cameras

HD camera binoculars capture every detail from up to a kilometer away

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Your favorite outdoor enthusiast can magnify and take pics at 12X with these $90 HD camera binoculars.
Get the hiker, adventurer or camper in your life these $90 HD camera binoculars.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There’s nothing better than a good pair of binoculars for capturing the perfect outdoor moment. But if you really want to capture it, these HD Digital Camera Binoculars can actually preserve that glimpse of faraway nature.

They’re the perfect tech companion for hikers, hunters or anyone who likes to get the most out of their journey. Just in time for the holidays, they’re now priced down to only $89.97 (regularly $199) through December 17!

New ‘4D’ TV screen mirror kit jacks up entertainment

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It may be described as
It may be described as "4D," but don't expect stuff to actually burst out of your screen.
Photo: Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf says its new 4D Screen Mirror Camera and Lightstrip Kit will “take your entertainment experience beyond the screen.” And now you can finally preorder the hardware, which the company unveiled at CES in January.

Once it ships, you get a big light strip to set up behind your TV. The camera lights it up with colors reflecting what’s on the screen. And you can mix in other Nanoleaf smart lights, too.

Up your vlogging game with new Sony full-frame camera

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The new Sony ZV-E1 is designed for vloggers and other content creators.
The new Sony ZV-E1 is designed for vloggers and other content creators.
Photo: Sony Electronics

Sony Electronics unveiled its new full-frame 12MP ZV-E1 camera Wednesday. It takes its place at or near the top of the company’s growing ZV lineup of cameras for vloggers and other content creators.

At $2,200 it’s not cheap — a big step up from the company’s roughly $750 cameras for content creators — for but it could a key to making amateur content look professional.

Samsung Galaxy cameras fake their moon shots

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Samsung Galaxy cameras fake their moon shots
Moon pictures taken with a Samsung Galaxy Ultra are supposedly too good to be true.
Image: ibreakphotos/Reddit/CultofMac

The beautiful images of the moon taken with a recent high-end Samsung Galaxy are apparently faked. A Reddit user took a picture of a low-resolution moon picture and got a high-res picture.

In other words, Galaxy Ultra cameras aren’t as powerful as people claim.

iPhone 15 Pro periscope camera looks increasingly likely

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iPhone 12 Pro series include cameras tat support ProRAW
A radical change on the camera could allow the iPhone 15 Pro to take significantly better telephoto pictures than its predecessors.
Photo: Apple

The telephoto lens in the iPhone 15 Pro will get a noticeable jump in image quality if a series of leaks about a periscope lens turn out to be accurate.

The change should also shink the thickness of the camera hump.

Grab these 8 great stocking stuffers for techies before it’s too late

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What's small, not-too-pricey and perfect for geeks? The ideal stocking stuffer.
What's small, not-too-pricey and perfect for geeks over the holidays? The ideal stocking stuffer.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The holiday season is fast-unfolding, and Christmas will be here before Hermey the elf from the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can say “Well, sir, someday I’d like to be a dentist.”

So it’s time to act fast if you want to get a gadget-y gift for the techie or geek in your life in time for deliveries by December 25. Check out some cool ideas below.

They’re all small enough to fit in a stocking; prices range from a cheap $20 to a few hundred bucks (for those very special stockings). And there’s plenty more good stuff in the Cult of Mac Store.

This spy pen would be right at home in James Bond’s tux

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This spy pen is the write way to do covert recording.
This spy pen is primed for some covert action.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Feel like going full 007? The iSpyPen Pro is a covert camera with 128GB of storage and a long-lasting battery — and yet it still looks and works like a regular pen.

Grab this stealth camera in silver or black for up to 19% off, and prep yourself for your next big undercover adventure.

This camera solves a major problem with drone photography

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The Insta360 Sphere camera works with two DJI Mavic drones, keeping them out of the shot.
The Insta360 Sphere camera works with two DJI Mavic drones, keeping them out of the shot.
Photo: Insta360

An issue amateur drone pilots face taking photos or shooting footage is that the drone itself often shows up in the shot. Then, if they want to make that aerial photography perfect, they — or someone they pay — has to edit the drone out afterwards.

