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Eye-Fi Mobi simplifies DSLR image sharing through your iOS device
I love my Canon DSLR for the flexibility of selecting high-quality lenses, a plethora of shooting modes, the faithful color renditions, and the high storage capacity I can get with inexpensive SD cards. But I find myself also shooting a lot of photos with my iPhone simply because I want to share those images with the world immediately. The Eye-Fi Mobi Wi-Fi memory card (starting at US$49.99 for an 8 GB capacity) offers a simple way to quickly "shoot and share" from a DSLR through your iOS device. I'm no stranger to Eye-Fi cards. I currently use the company's Connect X2 card when I'm shooting review photos for TUAW, since I can have them automatically transferred to my Mac without needing to remove the SD card and put it into the computer's SD card reader. You can find out if your DSLR or point-and-shoot is compatible with Eye-Fi's products through a compatibility program that's available through any of the Eye-Fi product pages. %Gallery-194924% My Canon DSLR, for example, integrates well with the Eye-Fi cards. It keeps the camera powered on until the Wi-Fi media uploads are done, displays a Wi-Fi icon on the camera's touchscreen that shows the status of uploads, and allows enabling/disabling of the card from the camera's menu. Setup of the Eye-Fi Mobi card for use with an iOS device is fast and easy. First, you install the free Eye-Fi app (universal, also available for Android and Kindle). The installation process requires that you enter the activation code that's on the back of the SD card case on the package; once that's done, the app installs a profile onto your iOS device. Next, the app asks for access to your Photo Library so that images sent from your DSLR can go right in without a need to be moved manually. Your next step is to pop the card into your camera and enable it. Once that's done and you take a picture with the camera, the card sets up a secure Wi-Fi network that's tied to the app you activated. Select that network in the Settings app, and you're ready to roll. Upon launching the app again, the photos are quickly uploaded to the iOS device. When I mean quickly, I mean that it takes only a few seconds for DSLR-quality images to be transferred at full resolution. I find this quite interesting, since the Eye-Fi to Mac connection on my home network is slower. In the future, I may use my iPhone as the intermediary for image transfers for reviews, since an Eye-Fi to iPhone to Mac (via Photo Stream sync) transfer is faster than what I've been seeing with a direct to Mac Wi-Fi connection. One more great thing is that you can share the DSLR images while Eye-Fi transfers are taking place, since enabling the ad-hoc Wi-Fi network still keeps your cellular data connection up and running. The Eye-Fi Mobi card comes in both 8 GB and 16 GB versions, and is available from many online retailers including Photojojo and Amazon as well as direct from Eye-Fi.
Rift Labs Kick iPhone-controlled photo light offers a whole spectrum of colors
Our good friends at Photojojo were excited to tell us about a new product for iPhone that is bound to be a winner for iPhone photographers and videographers who want to add special lighting effects to their masterworks. The Kick (US$179) is an app-controlled photo light that not only provides adjustable brightness, but an infinite variety of light colors as well. The product began life as a Kickstarter project that received over $210,000 of funding, and it's now available for sale -- when it's in stock. Design Like many LED photo lights, the front of the Kick has a grid of lenses located over the 40 physical LEDs that help to diffuse the light that is generated. Those LEDs are powered by an internal battery pack charged by the usual USB to micro-USB cable. A charge LED gradually changes from red to "greenish" to indicate that the battery is topped off and ready to go. The Kick works with the iPhone 4/4S and also with the iPhone 5. There's a small rubberized pad included to make the Kick work with the iPhone 5, since the phone is thinner than the earlier versions. For manual lighting of your photographic or video subjects, there are two sets of +/- buttons on the "top" of the unit. One controls the brightness of the LEDs, while the other adjusts the hue through a rainbow of colors. Power to the unit is controlled by a single button on the charging end of the Kick. There's one really important button on the unit; the Wi-Fi button. Pressing it enables a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network named "RiftNet." That Wi-Fi network becomes extremely important when you are using your iPhone to control the Kick. Yes, there's a free app that allows remote control of one or more Kick lights over that network. Therein lies the power of the Kick light. Professionals or dedicated amateur photographers can set up a number of the Kick lights around a subject and then tweak the lighting to achieve a particular effect. One more thing; you won't mind carrying the Kick around; it's pretty lightweight (3.6 oz) and can slip into a pocket or backpack. Its bright -- 400 lumens at 5400 Kelvin, and it has a wide color range -- 2500 to 10000 Kelvin. Functionality While some might think that spending $179 for a small LED light is madness, I can see where professional photographers or others who just want to add some pizazz to their iPhone photography could really make use of the Kick light. I found that it takes a little time for the iPhone to recognize and lock onto the RiftNet Wi-Fi network. I started waiting about two minutes after