Pentax intros K-50 and K-500 DSLRs, Q7 mirrorless camera

Pentax intros K50 and K500 entry DSLRs, Q7 mirrorless camera

When it rains, it pours -- we knew Pentax was due for new interchangeable lens cameras, but it just surprised us by unveiling three of them at once. The mid-range K-50 and entry K-500 DSLRs at the front of the pack represent slight upgrades to the 16-megapixel K-30 on the inside, with both gaining a higher ISO 51,200 sensitivity and Eye-Fi card support. They mostly differ on the outside. The K-50 keeps the K-30's weather sealing, lithium batteries and extreme color customization; the K-500 caters to the budget crowd by going without weatherproofing, running on AA batteries and shipping only in black. Both bodies are available in stores this July, starting at $600 for a K-500 with an 18-55m kit lens and $780 for a similarly equipped K-50.

The smallest camera of the bunch, the Q7, may be the most intriguing. While the mirrorless body still shoots at the 12.4 megapixels of the Q10, it upgrades to a larger 1/1.7-inch sensor that delivers a big performance boost -- sensitivity has jumped to ISO 12,800, and there's faster autofocusing to boot. Pentax also touts a faster shot-to-shot time, better image stabilization and Eye-Fi support. The Q7 will cost the same $500 in kit form as its ancestor does today, although photographers will have to be patient when the tiny camera doesn't hit retail until August.

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Source: Pentax (1), (2), (3)

Eye-Fi’s Mobi SD card sends images straight to a phone or tablet

EyeFi's Mobi SD card sends images straight to a phone or tablet

When Eye-Fi first launched its wireless SD cards back in 2006, most of us weren't carrying smartphones, much less tablets. At the time, the idea was to send your photos straight from your camera to your PC, where you could run slideshows or upload them to the cloud (if you were already into that sort of thing). Lately, though, Eye-Fi has been forced to rethink its product: the company just announced the Mobi, a $50 Class 10 card that sends images directly to your mobile device, bypassing the computer altogether. Designed for people already used to storing pics on phones and tablets, it works with a free iOS / Android app that acts as an image viewer. To set it up, you enter a 10-digit activation code included in the packaging, which you can use with as many gadgets as you like. After that, the card will continuously send photos and video to your device. And because the Mobi is a hotspot unto itself, your gear doesn't all need to be on the same network, or even in range of a router.

The Mobi is available today, priced at $50 for 8GB and $80 for 16GB. For those of you who expect to do some heavy-duty editing, you can still buy Eye-Fi's existing X2 cards, which send images to PCs, and can handle both RAW and JPEG. Additionally, those pro-level cards can be configured to send different file formats to different locations. If that seems like overkill, though, the Mobi might be the better option -- it's not like you can't eventually get those photos off your phone, right?

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Eye-Fi debuts Circ photo service with unlimited free storage, Android and iOS apps

EyeFi debuts Circ photo service with unlimited free storage, Android and iOS apps

In its former life, Eye-Fi was the exclusive provider of a practical in-camera WiFi solution. That was 2006. Now, as manufacturers begin to implement wireless technologies of their own, it's back to the drawing board for the former king of in-cam 802.11. Circ appears to be the company's latest lifeline -- a cloud storage solution for your photos that promises seamless syncing, efficient organizing, simple sharing and, best of all, unlimited storage for free. That bargain-basement price tag does come along with a catch -- you can only use the service with two devices -- but an affordable Plus version will only run you 50 bucks each year, including support for up to 20 computers, smartphones, tablets or Galaxy Cameras. The service is currently open to beta testers, but since the site just went live, you may have some luck if you add your name today. You can also sign up to be notified when Circ's ready for primetime -- all at the source link just below.

