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New York's Priority Bicycles has announced a new e-commuter that's been designed with input from customers. The Current Plus features a mid-drive motor and Gates belt combination, an Enviolo or Shimano rear hub, and a 75-mile battery.
Tags: ebikes, Pedal-assisted, City
The Sun is at the most active stage of its 11-year cycle, resulting in some stunning aurora visible in places it doesn’t normally reach. As expected, that means the latest Northern Lights Photographer of the Year collection captures some of the brightest and most intense light shows we’ve ever seen.
Category: Photography, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: aurora, Northern Lights, Gallery, Images, Photo, Astrophotography
In the twenty-five years since DPReview was founded, camera companies have tried many things to differentiate their products from the competition. This was especially true for compact cameras, where manufacturers threw everything at the wall to see what stuck.
Here are six features camera makers tried that didn't find long-term success.
Swiveling lensesThe legendary Nikon Coolpix 950
Photo: Jeff Keller
The Nikon Coolpix 950 was one of the most iconic cameras released in the late 1990s. While its features were top-end, it was the design that turned heads. The lens could rotate 270 degrees, so you could place the camera up high, on the ground, or even use it for – gasp – selfies. (The 950 wasn't actually Nikon's first swivel camera; that honor belongs to the Coolpix 900.)
Nikon wasn't the only company in the swivel lens game. As we'll see a bit later, Casio produced many cameras with them, including the QV-10A, the first consumer digital camera. Sony used the 'inner swivel' design on several cameras, such as the DSC-F88. (Sony's DSC-F505 and successors had more of a 'swivel body' than a 'swivel lens.')
Image Comparison SliderThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content. The Minolta DiMAGE V included a rotating lens that could be removed from the camera but required a cable to connect it. (Cable not shown.)In my opinion, the coolest swivel lens camera was the Minolta DiMAGE V (not to be mistaken for the DiMAGE 5). While the photo above makes it look wireless, the camera and lens were attached by a 'lens extension cable'. This was 1997, after all.
The swivel lens faded into obscurity as fully articulating LCDs became more common. It's possible that weather sealing and durability also played a role in the swivel lens' demise. It was cool while it lasted, though.
Jump Shot Photo: iStock/Carles Iturbe FerreAbout 10-15 years ago, 'jump shots' like the one shown above were popular, especially with teens and young adults. Taking a jump photo wasn't easy, though. You'd need to leave out someone in your group, use a tripod, or find a stranger with a good trigger finger.
The engineers at Panasonic developed a feature for its smartphone Image App known as Jump Snap that solves two of those problems. The app lets you adjust the 'sensitivity', and then it's jumping time (with the phone in hand, of course). When the app notices the upward motion from the phone's gyroscope, it snaps the picture right at the peak of the jump.
There was just one problem that Jump Snap didn't solve: you still needed a tripod.
Casio's bells and whistlesThe Casio QV-7000SX had the company's 'famous' rotating lens and IR blaster for sharing photos with a select number of cameras and printers.
Photo: Digital Camera Museum/Boris Jakubaschk
I have a real soft spot for Casio. In fact, I wrote an article about the company. While it was a big seller in Japan, the brand never took off in the US. What made Casio cameras great was their selection of unique modes that you wouldn't find elsewhere at the time.
"What made Casio cameras great was their selection of unique modes that you wouldn't find elsewhere at the time."Take 1998's Exilim QV-7000SX, for example. It had an infrared transmitter, the ability to create HTML photo albums, in-camera panorama stitching and dozens of scene modes. The QV-7000SX's support for the IrDA infrared protocol allowed it to slowly send pictures to a very small collection of compatible devices, such as the Fujifilm Z20fd or Canon SELPHY photo printers.
The photo gallery created by some Casio cameras wasn't pretty, but it was the first of its kind. And if I may, the car pictured in photo 08290008.JPG is the most beautiful of all time.
Image: Jeff Keller/DCResource
The photo album feature was very handy since few people knew how to make an interactive gallery in the late 90s. (These galleries were made for viewing from your CF card, not online.) You could view slideshows, see larger versions of pictures, and examine Exif data.
The Coupling Shot feature lets you combine two separate photos into one.
Images: Casio
It takes two photos and assists you in lining up the background, like in a panorama.
Moving on, one more Casio feature worth mentioning is its Best Shot (scene) modes. The cameras had at least thirty Best Shot modes, with some cameras having seventy more on an included CD-ROM – and you could create your own! Some of the notable Best Shot modes were autumn leaves, food, eBay, and business cards. There were also several multiple exposure modes, which allowed you to add people to photos, kind of like smartphones that came 20 years later.
