Photo credit: Peta Pixel
Many times, the photographs and video footage you see of celestial bodies was captured using high-powered telescopes, but for those who have a Leica APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 lens, it’s capable of much more than you think. Photographer Markus Stark recorded this at only 290 meters above sea level while camping in Germany, as his intended goal was to make the viewer feel like they observing the moon from a spacecraft. Read more for the video and additional information.
Photo credit: Mehmet Ergun
Amateur astrophotographer Mehmet Ergun managed to capture a perfectly timed photo of the International Space Station passing in front of the Sun. It may be perfectly timed, but this wasn’t just luck, as he planned the shot about three weeks ago and the fourth ISS transit photo he’s captured. It garnered so much attention that NASA even shared the photo in their Instagram Story, as such a photo requires the perfect weather, visibility, equipment, location, time and some technical know-how. Read more for a video, the full image, and additional information.
MyHertiage’s Deep Nostalgia tool uses the power of artificial intelligence and D-ID to animate people in old family photos, enabling them to blink, move their heads, and even smile. Since launching just 5 weeks ago, 72 million animations have been created on the site. The animations are based on different sequences of gestures that can be applied to a photo, each originating from a pre-recorded driver video prepared in advance using MyHeritage employees. They launched with 10 such drivers, and today, that number has been doubled. Read more for a video and additional information.
Photo credit: Leitz-Auction
Back in 2013, Leica collaborated with former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive on a Leica M camera, which sold for a whopping $1.8-million at auction. Now, one of the prototypes, designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, is also headed to auction. Expected to fetch between $235,000 – $300,000+, it boasts an exquisite, yet minimalist, sculptured aluminum body, complete with a matching Apo-Summicron 2/50 mm ASPH. lens and shows distinctive features from both designers. Read more for additional pictures and a bonus video of the Leica M from 2013.
Photo credit: AirStock via Peta Pixel
Photographer and founder of AirStock Garðar Ólafs wanted to get some footage of the erupting Geldingadalir volcano, which is 15 minutes from his hometown of Reykjanes, but that is quite the dangerous task to say the least, even for a drone. All was going well until he decided to fly right over the mouth of the fissure, as going around the eruption went perfectly fine. Fortunately, only the light under the drone and sensors were damaged. Read more for the footage and additional information.
Xiaomi is bringing back their line of Mi MIX smartphones and at least one of them will have a new liquid lens camera system that mimics the human eye. How does it work? liquid lens technology passes light through a liquid in order to vary the focal length of the camera, thus the same principle that’s used in the optics of human eyes. This means that smartphone makers won’t have to put separate lenses for telephoto and macro cameras. Read more for a video and additional information.
Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano, located near Reykjavik, erupted or the first time in over 800 years. Resident Bjorn Steinbekk decided to take his new DJI FPV drone out to the majestic sight to capture some footage, or at least attempt to. Despite the extremely high temperatures (u to 1,250° C), the drone came out unscathed flying over the crather and more. The eruption began in the vicinity of Mount Fagradalasfjal, the westernmost part of the top mountain of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Richard Browning is not only the founder of Gravity Industries Ltd., but also the company’s chief test pilot. He invented to world famous “jet suit”, which some have nicknamed the Iron Man suit, capable of full flight using six micro-gas turbines that generate over 1000bhp. When fully fueled, it has a maximum flying time of around 10-minutes and reach altitudes of 2000-feet, although it’s designed for normal use at around 10 to 13-feet above ground. Read more for the video and additional information.
Set for release later this year, Nikon has confirmed the development of their flagship Z9, a full-frame mirrorless camera that is the first to use the company’s Z mount. To meet the demands of both professionals across a wide range of genres as well as enthusiasts, it incorporates a newly developed FX-format stacked CMOS sensor and new image-processing engine. When it comes to video recording, the camera caters to professionals, advanced enthusiasts and cinematographers, with support for 8K video recording. Read more for a video explaining the features and additional information.
The GoPro HERO9 Black and DJI Osmo Pocket are small cameras to say the least, but should you need something even more compact, there’s the Insta360 GO 2. Touted as the “world’s smallest action camera” at 27g, it’s fully stabilized and boasts a 1/2.3″ image sensor with F2.2 aperture. The 35mm lens equivalent is 11.24mm and it has an ISO range from 100-3200, while the EV can be adjusted from -4 to +4. It records 30FPS .MP4 video at up to 1440p resolution (2560 x 1440) and 24FPS HDR video. Read more for two videos, including a hands-on video review and additional information.