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Via: AllThingsD

Source: Circ

Eye-Fi Pro X2 16GB Class 10 hands-on

EyeFi Pro X2 16GB Class 10 handson

Technology's always getting smaller, right? As such, it shouldn't be a surprise that Eye-Fi can now cram 16GB of storage and a WiFi radio into one of its SD cards, but somehow, it still is. This is the latest, the Eye-Fi Pro X2 16GB, the company's first Class 10 unit. It'll be landing on the doorsteps of tech-savvy photographers in the next week, so we thought we'd take a quick look at how things have improved with this year's vintage and if it can justify that $100 price-tag.

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Eye-Fi Pro X2 16GB Class 10 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye-Fi Outs 16GB Pro X2 Class 10 Wireless SDHC Card

Eye-Fi-16GB-Pro-X2-Class-10-Wireless-SDHC-Card

Eye-Fi has just added a new storage capacity to its Pro X2 Class 10 wireless SDHC card line-up by announcing the 16GB model. This thumb-sized card comes with Class 10 speed specification, built-in WiFi and can store up to 8,000 photos or 6h of video. The 16GB Pro X2 is currently available for pre-order in the US via Amazon for $99.99. [Product Page]

Eye-Fi releases 16GB Pro X2 wireless SD card, chops $20 from the price of the 8GB models

DNP EyeFi EmbargoDo you love wireless camera transfers, but lament the Eye-Fi's maximum 8GB of storage? Fortunately for you, the company is doubling the capacity of its flagship unit to 16GB for the demanding photographer in all of us. The 16GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 is a Class 10 SD card that offers the same "endless memory," WPS Geotagging and the company's Eye-Fi View cloud service we've seen in its other products. It's available to pre-order today from Amazon for $100 and launches in Australia and Japan will follow, costing $108 AUD and 9,980 yen respectively. If you've been priced out of the market so far the company's hoping to coax you by cutting $20 from the price of both the 8GB Pro X2, now costing $80, and the 8GB Mobile X2, which is now $60.

Continue reading Eye-Fi releases 16GB Pro X2 wireless SD card, chops $20 from the price of the 8GB models

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Eye-Fi releases 16GB Pro X2 wireless SD card, chops $20 from the price of the 8GB models originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese research group concocts 3D restoration magic from regular photos (video)

Japanese research group concocts 3D restoration magic from regular photos video

Reconstructing 3D spacial data has long been possible, but convincing the average consumer of that would be another chore entirely. In the future, however, it may be simpler to believe. A crew of researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology are hard at work developing a new system that "quickly creates 3D spacial data from photos taken with a digital camera." According to Assistant Professor Akihito Torii, the method can use JPEGs from a conventional point-and-shoot camera -- no specialized equipment needed -- which are then shot over to a PC via a wireless Eye-Fi SD card. From there, it's the magic of the software that takes over, reconstructing a 3D model in mere minutes. The goal? To save Earthlings time, naturally. As it stands, pilots shooting aerial shots usually have to land, offload imagery and see if they missed anything; in theory, this could allow a more real-time process to fall into place, enabling patch shots to be taken just minutes after they're missed. Looking for more? Hit up the explanatory video just after the break.

Continue reading Japanese research group concocts 3D restoration magic from regular photos (video)

Japanese research group concocts 3D restoration magic from regular photos (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card does old tricks, but with less hassle for Android and iOS users

New Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card does old tricks, but with less hassle for Android and iOS users
Direct Mode on an Eye-Fi card makes a lot of sense when you want to beam photos from your camera straight to your smartphone. The latest edition of the Mobile X2 promises to simplify this process by coming pre-configured for Direct Mode from the factory, and being accompanied by a 10-digit pairing code that'll let you register the camera securely with the Eye-Fi app on your Android phone without recourse to a PC. We'd feel more excited about this if Toshiba's FlashAir card hadn't done something similar already using a clever browser-based connection we saw at CES. Still, if Eye-Fi is the brand and workflow you want to stick with, then be advised that this particular Mobile X2 is Japan-only for now. However, a worldwide release is planned at some point, along with an update to the iOS app that'll make the key-code pairing thing work for that other section of humanity too.

New Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card does old tricks, but with less hassle for Android and iOS users originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 06:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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