switching over from my usual network so I could make sure that the iPhone was ready to go on RiftNet. Note that this could be an artifact of using (ahem) a beta operating system on my iPhone. The app interface is a bit busy, but it doesn't take all that long to figure it out. One feature I like is being able to pick a color from either something in your Photo Library (including a video) or in "real life." The LEDs then adjust to mimic that color as closely as possible. In addition to the ability to match colors in existing photos or in real life, there's also a standard color picker available. There are also lighting effects that can be added to video with the tap of an icon. Want a strobe effect? One tap and you're there. How about a repeating rainbow of colors? Ditto (see video below). Want a lightning effect for that horror movie you're filming with the iPhone 5? It's a tap away. Using the color picker on a video can be really fun -- the video above shows an example of grabbing a light color from a campfire, complete with all of the variations in brightness and hue that exist in the "real" light. Conclusion Owners of iPhone 4, 4S and 5 smartphones who want to add professional quality lighting to their images now have a relatively inexpensive solution complete with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer network for adjusting a number of Kick lights. It's the perfect marriage of a powerful iOS app and device with advanced lighting technology. Pros Relatively inexpensive for professional lighting Lightweight, compact, and able to be attached to a tripod Almost infinitely adjustable brightness and hue Lighting can vary in real-time iOS app is robust and has the flexibility to create a variety of lighting effects Cons None to speak of Who is it for? Professional photographers and videographers who want a compact, infinitely adjustable lighting solution, or iPhone photographers interested in adding professional-quality lighting to their bag of tricks.
Photojojo's telephoto lens brings up to 12x of optical zoom to your iPad
After creating the Photorito lens wrap that makes your zoom like a burrito, Photojojo has pulled off another feat: making iPad photographers look even wackier than normal. But the company's iPad telephoto lens is pretty useful if you're willing to hold a slab to your face to grab images. It brings a useful 10x zoom to the iPad 3 and 4, and 12x to the iPad Mini, giving you un-pixelated closeups along with "slight vignetting, a lo-fi look and all around interest to your photos." You're not going to make your iPad any less conspicuous as a camera than it already is, so you can grab the wee lens for $25 at the source.
Eton BoostTurbine 2000 charges your phone, builds arm muscles (updated)
Those of us around the TUAW newsroom are always looking for alternative power sources for our gadgets because we are so dependent on them. Whether it's because of a transformer failure down the street, a widespread outage due to a hurricane, or just because we're nowhere hear a power plug, the TUAW team loves to write about these little generators. There are solar iPhone cases and twig-fueled cookstoves that put out enough juice to keep you going, and now there's the Eton BoostTurbine 2000 (US$59.99). As much as I like the name of this unit, I think the folks at Photojojo have a better name for it -- The Crankerator. That's what powers this sturdy aluminum box; an external hand crank that pops out and lets you (or your kids) charge an internal 2000 mAh battery pack. You can build up some amazing arm muscles while charging the BoostTurbine; a minute of cranking will provide about 30 seconds of power for your phone. Unless you're really bored or extremely desperate, you probably won't use the crank to charge the BoostTurbine up to full capacity. The idea is that before you board Oceanic Flight 815, you'll plug the BoostTurbine into a computer or some other USB power source using the included USB to micro-USB cable and charge it up. Update: Eton has updated information, noting that a minute of cranking is actually good for about four minutes of call time on your favorite iPhone, not 30 seconds as described in the previous paragraph. Then, after you've exhausted all of the power and you really want to watch Fringe reruns on your iPad instead of the prattle of your fellow survivors, you can while away the hours turning the crank to charge the battery. There are four blue LEDs on one end to signify how much charge the battery pack has; pushing down on an inset button for about two seconds activates the LEDs, as does turning the crank. How much power will your favorite device get from the ol' Crankerator? That 2000 mAh is enough to charge up an iPhone 5 (1440 mAh battery). The current rating of the device is only 1 amp, so there's no way that you'll be able to fast-charge your iPad (although it should trickle-charge). The BoostTurbine weighs just 7 ounces so it's not going to weigh down your backpack, and as I mentioned earlier it is a solid piece of aluminum. My only concern is that the crank handle -- the most critical piece when you're in the field -- is made out of plastic. If it breaks, you can always use your Cast Away skills to fashion a new handle out of tree branches and seashells. That crank isn't really that hard to turn once you get it started, but you'll find that keeping the speed up for a few minutes is a challenge. It would be interesting to adapt one of these to a bicycle or water wheel to make power generation a breeze. In case you don't need that full 2000 mAh capacity, there's a 1000 mAh version of the BoostTurbine available directly from Eton for $49.99.
