Earlier in October, Julie posted an article about an accessory for some 35 mm and digital SLR cameras called Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop.  The Lightscoop works with cameras that have a pop-up flash, and it is designed to  re-direct the harsh, direct light to the ceiling (or to a light-colored wall when the camera is rotated to a vertical position) to wash the entire scene with a softer, more even light.  Our Nikon D80 is one of the cameras that the Lightscoop works with.  We really like the Nikon, and we’ve taken some great pictures with it – except when a flash is needed.   Like all pop-up flashes, the one on the Nikon has a limited field of illumination with a bright, harsh center.  We tend to have a lot of red-eye in our pictures and washed out subjects floating in a dark background using the pop-up flash.   When I heard The Gadgeteer was getting a Lightscoop for review, I asked Julie if I could give it a try.  I was hoping that we could get some much more natural-looking pictures using the Lightscoop with the Nikon. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Spotlight Gadgets

Tagged: Camera gear, Photography

Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 10, 2009 at 11:09 am.

Professor Kobre’s Lightscoop is a clever and inexpensive ($35) device that clips on to the hot shoe of your DSLR or SLR camera. It then transforms the light from the pop-up flash into pro-quality light by reflecting the flash’s light to the ceiling, to bounce it back down … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, News, Spotlight Gadgets

Tagged: Photography

$35 alternative to a speedlight camera flash? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 17, 2009 at 5:46 pm.

Nikon has just announced the next lens to add to their already impressive line of DSLR … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras

Tagged: Photography

Nikon introduces AF-S DX Micro 85mm f/3.5G ED VR lens originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 15, 2009 at 12:00 am.

In my line of work I frequently like to have portrait photos.  In the past I have sent patients to a local photographer, who did a great job.  The problem is one of expense and logistics.  I didn’t want the expense and the patients didn’t want the hassle of going there.  While I don’t need Cosmopolitan shots necessarily,  I do need something very good.  Home or office portrait studios can cost a great deal of money when you add umbrella flashes, backgrounds, etc.  I wanted to see if a simple flash diffuser could produce decent portrait results at a fraction of the cost. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras

Tagged: Photography

Gary Fong Lightsphere II Portrait Diffuser originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm.

iPhone Screen with DSLR Remote controls

onOne Software’s DSLR Remote is a wireless shutter release for Canon EOS© or Nikon DSLR camera… and it is amazing. With it, your iPhone or iPod Touch becomes your camera’s control center. More than a mere remote shutter release, the DSLR Camera Remote Pro ($19.99) can control camera settings like aperture and shutter speed and set up time-release sequences. You can view the shots you’ve taken and even get a live preview of your next shot. (Click here to see those cameras that can do the live preview.) Although I didn’t get to see a live preview, since my camera is a first generation, I thought this app was still very cool and potentially a really useful tool. The “host” computer can be attached to either a wired or wireless network or it can be the host in an ad-hoc/device-to-device network.

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, iPhone related

Tagged: iPhone, iPod, Photography

OnOne Software’s DSLR Remote iPhone Wireless Shutter Release App Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 4, 2009 at 12:27 pm.

Besides being a revolutionary phone, the iPhone is also my best camera. Not the best because it’s the highest megapixel camera, or has a great zoom lens (or one at all unfortunately), but simply because it’s the only camera I always have with me. So one of the best surprises on the iPhone 3GS was the great pictures and the awesome auto-focus. I take pictures of pretty much anything I’m slightly interested in, and I’ve purchased a couple of the photo applications on the iPhone store, but the one I keep going back to for fun and creativity is ColorSplash by Juxtaposer. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: iPhone related

Tagged: iPhone App, Photography

ColorSplash iPhone Photography App Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 20, 2009 at 1:31 pm.

I recently went in search of a small camera, reasonably cheap, one that used off the shelf batteries and could produce good quality pictures. I selected the Nikon Coolpix L19. Nice camera, but much too simple to have gadget charisma. But what if it could be wireless? Now we’re talking gadget chic. Having experienced the early days of educational technology, that tangled, dusty spaghetti world of classrooms and computer labs, I’m a huge fan of all things wireless. For me, wireless is magic.

