Anyone want an Anti-DRONE Bazooka: RAWtalk 174

First things first who wouldn’t want an Anti-Drone Bazooka? Before you know it there will be just as many anti-drone things as there are Drone things. You have to see this thing in action though, the guy firing it looks like he is ready for WAR.

This weeks episode is brought to you by MyRodeReel.com now with $300,000 in prizes as well as other goodies to be had. Remember what they did last year for everyone who submitted a video? They sent everyone a FREE microphone!!!! There honestly is no reason why you shouldn’t make a video and enter in into this competition, it’s FREE and you could win some massive prizes.

We are back in the loft this week after doing a Live Show In Philly. I must say it’s nice to be back at the friendly confines of the Loft to film a show. With that said, I think this ended up being one of my favorite shows to date.

We have Photo News, Gear Of the week, Flying Solo and the Wheel Decided to stop on what this week?

Thank you for your continued support, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and my channel on YouTube.

00:00:16 – Show Intro
00:02:30 – Back in the Loft
00:02:50 – Live Show Recap
00:05:03 – Plug: MyRodeReel.com
00:08:48 – Photo News
00:39:51 – Gear of the Week: Lexar XQD Cards
00:43:27 – Flying Solo
01:27:37 – Wheel of Fro
01:33:43 – Wheel of Fro Submissions
01:38:49 – The Wheel Landed on WHAT?!

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

Photographer Duo Charged with Smashing Over 70 Bus Shelter’s Windows

A pair of photographers were arrested and charged with smashing over 70 glass-enclosed bus stops in Canada. Local police suspect the window pane-breaking was all for a photo book series too that focused on bus riders. The duo visited bus stops for months leading up to the smashing and shot around 100 portraits of those waiting for buses to arrive. The two photographers, Leonardo Autera and Cynthia Zambrano, now have 49 charges against them, including 21 counts of “mischief under $5,000, two counts of “mischief over $5,000,” and “possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.” The events occurred between Feb 18 – Feb 21. Police say they simply used marbles fired from a slingshot to break the glass, with the total damage adding up to about $30,000. Would you break the law for a photo? (via PP)

Canon Announces New Pair of “Pro” Printers

Canon has announced a couple of new large format imagePROGRAF Pro roll paper printers: introducing the Pro-2000 and Pro-4000 series printers. Spec wise, they both use 12-color ink systems, including their clear coat Chroma Optimiser ink, to “improve print performance on glossy paper.” The Pro-2000 can print images up to 24-inches wide and the Pro-4000 can produce 44-inch wide prints. Both printers feature canon’s “pro” red line, denoting the link with Canon EOS camera lineup. They will be available sometime in the middle of the year, coming in at about $3K for the Pro-2000 and $6K for the Pro-4000. Will you be upgrading?

The New Super Stopper ND Filter Will Block 15 Stops of Light

Lee Filters has announced a new ND filter called the “Super Stopper” that will block up to 15 stops of light, reducing the incoming light hitting your sensor to 1/32,000th of its original intensity! The company posted an exposure guide to go along with the announcement too, so for example, a normal 2-second exposure will now be a 17-hour exposure with the Super Stopper added to your arsenal; whoa. They note that depending on the lens and camera body and exposure time, there will be a slight white balance shift in the resulting images. No word on official price or release date just yet. (via DPR)

Sony Unveils New Full Frame, 4-K Shooting…Security Camera

Sony has unveiled its own full frame, 4K shooting, e-mount…security camera. Called the SNC-VB770, the new industrial camera will be extremely sensitive in low light, being able to capture photos and videos in nearly pitch black conditions down to .004 lux (for reference, a clear night sky is about .002 lux). Sony says it will record “clear color video at 30fps, even when the subject is almost invisible to the naked eye.” They note that it can be used for various low light situations like “road ice detection, rail tunnel surveillance, after-hours museum monitoring and nighttime wildlife monitoring.” The new camera can be controlled over Wi-Fi using a smartphone, and the 4K video feed can be cropped and arranged as four separate VGA (640 x 480) video feeds too. Price wise, it comes in at about $7,500 for the body only. (via Engadget)

This New Anti-Drone Weapon Looks Like a Bazooka

The latest anti-drone technology has arrived: introducing a new drone defense weapon call the SkyWall100. Mimicking the look of a bazooka, it’s a shoulder-mounted gun, that will fire net rockets to catch rogue drones in mid air. Weighing about 22 lbs, the new weapon can be used by a single person on-the-fly, where other anti-drone tech just isn’t available. Similar to a paintball gun, it uses compressed air, so it’s quiet enough to be used in public places without scaring people (yet the look of it alone will freak people out). It has a 100-meter range, a rechargeable battery, and a reload time of 8 seconds. It uses a computerized SmartScope to calculate the drone’s flight path and directs the operator on where to aim the launcher too. The projectile itself is shaped like a torpedo, which fires at the drone using an “advanced targeting system” and then deploys a net from inside to capture the drone, later ejecting a parachute for a safe landing. The best part? It can later be reused too. No word on pricing or availability but you can see the promo video of it in action over below and download a detailed brochure on it here. (via TC)

