Samyang Confirms: Autofocus Lenses Coming for Canon and Nikon

The news that Samyang was finally making autofocus lenses was a big deal, but for some reason the company decided to launch the first two lenses in only Sony FE mount. That, it seems, will soon change.

In an interview with Focus-numerique, Jeong Min Shin, the head of product planning at Samyang, revealed that Canon and Nikon mount AF lenses are already in the works.

“We started the implementation of an autofocus optical FE frame and we are adapting to other mounts, like Canon and Nikon,” says Shin, implying the work is already in progress. “We also believe in Fujifilm and Micro 4/3, but these markets are not very important.”

So far, Samyang has released two AF lenses: an 50mm f/1.4 and 14mm f/2.8, both of which could potentially be adapted to Canon and Nikon mount. As for Fuji and Micro Four Thirds, it looks like both of these markets are still not big enough for Samyang to prioritize.

(via Photo Rumors via Nikon Rumors)

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/09/30/samyang-confirms-autofocus-lenses-coming-canon-nikon/

Aura is Resurrecting the Digital Picture Frame with Sleek, Feature Rich Design

“I get it digital picture frames are dead, uninteresting things that we all tried and left on the wayside with fax machines and 8-track tapes,” wrote Aura founder Abdur Chowdhury a few days ago. “But what if they weren’t?”

The Aura digital picture frame is the answer to that question: “what if they weren’t?” Chowdhury and his team imagined what would have happened if digital picture frames hadn’t joined a race to the bottom (of our trashcans) by killing features in the name of cheap prices and never innovating in any way, shape or form, and came up with the Aura frame.

Sleek, beautiful, and feature rich, this 8×12 digital picture frame isn’t a stocking stuffer for your grandparents. Aura features a retina display, syncs seamlessly with an intelligent smartphone app, has a slew of intelligent built-in sensors, and even features some neat gesture control.

TechCrunch got an early look at Aura, and seemed to be impressed by the features they found.

For one, the frame’s dedicated mobile app not only syncs photos you take, it uses facial recognition and other tricks to sync only specific photos and keep out the bad ones. It also lets you collaborate, so more than one person can send photos to the same frame.

Once you’ve got pictures in the frame, Aura goes a step further by interacting with the environment. When the lights turn off, so does the frame, pictures are updated when you leave the room, and you can use swiping gestures in front of the frame to switch photos manually. It really is a digital picture frame that belongs in 2016.

Here’s a quick video intro so you can see what the Aura actually look and acts like:

If you’re still skeptical about the future of the Aura frame, you’re probably not the only one. But there are people who believe in this concept. The company just raised a $6M Series A round of funding led by Spark Capital, and are already planning to release updates and upgrades (including different sizes) in the future.

The current first-generation Aura will cost you $400 when it becomes available. To find out more, or if you’d like to get an email notification when Aura arrives, head over to the company’s website by clicking here.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/09/30/aura-resurrecting-digital-picture-frame-sleek-feature-rich-design/

These Composite Photos Put the Size of Msssive Things in Perspective

AER Lets You Literally Throw Your GoPro for Aerial Shots on the Cheap

AER is based on the premise that you don’t need a drone to capture sweet aerial shots. Nope, just snap your GoPro into this Nerf football looking thing, turn the camera on, and throw it with all your might.

When we say Nerf, we’re not far from the truth. AER is simply a foam dart designed to fly straight and far while protecting your GoPro in an enclosure at the very front. All you have to do it screw it open, pop your GoPro Hero 3+, 4, or 5 in, and let ‘er rip.

Here’s a quick Kickstarter intro so you can see exactly the kind of footage you can expect to get using AER:

There’s really not much more to explain. Co-founder Mark de Boer and his friends loved the idea of a drone, but wanted a cheaper way to get their GoPros airborne, so they designed the AER.

Now, photos like these aerial selfies were only a decent toss away:

It’s not exactly 4K DJI Mavic Pro footage or anything, but you’re also not going to be paying a DJI Mavic Pro price. Currently about a quarter funded on Kickstarter, the AER can be yours for the Early Bird pledge price of just $55.

