Vicious and Divine’s Laplace webcam had it all… 2 megapixel photo and 1.3 megapixel video resolution, an integrated flash so that it could handle innumerable lighting situations, a folding mechanism that particularly suited it to mounting on laptops or flat panel monitors, plus that compact and sleek design. It was the jet-set of webcams, some might say, but it seemed to lack something — some essential quality of life. Possibly a higher purpose? As it turns out, all it needed was to be absolutely, 100 percent covered — bedazzled, if you dare — in Swarovski crystals. The results are pretty… stunning. And not at all obscene. It comes in both black and clear crystal variations, and €49.99 (about $63) seems a small price to pay for something that’s going to make you the envy of all of your friends — but it seems to be available only in Europe. Your loss, rest-of-the-Earth!

Swarovski-coated webcam: because everything should be shiny originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh sure, the unremitting release cycle of new digital photo frames is growing a bit tired, but that’s not to say these things don’t make for the perfect holiday gift. Oh, and after you’ve contributed to the cause here, drop your own question in at ask at engadget dawt com.

“I’m looking for the best digital photo frame out there to snag for the holidays. My requirements are pretty simple: good picture quality, WiFi, RSS / Flickr support without any fees. Any help?”

Short and sweet there, eh Adam? At any rate, we’ll toss in some general screen size requirements (let’s say 5-inches and up), and now, we’ll let you to it. Light up the comments below!

Ask Engadget: What’s the best digital photo frame out there? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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~Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 225,000 photo fans

Nights on the Riviera…
Costume balls in Cancun…
Dancing until dawn in the glittering palaces of Monaco…
Life at Photojojo is one mad whirl of unbridled hedonism.
What? It totally is. Mad, we tell you. Whirly.
Okay, fine, we didn’t really think you’d buy that. But if we did lead […]

~ Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 225,000 photo fans

Nights on the Riviera…
Costume balls in Cancun…
Dancing until dawn in the glittering palaces of Monaco…

Life at Photojojo is one mad whirl of unbridled hedonism.

What? It totally is. Mad, we tell you. Whirly.

Okay, fine, we didn’t really think you’d buy that. But if we did lead lives like that, you better believe we’d have some great photos to show for it.

If there’s one thing we know, it’s how to take an awesome portrait at night. Use a tripod, moderate your flash… oh heck, just keep reading. Everything you need to know is in here.

Photojojo’s Guide to Night Portraits

p.s. We had a great turnout for the Macro-zoom-ography Contest! The winners are: subbyguy, mazzer, and Jana. Thanks to everyone who entered- you made it really hard to choose!

p.p.s. Want to take some spooky ghost pictures this Halloween? Try capturing the mystery of entopic phenomena!

Photo credit: sgoralnick.

(Continued…)

Link to this | Filed under Photojojo Original, Guides.

The kids over at Photography Blog have finally got their hands on the Nikon Coolpix P6000 that became official back in August and have pronounced it “a mixed bag.” It looks good on paper at least, with a 13.5-megapixel sensor, 28mm wide angle lens and bult-in Ethernet (a first for a consumer grade camera). Unfortunately, the big ticket items like on-board GPS (for geo-tagging all those coolpix you’ll be taking) and NRW file format support (the new “RAW” image format developed by Microsoft and Nikon) are said to be poorly implemented and all but unusable. Even the much-ballyhooed LAN connectivity is limited to something called MyPictureTown. Hit the read link to catch the reviewer holding forth on a number of other salient points, including the camera’s DSLR-like hand-grip, optical viewfinder and external flash hotshoe.

Nikon Coolpix P6000 reviewed, not all that cool originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Up until now, we’d have to say that Sony’s WiFi-enabled VAIO CP1 is the most attractive digital photo frame we’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. And quite honestly, it’s still probably the sexiest in terms of, well, sheer sexy. But Sanyo’s latest rival is cute in its own way, as the HNV-M70 ALBO packs a retro motif that anyone fond of The Jetsons will adore. Specs wise, we’re looking at an overly glossy 7-inch LCD (800 x 480 resolution), 256MB of internal memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, WinCE 5.0 behind the scenes, an IR sensor, RSS / e-mail reader, automatic screen rotation, a multicard reader and a multimedia player for good measure. Users can also load up pictures stored on Picasa or add in captions and e-mail to grandparents for maximum enjoyment. Sanyo’s set to start selling these in Japan (in black or green) next month for ¥40,000 ($423), but you can take an early look thanks to a bevy of hands-on shots linked below.

