Cameras

Does it still make sense to buy a digital camera? (Poll)

A little over a year ago I asked CNET readers if it still made sense to buy a camcorder.

After all, as my thinking went, smartphone cameras can now capture 1080p video, and they have the virtue of riding around in your pocket, always at the ready for memorable moments.

The consensus? Not everyone has a smartphone, thank you very much, and smartphones almost universally lack optical zoom -- meaning they're far from ideal for faraway shooting. Verdict: for some folks, camcorders remain the best way to capture video.

OK, but what about cameras? Some of the same reasoning … Read more

Lytro unlocks Wi-Fi for shoot-and-share iOS app

Instead of ignoring early adopters of the Lytro light-field camera, the company continues to reward them with new features brought to life through occasional software updates.

Since the hardware itself hasn't changed, though -- the camera is still the same as it was when it became available a little more than a year ago -- any new hardware-related features have to take advantage of what was there from the get-go. That includes the latest feature to be unlocked: Wi-Fi.

A free software update via Lytro's desktop software is all that's needed to unlock the camera's wireless … Read more

Samsung's NX series gets the fisheye

Adding to its growing lineup of lenses for its NX series of interchangeable-lens cameras, Samsung plans to release a 10mm f3.5 fisheye later this year.

The lens is Samsung's widest-angle model to date, and it looks like a pancake.

Here be specifications:

Mount Samsung NX i-Function Focal range 10mm (15.4mm equivalent) Aperture range f3.5 - f22 Aperture blades 7 Minimum focus distance 3.5 inches Angle of view 180 degrees Elements Seven elements in five groups (one aspherical lens) Filter diameter n/a Minimum length 1.0 Maximum length 1.0 Weight 2.5 ounces (est.) … Read more

Amulet camera records your life, stores it in cloud

"The destruction of music through YouTube is enormous."

That's what pianist Krystian Zimerman told an audience in Germany when he stopped his performance to demand a fan stop recording it with a smartphone.

But if you think the ubiquity of phone cameras is more than a little annoying, get ready for one that goes around your neck and can record automatically. … Read more

Infragram: Infrared camera on the cheap

You can already buy an infrared camera, but only if you have hundreds of dollars to sink into the purchase. An inexpensive infrared-modified camera, originally developed by Public Lab to monitor damage to wetlands after the BP oil spill, is now available through Kickstarter.

The Infragram project has already handily topped its $30,000 goal and gives you several different options for obtaining a cheap infrared camera. You can do it yourself and modify your own camera for $10, buy a pre-modified bare-bones Webcam for $35, or buy a ready-to-use point-and-shoot camera for $95.… Read more

Have a seat on this giant dSLR lens

If you are the company you keep, perhaps it could also be said that you are the furniture you sit on. At least when it comes to this stool that looks like a giant dSLR lens.

The handmade chair, by Spanish design studio Monoculo, would give just about any space that touch of geeky je ne sais quoi, though given its attention to detail, I'm guessing it's most likely to seat a serious photophile. It includes focal length and aperture and even has an autofocus/manual focus switch on the side. … Read more

New sex sim aims for hottest VR action ever

With all the recent advances in user interfaces and head-mounted displays, there's little reason virtual sex can't offer a truly 21st century, nearly realistic experience.

That's the sentiment behind VRSexKit.com, a set of sex simulators in the works from ThriXXX, a company that has been a leader in adapting technologies like Microsoft's Kinect for virtual-reality sex play.

Though ThriXXX was quick to figure out how to use the Kinect in virtual sex, founder Brad Abram now believes Microsoft's motion-control camera system doesn't offer a "granular enough" experience. … Read more

Leica cam that shot Times Square kiss sells for $150k

Any camera from the 1930s would probably get photophiles excited. But make it the cam that snapped the famed shot of the couple kissing in Times Square on V-J Day and you've got an OMG find.

That shooter, a 1937 35mm Leica Illa, sold at a Vienna auction over the weekend for 114,000 euros, or about $147,117.

Late photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt used the very camera to shoot his iconic image of a sailor kissing a girl in Times Square on August 14, 1945. Life magazine published the photo a week later. … Read more

Pro tennis player uses iPhone camera to dispute call

The future of arguing a referee's call is upon us. On Monday, a tennis player used an iPhone to take a picture of where his ball supposedly landed.

At the French Open, Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky surprised the crowd with his impromptu display of photography skills during the first set of a match against Richard Gasquet. At one point in the game, Stakhovsky hit the ball and a line judge ruled the shot as out of bounds. To make sure, officials went to the line to examine where the ball hit and confirmed the ruling. Stakhovsky attempted to argue the call to no avail.… Read more