Afraid of missing out on the latest photo industry news while you’re out, well, actually taking pictures? Photo FOMO is all the news you might have missed this week, published on the weekends. Alongside the biggest stories of the week — like the new Fujifilm X-H1; Panasonic’s crazy new 60 fps 8K organic sensor, new compact and new mirrorless camera; and the new Lensbaby Burnside — find briefs on the latest in accessories and photo industry news from this week with Photo FOMO.
Foxconn and Red want to make 8K cameras you might actually be able to afford
Red cinema cameras are high-end both in quality and price — but the company could be soon working with Foxconn, the company that assembles iPhones. According to the Japan-based newspaper Nikkei, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou says the company is discussing a possible venture with RED in order to produce 8K cameras at a third of the cost. With the 8K RED EPIC-W going for nearly 30 grand before lenses, that could mean 8K cameras that only just push five figures.
The companies are only in talks at this point — so there are no solid plans to make the cheaper 8K a reality just yet. Ten thousand dollars is still not exactly a consumer-priced camera, and the lenses engineered to create sharp shots at that high resolution also come with big price tags. But who wouldn’t like to see the price of that high resolution fall a bit?
Photography at 3.79 billion miles
NASA shared a set of images this week that were shot with the farthest camera from earth yet — at “only” 3.79 billion miles away from earth, the New Horizon’s spacecraft snapped record-breaking images of Kuiper Belt objects. The images were shot with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on December 5 and shared on February 8. Don’t be surprised if LORRI breaks another record soon — the camera broke it’s own record in two hours, since the spacecraft is heading 700,000 miles further into space every day. NASA’s Voyager One had the earlier record with the well-recognized Pale Blue Dot image of earth from 1990 at 3.75 billion miles.
Meet OmiCam, the stabilized wearable camera that can shoot for 15 hours
Looking for a wearable camera that can steady the shake, but can also record for more than a few hours at a time? Startup Sightour Inc. this week launched OmiCam, a $300 camera, that, when in Lifelog mode, can record for up to 15 hours. Inside the Lifelog mode, the camera shoots five seconds of video every three minutes, while continuous recording is also available but at a more average battery life of 70-80 minutes.
The wearable camera uses a 240-degree lens or a 45-degree front-capture mode on a 12-megapixel sensor. Software can also adjust the 240-degree footage to playback much like the scroll-around footage of a 360 camera. The camera lists for $300 from the manufacturer’s website.
Insta360 Pro goes Street View
On February 14, Insta360 announced an update to its flagship Insta360 Pro that will allow users to mount the 360 camera on a vehicle for shooting Street View photos. The camera has already been approved by Google as Street View ready — photographers just need to add a $50 GPS accessory and shoot in the 5 fps shooting mode. From inside the Insta360 Stitcher software, the update now allows users to send that footage right to Street View.
Macphun is now Skylum
Photo-editing software company Macphun has a new name: Skylum. The rebranding signifies the software’s stretch from a Mac-only product to one that now crosses platforms. The company announced the change when it launched Luminar last year, but has now completed the transition. Macphun and Luminar, both photo-editing programs, launched with a Windows version last year.
‘Through the Lens’ heads to Canada
Adorama’s behind-the-scenes photography reality TV show Through the Lens is now in its third season. The latest season follows 10 photographers in Canada for a behind-the-scenes look at crafts from landscape photography to portraiture and outdoor sports. New episodes air on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. ET, with all episodes available on demand from Adorama’s website.
