Thinking about what new things to do with your Raspberry Pi? Why don’t you take up photography? The Pi Foundation recently released a camera board for the credit card-sized computer.

The new add on has a small lens on a chip the size of a postage stamp, and it can be connected into the camera port situated between the Ethernet and HDMI ports on the Pi. But be careful while handling the module as it is very sensitive to static electricity, and that flimsy ribbon should not be folded too much. The video posted below should help you to play with the thing safely.

After connecting, start the Pi and you will need to update the firmware after which boot into the configuration settings to enable the cam. But to use the camera you will have to use some commands such as “raspistill -o image.jpg” for snapping stills and “raspivid -o video.h264 -t 10000″ for ten seconds of soundless video recording. The camera can also stream video over the internet.

The 5MP camera, which can capture 1080p video, can be ordered from RS Components or Premier Farnell/Element14 in the UK for £16.56 plus postage. That’s around $25, the Model A Raspberry Pi’s price tag. Interested US customers might wanna keep an eye on Allied Electronics.

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One of the best features on the Lumia 920 is its 8.7-megapixel camera which comes with the Nokia’s PureView label. Of course Samsung Galaxy S4 is certainly a big rival with its own stunning camera capabilities. This makes you wonder, which among the two devices is the best when it comes to video stabilization? Let’s take a look.

As you will see in the video, the Nokia 920 and the S4 were mounted on top of a toy car to test the performance of the two devices in capturing video on the move. The video is in Russian, but no need for any explanations as the video shows you what you need to know.

The video recorded on the S4 is pretty shaky and everything is blurry once the guy starts to pull the car. But on the 920, the OIS (optical image stabilisation) is certainly doing its job and the video is much more vivid. Not really a huge surprise but it’s nice to see how the 920 did against Samsung’s latest and greatest smartphone.

So what do you think of the Lumia’s camera versus the S4?

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The boffins at Fujitsu have have been scratching their heads trying to think of a better purpose for those front facing cameras on our smartphones, tablets and laptops. What they have come up with is a new imaging system which can calculate your pulse and help monitor health.

The system measures the amount of green light, which is absorbed by haemoglobin, reflected from your face to work out your blood-flow and calculate your pulse. The software can work using existing hardware and only requires users to hold still for 5 seconds to make it’s calculations.

Fujitsu aims to have the system adopted by device makers and also hopes it can be implemented to TV’s, mirrors and other household devices. What do you think of the idea, intrigued or not?

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So I’ll ask the obvious question, Have you ever wanted to be a camera? Yeah me either, however Hong Kong’s Eric Siu thinks you should at least give it a go with his new invention, Touchy.

This helmet based camera system claims that it can turn anyone into a kind of a human camera. The helmet is attached to the “Touchy Bulb”, a tiny globe. When another person touches the globe and the wearer for 10 seconds, a signal is sent to the helmet, apertures open over the wearers lighted eyes and a photo is taken.   The photo can then be previewed on a small 3.5 inch LCD display at the back of the helmet.

I gotta be honest, I don’t get the point. But hey maybe this is a niche in the market that I haven’t thought of. Or maybe it is just one of those things that exists because it can. What do you think? Do you want one or see a potential special use for the Touchy?

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Do you want a consumer-friendly point and shoot digital camera with an extra long optical zoom lens? You’re in luck, because the Fujifilm SL300 is on sale for about half price on Amazon. It’s not quite an SLR, but it’s probably a lot easier to use and way more compact for the amount of zoom that you get.

As far as the features go, the Fujifilm SL300 boasts a 14 megapixel CCD sensor to go along with its Fujinon 30x optical zoom lens. This starts out at a wide angle of 24mm, zooming all the way in to give you a 720mm equivalent. The powered zoom has a 45-step zoom control, giving you a pretty good level of precision and accuracy too.

Other features include the 2cm super macro mode, 3.0-inch LCD, 720p HD video recording, and a TTL hot shoe. You can use this hot shoe for an external flash with teh built-in flash isn’t good enough for hte situation. There are also several scene modes, face detection, motion panorama, tracking auto focus, and built-in social networking.

You can find the Fujifilm SL300 on Amazon.com for $149.95, which is $130 (46%) off the regular price of $279.95. And yes, you get free super saver shipping too.

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You know that cool effect in Hollywood movies where they shift the focus from something in the foreground to something in the background (or vice versa)? Trying to achieve that on your own can be quite the challenge, because autofocus doesn’t give you adequate control and regular manual focus can be finicky to do on the fly.

If you want an easier way to achieve that follow focus effect, you’ll probably want to have a look at this FocusMaker rig. It’s so brilliant in its simplicity. Basically, it’s a giant halo ring that latches onto the manual focus ring on your DSLR lens. There’s a big handle on the outside to give you greater precision and control, and then you can put little markers for your set focus points.

What this means is that when you are actually shooting your video, you can quickly (or slowly and smoothly) jump between the focus points that you’ve already set. Those focus markers can be active or passive. The active mode gets them to protrude, stopping the sight when they hit, whereas passive mode allows for free motion.

More information can be found on focusmaker.com. It retails online for $90.

