Make this one last: RAWtalk 150

It might be a good idea to make this weeks show last. The reason being is there will be no show next week as Stephen is out on vacation with his family. He works so hard week in and week out not just on RAWtalk but many aspects of the brand that most don’t get to see. This is a well deserved break and I hope he enjoys it.

This weeks show is brought to you by RODE who just announced their smallest ever on camera microphone called the VideoMicro. There no longer is an excuse for terrible audio coming from your camera being that this is priced to sell at $59. It requires no batteries and it has no switches. It’s made well, it’s ready for prime time and if you’re in the market for an inexpensive mic that gets the job done click here.

This week we have photo news as always brought to you by Stephen of course with photo news music supplied by AudioBlocks.com/go/fro

Gear of the week brought us a product from Turbo Ace that works really really well. And we wrap up the show with the Wheel of FRO.

Thank you guys for your continued support week in and week out. We strive to keep the show fun and informative and can not wait to start traveling the world with a nice Mobile RAWtalk setup.

Listen for #tags in this weeks show.

Show Intro – 00:00:16
Todd’s Announcement – 00:12:34
Photo News – 00:19:06
Flying Solo – 00:48:34
Gear of the Week – 01:31:08
Wheel of Fro – 01:34:49

Here’s all of Stephen’s photo news stories in detail:

New Photo Series Offers Kids with Cancer The Chance to Live Their Dreams Through Photography

A new photo series called “True Heroes” lets kids with Cancer experience their dreams through photography. Non-profit Anything Can Be is behind the project, with photographer and founder Jonathan Diaz at the helm. The goal is to give hope to children fighting cancer and inspire them to believe that Anything Can Be. Along with the photos, which can be seen here, there are a few behind-the-scenes videos from some of the shoots. The series was published as a children’s book this past week, which contains 21 photos from the project along with an “original fairy tale” specifically written for each child’s photo. Each tale is unique and begins with a short description of the child, his or her personal story, and the photograph. The book is now selling for $19.99 and all profits from the book will be donated back to the Anything Can Be project for “future childhood dream making.” (via FS)

This Gorilla LOVES Looking at Your Photos

A Gorilla at the Louisville Zoo named Jelani apparently loves looking at photos from visitors. He is a Western Lowland Gorilla, a species classified as “critically endangered.” Check out video of the gorilla staring at a man’s phone as he holds it up to the glass and flips through his images below. The best part is that the gorilla actually notions him to skip to the next photo after a second or two of examining each image. There’s even some parts where he stares for more than a few seconds, trying to see all around the image. The kid showing the images eventually found photos of other gorillas online and flipped through them, sitting with the gorilla for nearly 30 minutes. The zookeepers say that only that particular gorilla loves looking at photos… (via PP)

This App Will Print Your iOS Photos Into Your Own Magazine Each Month

This is pretty neat: a new iOS app called “Recently” takes your “recent” images in your camera roll and turns them into a print magazine. Specifically, it allows you to send 100 of your most recent images off to be printed in your own personal magazine each month, and delivered right to your doorstep. Here’s how it works: the app will show you your last 100 photos. You can then drag the images around to set up the layout exactly how you want or delete images you don’t want printed (like those sexy time photos–you know what I’m talkin’ about!). Then, you simply tap the Upload button to have your images sent off for print. Users also have the option of either getting 100 half page images or 50 full page images in their magazine. How much? The app is available now for free download on both iPhone and iPad, and the service will cost you $8.99/month if you wish to print your photos. Good idea? What do you think? (via Bokeh)

German Newspaper Removes All Photos from Recent Issue

On the opposite end of printing your photos, a German newspaper called the Bild has chosen to leave out all of its photos in its most recent issue. Supposedly the decision was made in response to reader backlash after the paper published photos of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea (other newspapers chose a different photo of a policeman holding the boy’s body rather than the photo of Kurdi lying face-down on a sandy beach, which they published). Bild defended its decision though, saying the image, “caused dismay and compassion” and “rattled a million people awake.” The paper is saying that “the world must see the truth,” and hoping that by leaving out photos, people will realize the importance of photography. They say, “We want to show how important photos are in journalism, and that it is worth fighting every day to use the best photos.” Photos were also left off the paper’s website and Twitter account for a day. The irony here is that “Bild” is German for “Picture.” It translates literally to picture newspaper. (via PP)

Canon Announces 120MP CMOS DSLR Sensor

Canon has announced that they’re currently developing a DSLR camera that packs a 120-megapixel CMOS sensor. The sensor is currently just a prototype and is APS-H in size. However, they say this is solely because of the limited production run they did for the prototype. They say it will “expand the possibilities of visual expression” and “recreate the three-dimensional texture, feel and presence of subjects, making them appear as if they are really before one’s eyes.” Regarding lenses, they say out of the 96 lenses that make up the EF lens lineup, 60 of them will be compatible with the new 120MP DSLR. Canon also notes that they’re working on an 8K Cinema EOS camera system, which has a 35MP 35mm sensor, shoots 13 stops of dynamic range, and records up to 60fps, along with an 8K reference display. They say, “Canon aims to contribute to smooth production workflows, facilitating not only the input and output of 8K video content, but also such processes as 8K to 4K down-conversion and 4K cropping.” Is larger resolution where the future of photography is going?

