The author will simply leave a series of pictures on his camera, never deleting them. A masterful mix of actor-worthy facial expressions and witty copy on a portable whiteboard entertains whoever finds the camera with a bit of over-share, before finally instructing them how to return the gadget. The first two shots are below:

With a total of 26 shots, the total size of the pictures comes up to around 2.6-3MB. Not a problem for today’s cameras, capable of storing gigabyte’s worth of pictures. Visit Andrew’s blog for the rest of the set!

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In any case, thanks to its relative age, this high-end dSLR now goes for $200 less than its original $1300 launch price, from Buy.Com.

Olympus E-3 Digital SLR Camera – 10.1 Megapixel – 2.50 Active Matrix TFT Color LCD ($1050 from Buy.Com)

From Ads of the World (Thanks Teh Mordo!)

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Promo	Starts	Ends	Highlights
Electronics Sales Event – Save up to $690 on select TVs and Electronics	Ongoing	11/26/09 11:59 PM CST	Sony BRAVIA 55″ KDL55V5100 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV $1769.10 after $529.90 instant off Nokia N86 Unlocked Smartphone $369.99 after $130 off
Ultimate Value of the Season. Black Friday at Dell Home + Free 3-5 day shipping on all items on landing page	11/27/09 12:00 AM CST	11/27/09 11:59 PM CST	The new Inspiron Zino HD desktop for only $199 Mini netbook for only $249 42″ Sharp TV for only $599 (limited quantities available)
Entertainment Sale – The great offers continue at Dell Home!	11/28/09 12:01 AM CST	11/29/09 11:59 PM CST	Mini 10v netbook with TV tuner only $499 Xbox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle only $269.99 after $30 off
Great Cyber Monday Deals at Dell + Free 3-5 day shipping on all items on landing page	11/30/09 12:00 AM CST	11/30/09 11:59 PM CST	Inspiron 15 laptop for only $449 TomTom One 130 GPS only $79.99 Corel Photo & Video Bundle Software $69.99
Black Friday Alienware Special: Get $200 off when you purchase $200 or more in upgrades.	11/27/09 12:00 AM CST	11/30/09 11:59 PM CST	Upgrades are FREE if worth $200

CST stands for Central Standard Time. If you’re not familiar with this time zone, more information is available here (you can use the time zone converter here as well). As mentioned above, the promos only apply in the US. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are American institutions anyway.

Don’t forget, other “Black Friday” promos by Dell are still ongoing!

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“Lucky in Love” mainly involves a Flash-game where players have to drag and rotate a series of photos to create a panoramic shot. It’s a pretty straightforward yet cumbersome game: not only do players have to properly align images as much as possible, they are also under time pressure. Obviously, the point of the game is to show how the auto panorama of the TX1 is way easier than manual photo-stitching (and, having used the camera, I agree). Whoever gets the highest score once the contest ends this December 30, 2009 will a Sony Cyber-shot TX1, so if you’ve got a fast mouse hand, try the contest here.

Not based in Asia but in the US? Not sure if Sony has anything planned for you guys, but the Sony Cyber-shot TX1 is currently available from NewEgg.com for $380:

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 Gray 10.2 MP Digital Camera

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 Silver 10.2 MP Digital Camera

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• Panasonic ZS1
• Panasonic ZS3
• Sony H20
• Canon SX200
• Samsung HZ10W
• Olympus Stylus 9000

…DPReview’s staff arrived at this very clear conclusion:

…the Panasonic twins ZS1 and ZS3 emerge as the obvious choice for general use, offering an extremely versatile 12x zoom range from proper wide-angle to 300mm equivalent and good all-around performance and image quality.

Both cameras did so well in fact that, despite legitimate competition from Sony’s, Canon’s, and Samsung’s offerings (sorry Olympus), DPReview slapped its “Highly Recommended” virtual sticker on both cameras from Panasonic.

Convinced? If you’re based in mainland US, you can buy the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 for $267 from NewEgg.com. Just click the link below to get started, and be sure to look out for the numerous combo deals available for this highly recommended camera!

