I’m a big fan of these mirrorless camera systems, owning an Olympus E-PL1 micro four-thirds camera myself. They almost give you DSLR-like image quality and control without the bulk of a traditional digital SLR. And Nikon’s system happens to be on sale. The Nikon J1 10.1MP digital camera with the 10-30mm kit lens has gone on sale for $202.05 off the regular price. That brings the kit price down to just $446.95. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal.

The Nikon J1 is a part of their relatively new 1 Series of compact interchangeable lens cameras. With this system, you get a 10MP sensor, some of the world’s fastest autofocus, and the ability to simultaneously capture stills while recording full 1080p HD video. That comes in really handy for a lot of situations, since sometimes you want the video and the photo. Now, you don’t have to choose.

Even though you get some DSLR-like image quality, that doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to deal with the complexities that go along with that. The Nikon J1 is relatively simpler, targeting the point-and-shoot crowd while giving them more power and more options. The 73 point AF array ensures everything stays in focus, for example. There’s also something called the Smart Photo Selector that lets you take multiple photos and “get the best of what you see.”

The Nikon J1 is on sale on Amazon. The kit with the 10-30mm lens can be had for just $446.95. If you upgrade the kit to also include the 30-110mm telephoto lens, that brings the price up to $596.95, which is $302.05 off that regular list price. And, as always, free shipping is included.

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An official document from the Department of Homeland Security has explicitly stated that just about anyone is allowed to take as many photos as they’d like of government buildings. From your iPhone to your Digital Rebel, your shots are fair game.

There have been plenty of stories about photographers having their equipment seized or being told to erase their memory cards by security personnel around the White House and other government buildings. This memo is saying that such “orders” are no longer okay.

It’s saying that “officers should not seize the camera or its contents, and must be cautious not to give ‘orders’ to a photographer to erase the contents of a camera, as this constitutes a seizure or detention.” Score one for the paparazzi photogs.

[Lens]

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Solar Powered Camera Strap Concept

I’m not particularly keen on the flashy white strap of this solar harness, but the idea is fantastic and anything leaning towards sustainability gets a thumbs up in my books. The Solar Camera Strap is a concept developed by designer Weng Jie. It capitalizes on the need for a sturdy camera strap for photographers, while trickling you power as well.

[Yanko Design]

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You know when you play most racing and driving video games you have that option of switching through various different viewing perspectives? In general, it seems easier to use the “out of the car” viewpoint where the camera is placed just behind the car. Apparently this does not translate in to real life.

What you see here is a specialized rig meant to simulate the video game experience, but it uses a real vehicle. Seeing things from a third-person perspective actually makes driving quite a bit more difficult for the average person, despite the opposite being true in a video game environment.

Who would have known? I guess I can’t really rely on computer assistance to “rubber band” me to the front of rush hour either? And my car won’t miraculously repair itself at the end of a long drive on the highway? Naturally, you shouldn’t try to recreate this stunt on your own as they used professionals on a closed course, but it is still an interesting experiment nonetheless.

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When you try to take pictures under lower light conditions, you are largely left with one of two options. You can use the flash and get all sorts of unnatural and uneven lighting. You can avoid the flash and get one big blurry mess. Well, a couple of students are coming up with a much better alternative.

Some people are calling it a “dark” flash, whereas others are referring to it as an “invisible” flash. Whatever you choose to call it, the innovation is supposed to provide us with much better photos at night and under other dim lighting conditions.

Hailing from New York University, Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus are developing a two-step technique that can be completely automated in regular digital cameras (and maybe even camera phones). The flashbulb has been modified to emit a wider spectrum of light, but it filters out visible light.

The UV and IR filters that are normally present in camera sensors have also been removed. The net result is a picture that looks like an infrared image, similar to the picture you see on the left. The blur is gone and the lighting is even, but it’s the wrong color, right?

An algorithm takes care of that. A second photo is taken immediately after the second one, but without the “dark” flash being used. By doing so, the camera is able to grab the color information from the resulting grainy and shaky pic. Combining the detail from the first pic with the colors of the second, you get the picture on the right.

This sounds like it could be quite a fantastic innovation if it really works as promised, but it almost sounds like the camera has to be dedicated to this purpose. If they can merge the technology with existing tech for “regular” photos, they could have a very lucrative patent on their hands.

Source: Gizmodo

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