Insta360 said Tuesday it solved that problem with it’s new Sphere, a 360-degree camera specially designed to keep the drone “invisible.”

New taillight camera with radar watches your back while you bike

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Apparently that light can be seen from a mile away in daylight.
Apparently that light can be seen from a mile away in daylight.
Photo: Garmin

The road can be a dangerous place for cyclists, so it’s a good thing Garmin launched a new taillight Wednesday that has a high-def camera and radar. It will record everything going on behind you while you’re on your bicycle. And its radar can alert you to approaching vehicles.

Using the new Garmin Varia RCT715 Radar Camera Tail Light, you can download all footage to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch via the Varia app. That could come in mighty handy if you’re in a crash and need to prove what happened.

iPhone 14 might be Apple’s first with an autofocus selfie camera

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iPhone 14 might be Apple's first with an auto-focus selfie camera
The front-facing camera in the iPhone 14 might get a significant upgrade.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 14 will have an autofocus front-facing camera, if a reliable source is correct. Previous iOS handsets used a fixed-focus selfie cam instead.

In addition, the front camera will allegedly have a lower f-stop. Both changes will help make the iPhone 14 a better option for narcissists.

If Apple made a pro camera, here’s what it might look like

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If Apple made a pro camera, here's what it might look like
The proposed Apple ProCam harks back to a product launched in the 1990s.
Photo: Antonio De Rosa/ADR Studio

A concept designer explored the possibility of an Apple stand-alone camera for professionals. The Apple ProCam is loaded with features, like 8K support and a built-in picture printer.

All this raises the question, is this a product that makes sense for Apple to make?

Motorcycles can permanently screw up your iPhone camera

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Motorcycles can permanently screw up your iPhone camera
Harleys and iPhones don’t always mix well.
Photo: Javier Aguilera/Pexels

Motorcycle riders, if you’ve noticed that your iPhone pictures have been getting worse, it’s not your imagination. Apple warned that long-term exposure to “high amplitude vibrations” can damage the camera in your iPhone.

And the situation isn’t much better with scooters.

Wristcam’s Live Video Messaging on Apple Watch lets you go phone-free

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Wristcam gives your Apple Watch dual cameras and live video messaging.
Wristcam gives your Apple Watch dual cameras and live video messaging.
Photo: Wristcam

This post is brought to you in collaboration with our friends at Wristcam.

Dick Tracy comics gave its tough-guy detective a two-way-radio wristwatch in the 1940s, presaging today’s Apple Watch and other smartwatches. Now Wristcam is turning your Apple Watch into a walkie-talkie-style communicator.

Wristcam, the first (and only) smart-band camera for Apple Watch to receive the “Made for Apple Watch” designation, today announces its live video messaging capability is available on the App Store. And Cult of Mac readers can get a special discount on this unique Apple Watch accessory now through July 30, 2021. Just use our link to get $30 off a Wristcam.

Incredible close-ups show off iPad Pro’s surprisingly great camera

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2021 iPad Pro is better than any iPhone at closeup pictures.
Some astounding closeup images should make you stop laughing at iPad photography.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Professional photog/developer Sebastiaan de With accidentally discovered that the rear-facing camera in the 2021 iPad Pro can focus on objects very close to the lens. This allows the tablet to capture close-up images not possible with an iPhone.

Cult of Mac did a bit of experimenting and confirmed the results.

Powerful iOS camera app Halide makes the jump to iPad

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Halide Mark II is available for iPad users too.
Halide for iPad is ready to break the bias against tablet photography.
Photo: Lux

Halide isn’t just for iPhone any more — the alternative camera application gained iPad support on Tuesday. Lux promises its latest release is, “packed with all the powerful features of Halide for iPhone and a few special ones for better photography on big screens.”

