More Photo & Video Opinion

  • 26 July 2012

  • Opinion: You'll Never Lose This Automatic Camera Lens Cap

    One of the biggest disadvantages to using a big, honking DSLR is that you constantly have to take off that lens cap. What makes it worse is that you're exponentially inclined to lose it every time you slip it into your back pocket, throw it into your bag, or pop it into your mouth to hold it.

  • 23 July 2012

  • Opinion: 5 Things You Need to Know About Cropping

    When I was about 15 years old and a fledgling "serious" photographer, I wanted to enlarge and crop one of my photos in a particular way. Unfortunately, in 1979 it was all but impossible to edit a photo unless you had your own darkroom and printing equipment. Fast-forward about 30 years, though, and photo editing is child's play. Cropping is an essential photo skill--for example, most of the monthly Hot Pic photo contest winners are cropped, to improve on the original composition. But have you ever taken the time to learn the Crop tool's secrets? This week, I have five things you should know about this unassuming little tool.

  • 20 July 2012

  • Opinion: Amazon Prime Instant Video Grows Again, Still No Match for Netflix

    Amazon today announced a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution that will bring more TV shows, including episodes of Fringe and The West Wing, to its Prime Instant Video catalog.

  • 18 July 2012

  • Opinion: Hands-on: Samsung EX2F Brings Wi-Fi With an F1.4 Lens to the Premium Class

    Samsung announced the high-end EX2F premium point-and-shoot a few weeks ago, and at the time, the camera's bright F1.4 aperture at the wide-angle end of its 3.3X-optical-zoom lens (24mm to 79mm) was a unique feature for a fixed-lens camera. It still is, but now the EX2F has some competition: Panasonic's Lumix LX7, which offers the same F1.4 aperture at its widest-angle focal length. They're the two fastest, brightest lenses in the compact class.

  • Opinion: The ins and outs of iPad photo management

    Like many of us, Eric Jacobs has parents and those parents are confounded by iPad photo management. He writes:

  • 17 July 2012

  • Opinion: How to Build a PC for Photographers

    You love taking photos. You carry your DSLR or mirrorless camera along wherever you go. You’re always checking out new Photoshop filters or interesting editing applications. You have a Flickr Pro or Smugmug account, and you upload hundreds of photos a year. Now you want a PC that can be responsive and fast when you're editing and tweaking your pictures.

  • 16 July 2012

  • Opinion: Create Beautiful Star-Trail Photos With Almost Any Camera

    If you're a space geek like me, you know that this has been a great season. Not only did we get to witness the extraordinary transit of Venus across the sun in June, but we also enjoyed a spectacular annular solar eclipse in May. And more recently, NASA announced that one of the Voyager probes has finally left the solar system for interstellar space.

  • 13 July 2012

  • Opinion: Ask the iTunes Guy: iTunes Store questions

    [Ask the iTunes Guy is a regular column in which we answer your questions on everything iTunes related. If there’s something you’d like to know, send an email to the iTunes Guy for consideration.]

  • Opinion: Maru Would Be Proud: Minneapolis to Host Cat Video Film Festival

    As much as I love cats, there is something I've always had trouble understanding: cat videos. Why do people love them so much? Why are they everywhere? More importantly, is there some sort of underground feline-stalking paparazzi that I do not know about? How do they even get all those videos?

  • 12 July 2012

  • Opinion: Viacom Pulls Online Videos Over DirecTV Dispute

    Viacom has stopped streaming recent full episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report on Viacom-owned sites as part of the company's widening dispute with satellite cable provider DirecTV. The popular comedy shows are still available on sites such as Hulu.com, but Viacom pulled recent full episodes from its own sites in an attempt to put pressure on the satellite TV provider. Viacom still has about 4,500 older full episodes online for streaming, and show clips are still available. Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are currently on summer hiatus.

  • 02 July 2012

  • Opinion: How to Take Better Photos With Your Phone

    Flickr users upload close to 100 million photos to the photo-sharing site each month--and according to Yahoo, the iPhone continues to be the most common "camera" they use to upload all those photos. As more people leave the digital SLR--and even the point-and-shoot--at home, it's worth taking a look at how to get better photos from a smartphone. A few weeks ago I shared my five favorite iPhone apps, so this week I'll run through four handy tips for taking better smartphone photos. (If you have an Android handset, check out top photo apps for Android.) Consider the following to be bonus tips that complement my [

  • Opinion: VLC Player Beta Lands on Android

    VLC, the free media player popular for its capability to play most media formats, is now available for Android phones. You can get VLC for Android beta as a free download on Google Play, although you should wait for the final version if you’re not a power user.

  • 29 June 2012

  • Opinion: Ask the iTunes Guy: Questions about video

  • 28 June 2012

  • Opinion: Go Retro With Polaroid's New Instant Digital Camera

    Polaroid returned to its instant camera roots last y ear, merging the convenience of digital photography with instant printing in the Polaroid Z340 Instant Digital Camera. And now it looks like the company is at it again, as it introduced the Polaroid Z2300 at the CEA Line Show in New York City on Thursday.

  • Opinion: Nexus Q Living Room Battle: Google vs. Apple TV vs. the Rest (Chart)

    With Google TV generally flopping with consumers, Google is trying a second approach to getting space in your living room entertainment center with the Nexus Q streaming media player. The new device is one part Apple TV and one part Sonos music streamer rolled up in a highly designed orb-shaped package. The Nexus Q is generating some early excitement, but the device is going up against tough competition that includes Apple, Roku, and [25 June 2012

  • Opinion: Make White Backgrounds White, Shoot a Wedding, Photos in Court, Best Time to Sharpen, and More

    Have a question about digital photography? Send it to me [mailto:question@davejoh.com]. I reply to as many as I can--though given the quantity of e-mails that I get, I can't promise a personal reply to each one. I round up the most interesting questions about once a month here in Digital Focus.

  • Opinion: Photos to movies: How to transform images into a motion picture

    When reviewing photos using the LCD on the back of my camera, it's fun to keep the navigation button held down and let the camera quickly zip through all the images. Especially since I frequently shoot in burst mode—holding the shutter button to shoot several shots in succession—the effect is like watching a stop-motion animation movie.

  • 23 June 2012

  • Opinion: Mass Effect 3 Gets Expanded Ending Sequence; Available June 26

    Game developer BioWare is releasing an expanded ending sequence for Mass Effect 3 following negative feedback from players.

  • 21 June 2012

  • Opinion: Gigapixel Photography: Another Promise of Camera Revolution

    Photographers are used to thinking in megapixels, but researchers at Duke University have gone even bigger with the first gigapixel camera for general use.

  • 18 June 2012

  • Opinion: Facebook Buys Face.com; Prepare for Easier Photo Tagging

    Facebook has acquired Face.com, a facial recognition start-up, in a likely attempt to make photo-tagging easier on the social network.

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