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS1 Silver 10.1 MP 25mm Wide Angle Digital Camera ($267, exclusive of applicable shipping and taxes)

To be clear on what you’re getting: few cameras can achieve 12x optical zoom out of the box; even expensive professional-level SLRs require specializes lens to achieve the 25-300mm range that’s the equivalent of the ZS1’s zoom capabilities.

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The video benefited from Magbanua’s wide arsenal of lenses. According to him, it features no color grading or even lighting whatsoever. Here’s the video description, edited for clarity:

We wanted to document something truly Filipino and came up with the idea of shooting a “Perya”. There really is no direct equivalent in English. It’s not as grand as a carnival, not as permanent and posh as an amusement park, there are no pumpkins nor cows in competition like a country fair. It is what it is—a Perya.

Shot in 1920 x 1080 at 24p. Transcoded to XDcam codec. Edited in Premiere Pro CS3.

No color grading was utilized. No additional lights used.

Lenses:

• 16-35 mm 2.8
• 17 mm TS
• 35mm 1.4
• 50 mm 1.4
• 85mm 1.4
• 100 mm 2.8 macro
• 70-200 mm 2.8

I’m no professional photographer, but all I know is that the 7D’s video quality definitely outdoes the Canon 5D’s. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the above video in full-screen mode, fool.

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*add about 1.8 ounces for battery and card

Most interesting about all three new models though is its support for SDHC cards, on top of typical support for Sony’s own Memory Sticks. Here’s to hoping the same happens to some future version of the PSP.

All three cameras will become available for pre-order “this week” from sony.com, for a sometime July release.

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Anyways, the classic design of an SLR causes camera shake—even if said camera is perched securely on a tripod. That’s because in an SLR, the mirror which allows the user to see the image literally through the lens flips up when the shutter is pressed, allowing the camera’s sensor or film to save the picture. Unfortunately, that action also creates vibrations that cause camera shake and lead to lower-quality pictures, no matter how small these vibrations are.

We have the Japanese to thank for this discovery. They were able to develop a tool for measuring even the slightest movement. Here were their findings:

The resolution of an SLR camera was substantially reduced to 1/4 or lower by the mirror shock (vibration generated when the mirror bounces up).

Next, it was confirmed that the vibration generated by releasing the shutter remains even when a picture is taken after a certain period of time from the mirror lockup to prevent a mirror shock.

Then, the Nishi Lab and Tani Electronics found that camera shake significantly worsens when a lighter tripod (approx 1.5kg) is used. Also, they conducted a quantitative investigation about the influence of the installation direction of the tripod.

So what’s the point of all this? Well, one of the researchers summed it up quite nicely: “”There is no point in enhancing resolution unless we take some measures to reduce the vibration of a camera unit as a whole including a tripod.”

I’m curious though: does this mean point and shoot cameras, which presumably use smaller parts that move less, experience less camera shake when perched on a tripod?

(image from Wikipedia)

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The following:

• Drill with 1/4-inch bit
• Screwdriver
• Wrench

Well… well, continue reading please…
Can turn these:

• 1/4-inch Stainless steel washer
• 1/4-20×1 1/2-inch stainless steel pan head machine screw
• 1/4-20 Bar Knob
• 1/4-20 stainless steel lock nut
• lid from a 20oz bottle

Into this:

Of course, you can’t help but wonder: what if your camera’s tripod mount is off-center, as pictured above? Do you have to hold the bottle steady while taking the picture? Even if that’s the case, it’s still better than those impossible-to-keep-still hands mother nature’s cursed us with. In any case, bottle-holding is probably a requisite for any bottle-camera combo, given that the wind can easily tip over the top-heavy setup.

(images and idea courtesy of hackedgadgets.com)

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The problem is, you’ll need a perfectly still hand to properly capture these kind of scenes. And unfortunately, since no one can keep perfectly still (our heartbeats cause the tiniest kind of motion in our hands), it would do well to use a tripod.

Any photographer serious about capturing great photos—and even point and shoot owners are serious about this—should consider a tripod a crucial accessory. There are cheap ones out there anyway, and any point and shoot camera or dSLR worth their weight is designed to work with tripods. I was lucky enough to have a solid base to rest my camera on to keep the frame still; what if this wasn’t available?

Amazon has at least one tripod costing less than $25. I don’t think you can go lower than that.

(Image by Rico Mossesgeld)

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