Cameras rule in this picture-perfect workspace [Setups]

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This camera-focused setup is easy on the eyes.
This camera-centric setup is easy on the eyes.
Photo: Brandon Remler

This standup setup is definitely ready for its close-up. Artfully outfitted by Fujifilm North America salesman Brandon Remler, it sports a pair of laptops. But the real focus falls on Remler’s array of cameras, both film and digital.

“I do primarily use digital,” Remler told Cult of Mac in an email. “I did film for 20 years and it has a great feel and experience.  Now moved on to Fujifilm GFX system. Gfx100 or Gfx50 — as well as our other Fujifilm x series (have one of everything so it’s not fair ;-).”

Possibly delayed iPhone 12 will boast ‘high-end’ camera array

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iPhone 12 rumors mix in this concept video.
The new iPhone will boast a new 'high-end' camera, says reliable Apple analyst.
Screenshot: ConceptsiPhone

The makers of the “high-end” camera lens arrays used in the iPhone 12 will reportedly start shipping them in mid-July, says reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a research note published Friday.

Kuo doesn’t deal exactly what these new lenses consist of. However, he has previously suggested that the iPhone 12 will feature seven-element lenses that will offer superior image quality to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro due to increased light transmission rate.

iPhone SE uses software trick to give photos beautiful bokeh

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The iPhone SE bokeh effect is do we entirely with software.
The iPhone SE can take a 2D image and make it into a Portrait Mode picture with the bokeh effect.
Photo: Apple

The 2020 iPhone SE is the first Apple smartphone to offer Portrait Mode photos created entirely with software techniques rather than hardware. That’s not true of any previous iOS device, not even the one you think it is.

Lux Optics, maker of Halide, examined how Apple’s new budget phone adds the bokeh effect to 2D pictures.

iPad Pro with triple-lens camera looks increasingly likely

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A Pad & Quill leather folio has an over-size camera opening.
This Pad & Quill leather folio is ready when/if Apple builds more lenses into the next iPad Pro’s rear-facing cameras.
Photo: Pad & Quill

A well-known accessory maker unveiled a case that’s apparently designed for a 2020 iPad Pro with a dual- or even triple-lens camera like the ones in the iPhone 11 series. There’s no such tablet, but rumors say one is coming soon.

Galaxy S20 Ultra camera ups ante on iPhone with Space Zoom and 108-megapixel photos

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Lots of promised power in this camera bump.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung fired a powerful-sounding salvo in the battle for smartphone camera supremacy Tuesday when it introduced the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The Ultra kicks off a new decade in smartphone camera technology with an impressive list of specs packed into its four-camera module. Some of the features include 8K video, a 108-megapixel sensor on its main wide-angle camera, and a 100X zoom feature called Space Zoom.

Digitimes: 2020 iPhones could get special sensor-shift camera stabilization

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sensor-shift stabilization
Next year's iPhone cameras could get a nifty new feature.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Some 2020 iPhones will feature special sensor-shift stabilization technology for their cameras, according to Digitimes.

This technology, used in many high-end cameras, would further reduce camera shake on the next-gen iPhone. It differs from the optical image stabilization currently used in iPhones.

Photographer calls iPhone 11’s Night mode a game-changer

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Night Mode
Night mode will revolutionize iPhone photography.
Photo: Austin Mann

The iPhone 11 Pro brings what might just be the best camera ever to ship with a smartphone. Travel photographer Austin Mann, who took the iPhone 11 Pro for a spin this week, lavishes praise on the new Night mode.

It’s so good, in fact, that he thinks it will “completely change how everyone shoots on their iPhone.”

Apple’s self-driving car sports sleek new sensor array

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Apple car
Apple's self-driving car looks really good.
Photo: The Last Driver License Holder.

Apple made a big update to the design of the sensor array that powers the autonomous functions on its self-driving fleet of cars.

Some eagle-eyed observers in the Cupertino area spotted the new array a couple of times over the last month or so. Instead of having LiDAR and camera sensors mounted on a rack around the car, Apple’s gearheads created a system that’s entirely enclosed. And it looks like they’ve ditched LiDAR in the process.

Watch Apple’s whip drive down the streets of Cupertino.