Photojojo's little clip-on polarizing filter a must for those days at the beach
The TUAW staff loves Photojojo, the company that has a website dedicated to selling fun little accessories that are aimed at iPhoneographers. The latest item the staff sent for us to test is the Polarizing Clip On Filter (US$20.00), which is exactly what the name implies -- a little polarizing filter that clips onto your iPhone. If you're not familiar with what polarizing filters can do for photography, you're in for a treat. Sunlight is polarized in one direction, and a polarizing filter rotates to allow you to block out reflected light off of the sea, beaches and the air. For a complete description of how a polarizing filter can improve your photos, our friends at Wikipedia have a detailed article that describes how they work. Should you decide not to read the article, let's just say that the sky usually becomes much more deep blue, the surface of the sea or any water loses reflections, and any haze in the air seems to disappear. Here's an example: For the most part, this little clip on filter works as advertised. However, on my iPhone 5 I always had some part of my photo obscured by the filter no matter how much I moved it around. That's not going to be an issue as long as you're aware of the vignetting and you're planning on doing some photo cropping after the fact. I was unable to test the Photojojo Polarizing Clip On Filter on any other Apple device, so I don't know if all iPhones / iPad might run into this issue. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the filter on my iPhone 5 and could never get the vignetting to disappear. That being said, it does exactly what you'd expect a polarizing filter to do. As you can see from the images below (cropped to remove the vignetting), it can take an overly bright and glaring sunlit image and turn it into a beautiful image with deep blue skies and a gorgeous ocean. For photographers who take a lot of images at the beach or in situations where there's a lot of reflected light (i.e., on ski slopes), the $20 expenditure for the Photojojo Polarizing Clip On Filter should be a no-brainer. Just be aware of the limitations of the filter and that you might need to edit your images to remove vignetting, and you'll have an inexpensive way to improve your iPhone or iPad photos.
Daily Update for February 11, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Photojojo University's first undergraduate course: Phoneography 101
iPhone photography and Photojojo go together like kittens and cute. TUAW has featured a host of products sold by the online retailer, ranging from the amazingly useful to the laughingly silly. The company realizes that iPhones (and other smartphones) now account for a staggering number of photos, and they've decided to train users in how to make the most of the camera in those devices by starting up Photojojo University. The first course offered by Photojojo U is Phoneography 101, a series of easily understood and fun email-based classes that show up twice a week over four weeks beginning on March 1, 2013. When you sign up at the introductory price of $5 (normal price tag will be $10), you're given your choice of instructor -- a stack of pancakes, an obnoxious professor or a cute basket of kittens. Don't let this silliness fool you, though -- the classes are actually quite helpful. Week one of Phoneography 101 is all about composing photos. The Rule of Thirds is mentioned, they tell you about holding the iPhone still to avoid blur, bring up the use of perspective and then have a challenge at the end to see if you've learned your lesson. Future classes will cover lighting, creative effects, editing and other topics. You won't get a diploma at the end of the course, but there's a $5 Photojojo gift card waiting for you as a reward. It's a lighthearted way to actually improve your iPhone photography, and well worth the minimal cost.
Photojojo takes iPhone photography old school with the Viewfinder
Photojojo is one of our favorite spots to pick up useful and sometimes wacky accessories for iPhone photography, so whenever I see an email from the company it's the first one that gets opened. Today's mailing brought news that should bring a smile to DSLR owners who prefer using their camera viewfinder to that annoying screen on the back -- it's the iPhone Viewfinder (US$30). The purpose of this little accessory is to make it much easier to frame your iPhone photos when it's extremely bright out. Working in concert with the free Daylight Viewfinder app, the iPhone Viewfinder sticks to your iPhone screen with suction. You then extend the viewfinder, put the eyecup up to your eye and shoot away. While you may be subject to hoots of derision from your friends when you use the iPhone Viewfinder, you'll have the last laugh with your perfectly composed award-winning images.