Jet Ski Takes Out Camera Drone in Mid-Air

Speaking of knocking drones out of the ski, a jet ski took out a DJI Inspire drone. Filming the Yamaha New Zealand Festival of Freeride, filmmaker Guy Mac had his drone taken out after a rider hit a giant wave, catching a ton of air, and literally taking it out in mid-air. Check out video of the collision below and watch the final resulting video over on Vimeo; hopefully he had DJI’s new Care insurance… (via FS)

Flickr’s Once-Free Auto-Uploadr Program Now a Pro-Only Feature

Flickr’s once free Auto-Uploadr program is now a “Pro”-only paid feature. The desktop app allows users to upload photos from wherever they are being stored, whether that’s dropbox, your harddrive, etc, and makes them accessible to their cloud or Flickr account. Flickr says instead of the standard $50 fee, new pro users will be charged just $35, “In order to make this transition easier, we’re offering a 30% discount on the annual Flickr Pro membership.” If you’re interested, the coupon code is “FLICKRPRO30”. Good move or bad move?

B&H Invites the Public Inside Their NYC Warehouses

After last week’s B&H controversy with the U.S. government, B&H is now offering the public a glimpse inside their NYC warehouses via a new set of photos. B&H invited photographer Katrin Eismann to pay an unannounced visit to their warehouse in Manhattan to document what she saw. The pictures depict a clean environment, showing clean bathrooms, hallways up to standard width, a clean break room and much more. Eismann tells Petapixel she didn’t find much: “Over the course of the almost two-hour visit, we were allowed to go anywhere, take as many photos as we wanted and ask a lot of questions. The photos show what I found and better said did not find – segregated or non-functioning bathrooms, hazardous working environment, and lack of diversity.” She goes on to say, “I found the same quality and cleanliness of bathrooms that customers’ use (with the exact same tiles!), locker rooms, shared break rooms being used by a variety of employees, free English classes, a number of notices about vacation and holiday schedules and announcements, and learned how B&H Photo is meeting worksite safety regulations.” Eismann ends with, “I am not an OSHA inspector, legal expert or a reporter and I am simply sharing what I saw in the Manhattan warehouse and store.” B&H also released images shot by their Director of Corporate Communications, Henry Posner, back in October of last year, before the government’s allegations. He tells Petapixel that “no prior preparations were made to beautify the warehouses. What you see is what there is. There is no asbestos, no lung-searing clouds of dust, no flakes of fiberglass peeling off the ceiling. The restrooms are as clean as those in my house. There are no separate restrooms for any particular group of employees. There are no ‘substandard conditions.’” Check out both sets of images here. (via PP)

Photo by Katrin Eismann

Sony Announces Their Own Radio-Controlled Wireless Flash System

More Sony news: the company has announced plans to launch their own wireless flash control system for Sony photographers, They had a prototype of the new system on display at WPPI, which includes two main components: a wireless radio commander and receiver (like most radio triggers). Spec wise, it has a max range of about 30 meters and a flash sync speed of 1/250th sec (it does include HSS too). It will be able to control up to 15 individual flashes at once, assigned to 5 different groups, and it can do both manual and auto exposure. Sony hasn’t announced the price yet, but they say the new system will be available this Summer. (via SLRL)

Photographer Shoots Daytona 500 with Expired Film & the Results are Stunning

A photographer shot the Daytona 500 with expired film the whole day, on purpose. Photographer Chip Litherland used his old film that he’s collected over the years, including both E-6 and C-41 35mm film. It wasn’t recently expired film either, the expiration dates ranged from 1975 -2006. He says, “I have been waiting for some project with an editor with a little gamble in him/her to do this kind of shoot, but with a credential for the Daytona 500 (and no assignment), this seemed like the time to break out the rolls of film and take the risk.” He goes on to say, “I had no idea once I processed film if I would even get anything usable, but my hope was to get images that echoed the timelessness of Daytona and it’s fan base.” He used his Nikon FM and FE-2 equipped with a pair 50 and 35mm lenses for the job. He says he downloaded a light meter app for his phone just to help when he needed it. Litherland also notes that after the first click, he naturally looked at the back of the screen to check exposure by accident. After the shoot, he later paid $130 and had the film developed at a local lab. He said a lot of the rolls had their own unique tint casted to each image, from harsh magenta to army green, mixed with light leaks and lens flares—most that are “simply just Instagram filters now.” He said he was very happy with the results, minus the oldest roll, from 1975. Litherland notes that “apparently there is a date where film does die. It was 36 frames of foggy emptiness.” He ended with “We have it so easy now.” Very true. Check out his scanned images here. (via PP)

Photo by Chip Litherland 

World’s First POV-Shot Feature Film To Hit Theaters Soon

The world’s first feature length first-person-shooter-type movie is coming to theaters soon. Called Hardcore Henry, the film was shot almost entirely on GoPro cameras, which were mounted with custom stabilized mounts, not with standard GoPro accessories. While some movies have done the first-person-shooter thing before, this marks the first time a full feature film was shot entirely with this perspective. The press release notes that, “The film itself pays homage to many first-person video games, many of which are referenced throughout Hardcore Henry.” Engadget describes the upcoming film as “A mix of Jason Bourne, Captain America, and Call of Duty.” The synopsis describes the film as “A first-person action film from the eyes of Henry, who’s resurrected from death with no memory. He must discover his identity and save his wife from a warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers.” Hardcore Henry is set to hit theaters on April 8, will you be watching? (via DIYP)