With an Eye-Fi SD memory card, an inexpensive Coolpix camera automatically and wirelessly uploads photos to iPhoto (or any photo program of choice) or to over 20 photo sharing websites like Facebook, Flickr, etc. With Eye-Fi’s free app on my iPhone, I am in wireless heaven. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Wireless

Tagged: iPhone App, Photography, Wireless

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2009 at 9:26 am.

Here’s a gadget for all of the wacky garden people out there. You know who you are. You have flowers planted in containers all over your front porch in the summer and house plants all over your living room in the winter. Now you can obsess even more (if that is possible…) with the 1.3MP … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Home Tech

Tagged: Garden, Photography

Capture all those special moments with your flowers originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 23, 2009 at 9:58 pm.

Do you have shoe boxes full of 35mm slides and or negatives that you don’t know what to do with?  Would you like to share memories with your kids or grandkids?  Do you want to remember what you looked like 20,30 or 40 years ago?  If so, the ImageLab Slide and Negative Scanner might be for you… … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Audio / Video Gear, Digital Cameras

Tagged: Photography, Scanner

Imagelab Slide & Negative Scanner Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 28, 2009 at 2:30 am.

Pete The Gadget Geek Stanley sent me a tip about this nifty digital photo frame called the Shake a Pix. It’s about the size of a credit card, has a built in USB connect to charge and transfer pix. But the cool … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Spotlight Gadgets

Tagged: Digital Photo Frame, Photography

Shake Shake Shake your Digital Photo Frame originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 27, 2009 at 4:50 pm.

I enjoy reviewing GPS photo tagging gadgets here on The Gadgeteer, so I will be interested to see how ATP’s latest PhotoFinder device compares to their previous models. They are hailing it as the … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Spotlight Gadgets, Travel Gear

Tagged: Geotagging, GPS, Photo tagging, Photography

Tag, you’re it with the ATP PhotoFinder Pro originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 27, 2009 at 7:54 am.

Have you guys heard of Photochaining or the Message in a Memory Card project? Both are similiar in that people save pictures to a memory card and then leave the cards in public places for people to find … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Gear Diary

Tagged: Photography

Message in a Memory Card and Photochaining originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2009 at 8:15 pm.

I recently reviewed the ATP GPS PhotoFinder mini photo geotagging module. I liked the concept, but found some issues with usability. Today I have a similar product for you. It’s the i-gotU USB GPS Travel Logger GT-120 from Mobile Action. It’s smaller and even easier to use than the PhotoFinder. Let’s take a look. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, GPS, Travel Gear

Tagged: Geotagging, GPS, Photo tagging, Photography

i-gotU USB GPS Travel Logger (GT-120) Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 19, 2009 at 7:51 pm.

The FlexRing 6400 from SR Electronics is a ring flash with 64 oversized (32 in the ring and two flexible arms with 16 each) super-bright white LEDs. The bendable arms allow you to position the light where you need it. I would love one of these for my macro shots, but the … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Spotlight Gadgets

Tagged: Macro, Photography

Spotlight Gadget – FlexRing 6400 Macro Ring Flash originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 5, 2009 at 8:56 pm.

There are all sorts of photo printing service online where you can upload your photos, print them and have them shipped to you. There are also services that you can use to print your pictures on mouse pads, coffee mugs, and t-shirts. Snapily is a little different, they offer customized gifts and photos that flip between two pictures, morph one pictures into another and soon will even be able to print a viewable video onto a physical picture. They asked if I would like to test drive their service and I said sure! Here are the results. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, Miscellaneous

Tagged: Gift, Photography

Snapily Personalized Gifts and Photos Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 21, 2009 at 5:24 pm.

I have a nifty little gadget for avid photographers that have a less than stellar memory. If you’ve ever looked back at your old photos and wondered where you were when you shot them, the PhotoFinder Mini from ATP will cause you to wonder no more. … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, GPS, Travel Gear

Tagged: Geotagging, GPS, Photo tagging, Photography

ATP GPS PhotoFinder mini Photo Geotagger Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm.

I got a chance to try out the new Photo Finder from ATP Inc.. When Julie asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a product that geotags photos, I said of course. Now… please tell me what that means…

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Digital Cameras, GPS, Travel Gear

Tagged: Geotagging, GPS, Photo tagging, Photography

ATP Photo Finder originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 31, 2007 at 1:18 pm.