Here’s an interesting find. Upon initial inspection, the SNCA-CFW5 CompactFlash wireless card (uncovered after the jump) doesn’t seem all that special, but after perusing the owner’s manual a bit, it’s evident that this here 802.11b/g card has some very specific intentions. Apparently designed to operate exclusively in “Sony Network Cameras” (presumably of the surveillance variety), this unit has found its way into the FCC and looks to be green lit for operation on the 2.4GHz band. Moreover, the SNCA-AN1 external antenna can be added on to extend the range even further. Unsurprisingly, there’s no hints of whether or not this here device will eventually be tweaked for use in other wares, but it’s only a matter of time before someone shoves this thing in a laptop or digicam and tests lady luck.

Continue reading Sony’s Network Camera CF WiFi card hits the FCC

Stop-motion photography ain’t easy. It requires patience, patience, planning, patience, and a whole lot of patience.

So we gotta hand it to Max Tyrie and his friends — to create their stop-motion rendition of Modest Mouse’s “Missed the Boat”, they took original footage from the group, printed it out frame-by-frame on 4,133 sheets of paper, then took photos of those sheets of paper with a digital camera. Finally, they assembled thousands of photos into a four-and-a-half minute stop-motion video.

Wow. It’s not that we can’t imagine the amount of effort that went into this, we can, it’s that it’s almost painful to think about. Still, watching the result brings a smile to our face. It’s magical.

Watch the video, then check out this Photojojo tutorial on How to Make Stop-Motion Video with your Digital Camera.

Max Tyrie’s Hand Made Modest Mouse Stop-Motion

p.s. Check it out — one of our favorite design blogs recently gave a shout-out to the unique design of the new Photojojo Forum!

Link to this | Filed under Inspiration.

We’ll admit, Apple’s tightly integrated webcam sure gets more attention than most, but the latest blurb about the iSight has less to do with movie stars or underground storage facilities and more with sheer utility. Apparently, the latest round of MacBook Pros have been equipped with an entirely new camera, and after seeing an all new USB Product ID code, a couple of curious onlookers had to find out more. By testing an older unit and then flocking to a retail Apple store to try out a shiny new machine, it was realized that the sensor in the iSight had indeed been upgraded to 1.3-megapixels; ‘course, it certainly won’t revolutionize subway snapping, but hey, if you needed one more reason to pull the trigger on a new MacBook Pro, you’re welcome.

[Via TUAW]

Vision Research has launched “Phantom Miro 3,” the first of its family of high-speed digital cameras. This camera is targeted at industrial applications such as Hydraulically Controlled, Gas Energized crash simulations used in the automotive…

Vision Research has launched “Phantom Miro 3,” the first of its family of high-speed digital cameras. This camera is targeted at industrial applications such as Hydraulically Controlled, Gas Energized crash simulations used in the automotive industry. With its minimum shutter speed of 2 ms, you can eliminate motion blur and freeze fast-moving objects to achieve the image detail needed for a clear motion analysis.

This compact and rugged camera is rated to survive 100g acceleration and can achieve a frame rate of 1,000 fps at 800×600 resolution. If that frame rate is not enough, you can reduce resolution to 512×512 to achieve 2,200 fps. The frame rate can be increased even to 95,000 fps by reducing the resolution further to 32 x 32. You can select among three pixel depths of 8, 10 or 12 to adjust the dynamic range according to the need. This camera which is compatible with any standard 1″ C-mount lens also features an integrated flash memory of 4GB and a dynamic RAM. Its internal batteries help in preventing loss of data due to power failures. The camera has ISO ratings of 4800 in monochrome mode and 1200 in color mode.

Via: dcviews.com

Street level mapping services like Google’s Street View and Microsoft’s Live Local have gotten a lot of attention lately, but while the notion of pervasive map-linked photography is pretty impressive, the actual execution leaves something to be desired — the images are occasionally of low quality, have stitching errors, and there are some lingering privacy concerns. A new company called Earthmine is out to solve all those problems, though, by providing high-quality, survey-accurate panoramic photography — and has a truck or two with cameras towering tall to prove it. Unlike Google’s video system, Earthmine plans to use laser range finders and high dynamic range still cameras mounted higher than usual to provide perspective-accurate images that preserve detail and resolution — but automatically blur out faces and other identifying information, like license plates. Earthmine is planning on selling the service to businesses and governmental agencies, but a consumer version should launch at the end of the summer. We think they should watch out though, we hear the Street View and Live Local drivers have crazy road rage; we really wouldn’t want to see anybody from Earthmine get caught up in some kind of weird, street level photography turf war.

[Thanks, eggman]

Pentax has an update for their entry-level K100D DSLR which is so great, they’ve dubbed it the K100D Thuper Duper (clap clap). Ok ok, it’s just the K100D Super but it’s hard to contain our girlish enthusiasm in the face of marketing genius. Their latest features Pentax’s shake reduction system like the K100D only now with a new dust removal system and full compatibility with Pentax’s higher-end SDM lenses. Other than that and SDHC compatibility (still no CF support), we’re still looking at the same 6.1 megapixel cam (APS-C size CCD) with 2.5-inch LCD, and ISO 3200 max sensitivity — not a bad thing for first timer DSLRers based on previous reviews. The body alone will set you back $520 come August 2007.

We’ve always wondered what happens to a package when we drop it off at the post office — and having received our share of oddly damaged parcels has only heightened the mystery. British artist Tim Knowles was similarly curious, and his latest piece, “Spy Box,” is a clever attempt to document the journey the box took from his studio to a nearby gallery. Knowles rigged a camera inside the box to take a photo out of a small hole every ten seconds, and stitched the resulting 6,994 photos together to make a short movie of the box’s 19-hour journey. The end result isn’t too thrilling — the box is in a room! The box is in the dark! The box is in another room! — but it’s still pretty interesting. Peep a short clip at the read link.

[Via Switched]

Woo-fooput-fooput-fooput-ey-whoooo ook-over-ooooo-ere.
Sound familiar? If you’ve taken digital video at the beach or anywhere on a windy day, you’ve probably dealt with sound cut-outs as wind whips past your camera’s built-in mic. Modern camcorders have had wind-dampening circuitry for ages. Alas, most digital cameras still don’t.
Thankfully, Stephen Uber sent a great DIY solution to the popphoto […]

Woo-fooput-fooput-fooput-ey-whoooo ook-over-ooooo-ere.

Sound familiar? If you’ve taken digital video at the beach or anywhere on a windy day, you’ve probably dealt with sound cut-outs as wind whips past your camera’s built-in mic. Modern camcorders have had wind-dampening circuitry for ages. Alas, most digital cameras still don’t.

Thankfully, Stephen Uber sent a great DIY solution to the popphoto blog: Make a windscreen by taping the gauze-like padding of an adhesive bandage over your camera’s mic. (It’s usually a single pinhole on the front face of your camera.) Voila! Wind noise dramatically reduced.

(A perfect mod for the flip video so many of you told us you loved.)

Found a great camera hack recently, or come up with your own?

Post your camera hacks here!

From the Forum…
+ charliesuh: Photo projects for kids — opinions wanted.
+ alicia954: Camera fiascos, catastrophes, and disasters!
+ Amit Gupta: Do you always friend back on Flickr?

Link to this | Filed under DIY.