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Lomography's new 35mm camera has a lens you can fill with liquid
It looks like a fun way to manually add vintage aesthetics to panoramic shots.
Polaroid’s OneStep+ instant camera makes remote selfies possible
Following the launch of its OneStep 2 instant camera last year, Polaroid Originals is back at it again with another retro shooter -- though this time it's a smart one. Like the OneStep 2, the new One Step+ also uses the company's recently developed i-Type film, but what makes it different is that it can be paired with a smartphone (or tablet) via Bluetooth. That means you can use Polaroid Original's app to take pictures remotely, as well as get access to a set of different modes, including double exposure and a light-painting feature that'll add a bit of color to your prints. There's a manual setting in the app, too, which will let you adjust things such as shutter time, aperture and exposure on the fly.
Canon ends film camera sales for good
Canon stopped building film cameras eight years ago, but it had still been selling them from old stock. Now, it has quietly announced that it will end sales of its last film SLR, the EOS-1V, marking an end to an era that started in 1934 with its first camera, the Kwanon. "By the way, we finally decided to end sales for the film single lens reflex camera 'EOS-1V,'" it said in an apologetic statement.
Lomography's all-analog square camera uses familiar film
Do you prefer to shoot photos with a completely analog camera, but wish you could get in on the square photo trend that's all the rage with the Instagram crowd? Lomography thinks it can help. It's crowdfunding the Lomo'Instant Square Camera, a fully analog instant camera that takes the same square Instax film you'd use in Fujifilm's semi-digital Instax Square SQ10. You won't have to look far to restock, in other words. The camera itself, meanwhile, revels in its non-digital nature -- although there are some concessions to modernity.
Fujifilm's SQ10 is an instant camera for the Instagram generation
Instant film cameras have been making a comeback in recent years, and Fujifilm is partially responsible for this. The manufacturer's Instax Mini 8, for instance, is a best-seller on Amazon, which may have to do with the fact it only costs around $70. But the company seems to think people are willing to pay way more than that for one of its Instax shooters. Enter the Square SQ10, a hybrid digital instant camera that costs $280, offering the best of both worlds at a premium. It features a newly minted CMOS sensor (1/4-inch) with a 28.5mm f/2.4 fixed lens and an image processor that, Fuji says, will push out the best shots yet from an Instax product.
Fujifilm's new Instax camera is half digital, half instant
Panasonic isn't the only camera maker introducing a new, affordable product today. Fujifilm is doing the same with the Instax Square SQ10, a hybrid digital/instant shooter with a retro look and a 3-inch, 460,000-dot LCD on back. Inside, the SQ10 features a freshly minted system with a CMOS sensor and an image processor that, according to Fujifilm, will produce better shots than any previous Instax camera -- especially in low-light situations. In addition to that, the company is introducing a new film format, which will let you print pictures in a 1:1 aspect ratio (aka a square, like most of your Instagram posts).
Lomography's super-cheap film cameras look like disposables
Thanks to the smartphones in our pockets, we all have a basic understanding of digital photography, even if we don't own a fancy DSLR. But this casual familiarity can make delving into analog, film shooting a bit daunting, at least initially. Champion of film Lomography has made exploring the 35mm format that much more accessible today, though, launching a trio of super-cheap cameras, preloaded with its dreamy films, that even the most inexperienced of photographers can easily get to grips with.
Fujifilm and Michael Kors made a fashionable instant camera
Fashion designer Michael Kors wants to make a mark on the tech world. Less than a month after the debut of his brand's Access Android Wear watches, a new product is being born from partnership with a popular camera maker. Meet the Michael Kors x Fujifilm Instax Mini 70, an instant film shooter that's geared toward fashionistas everywhere. Or, really, anyone who feels nostalgic and wants a camera that reminds them of the good ol' days. The MK edition of Fujifilm's Instax Mini 70 features gold tones, a 60mm lens, flash and viewfinder -- nothing shocking there.
Leica unveils the Sofort instant film camera
With Kodak and others trying to make film cool again, Leica has jumped into the fray with an instant camera, the Sofort. It uses Fuji's Instax format, and Leica has even decided to release its own brand of film, available in black and white or color. The German company designed the body itself, though it's very ... un-Leica like. If anything, Fuji's own retro-styled Instax camera has a more Leica-esque look.
Film camera measures 35-feet long, makes photojournalists keel over in worship / pain (video)
To all photographers who measure their talent by the size of their equipment, it's time to give up the race. Folks, step right up and meet the Eye of America: a 35-foot long film camera that captures negatives measuring six by four and a half freaking feet. Currently in the possession of Dennis Manarchy, the retro-styled rig is said to barely fit into a truck, and yet can deliver images 1,000 times greater than the average negative. When Manarchy's not capturing stills for exhibitions that stand two stories tall, he uses the gigantic contraption to teach average folk about how cameras work. Then again, most negatives don't need to be inspected through windows rigged with LED lights. Frankly, we didn't think any piece of kit could strike fear into the Maxback -- but, that was yesterday. As for a damage deposit on the Eye of America? Well, if you need to ask, you can safely assume you've just priced yourself out of the market.
