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How Oppo fit a 10x zoom camera into its 5G phone
Oppo may have already teased its first 5G smartphone in Zurich earlier this month, but today, the company is bringing its entire Reno family -- including the mid-range Reno and the flagship Reno 10x Zoom -- to Europe. This means the Chinese brand will be going head to head with Huawei using its very own 10x hybrid zoom camera outside of its home territory. With the $1,000 Reno 5G leading the party ahead of its May launch, the Reno 10x Zoom follows with a €799 (about $890) base price due in early June, whereas the Reno lands at a more modest €499 ($560) on May 10th.
Photojojo's Telephoto Lens for iPhone 5 and Joby GripTight GorillaPod: Review and giveaway
Our buddies at Photojojo love to send us new accessories for iOS devices, and we just love to report about these sometimes wacky and usually useful products as they come through. Today's entry is something that looks a bit absurd, but could be really useful if you choose to make your iPhone 5 your only camera. The Mobile Telephoto Lens for iPhone 5 (US$35) is just what you need to spy on your neighbors take close-up photos of that bird of prey on the fence 200 feet from you. Let's take a quick look at this latest photographic tool, and then you can enter to win this lens and a Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand ($30) courtesy of Photojojo and TUAW. Mobile Telephoto Lens for iPhone 5 This rather generic lens set actually comes as a kit. You get the telephoto lens, a cleaning cloth, a universal holder (for mounting the case/lens to a tripod), a mini tripod, an iPhone 5 case, and a carrying bag for the lens. As Photojojo likes to point out, this lens -- which produces a magnification of 12X -- is "like a Sigma 500mm lens for your DSLR." To be completely honest, the lens looks a bit goofy on the included iPhone case. It's made out of shiny plastic and has a rubber grip that's used to focus the lens from close range (3 meters) to infinity. The lens screws into a plastic mount on the included case. That case? Well, it's not exactly the coolest iPhone 5 case I've ever seen, and it offers no protection for the bottom or top of the phone, but it's really designed for the sole purpose of mounting that humongous lens onto your iPhone. Now I have to admit that I didn't get to test the lens, as my iPhone 5 isn't supposed to arrive for at least ten more days. The images you see here are from the Photojojo site, and are indicative of the magnification that you can expect. They don't show it in these photos, but Photojojo does note that you'll get a bit of vignetting around the edges of your image. Buyer beware! The universal holder and mini tripod are a nice touch -- they'll be useful for holding future iPhone products steady even if the company changes the size and shape of the phone. What's more useful than just a little tripod? How about a Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand? Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand Joby is a design house that has been around for about six years, with the GorillaPod flexible tripod being an instant success with the photography crowd. The flexibility of the GorillaPod design makes it possible to wrap the "legs" around tree branches, chair arms, or anything else that happens to be handy. Now the company has come out with the GripTight GorillaPod Stand ($29.95) to hold your iPhone -- or practically any other smartphone -- in place for steady shooting. The GripTight part of this stand is a spring-loaded adapter that holds smartphones ranging in width from 2.1" (54 mm) to 2.8" (72 mm). Just for reference, the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 are all 2.31" (58.6 mm) in width, while the Samsung Galaxy S III is a whopping 2.78" (70.6 mm) wide. The GripTight holds 'em all, and folds flat for easy carrying. I suppose one could mount the GorillaPod on a shoulder like a pirate's parrot for hands-free carrying... Anyway, the GripTight and the GorillaPod are perfect for any iPhone or iPod touch in just about any case, so you don't have to worry about shedding your protection just to put your device onto a tripod. Giveaway It's not that long until the holidays, so we're getting into the giving mood here at TUAW. Some lucky reader is going to win the Photojojo Mobile Telephoto Lens for iPhone 5 and the Joby GripTight GorillaPod stand. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before November 16, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive both a Photojojo Mobile Telephoto Lens for iPhone 5 and a Joby GripTight GorillaPod stand, valued at a total of US$65. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Photojojo provides a convenient telephoto lens for iPhone
The iPhone makes a great at-the-ready camera. Those of us appropriately sidearmed with an iPhone usually keep it easy to grab, which makes it the perfect device to yank from our pocket and snap a few pictures. And while the digital zoom is an awesome feature, it has limitations, and usually ends up killing the final photo quality. So, you're stuck with the convenience of your iPhone versus its inevitable limitations as a camera. Photojojo has a solution. The iPhone Telephoto Lens screws onto an included iPhone case, allowing you to get up to 8x the normal amount of zoom. The lens fits in your pocket when you're not using it, so it's not like you're hauling around a huge accessory to go with your iPhone. Even better, the iPhone Telephoto Lens comes with a tripod. As most professional photographers will tell you, using a tripod is the single best way to improve your photographs. The lens package is available for both the iPhone 3/3GS and iPhone 4. For US$35, you get the lens, a case and a tripod. It's a pretty good deal to help improve your iPhone pictures. [Via Cnet]
Canon captures your coffee in a 70-200mm telephoto lens
OK, not really, but Canon was indeed giving out these novelty coffee mugs -- in the shape of an EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens -- at the Winter Olympic's press center, and here's Microsoft's Josh Weisberg (Director of Rich Media Group) showing off his swag to the whole world. Yes, we're just a bit envious. So anyone got a spare Canon L-Series lens that we can tamper with? Or maybe that big-daddy Sigma lens if you're game with sharing coffee?
Digital Cowboy intros webcam with telephoto lens
While it's decidedly lacking compared to some telephoto lenses we've seen, Digital Cowboy's new 7x number here should still be more than enough to make most other short-sighted webcams feel woefully inadequate about themselves. Detach that lens, however, and you're left with a fairly run-of-the-mill webcam, with a 1.3 megapixel resolution, face-tracking functionality, and video recording at up to 30 fps -- if you don't mind dropping things down to 640 x 480, that is (you'll just get 15 fps at the cam's full resolution). Those looking to put the webcam to some remotely-controlled use will also be out of luck, with the lens strictly a manually operated deal. Look for this one to hit Japan next month for 9.800 Yen, or just over $80.[Via Popgadget]
Carl Zeiss creates telephoto lens with 1700mm focal length
This new telephoto lens comes to us from the: "because we can" department. Lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss has just made one of the world's largest telephoto lenses -- it's so big in fact, that you nearly need a construction crane to lift it up. Weighing in at 256 kg (564 lb.), this monstrosity of a lens has a focal length of 1700mm (over 5.5 feet!), a speed of f/4, and has 21x magnification. You can't miss it if you attend this year's Photokina convention in Cologne, Germany starting September 29. Based on the company's press release, it sounds like it was custom-built for a client who wanted to shoot wildlife at a distance on the very high-end Hasselblad 203 FE using 6 x 6 medium format film -- in other words, she/he has some serious cash to spend. No word on if it will be ever made available to the public, but it sounds like Carl Zeiss is open to ideas if you've got a briefcase full of euros to pay for the project, not to mention the means to get it from wherever you are to wherever you actually want to use it without scaring every living thing in your path.