Canon Reveals Massive 250MP Sensor

If you don’t think that’s enough, Canon has also unveiled that that have created a 250-megapixel APS-H sensor that measures 29.2×20.2mm. The resolution of an image taken with this sensor will be 19,580×12,600 pixels–the highest resolution for a sensor smaller than 35mm. Canon says, “When installed in a camera, the newly developed sensor was able to capture images enabling the distinguishing of lettering on the side of an airplane flying at a distance of approximately 11 miles from the shooting location.” They also say the sensor can also shoot ultra-high-res video at 5 frames per second. The resulting footage has 125x more resolution than Full HD and 30x more than 4K video, meaning you can crop very small portions of the frame and still obtain the video quality you need. If this sensor does make it into production, they say it will be more for industrial use: “Canon is considering the application of this technology in specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools, ultra-high-resolution measuring instruments and other industrial equipment.”

GoPro Releases $15K 360-Degree Rig That Contains 16 GoPros

GoPro has released its own 360-degree camera rig called the Odyssey. We talked about this a few months back when Google announced their partnership with GoPro and their new JUMP 360 technology. GoPro initially showed off a prototype version of this camera then. Fast forward to now: the final production-run rig will come complete with 16 GoPro HERO4 Black cameras aligned in a circular fashion, weighing 15 lbs and costing a whopping $15,000. With all of the cameras synced up, it will record 8K video at 30fps. The company says the quality out of the rig offers “unrivaled depth perspective for realistic playback.” Here’s how it works: The video is initially recorded at 2.7K in a 4:3 aspect ratio at 25-30fps and is then offloaded for rendering using Google’s JUMP assembler technology. The result is an output of either a 2kx2k MPEG4 file at 150 mbps or 8kx8k MPEG4 file at 600 mbps; both wrapped in the h.264 codec. Regarding sound, the Odyssey will ship with a Zoom H2N recorder, or you can use the 16 internal mics off each GoPro. The full rig does contain 16 individual rechargeable batteries too but they offer support for an external AC power adapter via an XLR connector for shooting long periods of time. Included in the full Odyssey package is the rig itself, 16 Array Bacpacs, 16 microSD cards, a Pelican case, and all the needed cables and accessories. Check out the promo video below featuring footage shot with the rig. (via PP)

DJI Updates Phantom Firmware

Drone news: DJI’s new firmware update is now available which adds new “intelligent flight modes” including Follow Me, Waypoints, Points of Interest, Home Lock and Course Lock. The new firmware is available for DJI’s Phantom 3 Professional, Advanced, and Standard drones. DJI warns that its new “Intelligent Flight Modes” are only available when sufficient GPS signal is available. Pilots are also advised to keep the drone’s controller in hand at all times, even when using automatic functions–so there’s no “setting and forgetting” here. The firmware update also improves the camera quality on the Phantom 3 Advanced to 2.7K resolution at 30fps, prior to this update it was only 1080P at 60fps. (via AI)

NYC Teacher Arrested For Crashing Drone at U.S. Open

A 26-yr-old NYC teacher was arrested for crashing his drone at the U.S Open. Luckily, the drone crashed in an open seating area in the stadium, where Romania’s Monica Niculescu was playing Italy’s Flavia Pennetta. He’s being charged for reckless endangerment and flying a drone outside a designated area. Apparently he was found in a marina near Citi Field right after the crash. Pennetta said she heard the drone during the match and thought it was a bomb: “With everything going on in the world… I thought, ‘OK, it’s over.’ That’s how things happen.” Scary stuff… (via NBC NY)

Drone Pilot Suggested as Being a Pedophile For Flying Near Girl’s Soccer Game

A drone pilot named Jonathan Hair was accused of being a pedophile, after he was flying his drone in the same field as a girl’s soccer game in Detroit Michigan. Here’s what went down: one of the fathers confronted him, suggesting that he was a pedophile and filming the little girls. The pilot stood his ground though, noting that he’s an advanced  hobbyist and how he has a right to fly there, how he wasn’t near the children, and that he even has his GPS logs to prove it. He said, “Model aircraft are not a crime. This is a public field, I was testing my camera and gimbal settings on my quad and hexacopter. I fly here often, as do many others. It is a safe and wide open area to fly.” There’s video of the whole confrontation too, which he calls “drone paranoia.” Hair even shows the GPS logs at the end of the video, proving he was right that he wasn’t flying directly over the girls. He ends with, “Anyone that has a problem with my flying can come and talk with me about it, So long as they don’t imply I am a pedophile, it is likely to be a pleasant conversation.” (via Reddit)

This Leica Pre-Production Set Costs $74,500

In true Leica fashion, the camera company is selling a high-priced limited edition Leica M “Null Series” Set for $74,500; whoa. Here’s the back story: when Leica put out the original Leica M Set, there were 100 copies produced and numbered from 1914-2014. However, 25 other pre-production models existed and were unavailable to the public; calling them the “null set.” This particular set, features camera 24 of the 25 and is being sold by the Leica Miami store. It will feature the limited edition pre-production cameras that include the same parts as the standard Leica M set including a Leica M-A Edition ‘Leica 100’ and a Leica M Monochrom Edition ‘Leica 100’ along with a few lenses including a Summilux-M 28mm, 35 and 50 f/1.4 ASPH. The store says the sale “represents a unique opportunity for collectors, investors and Leica enthusiasts alike to own one of Leica’s most celebrated special edition sets of the modern era.” Personally, I’d rather buy a really nice car! (via PP)