September | 2015 | Imagination Works

3D Sound Labs One – headphones with 3D sound positioning

3D Sound Labs anounced new headphones 3D Sound Labs One with 3D sound positioning. They have built in gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, which track head movement and allow to precisely determine head position. This data then sent to computer via Bluetooth connection, where special program processes it and changes sound so, that person have feeling, that he or she rotates head in respect to real sound source. This way there is realistic 3D sound picture is reproduced, which is most plausible for multichannel sound : movies, games and virtual reality applications. Headphones have built in Li-ion battery, which powers sensors and wireless transmitter. Headphones themselves are of monitor type, with isolation from surround sounds and neodymium magnets, which move membranes. All in all this is interesting novelty for mobile use, but taking into account their price ( 269 USD at the beginning of Autumn 2015 ), it is better to buy 5.1 or 7.1 speakers with subwoofer or by drivers and create speakers by yourself and receive sound with much better quality without dependence on some application. 3D Sound Labs One headphones will be available in stores from 15th September of this year.

RICOH THETA S – camera for 360 degrees photos and videos

RICOH released RICOH THETA S camera for 360 degrees photos and videos shooting. It has 2 objective lenses and 2 CMOS sensors with 1/2.3-inch size and 12 MP effective resolution, which allow to make real time panorama photos and videos. Camera can make photos with ISO 100 – 1600 sensitivity levels and save them in JPEG format; it records videos with the same ISO levels in Full HD 1920 x 1080 and HD 1280 x 720 modes and saves them in MP4 ( with MPEG-4 AVC or H.264 image encoding and AAC audio encoding ) format. It supports wireless connections for data transmitting and remote control of camera; has USB 2.0 ( for photos and videos transmitting and battery recharging ) and HDMI Micro Type-D ( for images viewing on screens of TV or monitor ) connectors; and saves data on built in flash memory with 8 GB size. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for making of 260 photos. Camera sizes are : 44 x 130 x 22.9 mm ( width x height x depth ), and weight is : 125 g. Camera can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range and at relative ait humidity levels below 90 %. Package contains : RICOH THETA S camera itself, recharger and user’s guide.

DxO ONE – new camera for IPhone and IPad

DxO announced new camera DxO ONE for IPhone and IPad with professional functions. It can be attached to Apple device and controlled from it or used as stand alone camera. Its CMOS-BSI sensor has 1-inch size ( usually only semi-professional cameras are equipped with such sensors ) and 20.2 MP of effective resolution. Camera can shoot photos with ISO 100 – 51200 sensitivity levels and save them in JPEG and RAW formats. It supports Full HD 1080p/30 and HD 720p/120 video recording modes. In stand alone mode camera saves photos and videos on flash memory cards of micro SD format. Its OLED display has touch functions and it is equipped with Li-ion battery. All in all this is a good camera for IPhone and IPad for persons, who want to make photos from these devices and replace standard camera with it. But there is need to note, that for the same money ( 599 USD at the beginning of Autumn of 2015 year ) there is ability to buy semi-professional camera and get much more opportunities and transmit photos and videos to mobile devices via Wi-Fi or wired connections. DxO ONE will be available in shops from 1st October of this year.

Sony DSC-HX90V camera review

Sony released new compact camera Sony DSC-HX90V, its main features are : 30x optical zoom and electronic viewfinder. It is equipped with Exmor R CMOS sensor with 1/2.3-inch size and 18.2 MP effective resolution, ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* objective lens and BIONZ X image processor. Its image stabilization system is optical and it supports manual focus and exposure settings. Camera can shoot photos with 4896 × 3672 pixels maximal resolution with ISO 80 – 12800 sensitivity levels and can save them in JPEG format. It supports following video recording modes : Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p/50p/30p and HD 1280 x 720 60p/50p/30p ( with ISO 80 – 3200 sensitivity levels ) with saving in AVC S, AVCHD format ver. 2.0 compatible or MP4 formats. Its main TFT LCD has 921.6K dots resolution and 2.95-inch size, its OLED viewfinder has 0.2-inch size. It supports following flash memory cards formats : Memory Stick, SD, SDHC, SDXC, micro SD, micro SDHC and micro SDXC. Camera supports Wi-Fi connections ( for photos and videos transmitting to mobile devices and remote control of camera from smartphone ) and GPS navigation for automatic determination of coordinates of place of shooting. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transmitting and battery recharging and Micro HDMI for images viewing on screens of TV and monitor. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for making of 390 photos. Package contains : Sony DSC-HX90V camera itself, Li-ion battery, recharger, USB cable, user’s guide and strap on hand.