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 unleashes a trio of Belkin iPhone camera accessories: review and giveaway
One of the best places to get 1) fun, 2) useful, and 3) fun (did I already say that?) photo accessories is Photojojo.com. Since the advent of iPhoneography, Photojojo has become the go-to spot for those little attachments and goodies for your iPhone photography pleasure. I recently had the opportunity to review three new Belkin accessories courtesy of Photojojo, and some lucky TUAW reader will have a chance to win these goodies in a giveaway. %Gallery-153078% Let's take a look at this trio of accessories and their companion app, Belkin LiveAction (Free). Belkin LiveAction Camera Grip The thinking behind the design of the LiveAction Camera Grip (US$40) is that the iPhone and iPod touch aren't really set up like traditional cameras. The Camera Grip provides an easy way to hold your iPod touch or iPhone 4/4S in one hand and then push a large black button conveniently placed at the tip of your index finger to take the photo. There's a smaller red button that starts and stops video recording with your device. The Camera Grip installs easily on all "naked" devices and on iPhones with slim cases. Part of the grip plugs into the 30-pin dock connector port, while two spring-loaded arms grip the body of the iPhone tightly. On the bottom of the grip is a standard tripod screw mount for those situations where you want to use a monopod or tripod. The location of the shutter button is perfect for right-handers, and the video start/stop button is relatively flat so that you don't accidentally start shooting video when you mean to take a still photo. It's a very comfortable grip as well, and doesn't add the weight and bulk of some other grips like the OWLE bubo. So far, so good. I love the feel of the Camera Grip and the way that it allows one-handed shooting. But unfortunately the Camera Grip can only be used with the LiveAction app, and it's not the best photography app out there. If you like to shoot snaps with Instagram and share them with friends, or you're a fan of the awesome Camera+ app, you're out of luck. Belkin's LiveAction app only allows direct sharing to Facebook, through email, and saving images to your Camera Roll. However, if you want to use the three LiveAction accessories, you're stuck with the LiveAction app. For those who just use the standard iPhone camera app, it's an acceptable tradeoff, but those who love their other camera apps won't be happy. Belkin LiveAction Camera Remote The second device in the trio is the LiveAction Camera Remote ($40), which provides an easy way to take photos The Camera Remote is actually a Bluetooth device and comes with a pair of AAA batteries to power the connection between your iPhone and the remote. The remote comes in two pieces -- the handheld remote with a large black (photo) and small red (video) button, the batteries, and the electronics, and a smaller piece that clips onto the iPhone and acts as a stand. The two pieces snap together for transport. The iPhone and Camera Remote are paired, and as with the Camera Grip, the remote only works with the Belkin LiveAction app. I had some issues with the Bluetooth pairing process, and it appears that this is common as there's a note with the remote that says that you will see a "pairing unsuccessful" popup on the iPhone before the device is actually paired -- go figure... When the remote button is pushed, there's about a one-second delay before the photo is taken or the video capture begins. I found that I was able to walk about 40 feet away before the Camera Remote no longer worked; I'm not sure I would want to leave my iPhone on a table unattended 40 feet away! It should be noted that the LiveAction app has a self-timer (5 or 10 seconds) if you wish to use that for group portraits. Belkin LiveAction Mic The final part of the set is the Belkin LiveAction Mic ($40). It's a small directional microphone that plugs into the headphone jack of your iPhone. There's a small thumbwheel that is turned to secure the mic to your iPhone. This is the only part of the LiveAction trio that doesn't require the Belkin LiveAction app. The mic can be used with any sound or video recording application just fine. The power switch on the mic also serves to set up the response pattern -- wide or narrow. Narrow is excellent for recording someone who is standing a distance away from you and talking, as it tends to block out sounds from the side. The mic seems to be very sensitive, which (coupled with the narrow response pattern) will be perfect for recording audio in conditions where there is a lot of ambient noise. The mic is powered by a single AAA battery. Conclusion and Giveaway While the Belkin LiveAction app requirement makes two of these well-constructed iPhone camera add-ons a bit less useful than they could be, all three can find a welcome place in the iPhoneographer's grab bag. I'm hoping that Belkin makes an API available to other camera app developers so that the Camera Grip and the Remote can be used with other apps, as that will make them much more useful. Now here's your chance to win all three of these great little camera add-ons courtesy of Photojojo.com and TUAW. Just fill out the form below, follow the rules, and you'll have an opportunity to win $120 worth of Belkin LiveAction tools. 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 April 15, 2012 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a Belkin LiveAction Mic worth $40, a Belkin LiveAction Camera Grip worth $40, and a Belkin LiveAction Camera Remote worth $40. Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Photorito disguises your supersized lens as the world's most delicious thing
After the recent rash of burrito robberies that has been plaguing our nation, we're not really sure why anyone would opt to pick up a case that disguised their camera lens as the popular Mexican dish. If you're so inclined, however, you can nab the Photorito, a lens wrap made from Tyvek and neoprene, which promises to protect lenses from 24mm to 200mm from water, dust and bumps. The Photorito ships with a band that will keep it in place -- it'll run you $15 if ordered directly from Photojojo, just don't come crawling to us when you get some guac in your sensor.Update: Photojojo has written to inform us that the price of the Photorito has been bumped up to $20 -- but really, can you put a price of making your camera lens look like Mexican food?
