film

DxO revamps photo editing tools for Vista

LAS VEGAS--DxO has updated two photography programs, releasing DxO Optics Pro 4.2 with Windows Vista support and adding new options to its FilmPack 1.1.

DxO Optics Pro is a stand-alone application or Adobe Photoshop plug-in that lets users adjust color, correct lens geometry problems, reduce noise. The new version 4.2 is compatible with Windows Vista and adds a feature called SmartVibrancy that increases color vividness without throwing skin tones out of whack. The company announced the moves at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here on Thursday.

The company also is working on a DxO plug-in to … Read more

Spycam of yesteryear disappoints

Ubergizmo has spied that the International Spy Museum is selling the Cola Cam for about $18.

Cool, you may think. Who wouldn't want a camera shaped like a can of soda?

There are several reasons.

First, you have to hold it as if you are shot-gunning a beer, so you can't just sit it on a shelf and let it click. It's so obviously a camera that you would not need the spy for spycams surveillance kit.

Second, the flash that pops up makes it extremely obvious that this is not a can of Cindy Crawford's … Read more

Welcome to The Burgg

If Internet movie quizzes were towns, most of them would be Dullsville. There's a new Burgg, though, that's looking to change that landscape.

Combining Pictionary with social networking and a clean design, TheBurgg.com is a new Web site where you draw pictures of your favorite movie scenes and other people have to guess which films they're from. By limiting it to movies and incorporating some basic features of your standard Web 2.0 socializing site, The Burgg has given all its participants an open-ended topic to discuss.

At its heart lies a robust, free Java-based drawing … Read more

Lycos Mix fails to stir

Lycos Mix is a new video-playlist creation tool that lets you string together video clips from various hosting services. The videos sit beside a live chat window based off of Lycos' Cinema technology. Casual observers can come in, watch videos, and chat with you. It's almost like a bar except a little creepier.

When you're done adding content, which is done by pasting URLs or using the Lycos Mix bookmarklet from the content's source page, you can watch, rearrange, or chat about the videos, all within the same screen. The adding process is a little arduous, as … Read more

First new Super 8 camera in 20 years

It doesn't exactly qualify as a comeback, but film is far from dead. Retro Thing says Sweden's Ikonoskop is planning to introduce the first new Super 8 movie camera design the world has seen in more than 20 years.

Like its earlier 16mm sibling, the A-Cam DS8 will have interchangeable lenses and a parallel viewfinder. It also weighs a manageable 3.3 pounds, including lens, battery and up to 100 feet of film. The camera uses 16mm-wide film to capture Super 8 frames in a hybrid format, reportedly making it far more stable than the old Kodak Super … Read more

Social cinema for the masses

There's no shortage of video on the Web, but how to separate the grain (feature films) from the chaff (videos of your cat)?

Less than 1 percent of films produced worldwide actually get distributed in the U.S., according to Jaman.com. Hence the new product Jaman, showing at Demo 07 just now.

Jaman cuts out the middleman and lets independent North American filmmakers and South American and South Asian filmmakers get their cinematic works online. For a fee of $1.99 to rent and $4.99 to buy, people can then sift through and watch any of the … Read more

Single-8 film avoids extinction

Retro chic is one thing, but then there are just some people who refuse to let go of the past. That's our take, anyway, on the cult-like pressure to continue producing "Single-8" cartridge film.

Fuji has agreed once again to let the format stave off extinction, even though sales totaled an estimated 14,000 cartridges last year. Retro Thing reported that the company, which had earlier scheduled to cease production of the film in March, relented after protests both from professional cinematographers and amateur hobbyists. We're considering campaigns to bring back 8-track tapes and Betamax too.… Read more

Cameras that don't shoot straight

For every trend, it must be assumed, there will be a backlash. But we've noticed one of the more curious forms of this axiom in inexpensive cameras that use film--not for quality or aesthetics, but for novelty items.

Just as the "Split Cam" intentionally cuts bodies in half, the film-based "Oktomat" from Lomo seems designed only to create an odd special effect. "Just press the shutter once, and eight tiny lenses fire in turn and create a multi-frame mini photo," as Shiny Shiny says. We would have no interest in this ourselves, but … Read more

A perfect camera for Monty Python

Why would anyone want a camera that morphs photos together? If we asked questions like that before writing, we'd never post anything.

So today we offer you the "Split Cam," which Uber-Review summed up thusly: "We got uber effects on a this camera that puts a man with a woman's skirt and a guy with his legs on reverse mode. Taking in consideration that it uses an old-school 35mm film and doesn't have flash, the Split Cam might have a quality below the average but those effects are priceless."

We all know, of … Read more