The tripod that's vertically challenged

And we meant that in a good way. Remember how back-breaking it was to take a picture from a ground-level perspective? Save your spine with the Klikk (how many other ways can you spell "click"?). It's a midget tripod that achieves a height of 12mm by amputating the traditional tripod legs.

It looks absolutely untraditional and is avant-garde as far as tripod design goes. But there's a cost--without the swivel-head, the angle at which the camera can be adjusted is pretty much one-dimensional.

Sony Alpha 700 makes landfall in Singapore

It took its time all right. Sony's second dSLR will be hitting retail shelves on the island republic by October 19. While the first Alpha 100 was aimed at amateurs, Mr Keiichi Ishizuka, deputy senior general manager for Sony's Digital Imaging Business, stated that the Alpha 700 is targeted directly at both semi-professionals and professionals.

Yet, the new Alpha makes a weak cousin to full-on professional systems like Canon's EOS 1Ds Mark III and Nikon's D2Xs. In order to face up to these heavy armaments, Ishizuka disclosed that Sony is already on the warpath with a more powerful flagship model though he did not specific a timeline for its debut.

The Alpha 700, which is manufactured in Sony's Minokamo factory in Japan, will be available at the following prices:

Alpha 700 camera body: S$2,199

Alpha 700 camera body plus 18-70mm kit lens: S$2,399

Alpha 700 camera body plus Carl Zeiss16-80mm kit lens: S$3,399

Google and NASA team up in robotic panoramic venture

When names like the search engine giant and the US space agency are mentioned in the same breath, it's a sure bet it involves something big.

The GigaPan is a partnership between Charmed Labs, the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group and Google. What these hi-tech firms are collaborating on is an automated tripod that works together with an everyday consumer digicam to capture extremely high-resolution panoramic scenes. In fact, these pics are so high-res, they're measured in gigapixels.

Yes, each panoramic image is stitched together with hundreds of individual shots that collectively allow the viewer to literally zoom in and explore a picture in minute detail. At press time, the latest version of Google Earth featured several geographical sites that can be explored as a GigaPan image.

That leaking Canon

Those poor Canon users. How would you feel if someone walked up and told you one of your camera's key features was faulty?

Canon US has announced a service advisory on the PowerShot A650 IS. Apparently, that fancy-twisty LCD screen leaks light into the camera when you are shooting under bright sunlight. So it's going to play hell with your exposure settings. But if you bought the A650 in South and Southeast Asia, you have nothing to worry about. According to Canon, this flaw does not mar the A650s sold in these regions.

Now aren't you glad you live in Asia?

A pocket-friendly album

Ask grandma. She probably keeps a picture of gramps in a locket around her neck. It's romantic, but hardly practical in today's JPEG-rich world. So make a romantic gesture with Digital Foci's photo album. It sports a 1.5-inch screen, comes with 8MB internal memory and will hang neatly off her Tiffany keychain. Now she can giggle herself silly while cooing over sappy pictures of the two of you. Now that's picture-perfect bliss.

Via Dcviews

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