Frightening though it may be, the fall semester is just around the corner. You know what that means? You’ll actually have to get up at — wait for it — an appointed time. Carissa, being the proactive student she is, posed this question:

“Going to school in the fall, I’m looking for the ideal alarm clock to beat the late nights and what not and noticed a few digital photo frames / alarm clocks. I want a decent alarm clock that has battery backup and good resolution on the screen for viewing photos. An auxiliary audio jack would be a major plus. Which one do you guys recommend that falls under the 200 dollar mark? Thanks a million!”

Look at that — you all even received a thank you in advance! For those who’ve mastered the art of waking up on time and pretending to be a real live adult, which alarm clock / digiframe hybrid have you found to be supreme? Oh, and you know that question you’ve been hitting the snooze on? Yeah, send it on over to ask at engadget dawt com.

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The 10-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch CCD, 5x image stabilized optical-zoom lensed FinePix Z200fd is finally coming to the states in September for a price of $299.95. Fuji has kept all the cosumer-friendly features like dual image stabilization, dual shot mode, and a novel group timer mode that only takes the picture once it sees four faces in the frame. For you budding journos, a potentially handy blog mode automatically resizes images to 640×480 for all your important updates. And let’s not forget about the couple timer, which waits to take a shot until the lovebirds are deemed close enough.

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The day that Jenelle Norris sent her book “Polaroid 600 and Spectra Film: Manipulations and Creative Techniques” to the printer for layout was February 8, 2008.
The day Polaroid announced they wouldn’t be making film anymore? February 8, 2008.

Lucky for […]

This Photojojo brought to you by… ~ Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 200,000 photo fans

The day that Jenelle Norris sent her book “Polaroid 600 and Spectra Film: Manipulations and Creative Techniques” to the printer for layout was February 8, 2008.

The day Polaroid announced they wouldn’t be making film anymore? February 8, 2008.

Lucky for us, rather than let her effort go to waste, Jenelle put her whole book online for free!

Hooray!

And it’s a dang good book, too. Everything you ever wanted to know about messin’ with Polaroid: transfers, double exposures, how to use 600 film in an SX-70. You name it, it’s in there.

Get out there and stock up on Polaroid, folks! The film’s going fast and if you’re gonna experiment, ya better do it quick.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Polaroid Manipulation

p.s. Go to SavePolaroid.com for the latest on the effort to save everybody’s favorite instant film, and our guide to 10 ways to Polaroid before it’s gone!

p.p.s. We’s famous! Check out Photojojo in August’s DSLR User (page 130), ProPHOTO Magazine (page 16), and this interview on us in Pop17!

Photo credits: Bradley Johnson, Lexi Hoeller, Paolo Degasperi and Brian Henry.

Link to this | Filed under Guides.

Although we were able to take an all-too-brief peek at Olympus’ EVOLT E-520 late last month, the results weren’t exactly indicative of what this thing is capable of — you know, considering the unit in question was defective. The cats over at PhotographyBLOG managed to secure a fully functional unit, and results were much, much improved. Although reviewers didn’t go quite so far as to call it the perfect camera, it sure came close in their eyes. Aside from the depressingly small viewfinder and the low quantity of AF sensors, critics found the unit quite hard to bash. Overall, it managed to snag a stellar 4.5 out of 5 rating, and better still, it was said to be just the thing for “beginners and enthusiasts alike.” Taking Olympus more seriously in your search for a suitable DSLR just might be in order.

If the E60 had you dozing last night, you’ll be conked out in no time by the time you finish reading this. Pentax is at it again, proving that point-and-shoot cameras can still be boring this day and age. The M60 tries to be fancy with a 10-megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD monitor, “approximately 36.5MB of built-in memory,” movie / panorama modes, a variety of scene modes and smile detection capabilities to boot. Expect this one to arrive late next month in blue, pink and silver for around £90 ($179).

[Via PhotographyPress]

In strict megapixel to dollar terms, the new Optio E60 from Pentax is a real steal, at a mere $140 for its absurd 10 megapixels. Of course, there’s more to the story. The 3x zoom and lack of optical image stabilization — “High Sensitivity Digital Shake Reduction” is little comfort — won’t be winning you any “best candid shot of whatever we did last night” awards, but there are some decent automatic perks like face recognition and a “Green” settings mode for absolute novices that should keep you from getting booted out of your Flickr pool. The E60, which is powered by AA batteries, will be available in October.

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Remember the first time you flew in a plane and looked down to discover people had become ants, cars had become toys, and swimming pools, mere puddles?
We still love the view from up high, so it’s no wonder we’re smitten […]

This Photojojo brought to you by… ~ Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 200,000 photo fans

Remember the first time you flew in a plane and looked down to discover people had become ants, cars had become toys, and swimming pools, mere puddles?

We still love the view from up high, so it’s no wonder we’re smitten with Kite Aerial Photography (”KAP”, for those in the know.)

The concept is simple: rig a camera to a kite, wait for some wind, let ‘er rip. The results — like DIY satellite photography. Check out the tops of tall buildings, spy on your neighbor’s backyard, or capture the abstract beauty of a lake from above.

Scott Haefner’s KAP site is something of a bible for the sport, chock-full of how-to instructions and sample photos.

Check out some of the pics (more here), and panoramas, then hit up Scott’s site to get started!

Scott Haefner’s Kite Photography
See also: tilt-shift photography

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