RED Scarlet captures Hollywood-style street scene at 120fps (video)
The bad news is that the RED Scarlet is a still a prototype two and a half years after it was announced. The good news is that the folks at RED have shot some stunning test footage with the 8x fixed lens version to show off the Scarlet's prowess at 120 frames per second. Remember, every one of those frames is a 3072 x 1620 RAW masterpiece -- and while the video after the break obviously can't deliver that resolution, it can nevertheless give you a feel for the slow-mo power of this thing. Prepare yourselves. [Thanks, Jarred]
Vivitar's new full frame 35mm film camera
You hear a lot lately about bringing high-end DSLR functionality to the consumer, mostly thanks to the wild new world of Micro Four Thirds, but Vivitar is really breaking the price barrier with its new $10 point and shoot. The camera shoots to full frame 35mm film (there's even a 24 shot roll included, roughly equivalent to 512MB), and yet its single button operation and automatic motorized advance should make the high-end shooter accessible to the novice photogs among us. Of course, a built-in flash and auto focus will appeal to the feature hungry enthusiasts as well. The best news? If you buy one of these today, you can actually get a second camera and second roll of film for free! [Thanks, Michelle]
Keepin' it real fake: Likea Leica, only not
Of all the KIRFs in all the world, this might be one of the laziest. Sure, aesthetically it does a fine job of aping the Leica rangefinder it takes as its "inspiration," but the Likea camera goes downhill very quickly when you move in a little closer. The first thing you'll notice is that, instead of the finely engineered Leica body, this thing is made out of, well, cardboard. Then you find out that the pinhole element isn't provided in the box and you're faced with the impossible judgment of deciding whether the need for a pinhole element or its omission is the worse offense. Ah well, what do you expect for 20 bucks? Just go buy some film and let your imagination fill the (vast) gap between the Likea and the real stuff.
Canon AE-1 Program SLR gets a digital retrofit
A classic SLR film camera gutted and given a digital upgrade -- blasphemy? Maybe, but there's no denying that this mod by Diego Monge is plenty impressive. He started out with a Canon AE-1 Program SLR, and apparently simply stuffed the guts of a compact digital camera of some sort inside, resulting in what he calls the AE-1 Program Digital -- a 9-megapixel camera complete with image stabilization, a functional flash, and 4GB of memory (non-removable, it seems). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any details on the build process, let alone a how-to, but you can at least get a glimpse of it in action in the video after the break.
Impossible Project's Polaroid film gets tested, looking pretty old-timey
The Impossible Project's new Polaroid-licensed film is going on sale in the UK this week, and the folks over at 1854 just got a nice little press packet in the mail which included some of the surely sought after film. The black and white only (color's been promised for a later date) film, coupled with a Polaroid camera should obviously lead to some seriously ancient looking snapshots and... surprise, surprise -- it does! Now, there are only a very few test shots (taken with a Polaroid SX-70) included for review here, so it's hard to gauge overall quality of the output, but we have to say the snaps we're seeing look so antiquey that it's actually hard to tell what we're even looking at in the photo -- is it the ghost of John Wayne? Is that Charlotte Bronte or Lady Gaga hanging tough in the foreground? Still, we have to say we're intrigued with the whole idea of producing photos this sepia-toned and grainy, especially at our next in-house competitive rave off. Hit the source link for more test shots.
Impossible Project's Polaroid film goes on sale this week
The famed Polaroid name many now be in the hands of various licensees and, er, Lady Gaga, but the folks at the Impossible Project are at least keeping the Polaroid dream alive, and they've now announced that their new Polaroid film will go on sale in the UK this week. Only black-and-white film will be available initially, including the PX100 film for the SX-70 camera, and PX600 for the One series of instant cameras (including Polaroid's own new OneStep camera), both of which will run £16 (or $24) for an eight-pack -- yeah, the impossible doesn't come cheap. Look for color film to be available sometime this summer.
Giroux Daguerreotype is world's first mass-produced camera, about to become the most expensive one too
If you thought that shooters like Olympus' E-P1 or Leica's M8 had old school aesthetics, think again. The real old school -- we're talking 1839 here -- was all about wooden boxes and brass lens protrusions, as you can see above. The double box design of the Daguerreotype lets you achieve focus by moving the smaller inner box away from the front-mounted 15-inch lens. Exposure times can take up to half an hour, though, so you might wanna budget for a sturdy tripod as well. Speaking of budget, if you know the meaning of the word you're not probably not the target audience here, as a May auction in Vienna is set to start at €200,000 ($280,000), with predictions placing the final sale price closer to €700,000 ($980,000).