The MP3 playerThe Fujifilm Finepix 40i with its wired remote and earbuds.
Photo: DPReview
Portable music players, along with music 'sharing' services like Napster, gained popularity around the turn of the century. While the first iPod wouldn't ship until 2001, camera manufacturers were already at it, like Fujifilm. The FinePix 40i shown above had a slick design and compact body but was limited by a fixed 36mm lens, a so-so SuperCCD sensor, and a hefty price tag. Music was loaded onto the camera's SmartMedia card via proprietary software.
The Kodak mc3 is a very mediocre camera and mp3 player in one.
Original image source unknown
To the best of my knowledge, there was only one camera I never reviewed due to its quality, and it was the Kodak mc3. While it was a fairly capable music player, the camera side was so bad that I couldn't bring myself to invest the time raking Kodak over the coals.
The mc3 was a plastic camera with a fixed 37mm-equivalent F2.8 lens and a reflective LCD that could only be seen in bright outdoor light (Kodak wasn't the only one to do this). It captured VGA-sized photos and QVGA videos with monaural sound. It lacked a remote control, so you'd have to use the hard-to-view screen to change songs. The only nice thing I can say is that it was relatively inexpensive at $299.
MP3 cameras didn't last long, as the iPod and cheap knockoffs let cameras be cameras again.
Printer docksOne of Kodak's many printer docks (camera usually not included).
Photo: Kodak
Printer docks were accessories that I genuinely wanted to succeed. For families and older folks, they were incredibly convenient, though expensive to operate. Just pop the camera on top, pick the photo(s) you want to print using the topside controls, and let the printer do its thing for a few minutes. It could also charge the batteries in your camera.
The most famous manufacturer of printer docks was Kodak by a long shot. Kodak used dye sublimation thermal printing, and a pack of 20 sheets (the ink was 'inside' the paper) set you back around $15. Kodak's printers could crank out a 4x6 print in 60-90 seconds, charge your camera's batteries, and let you view your photos on TV.
HP's Photosmart A447 camera on its printer dock
Photo: HP
The HP pictured above could output 4x6 or 4x12-inch (panoramic) prints and used a tri-color ink cartridge (yep, no black ink). It had a button for redeye removal, which got rid of the annoyance that was common on compact cameras.
Unlike the other products in this article, the printer dock didn't die; it just adapted to the times. Kodak, Canon, HP, and Fujifilm all make compact photo printers designed for use with smartphones. The difference is how you connect; instead of putting the camera on a dock, it's all done wirelessly using Bluetooth.
A Fujifilm Instax Link Wide wireless photo printer. In this case, 'wide' means 6.1 x 9.9 cm (2.4 by 3.9 inches).
Image: Fujifilm
Instant printers like Fujifilm's Instax lineup produce card-sized, square, and wide prints, often with special effects and templates. Unlike the printer docks that use ink or dye sublimation, Instax printers work like old Polaroid instant film, so it takes a little while for your print to appear.
Android cameras Image Comparison SliderThis widget is not optimized for RSS feed readers. Please open this article's permalink in a browser to view this content. The Coolpix S800c was Nikon's only Android-based camera. The Android interface was a breath of fresh air compared to typical menus. (Use the slider to compare front and back.)It's 2013, and smartphone sales are taking off while consumers are starting to lose interest in compact cameras. Nikon, Samsung and even Zeiss tried giving people the best of both worlds: the ease of use and large app library of Android with photo capabilities that smartphones could not yet match.
Nikon was first out of the gate with its Coolpix 800c, which ran a version of Android (v2.3) that was already out of date. It had a 16 Megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, 10X optical zoom (25-250mm equiv.), 2GB of internal storage and a giant 3.5" touchscreen to take advantage of Android. It had an SD card slot and a removable battery. Since battery life was dismal, having a spare on hand was a necessity.
"While a clever idea, the Coolpix 800c was not a great product."Aside from being unable to make calls, you could use the 800c just as you would a smartphone and nearly every Android app was at your disposal. Who knew that one day, you could e-mail your friends or browse DPReview from your camera?
While a clever idea, the Coolpix 800c was not a great product. The photo quality was lousy, it took 30 seconds to start up, it was buggy, etc. This was the last camera review I wrote for my website, DCResource. What a way to go out.
The Samsung Galaxy Camera with its 4.8" touchscreen running Android 4.
Photo: Samsung
If there was one company that should have been able to do Android cameras right, it was Samsung. It actually made two Android cameras at the opposing sides of the spectrum: the compact Galaxy Camera pictured above and the Galaxy NX, a mirrorless camera that used Samsung's NX-mount (RIP).
