lens

Smartphones have rarely been accused of being elegant cameras. Tablets are even more troublesome. Sometimes, it would be easier to hold your device flat and snap a picture. Try that now and you'll get a lovely shot of your feet. Try it with a HiLO right-angle lens, and you'll get a real photo.

The HiLO hides three lenses and a prism inside that allow the image to bounce into the correct part of your camera. An app is also part of the Kickstarter project, so you'll be able to quickly correct for the image mirroring caused by the prism.… Read more

When photo enthusiasts entering the digital SLR market ask me whether they should go for Canon or Nikon, one of the points I often raise is Canon's appealing choice of high-end but not top-end lenses.

Well, Nikon just undermined that potential selling point. At the Photo Plus Expo show today, it announced its AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR, a telephoto zoom lens that provides a competitive answer to Canon's superb EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM.

Let's be clear here. These are still professional-grade lenses, and they aren't cheap. Canon's costs about $1,… Read more

A purple halo seems to be the latest glitch affecting some iPhone 5 owners.

Detailed by forum users at tech review site AnandTech, the flaw reportedly occurs on photographs if you aim your iPhone 5 camera toward a bright light source such as the sun or an incandescent light. If you then move the camera so the light source is off screen, a purple halo effect can be seen through the camera. That effect also shows up on any pictures that are taken.

One poster displayed separate photos with an artificial light source and with the sun off screen, and … Read more

I came across this tutorial last week that showed how you can turn an ordinary phone camera into something capable of capturing extreme close-up macro photos. You know, the ones where you can see the hairs on a fly's head.

After the dust settled on the iOS 6 release, over the weekend I dug through the junk drawer in my kitchen and found an old laser pointer. I then located a bobby pin in the bathroom and some painter's tape in the basement. I now had the three necessary ingredients and the time to see if this thing … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- Every 99 years or so, a company has to shake things up a little bit.

Thus it is that Schneider Kreuznach, a high-end lens brand founded in 1913 that's been focused on cinema, medium-format, and large-format markets, unveiled four lenses for more ordinary 35mm SLRs, three for Micro Four Thirds cameras, and even a polarizing filter for iPhones. The lensmaker, part of the Jos. Schneider Optische Werke, unveiled the lenses at the Photokina show here.

Its earlier lenses for conventional SLRs were the company's relatively exotic Super Angulon line, tilt-shift models that can enable perspective … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- A year and a half ago, Canon announced it was working on a 200-400mm telephoto zoom lens with a built-in 1.4X extender. But since then, there's been nary a peep.

Well, there's a peep now, Canon shooters jealous of Nikon's 200-400mm will be pleased to know.

The plan is to release it this year, said Mike Owen, communications manager for Canon's professional imaging department in Europe. He spoke at a Canon press conference yesterday at the Photokina show here.

But Owen was quick to add a caveat: "We're anticipating that, … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- Phase One and Mamiya Leaf, the medium-format camera maker it controls, announced its new 645DF+ medium-format camera with new mechanics and improved focusing abilities.

The companies also announced at the Photokina camera show here the new Schneider Kreuznach 28 LS f/4.5 Aspherical, a very wide-angle 28mm leaf-shutter lens built by Schneider Kreuznach for the Mamiya Leaf-Phase One cameras. The camera and the lens are priced the same; each costs $5,990 or 4,290 euros, and each will ship in October.

Compared with the earlier 645DF, all moving parts of the 645DF+ have been completely … Read more

Tamron announced today it's brought vibration compensation to two full-frame lenses, the 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD telephoto and the SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD macro.

Both of the lenses will ship by the end of the year for Canon, Nikon, and Sony cameras, Tamron said just ahead of the Photokina 2012 show, a major camera event held every two years in Germany. The company didn't disclose prices.

Vibration compensation -- known as vibration reduction at Nikon and image stabilization at Canon -- shifts a lens element to counteract camera shake. It can … Read more

In the Season 2 premiere of Always On, the Google Nexus 7 takes a beating. Well, it wouldn't be fair to say it takes a beating. It receives a beating, and frankly, doesn't handle it very well. It's one of our more dramatic Torture Tests, and I think it points out that sometimes, you do get what you pay for when it comes to quality and durability. The Nexus 7 is a great tablet in many respects but, well. It's not the toughest little thing. You'll see what I mean.

We'll find out in … Read more