[Via Impress]

We’ve always had a soft spot for Canon’s G-series of prosumer compacts, and it looks like the new G10 won’t be any exception — Photography Blog just put the boxy camera through its paces and found that it’s “undoubtedly the best ever” in the line. High marks were particularly given to the new wider-angle 28-140mm lens (which suffers less barrel distortion than the G9), higher-res LCD screen, and the new exposure dial, which allows you to fine-tune exposure settings without a trip to the menus. The new 14.7 megapixel sensor didn’t receive the same praise, however: ISO 400 images were quite noisy, and the 800 and 1600 settings were “virtually unusable.” That’s not exactly news for the G-series, but it’s pretty unfortunate — especially considering that the G10’s $499 pricetag edges into low-end DSLR territory. Still, if you’re looking for a compact with deep manual controls and real optics, it sounds like the G10 is worth a look — hit the read link for the full review.

Canon PowerShot G10 reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

~Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 225,000 photo fans

Why do we like Phoenix?

It’s an image editor that works just like Photoshop. It’s got magic wands, layers, masks, blend modes: the whole enchilada.

It’s web-based, so you don’t have to download any software or use up space on your hard drive. You can use photos […]

~ Have a cool photo product or site? Reach 225,000 photo fans

Why do we like Phoenix?

1. It’s an image editor that works just like Photoshop. It’s got magic wands, layers, masks, blend modes: the whole enchilada.
2. It’s web-based, so you don’t have to download any software or use up space on your hard drive. You can use photos already on the web, too: Flickr, Facebook and Picasa all work.
3. There are 40+ free tutorials that range from beginner to advanced, so you can learn how to use all them fancy tools.
4. There’s a very good free version, as well as a souped-up hotrod version that’s actually worth paying for.

And, after months of invitation-only anticipation, Phoenix launches tomorrow to the general public!

But you, dear chums, you are not the general public. Far from it. You are the faithful cadre of the Photojojo elite. Which is why we wrangled, bargained, and mud-wrestled a live alligator to obtain (just for you) special passes!

The first 2000 Photojojo readers to sign up will get $55 off a year’s subscription to the premium version. Fly quick, chickadees!

Phoenix Web-based Image Editor

p.s. While you’re there, be sure to check out Aviary’s other tools (they work together like Adobe’s Creative Suite). Toucan creates color swatches and palettes, Peacock generates patterns and terrain, and Raven (the newest hatchling) is a vector editor similar to Illustrator.

Link to this | Filed under Websites.

We had a chance to gaze through the wireframe of this 8.1 megapixel Casio W63CA Exilim cellphone back in August courtesy of the FCC’s finest. Now check it in high-gloss, plastic flesh. The latest Japanese super-phone squeezes 480 x 800 pixel into a 3.1-inch OLED display. Let that sink in for a second… the very same 384,000 pixels on a display smaller than the 3.8-inch LCD heralded by the Touch HD. The camera features a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto focus, face detection, anti-shake, and a YouTube video mode that records VGA video at 30fps to microSD. All this in a Japanese-only flip measuring 110 x 50 x 17.4 ~ 22-mm when it launches in early November. Color options after the break.

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Casio’s 8.1 megapixel W63CA with 480 x 800 pixel OLED flips out in Japan

While being the first DSLR to shoot HD video sounds mighty excellent on paper, it’s not worth much if the execution isn’t there, right? The general consensus was that Nikon’s D90 was a stellar DSLR, but the 720p movie mode was simply a so-so cherry on top. The gurus over at CamcorderInfo decided to take things one step further and actually write up an in-depth review on the movie mode alone. The long and short of it is this: the D90’s movie mode simply can’t produce the same results as a dedicated HD camcorder, and while it was “often able to produce impressive results (especially in moderately low light),” the unfortunate “wobble effect” really put a damper on things. In essence, the aforementioned problem causes objects to look like Jell-o when the user pans quickly from left to right, and the only real way to avoid it is to utilize a tripod or slow down your pans — neither of which are terribly convenient. Critics did find quite a bit to praise, and they certainly appreciated the inclusion in an otherwise amazing camera, but it’s still far from being ideal in all scenarios.