The Galaxy Camera (GC) was based on Samsung's Galaxy S III smartphone and came in two flavors: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G/4G. Unlike the Coolpix 800c, the Galaxy Camera ran a much more modern version of Android (v4.1), and it had plenty of horsepower courtesy of a quad-core processor. It couldn't make calls, but there was nothing to stop you from using something like Skype to chat with friends.
"If there was one company that should have been able to do Android cameras right, it was Samsung."Like the Nikon, the GC had a 16 Megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, but the lens was longer at 23-481mm equiv. It had a giant 4.8" touchscreen display, making it a lot more usable than the Coolpix. As with that camera, the GC could run virtually any Android app. Samsung included three of its own for photo and video editing.
The Galaxy Camera had a slick shooting interface with virtual dials.The Galaxy Camera was the better of the two compact Android cameras. Image quality wasn't great, but it was more responsive, battery life was much longer, and the 3G/4G option made it usable from anywhere.
The GC apparently sold well enough for Samsung to make a sequel. The Galaxy Camera 2 had a faster processor, more RAM, NFC, and a higher-capacity battery.
Samsung exited the digital camera business in 2015, taking with it the two Galaxy Cameras and the Galaxy NX. The company sold 320 million smartphones that year.
The $6000, Android-powered Zeiss ZX1 came with Adobe Lightroom built-in. You could even use it to surf the internet.
Photo: Dan Bracaglia
On the other end of the spectrum was the Zeiss ZX1. It was introduced in 2018 but didn't actually ship until the end of 2020. As you'd expect it was extraordinarily expensive ($6000) and everything was high end. It had a 37 Megapixel full-frame sensor, 35mm F2 lens, large LCD, hybrid autofocus system, and top-notch build quality. Perhaps the most interesting feature about the ZX1 is that it had Adobe Lightroom Mobile built-in. The ZX1 was unable to download other Android apps, though the target audience probably didn't mind.
Can you think of any features from compact, DSLR or mirrorless cameras that didn't survive beyond a generation or two? Let us know in the comments below.
Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a list of research programs and future technologies it's working on – including a "new kind of solar paint" it says could generate enough energy for up to 20,000 km (12,427 miles) of driving per year under ideal conditions.
Category: Automotive, Transport
Tags: Solar Power, Mercedes-Benz, Paint, Perovskite, Clean Energy
SpaceX has launched 20 of its Starlink satellites up into Earth's orbit, enabling direct-to-cellphone connectivity for subscribers anywhere on the planet. That completes the constellation's first orbital shell, following a launch of an initial batch of six satellites for testing back in January.
Category: Technology
Tags: SpaceX, Satellite, Starlink, Elon Musk, Communications
People with disabilities face a range of obstacles navigating the workforce and workplace, and for those that make up the neurodiverse population, having conditions that can often 'hide in plain sight' presents unique challenges that can have a devastating impact on their health.
Category: ADHD & Autism, Brain Health, Body & Mind
Tags: La Trobe University, ADHD, Autism, neurodiversity, Neuroscience
The Artemis II and III missions slated to return US astronauts to the Moon have been set back. At a press conference, NASA officials said that problems with the heat shield and life support systems would delay the launches until 2026 and 2027.
The electric motor might carry the hype banner at the moment, but some minds remain convinced that there's plenty of innovation left to be extracted from internal combustion. AIE is one of the rotary engine's biggest champions and has been advancing new rotaries via the latest manufacturing tools and techniques since 2012. Its latest release shows that Wankel engines can be a perfect fit for compact, power-demanding applications in robotics and aerospace. More palmable than a basketball, the 40ACS Wankel packs a power-to-weight punch in a package that disappears away in small spaces.
Tags: Wankel, Engine Technologies, UAV, UAS, Robots
To find black holes we usually have to look thousands of light-years away. But a new study suggests we could find evidence of them right here on Earth, as tiny tunnels they’ve carved out in rocks or old buildings.
Tags: Dark Matter, Black hole, University at Buffalo, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Earth
The efficiency of a tooth-on-tooth geared transmission, with the smoothly variable gear ratios of a CVT – minus the belt friction and capable of going all the way down to a zero ratio without needing a clutch. That's a 'holy grail' level promise!
Category: Automotive, Transport
Tags: CVT, Transmission, ebikes, Motorcycle, Scooter
Researchers have flipped the script on the usual approach to pain relief in a new study, demonstrating that a short course of non-invasive brain stimulation before a painful event such as surgery can prevent the development of chronic pain.