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Are you looking to move on up into the wonderful world of DSLRs? Canon is easily one of the most respected names in photography and now you can get a killer deal on the Rebel T2i 2 lens kit that comes with the standard zoom lens and a telephoto lens for $150 off the regular price.

This Canon EOS Rebel T2i kit includes the DSLR body, of course, as well as a EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 IS standard zoom lens, plus the longer EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS telephoto zoom lens. Both of these are IS lenses, so the image stabilization should help with your shaky hands, especially at the telephoto end. Put these two together and you’ve got a great starting point for your digital photography exploits.

As far as the camera itself, the Rebel T2i is the new flagship of the EOS Rebel line. It features an 18.0MP CMOS APS-C sensor, DIGIC 4 image processor, ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12800), enhanced 63-zone dual-layer metering system, full 1920×1080 HD video recording, 3.7fps burst mode, a wide 3.0-inch Clear-View LCD monitor, and a dedicated Live View/Movie shooting button. It’ll take the usual SD and SDHC cards, but it’ll happily accept the larger SDXC standard too. There’s even a menu status indicator for Eye-Fi.

The whole shi-bang can be yours for $849.00 from Amazon.com, which is $150 off the regular list price for this 2 lens kit. That also qualifies for 2% back in Rewards, as well as free super saver shipping.

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Whether you’re going snorkeling in Maui or you’ve been deployed to the dusty battlefield of the Middle East, a regular old point and shoot camera just isn’t going to cut it. You need something rugged. You need something that is waterproof, shockproof, and freezeproof, making it reliable for all kinds of weather conditions. And now you can get one on sale.

The Nikon COOLPIX AW100 is a waterproof digital camera that can really withstand the elements and it’s currently on sale for about $125 off the regular price. It’s totally rugged, so you can dunk it in water as deep as 33 feet. You can also drop it from heights of up to 5 feet (shockproof) and use it in the dead of winter with freezeproof capabilities down to 14F (-10C). Well, I guess it depends on where you are for said winter.

As far as the tech specs go, you can expect a 16MP CMOS sensor, GPS and e-Compass functions, full HD 1080p video, and even Points of Interest information that can be added to your photos. Other features include the 4x zoom, 3-inch display, “Action Control” for “easily adjusting settings when wearing gloves,” in-camera special effects, 3fps burst mode, and advanced VR image stabilization.

The regular price on the Nikon AW100 is about $350, but it’s on sale for $224 on Amazon, including free super saver shipping. Buy it now and you’ll be more than ready to tackle the slopes on your family’s ski trip this holiday season.

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Up until earlier this week, you could expect to pay about $300 or more for a GoPro Hero2. It really was the de facto “action camera,” but GoPro is starting to face some potentially stiff competition in the space by the likes of Sony, JVC and others. And so, the GoPro Hero3 has been formally revealed and it improves on the Hero2 in just about every way. Indeed, all three versions come with built-in Wi-Fi.

Remember that you had to buy a Wi-Fi accessory for the GoPro Hero2 in order to gain wireless functionality. That already saves you a bunch of money. The other kicker is that the cheapest of the new Hero3 cameras — White Edition — is only $199.99, a full $100 cheaper than its predecessor. For that price, you get the aforementioned Wi-Fi, as well as 1080p full HD video (at 30fps), 960p at 30fps, 720p at 60fps, and 5MP stills with a 3fps burst mode. The Wi-Fi makes it compatible with the Wi-Fi remote, as well as the compatible GoPro apps on iOS and Android.

If you step up to the $299.99 Silver Edition GoPro Hero3, you get the fundamentally the same video capabilities, except the 960p HD video can be recorded at 48fps. Also, the stills have been upgraded to 11 megapixels with a 10fps burst mode.

And finally, at $399.99, the most expensive version is the Hero3 Black Edition. You get bumped to 12MP stills with a 30fps burst rate, but the real kicker is that you go beyond full HD and gain the ability to shoot 4K video at 12fps. There are also settings for 2.7k at 30fps, 1440p at 48fps, 1080p at 60fps, and 720p at 120fps. Bundled in with the Black Edition is the Wi-Fi Remote, which is an additional purchase for the Silver and White Editions.

Pre-orders are being taken now at GoPro.com.

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We’ve seen products from companies like Lensbaby that let you take more interesting pictures with your iPhone, but this Magnifi case is so much more versatile. It can be adapted to work with even higher end optical instruments, including giant telescopes.

The Magnifi is comprised of two parts. The first part is the case that wraps around your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. The second part is a detachable bayonet mount. This aligns with the iPhone’s camera and then it can snatch onto the eyepiece of the optical instrument you wish to use. This can work with telescopes, microscopes, binoculars and more, giving you a true optical view of whatever you’d normally see with these instruments. That could make for some very interesting photographic opportunities. The key is the detachable bayonet mount, because it precisely align’s the iPhone camera with the optical axis of the eyepiece.

This is a fairly universal adapter, but there are some caveats. The optical eyepiece has to be at least one-inch long and between 1-1.5 inches in diameter. This is because the bayonet mount has to wrap around it. This may also mean that you may have to remove the rubber seals on the eyepiece.

The Magnifi project is currently up on Kickstarter, seeking $10,000 in seed funding for an initial production run. Pledge $60 or more to get yourself one Magnifi.

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