Sony DSCWX500 – compact camera with 30x optical zoom

Sony released new compact camera Sony DSCWX500 with 30x optical zoom. It is equipped with : ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* objective lens, Exmor R CMOS sensor with 1/2.3-inch size ( which is not very much for camera with such price ) and 18.2 MP effective resolution and BIONZ X image processor. It can shoot photos with 4896 × 3672 pixels maximal resolution and save them in JPEG format. Camera records videos in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60p/50p/28p and HD 60p/50p/28p modes and saves them in XAVC S, AVCHD format ver. 2.0 compatible and MP4 formats. Its TFT LCD display has 2.95-inch size and 921.6K dots resolution and can rotate under different angles. Camera does not support manual focus and exposure settings, which makes it unusable for astro photo. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for making of 400 photos. Camera supports Wi-Fi connections for photos and videos transmitting to mobile devices and for remote control of camera from smartphone. It has following connectors : USB 2.0 for data transmitting and battery recharging and Micro HDMI for images viewing on screens of TV or monitor. Package contains : Sony DSCWX500 camera itself, Li-ion battery, recharger, USB cable, strap on hand and user’s guide. Overall : it is good fully automatic camera for persons, who does not like to go into details of professional photo, who need 30x optical zoom and tilting display; the other advantage : it is Sony. But it is worth to note, that there are much cheaper good automatic cameras and for such amount of money there is ability to buy semi-professional camera, which will give much more opportunities.

Nikon D810A – very professional camera for astro photo

Nikon released new professional DSLR camera Nikon D810A for astro photo. Its CMOS sensor has 35.9 x 24 mm sizes and 36.3 MP effective resolution. Interchangeable lenses are attached to it via Nikon F mount; there is ability to shoot photos and videos by using camera instead of telescope eyepiece, or add Barlow lens to system ( which increases magnification ). It supports 100 – 51200 ISO levels and can make photos with 7360 x 4912 pixels maximal resolution, saving them in JPEG, NEF ( RAW; with 12 or 14 bits per channel color depth and lossless compression ) and TIFF formats. Nikon D810A supports manual focus and exposure settings, which are used in astro photo. And can record videos in Full HD 1920 x 1080 60/50/30/25/24 fps and HD 1280 x 720 60/50 fps modes, saving them in MOV format with H.264 or MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding image encoding and Linear PCM sound format. Camera records stereo sound with use of internal or external microphone. Its main TFT LCD display has 3.2-inch size and 1.229M dots resolution; its optical viewfinder is of Eye-level Pentaprism Single-Lens Reflex Viewfinder type. Camera saves photos and videos on CompactFlash ( CF, Type I, UDMA ), SD, SDHC and SDXC flash memory cards; and has following connectors : USB 3.0 ( for data transmitting and battery recharging ), mini HDMI Type C for viewing of images on screens of TV or monitor, audio-video output, headphones output and 3.5 mm mini-jack input for external microphone. It supports Wi-Fi connections for photos and videos transmitting to mobile devices and remote control of camera from smartphone; and GPS navigation for automatic determination of place of shooting coordinates. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for making of 1200 photos. Camera sizes are : 146 x 123 x 81.5 mm ( width x height x depth ); and weight is : 880 g ( without objective lens, memory card and battery ); it can work in 0 – 40 degrees on Celsius temperatures range. Package contains : Nikon D810A camera body ( without objective lens ), Li-ion battery, recharger, user’s guide and different caps and coverings for camera.

Panasonic DMC-CM1 – camera-smartphone with professional functions

Panasonic released new camera-smartphone Panasonic DMC-CM1 with very professional functions. It combines camera and Android 4.4 phone with ability to setup additional applications onto it. Its MOS sensor has 1-inch size ( which is much larger, than 1/2.3 and 1/3 inch sensors, which are usually set into inexpensive cameras and smartphones ) and 20.1 MP effective resolution. It is equipped with LEICA DC ELMARIT lens without optical zoom. Camera can shoot photos in 5472 x 3648 pixels maximal resolution and save them in JPEG and RAW ( which is usually available only in professional cameras ) formats. It can record videos in 4K 3840 x 2160 15p, Full HD 1920 x 1080 30p, HD 1280 x 720 30p and VGA 640 x 480 30p modes and save them in MP4 format. Camera supports manual focus and exposure settings and 100 – 25600 ISO levels. Its main 4.7-inch TFT LCD display has 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Its smartphone functions are supported by : Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor; 2 GB of RAM; 16 GB of built in storage memory ( with ability to expand to 128 GB with use of micro SD and micro SDXC flash memory cards ); micro SIM Class B / Class C cards ( with support of 4G, 3G and 2G connections ); acceleration, gyro, proximity, lighting and pressure sensors and compass; and GPS and GLONASS navigation. Camera supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections for communication with other devices and has following connectors : USB ( for data transmitting and battery recharging ), input for external stereo microphone and 3.5 mm mini-jack connector for headset. One charge of its Li-ion battery is enough for making of 300 photos. Camera sizes are : 135.4 x 68 x 21.1 mm ( height x width x depth ), weight is : 204 g. Package contains : Panasonic DMC-CM1 camera itself, Li-ion battery, recharger, headset and user’s guide.

Category: English