, revealing photos of the camera and confirming the specs that we shared yesterday and last December. Some confirmed details: 16 megapixels, ISO 100-12800 (expandable to 50-204800), 51 autofocus points, 100% viewfinder coverage, 10-12fps, 91000 point metering system, 1080p video recording, CF/XQD card slots, 1.34kg weight, and a price of €5,800.

Michael Zhang

Iconic Photographs With Their Subjects Removed

Fatescapes is a series of images by visual artist Pavel Maria Smejkal consisting of iconic photographs with their subjects Photoshopped out of them. The New York Times writes,

[...] Pavel Maria Smejkal goes a step further and forces us to reconsider the veracity of historical images and the photographer’s role by digitally removing the people that made these images resonant. What is left is the scene as it might have looked just minutes before or after the photographer passed by. These images are reminiscent of a time, before Photoshop, when photographs were believed to be a reflection of reality. Mr. Smejkal’s alterations question whether photographs should be viewed as accurate representation.

See if you can recognize each of these famous historical photographs. The answers are at the end of the post.

Michael Zhang

X-Ray Photographs of Camera Gear

Freelance photographer Bill Rhodes captured this X-Ray photograph that reveals what various pieces of camera equipment look like on the inside. There's lenses, a camera, a radio transmitter, remote shutter release, light modifiers, and batteries.