Category: Chronic Pain, Illnesses and conditions, Body & Mind
Tags: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Non-invasive, Chronic pain, University of New South Wales, Neuroscience Research Australia
Last year, premium electric mountainbike brand Thok previewed Project 4, a prototype rolling with a 3D-printed aluminum and silicon alloy frame that would inform the design of a carbon-framed model. That eMTB has now arrived as the TP4-R.
Tags: Mountain Bikes, ebikes, Pedal-assisted, Bosch
When it comes to technologies used only by humans, you might think that fiber optics would rank right up there. Such is apparently not the case, however, as scientists have discovered that a certain clam uses "fiber optics" of its own to get food.
Category: Science
Tags: Duke University, Stanford University, Fiber Optic, Sunlight
While autonomous flying robots have some intriguing potential applications, their usefulness is limited if they can't move across uneven terrain once they land. An experimental new bio-inspired bot can do so, however, by mimicking the gait of the raven.
Category: Robotics, Technology
Tags: EPFL, Biomimicry, Flight, Birds
LK Samyang is making another attempt at selling autofocus lenses for Canon's RF mount. It announced that it's bringing the Samyang AF 12mm F2, a 19mm equivalent ultra-wide prime for APS-C cameras, to the system and says that users should "stay tuned for more exciting releases in the RF-S family."
The lens is weather-sealed, and the company says it's meant for outdoor photography, such as landscapes, architecture, and astrophotography. The lens' optical formula is made up of 12 elements in 10 groups, with three ED elements and two aspherical lenses. It has a 7-bladed aperture.
It weighs 213g (7.5oz) and is 5.7 cm (2.25") long. It accepts 62mm filters and has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm (7.9").
The company previously attempted to make autofocus lenses for RF mount, but pulled them off the market shortly after they went on sale. Viltrox, another third-party company, has said that Canon threatened legal action against it for making lenses for the system.
Other companies, such as Sigma and Tamron, have recently started producing APS-C lenses for RF, though they've explicitly stated that they've done so under license from Canon. Samyang's 12mm F2 product page doesn't appear to mention anything about an official collaboration with the company.
The AF 12mm F2 will cost $449, though it's currently listed as a pre-order on Samyang's site. That's slightly less than the retail price for the lens on Fujifilm's X mount, though slightly more than it costs on Sony's E-mount.
$449 at Samyang Samyang AF 12mm F2 Specifications: Principal specificationsLens typePrime lensMax Format sizeAPS-C / DXFocal length12 mmImage stabilizationNoLens mountCanon RF, Fujifilm X, Sony EApertureMaximum apertureF2Minimum apertureF22Aperture ringNoNumber of diaphragm blades7OpticsElements12Groups10Special elements / coatings1 × hybrid aspheric (H-ASP), 1 × aspherical (ASP) and 3 × extra low dispersion (ED) elements, ultra multi coating (UMC)FocusMinimum focus0.20 m (7.87″)Maximum magnification0.09×AutofocusYesMotor typeStepper motorFocus methodInternalDistance scaleNoDoF scaleNoPhysicalWeight213 g (0.47 lb)Diameter70 mm (2.76″)Length59 mm (2.32″)MaterialsAluminum alloySealingYesColourblackPower zoomNoZoom lockNoFilter thread62 mmHood suppliedYesTripod collarNoKorean lens maker LK Samyang has announced the Samyang AF 35mm F1.4 P, the first of its third generation lenses. The autofocus full-frame optic will initially be available for Sony E-mount cameras.
The 'P' designation refers to the company's new 'Prima' line of lenses, which it says is "inspired by a Latin word, meaning 'first' and 'important'."
It says the lens was designed to be compact and lightweight, with "practicality" as the other part of its concept. Despite these ambitions, the lens is fractionally larger than Sony's own 35mm F1.4 GM, though it is a little over 10% lighter. It's significantly smaller and lighter than Samyang's existing 35mm F1.4 II.
Its design features 12 elements in 10 groups, including three aspheric elements, one high refractive-index lens and one extra-low dispersion (ED) element. Its focus is driven by a stepping linear motor.
A minimum focus distance of 30cm (11.8") gives a maximum magnification ratio of 0.17x.
We haven't received any information about pricing or availability for the new lens and will update the story when we can get it.
Samyang AF 35mm F1.4 P Specifications Principal specificationsLens typePrime lensMax Format size35mm FFFocal length35 mmImage stabilizationNoLens mountSony E, Sony FEApertureMaximum apertureF1.4Minimum apertureF16Aperture ringNoNumber of diaphragm blades9OpticsElements12Groups10Special elements / coatings3 Asph, 1 HR, 1 EDFocusMinimum focus0.30 m (11.81″)Maximum magnification0.17×AutofocusYesMotor typeLinear MotorFocus methodInternalDistance scaleNoDoF scaleNoPhysicalWeight470 g (1.04 lb)Diameter75 mm (2.95″)Length99 mm (3.9″)SealingYesFilter thread67 mmNikon's recently announced 50mm F1.4 is an interesting lens because its retail price is $496, $130 less than the slower 50mm F1.8 S model. Generally, that relationship is flipped: faster lenses cost more money.
Indeed, that was the case in Nikon's DSLR lineup. The AF-S F1.4G was the premium option at $439, while the F1.8 was $219. Adjusted for inflation from their respective 2008 and 2011 launch dates, the previous generation was priced at $643 for the F1.4 and $307 for the F1.8.
In theory, the new F1.4 lens trades quite a bit of sharpness for 'character,' letting it achieve its lower price point. But this raises an interesting question: given the last 16 years of improvements to manufacturing and engineering, will the new budget option outperform the older premium model?
We aimed to test this, attaching the 50mm F1.4 G to a Z8 using Nikon's official F to Z adapter. We took the same shots with both lenses to see how the new entry-level stands up to the older pro-level lens. We haven't applied distortion correction to the images from either, though we have used the built-in profiles and CA correction.
Sharpness and vignetting Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 F1.4 F1.8 F2.8 F5.6 F8.0 Nikkor G 50mm F1.4 F1.4 F1.8 F2.8 F5.6 F8.0The Z-mount lens is quite a bit sharper in the center and corners when wide open, a trend that continues until around F2.8, where the G lens sharpens up substantially in the center. Even at F5.6, though, the older lens is still a touch softer in the corners, though the two lenses are relatively comparable at F8.
Both lenses have a fair amount of vignetting, though the G model's clears up a tad faster.
Bokeh Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 Nikkor G 50mm F1.4To our eyes, the Z lens has more pleasing bokeh, thanks to less mechanical vignetting. That means it'll render out-of-focus points of light as circles, rather than ovals across much more of the frame. The G model can produce circular bokeh in the center, but they turn to cats eye pretty quickly as you move toward the edges of the frame.
Our one concern is that the newer lens' bokeh does seem to have slightly brighter edges, which could result in some busy-looking backgrounds if you're shooting in front of things like receding foliage.
Infinity Focus Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 Nikkor G 50mm F1.4At infinity focus, both lenses have a very similar field of view. That's not necessarily a given, as evidenced by...
Close Focus...the fact that there's a pronounced difference in focal lengths when shooting a close-up object near the lens' minimum focusing distance. The Z model has a substantially wider field of view with the G exhibit much more 'breathing.'
Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 Nikkor G 50mm F1.4It's also worth noting that the newer Z model can focus closer than the older lens. The rollover below shows the lenses at their minimum focusing distance.
Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 Nikkor G 50mm F1.4While this is far from a full lens review, it's hard not to look at the comparisons here and conclude that Nikon's budget lens has caught up to and surpassed its old high-end option. The Z model is sharper and has faster, more accurate, and closer focusing capabilities.
This isn't to say that the Z 50mm F1.4 is a perfect lens. It's heavier and larger than the 50mm F1.4 G, and its sharpness, vignetting, and chromatic aberration performance could be better by modern standards. The great thing about Nikon's modern lens lineup, though, is that if want a sharper lens, you can have it: the 50mm F1.8 S performs ridiculously well in that regard. The baseline has been raised up to where professional lenses used to be, and today's pro models would've almost seemed like magic just a decade and a half ago.
Following its 3D-printed hotel and sustainable HQ, the latest design from high-profile studio the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is a... tent. Created with cabin manufacturer Nokken, the Softshell shelter offers glamping-style outdoor luxury spread over two floors.
Tags: Bjarke Ingels Group, Glamping, Luxury, Tent
Xreal has announced what's described as the "biggest leap forward for the consumer AR industry." The One Series cinematic AR glasses boast in-house spatial computing, audio from Bose, are certified eye-friendly, and can be cabled to "virtually any device."
Category: Wearables, Consumer Tech, Technology
Tags: AR, Augmented Reality, Glasses
A self-propagating series of explosions, contained between the blades of a high-speed rotor, promises a leap in power and efficiency during hypersonic flight – provided this radical new engine can be built strong enough to withstand its own power.
Tags: Supersonic, Hypersonic, Rotating Detonation Engines, Flight
