The Fat Gecko camera mount attaches a camera to a car, airplane, or other smooth surface with suction cups.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)LAS VEGAS--Having trouble attaching your camera to the outside of your plane? Delkin Devices announced a new product, the Fat Gecko camera mount, that could take care of your needs.
The $89.99 device has two large suction cups to hold cameras as heavy as 6 pounds, company Chief Executive Martin Wood said at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show here. The $89 device is strong enough to hold a camera on a plane going 200mph, he said.
The company is also working on two other versions of the device, one with two straps for attaching cameras to larger tubes such as Harley-Davidson steering gear, and one with a clamp to attach to tubes such as bicycle handlebars measuring 1 inch to 1.875 inches in diameter.
The devices can be repositioned flexibly through a double-knuckle adjustment mechanism, Wood said. The steel-frame Fat Geckos use a standard tripod screw for attaching any camera.
The SensorKlear Loupe magnifies and illuminates a digital SLR's sensor, and a window on the side lets it be cleaned.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)LAS VEGAS--Camera cleaning accessory maker LensPen announced a new product to help remove dust, hairs, specks, and other detritus that sticks to digital SLR sensors.
The $59.95 SensorKlear Loupe, announced here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show, is a magnifying glass that attaches to a camera's lens mount. Its four battery-powered LEDs illuminate the sensor, and unlike rival products such as VisibleDust's Sensor Loupe, a gap in the side allows you to clean off the sensor.
Unsurprisingly, the company recommends use of LensPen SensorKlear II to actually clean off the schmutz. The pen and loupe together cost $69.95.
Newer SLRs are equipped with a small motor that can shake the sensor or its cover to help rid it of debris, but sensors still have problems with dust flecks even when combined with new coatings not as prone to attracting flecks in the first place. Larger specks, especially when shooting with narrow apertures, can produce dark blemishes on photos.
Nikon's GP-1, a GPS tracking device that fits into the company's cameras and writes location data into image files, is starting to go on sale for a price of about $210.
The Nikon GP-1 lets people record location data directly in their photos.
(Credit: Nikon USA)Nikon announced the GP-1 in August along with the D90 SLR, saying it would arrive in November, but didn't give a price at the time. Now it's on sale: J&R.com lists it for $209.99 and Adorama for $209.95.
Don't expect to get one immediately, though. Adorama lists it as out of stock, though it lets you order it. J&R just describes it as "coming soon."
Although it costs more than many handheld GPS units that offer maps, waypoints, and other navigation features, the GP-1 is specialized for photography. It plugs into a Nikon SLR's flash hot shoe and adds latitude and longitude data to photos as they're taken, a process called geotagging.
Although geotagging is only a niche technology today, it holds some promise for photographers. For one thing, geotagged photos can be located on a map, helping people remember where they took a particular shot or find out what a certain region looks like by browsing with a map. For another, it can help people organize photos by searching for a place name on their computer or a Web site hosting their photos. But geotagging can be a hassle.
The GP-1 and similar devices mean geotagging gets a lot easier: there's no need to download track logs to your computer, make sure your camera's clock is synchronized with the GPS clock, run software to write the location data into files, or worry that doing so will cause problems with the image file itself.
The GP-1 is compatible with Nikon's D90, D200, D300, D3, and D3X cameras, Nikon said. It comes with two cables, one for a dedicated port on the D90 and another for the other Nikon cameras that use a Nikon 10-pin connector.
Nikon has been bitten by the geotagging bug. Its compact Coolpix P6000 has built-in GPS technology, too.
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