GADGET REVIEWS Just another GADGET NEWS

Redrock Micro makes accessories for movie cameras, and lately it makes add-ons for the latest movie-shooting SLR-cameras. The latest addition is a range of “Nano” kits which turn your stills-cam into a film-making rig, and they do it on the cheap.

SLRs are obviously designed to shoot single photos, and access to the various exposure controls is the premium consideration. A movie camera needs to be focused and moved around as you shoot, which is tricky if you’re using two hands just to hold it up.

The new Redrock kits come in three main flavors: A grip, which is a simple handle that screws into the tripod-mount, a pair of chest braces which let you hold the camera with one hand and focus with the other, and a couple “low-down” kits which put handles on the top and sides so you can carry the camera like a briefcase or an underwater-style rig. The chest rigs come with eye-pieces for the rear LCD-screen to allow live-view-shooting outside.

The prices run from just over $100 to just under $500, depending on how many rods, grips and pads are hanging off the stick-insect structures. This might not sound inexpensive, but in the overpriced world of movie-cameras, it’s an almost dirt-cheap bargain. Available now.

Nano DSLR Rigs [Redrock Micro via Photography Bay]

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Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

You’re a photographer: Imagine being able not only to walk around your subject, but to whisk yourself away and shoot from anywhere you choose, however high your want, like James Cameron guiding his virtual cameras in Avatar. With Anthony Jacobs’ new autonomous camera-copter, you can.

The new rig is the sequel to the HD video-camera we saw swept into the skies of New York by a remote-controlled quadrocopter last year. Jacobs, the photographer and inveterate tinkerer behind that setup, is back, and this time he’s using GPS and lifting video-shooting DSLRs into the air. Jacobs is pitching this new platform at photojournalists, and here’s why:

Say you are on the ground at a natural disaster site (or perhaps BP’s heavies are trying to prevent you from grabbing your shot). You fire up the four-rotor copter and fly your camera into position. Hit a switch and the GPS-control kicks in. Combined with the inherent stability of a quadrocopter and its gyroscopes, the platform stays exactly where it is, even in wind.

The photographer can now drop the remote and concentrate on taking photos or video. A live video-feed is sent back from the camera to an 8-inch LCD-screen for composition, and a three-axis gimbal, controlled by another remote, allows the camera to be swung independently into position. This allows the photographer to capture shots otherwise impossible to get, or too dangerous to shoot by hand. It could also give amazing perspectives on sports games (although we guess it could all be brought down by an unlucky football).

And when you’re done, you just hit the “home” button and the camera will fly itself right back to you. But there’s more: Are you an indie-filmmaker looking to add some expensive looking boom-shots and fly-bys to your movie? Check this out:

With one person piloting and the other working the camera, this is a lot cheaper than renting a helicopter. For the photojournalist working alone, the whole thing packs into a single Pelican case, making it portable and tough enough to take anywhere. As Jacobs says in the email he sent me, “I believe this [...] would make a lot of readers drool!” He’s dead right.

Canon 5D Mark II Aerial Drone – Autonomous GPS Position Hold [Perpective Aerials. Thanks, Anthony!]

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Gadget lovers have long held to the secret belief that the right camera, smartphone or large-aperture lens will make them sexier.

Now dating site OK Cupid has proof.

According to OK Cupid’s survey of 552,000 user pictures, digital SLRs make you look more attractive, Panasonic cameras make you sexier than Nikons, while using a flash will make you look 7 years older, and large-aperture lens’ make you look a lot more attractive.

And iPhone users have more sexual partners than BlackBerry or Android owners. By age 30, the average male iPhone user has had about 10 partners while female iPhone users have had 12. By contrast, BlackBerry users hover around 8 partners and Android users have a mere 6.

As the blog’s author’s wryly observe: “Finally, statistical proof that iPhone users aren’t just getting fucked by Apple.”

That should give iPhone and iPad users some comfort for being considered ‘selfish elites,’ as another recent survey found.

OK Cupid has been analyzing the behavior of the site’s millions of users for some time, and has discovered many interesting tidbits: People tend to lie on their profiles, people’s political preferences change as they age, and men can increase their chances of getting a date by being open to older women. The site’s massive dataset, huge volume of activity, and interesting slicing and dicing combine to produce some keen observations on human nature.

But for gadget heads, there’s no more pertinent observation than (hard) data. The Panasonic Micro 4/3 camera will make you look far more attractive than a Canon DSLR, which in turn is better than a Nikon or Sony DSLR. And forget about cameraphones: Android, Nokia, BlackBerry and Windows phones all make you look less attractive, with Motorola phones at the absolute bottom of the list.

Similarly, the type of camera you wield makes a big difference. There’s a dramatic illustration showing how the same woman looks photographed with a cameraphone, a point-and-shoot camera, and an SLR. That makes sense: As we’ve explained before, larger image sensors give you better-quality images.

Along the same lines, a larger-aperture photo lets you put the background out of focus, increasing the apparent attractiveness of the person you’re taking a picture of.

So if you wanted an excuse to buy a fancier camera with a bigger lens, OK Cupid’s got all the rationale you need.

As for switching from Android or BlackBerry to an iPhone? Well, that’s up to you. Unlike with the photos, it’s hard to tell whether iPhone use is the cause, or the effect, of having more notches in one’s bedpost.

OkTrends, via EthanZ

Image: via OKCupid

Follow us for real-time tech news: Dylan Tweney and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews