SnapSort is a new web application that’s super simple but surprisingly useful. Give it two camera models and it will give you a side by side comparison of the specs, as well as pick a winner for you. In addition, it lists pros, cons, and similar cameras for each camera.

The service was created by a team of four — two programmers, a CS professor, and a “serial entrepreneur”. Here’s a screenshot of a camera comparison:

The website states that the service will eventually turn into a personal camera recommendation service. There’s no word on how SnapShot plans to generate revenue, but this type of application can do well with both advertising and affiliate sale business models (much like Flickr’s Camera Finder).

I’m pretty interested in seeing where this service goes, especially with such a large team behind it. If you’re currently in the market for a digital camera, give SnapSort a try!

(via Photojojo)

ffffl*ckr is a new Flickr web application that’s based around the idea that the people whose work you like probably also like photographs that you’d like as well. The app aims to make finding quality photography less of a chore:

Unless your idea of art is a painting of a hotrod on velvet, explore is useless. Groups aren’t much better, since they require people to self-promote. The interface for checking them is pretty useless too. Contacts are pretty cool except that it’s impossible to actually find new photographers.

The page starts with 20 photographs — these are either someone else’s favorites, or your own if you authenticate. Then you simply click a photograph to load the last 20 favorite photographs of that photographer. Once you authenticate your Flickr account, you can favorite new photographs straight from the app.

FlickrPoet is a neat little web-app built by Thomas Sturm that turns text into photographs using Flickr’s API. Though the concept is extremely simple and only somewhat novel, the results can be quite beautiful.

Feed it some poetry, song lyrics, or even random text, and watch the photographs begin to fade into existence. Here’s a screenshot made with the help of the quick brown fox (not a poem, I know).

The only change I would suggest to Sturm would be to provide permanent links to result pages so people can share their “FlickrPoems” with one another.

If you find any text that returns interesting results, please share it with us in the comments!

FlickrPoet

Strobox is a new iPhone application that allows you to easily create and share lighting diagrams. It’s completely free, and you can download it now from the App Store.

According to DIYPhotography, the application will be part of an upcoming community website that will be launched in another half year. Here’s the product image as found on the official page:

For a web-based alternative, try the Online Lighting Diagram Creator.

Strobox (via DIYPhotography)

If you’re a tennis player in the San Francisco bay area, check out ahathereitis. This interesting new web application (though it lacks a logo and design) aims to find things for you through satellite photographs and image recognition technology.

If you’re nerdy and so inclined, you can read about how the technology behind the application works. The image recognition isn’t done real time, so you won’t be able to use the service yet if you’re outside the Bay Area (try 94704 for Berkeley, CA).

I think this is an interesting example of how the way we make, manipulate, and consume photographs will become more and more advanced as technology improves. As evidenced by the domain name and the “More coming soon” option in the drop-down menu, this app won’t be limited to finding tennis courts.

The question is, what other interesting things could it eventually help us find in satellite photographs? Any ideas?

Check it out here: ahathereitis

One of the things I often come across when looking for interesting photography to tweet about is static Flickr image URLs. People seem to like posting these images without linking back to their original Flickr pages, while I prefer linking to Flickr pages so the photographer can get the credit for the photo.

If you’re not sure what I mean by static image URLs, here is an example of a static Flickr URL that links directly to the image and not the Flickr page of the original photograph:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3811569661_f801d1837f.jpg

A while back I tweeted a link to an article teaching you how to find the original Flickr page of a static URL. I’ve found this technique very useful, but it’s a big hassle if you need to do it often, since is not exactly something you memorize.

Thus, I decided to make a really simple web application that takes you directly to the original Flickr page of any static Flickr URL. It’s called findr, and here’s what it ended up looking like:

Hopefully some of you will find this useful. It sure beats doing the process by hand. Let me know if you have any thoughts, suggestions, or bug reports.

Update: If you have any suggestions for simple apps that you would find useful, let me know!