Photojojo's iPhone Lens Dial a pricey, but cool iPhoneography accessory
Late last week, TUAW ran a story about the Holga iPhone Lens Filter Kit SLFT-IP4, a US$25 case that gives iPhoneographers a wheel of ten fun filters to put in front of their iPhone's camera lens. Now photography toy store Photojojo has something even more fun for the serious iPhone photographer -- the iPhone Lens Dial ($249). This isn't a low-cost, cheap set of lenses from China. Instead, the Lens Dial is a machined aircraft-grade aluminum case for the iPhone 4 and 4S that features three lenses on a rotating dial. You have your choice of a .33x Fisheye lens, a .7x Wide Angle lens, and a 1.5x Telephoto lens, all made of optical-quality coated glass. To make sure that your camera is rock-steady while shooting those pro photos, the Lens Dial comes complete with two tripod mounts -- one for portrait orientation, the other for landscape. Besides the hefty price tag of the Lens Dial, there's another cost you'll incur. This is a heavy little accessory, adding 10 ounces of weight to your lightweight (4.9 ounce) iPhone 4S. Still, the Lens Dial looks a perfect gift for the iPhoneographer on your list. If you have any space on your shopping list, you can buy one for me, too. Please? I really have been good this year.
Photojojo intros iPhone Lens Dial for fisheye, telephoto and wide-angle shooting
Annie Leibovitz seems to love the camera in the iPhone 4S as is, but if you'd ever hoped the snapshot darling were a bit more flexible, then Photojojo's new Lens Dial may be the solution. Available as a case that's compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S, users are able to rotate between three different lenses -- including fisheye, telephoto and wide-angle -- to achieve their desired effect. Naturally, the enclosure will add quite a bit of thickness and heft to your handset (it weighs ten ounces, or twice that of the iPhone), but it also piles on flexibility, too, such as tripod mounts for landscape or portrait scenes. Shipping now for $250, the iPhone Lens Dial seems like the logical step after you've taken Holga's option for a spin.
Shot glass lens set likely won't improve your photography
Find your Nikon or Canon lens mug a little too big for some other beverages you may enjoy from time to time? Then you might want to consider stocking your cupboard with a few of these lens shot glasses now available from Photojojo (and made by DERELIQ). They're are only available in the Canon variety so far, but they are just as detailed as their larger counterpart, right down to the raised switches and image stabilizer markings -- we hear that feature leaves a bit to be desired, though. $18 will buy you a set of three.
Photojojo phone lenses give your iPhone a new set of eyes
I've been a fan of Photojojo for a while. The site sells all sorts of fun and useful camera gear and gifts, things like an SLR Bokeh kit or a inexpensive point-and-shoot tilt-shift digital camera. When they offered to let TUAW try out a set of three phone lenses that give iPhone shooters a choice of different widths of field, I jumped on the chance. Here's how Photojojo's little lenses work on your iPhone for fun photography. There are three lenses available -- one is a 2X telephoto, one is a 180° field-of-view fisheye lens, and the last is a wide angle/macro lens that helps to take those group photos and close-ups of bugs. The fisheye sells for US$25, the two other lenses for $20 each, or you can get the entire set for just $49. Now we all know that our iPhones don't have a little bayonet mount for lenses, so how do these lenses actually mount on your iPhone? Easy -- there's a minuscule metal ring with sticky backing that you put around the rear camera lens on the iPhone (or iPad). Here's where a problem arises. If you have an iPhone 4, the ring gets glued right over the flash! That's not an issue for me since I rarely take flash photos, but for many people that could be a deal killer. On the plus side, the ring is thin enough that I was able to continue using my Mophie Juice Pack Air case, although I have to remove the top of the case to take photos. There are two of those magnetic rings included with each lens, as well as a pair of tiny lens caps to keep both ends of the lenses clean when not in use. Now the moment of truth! Braving an oncoming storm, I grabbed the iPhone 4 and lenses for a photo session. These photos aren't great, as the rain started coming down the moment I stepped out the door, but they'll give you an idea of what each of the lenses accomplishes. First, let's look at a picture of my boring back yard with the standard iPhone 4 camera: Next, I grabbed the fisheye lens. As you can see, there's a very wide field of view (180°) but a lot of distortion. I think this would be incredibly fun when shooting video with the iPhone 4: Stepping back a bit from the distortion of the fisheye lens, I put the wide angle lens onto the iPhone 4 