To learn more or secure your AER before all the Early Bird deals are gone, head over to the Kickstarter campaign page by clicking here.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/09/30/aer-lets-literally-throw-gopro-aerial-shots-cheap/

Photographers Upset by ‘Ask First’ Stickers at BDSM Folsom Street Fair

Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue

Color is an important element of composition in photography. Cool colors have a very different feeling then do warm colors. See how the color blue appears in some images here.

By Tim Green

Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue

This week we challenge you to find and photography some subjects which are blue. Then photograph it in a compelling way. Remember to consider lighting, composition, and center of interest to create a unique image.

By Neil Tackaberry

By Di_Chap

By Alvaro

By Darlene Hildebrandt

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Blue by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School http://digital-photography-school.com/weekly-photography-challenge-blue-3/

Macro Timelapse Captures Incredibly Colorful Coral Species Moving

About a year ago, Barcelona-based production company myLapse set out to capture some of the most colorful coral species on Earth in a way the naked eye simply could never pick up. They wanted to show these living creatures actually moving, so they turned to timelapse.

The resulting macro timelapse video, titled simply enough “coral colors,” is an incredibly vibrant and entrancing production. Shot over the course of a full year and made up of some 25,000 frames, it shows some of the Earths most beautifully colored species of coral undulating, blossoming, and closing up at their own measured pace.

“In this video we have tried to show movement and the enormous chromatic beauty of corals, a kind of marine animals that despite being one of the oldest animals on our planet, are mostly unknown,” write myLapse in the video description. “You will discover its stunning beauty, its spectacular colors and the mystery of its movements.”

Some of the species are so colorful and strange as to seem almost unreal:

The video was created, in part, to help raise awareness for the Great Barrier Reef, a natural wonder whose continued existence is threatened by climate change and industrial projects.

To find out more about this project, head over to the myLapse website. And if this doesn’t quite satisfy your need for beautiful coral timelapses today, check out Slow Lapse, the incredible focus stacked timelapse of coral we featured back in 2014.

(via Colossal)

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Photo credits: All photographs courtesy of myLapse.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/09/30/macro-timelapse-captures-incredibly-colorful-coral-species-moving/

In Defense Of Flash: 5 Reasons to Move Beyond Natural Light Photography

4K Test Footage from the DJI Mavic Pro is Gorgeous, NOT Blurry

Photographer and videographer Michael Shainblum just released some 100% unedited 4K test footage and first thoughts from/about the DJI Mavic Pro, and it’s (to use the technical term) freaking gorgeous. So why does half the Internet think the Mavic Pro has a low quality camera?

A small mistake by some big names has people confused is why. Yesterday, popular filmmaker Casey Neistat released some side-by-side footage comparing the DJI Phantom 4 with the new DJI Mavic Pro, and the Internet was shocked. It looked really bad…

Here’s that original side-by-side:

So what gives? Did DJI really put a low quality camera into the Mavic Pro? It turns out, as Neistat himself corrected later on Twitter, that user error was the problem. Neistat didn’t properly focus the Mavic, making it look very soft.

Mavic Drone Update; apparently the focus works differently on the Mavic. I played with it and I was able to get much much sharper images. pic.twitter.com/ThlPejiPx2

— Casey Neistat (@CaseyNeistat) September 29, 2016

And if you’re thinking this is just some trick to calm the masses, the 4K test footage by Shainblum should put that thought to rest. The Mavic captures gorgeous footage… in the right hands, of course.

The big reveal is the difference between the camera in focus and out of focus. DJI introduced tap-to-focus (similar to your smartphone) on the Mavic Pro, and that’s what has thrown some people off online. The difference between unfocused and focused footage, as pointed out by shainblum, is massive.

Here’s a screenshot from the video before focusing:

And here’s one after:

Even in these resized screenshots, the difference is immediately obvious. The Mavic Pro’s footage is definitely not soft.

Check out Shainblum’s full test video/first impressions in the video at the top of this post, and if you want to learn more about the Mavic Pro, head over to our announcement or check out this side-by-side spec comparison with the GoPro Karma.

from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/09/30/4k-test-footage-dji-mavic-pro-gorgeous-not-blurry/