What if you could somehow take the accessibility of a smartphone and pair it with the power of a point-and-shoot camera? Sony's new 'Smart Lens' QX series of cameras aims to do just that. Available for pre-order in two flavors – the smaller QX10 ($248) and the larger QX100 ($498) – these cameras essentially look like zoom lenses that you attach to…
While the iPhone 5 shoots great video, it's a tad ... fragile. I wouldn't ever use my phone to film anything all that exciting. The GoPro HERO3 was born for extreme situations, however. It comes with a waterproof case. It's can take fall from 197 feet. The whole thing can be re-built easily if damaged. It can capture video in 1080p 30fps,…
I'm going to let my Oklahoma bias show once again, this time with the Ruck Strap by HoldFast. Made in Tulsa, this camera strap is made of duck canvas and leather, and cleverly features a few places to keep small items. The two front pockets allow you to store credit cards, cash, memory cards, and other such things. The elastic band on…
John Carey runs two of my favorite photo blogs on the internet: the ever-popular Fifty Foot Shadows and the less-known but equally-good Yesterday Was Only. The latter is a project wherein John posts lovely photographs pretty much every day, and he compiles each month's photos into a book. Each volume – priced between $13 and $16 – is a perfect coffee table…
Frontback is a fun, simple, and totally free iPhone app with a singular purpose: it allows you to shoot with both the front and back cameras (one after the other), combining the images into a single photo that can then be shared with friends. Not much more to say than that.
This won't be the first time we've mentioned VSCO Cam – one of the best iPhone photography apps ever made, in my opinion – but I felt that the recent 2.0 update was worth another look. They've completely overhauled the interface, adding new features such as separate focus and exposure rings while shooting, as well as a white balance "lock". They've also…
While some think heavily-filtered photos are so 2009, the guys over at Realmac Software disagree. Which is great, since their new, $2 photo app is pretty awesome. While it packs just 8 filters, the interface crazy fast and very clean. Sharing to Camera Roll and Photo Stream is easy, as is sending the photo to Instagram or straight on to Twitter or…
The Mirrorless Mover 10 Camera Bag looks like a great bag if you've made the jump to Micro 4/3. This bag is built for the more compact systems, but includes space for an additional lens, cables and more. Best part? It's just $45.
As soon as Shawn and I buy new cameras, Olympus goes and drops a beautiful rig for sale. The Olympus PEN E-P5 is the company's new 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds, stuffed in a case right out of 1963. It sports a five-axis stabilization system, with a Olmpus-first 1/8000th of a second shutter speed. The body will run you $999 and can be…
Yesterday, the developers of the Hueless photography app released an update that added the ability to save photos in Lossless TIFF format and max-quality JPEG, as well as improved shutter response. After seeing this update and running a quick search on Tools and Toys, I was somewhat surprised to see that Hueless has never been mentioned around here before. This app has…
The Olympus E-PL5 is perhaps the Micro Four Thirds camera to purchase. This particular example comes bundled with the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II R Lens, but the Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 aspherical pancake lens is a popular choice for many, as weird as prime lenses are. The 16 megapixel system records video in 1080i. The battery lasts ages and ages,…
Adobe Lightroom is the go-to app for many professional photographers, and it's about to get a big update. The new version boasts better healing tools, more powerful vignette options, off-line editing and more. The beta is free, and you check it out here.
Whenever I'm editing photos, one of my favorite things to do is fiddle with color temperature. Nothing drastic of course, because I prefer subtle tones over the kinds of blown-out highlights you see in HDR photography, but a slightly different hue can completely change the feel of a shot for the better. That's why I'm interested in this first group of photo…
With the COOLPIX A, Nikon has entered the high-end compact camera fray. For $1,100, the COOLPIX A packs a 16.2 megapixel DX-format sensor with an all-glass 18.5mm f/2.8 prime lens. Capable of recording 1080p video, RAW images at 4 fps while burst shooting and shooting in macro mode. It goes on sale in a few weeks.
We look at a lot of bags here on Tools and Toys, but the Tenba Messenger Photo Daypack is the first one I can recall geared directly toward photographers. The $150 (yay, Prime!) bag is 8.5 x 13 x 17.5 inches, but its real feature isn't the size, but the way the space is laid out. It's got a 15-inch laptop sleeve…
In this nerd's humble opinion, the Olympus E-PL5 is the best pocket-sized Micro 4/3 camera you can buy. There are a plethora of mirrorless cameras out there, but if you're looking for one that is small, relatively inexpensive, works with interchangeable lenses, and takes jaw-dropping images, then look no further. The year-old OM-D EM-5 is considered by many to be the best…
I love my olloclip. The clip-on lens kit for the iPhone takes what is already a great moblie camera and makes it a lot more powerful and fun to use. Thankfully, a new version for the iPhone 5 is available for pre-order now. $69 gets you a red, white or black kit with a Fisheye, Wide-Angle and Macro lens. All three lenses…
This 10 MP digital camera combines the benefits of a digital camera with the fun of the old-school Polaroid instant cameras. Equipped with a 3-inch LCD and the ability to upload custom borders, creating fun creations to pass out at a party has never been easier. The 2x3" prints are ready in under a minute.
Pick up a new iPad or iPad mini last night? If you're like me and still shoot with a stand-alone camera, the Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader is a must-have. Simply pop in your SD card, and the iPad will import your photos. Once imported, you can share them via one of the 275,000 iPad apps out there, or simply stream…
Got a photographer you need to buy a gift for but don't want to drop the dough for new camera hardware? The 24-105mm Travel Coffee Mug is a great gift. The coffee mug comes with a travel top with stainless steel lining. The outside looks like Canon's 24-105mm lens. Plus, people will do a double-take when they see someone drinking coffee from…