mount: You can see that the wooden post on the left side of the photo above is distorted a bit, but that you can see a lot more of the back yard than is visible in the "normal" photo. There's also a small amount of vignetting visible in the corners of the image, which of course could be cropped out using one of the many photo editing apps for iOS. Finally, I put the 2X telephoto lens onto the iPhone 4: Notice that the field of view is smaller, and that the cottonwood tree at the left appears to be much larger than it is in the other images. If you screw off the top of the wide angle lens, it becomes a macro lens that lets you focus quite closely: When viewed at the full resolution of the iPhone 4 image, this picture was incredible, with every tiny scratch on Jefferson's face clearly visible. As you can see, these inexpensive lenses don't rival the picture clarity that you'd get with a true DSLR lens, but you're paying less for all of them than a DSLR lens cap would probably cost you. And your iPhone 4 is not a single-lens reflex camera; it's a point and shoot with a fixed focus and rolling shutter. A $49 set of lenses is not going to turn your iPhone into a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR. But if you want to do more than take snaps with your iPhone 4, the Photojojo lenses are a fun way to experiment without spending too much money.
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]
Can the Project 365 iPhone app make you a better photographer?
Photographers have always known that the more pictures you take, the more you learn about photography. Digital photography has made it easy and inexpensive for photographers of any experience level to take as many photos as they want. In addition, the advent of fairly high-resolution phone cameras has added the touch of having a camera with you almost all the time. In 2004, a chap by the name of Taylor McKnight started taking one picture a day and posting the photos as a way of chronicling his life and what was important to him. Over the year, he also found that he become a better photographer. The classic photography website Photojojo published his post about the process in 2006, and the rest is history. There are now thousands of photographers who are shooting their way to better pictures one day at a time. Developer Alvin Yu has made it possible for any iPhone owner to create their own Project 365 portfolio through his free Project 365 app [iTunes Link]. The app is quite simple; launching Project 365 shows you a monthly calendar with a blank area for each day. Tapping on the date allows you to add a photo, either by taking one or adding it from your photo library. Once you've chosen the photo, you can add a caption, then send the photo either to an email address, to Facebook, or to Twitter.
Photojojo offers keyboard shortcut skins
For listeners of The Talk Show's marathon keyboard episode, you might remember a brief mention of those templates you used to get with software that fit over the function keys of your old Apple Extended Keyboard. If you still pine for those, Photojojo has a brand new set of keyboard overlays for Photoshop, Aperture, Final Cut Pro, and more for a vast array of recent Apple desktop and laptop keyboards. They're molded from rubber, washable, and fit your keyboard like a glove. Plus, they keep out the dust and crud that keyboards typically accumulate. Laptop skins are $30, and desktop skins are $40. Fast shipping options are available, too. Thanks, Amit!
Lifehacker script to automate Project 365 with iSight-enabled Macs
Photojojo is a community focused on photography tips, tricks, DIY projects and other kinds of picture-taking goodness. Recently, they introduced Project 365, essentially coining a(nother?) term and offering tips for those take-a-picture-a-day-for-a-year-or-three projects that broke out on the interwebs over the last year or so.Inspired both by this Photojojo post and the recent 'snap a pic of users who commit invalid login attempts' hack, Adam Pash at Lifehacker penned a Photo projects for the New Year post in which he put together a script that can automate this process on iSight-enabled Macs, more or less taking the effort out of your own Project 365. The script can be set to run each time you login (properly, of course) or at a specific time of each day, and Adam includes instructions for tweaking them to your needs. By default, they're set up to snap the pic and save it in ~/project365/pics/, adding a timestamp to the name of each file to help you keep track of everything when you're ready to make your YouTube debut.I think this is a fantastic idea, and now that I have an iSight in both my MacBook and iMac, I think I might actually take a crack at this myself. A big thanks to Adam for putting together such a cool script, and be sure to check out Photojojo's original Project 365 post for tips, motivation and ideas on what to do with 365 pictures of you and/or your stuff.
