Safari Leica M8 costs US$10,000

Leica has a reputation for making some of the world's finest cameras and lenses, as well as some of them most expensive shooters. Even now, its film-based rangefinder snapper, the M6, still costs approximately US$1,500.

The German company's only digital rangefinder, the M8, has been given a makeover and a new price tag. The normal black or silver version of the M8 costs US$6,500, but the luxury green iteration is going to set you back US$10,000. With the ongoing recession, it's hard to see just who would splurge on such a premium camera.

However, collectors should rejoice at the package: It comes with a matching canvas/leather carrying case and 28mm F2.8 Summicron lens. But for most of us commoners, this shooter is way out of our league.

Spandex-like camera harness looks nerdy

I won't be caught dead with this camera harness to protect my dSLR, not even if it means I have to carry a heavy bag to store my equipment in. Honestly, the first word that came to mind when I saw the Optech Stabilizer Strap was: Geek.

But I have to give credit to the US company for coming up with a product for those who aren't ashamed to be laughed at for looking silly. The Stabilizer Strap is made of neoprene and stretches across your torso. Just stretch the harness and slip your camera between the harness and your body and the dSLR will be secured against your abdomen. When you want to take pictures, just slip it out. Optech's Web site claims it's fast and easy.

No doubt it's a nice innovation for those who go trekking with their dSLRs. But I think my Domke bag is way cooler than this, thank you very much.

Sony's new dSLR to be unveiled at PMA?

It's kind of weird to see a Sony dSLR rumor on Nikon Rumors, but the site recently reported on a new Alpha camera from the Japanese company. Dubbed the A800, the shooter could be the successor to the A700, which is due for an upgrade. The specifications are convincing enough, with a 15.2-megapixel sensor, 6.5 frames-per-second burst mode, 9 double cross AF sensor and a maximum ISO sensitivity of 12,800.

But what really caught our attention is the onboard Wi-Fi function. Is Sony attempting to offer Web browsing feature in its dSLRs, just like the Cyber-shot DSC-G3? If so, that would make the A800 the first dSLR camera to be truly connected. Nevertheless, if the Wi-Fi function is true, we are guessing it can be used to connect to local networks or to upload to popular photo sharing sites such as Flickr or Picassa.

It is mentioned on the site that the A800 will be announced at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow and is slated launch in April. We can expect more updates on this in the next few weeks.

Archiving and naming pictures

Over the weekend I was going through the pictures in my harddisk and realized they were in a mess. Pictures were named according to what the cameras assigned (think: DSC97880.jpg), and they were stashed in folders like TTT or New Folder. What didn't help as well was that most were scans from negatives, so the files didn't have any EXIF information. These could have helped speed up the grouping process with important statistics, such as the date the shot was taken.

I had to first identify these images and sort them according to date, then devise a naming convention so it would be easier to retrieve them in the future. Say, a picture taken in Bangkok on May 2006 would be named Bangkok_May06_001.jpg. However, the daunting task of simply categorizing them took a good 3 hours and I almost gave up.

My photo archive has yet to be complete, with approximately two years' worth of images still left to be identified. If someone has a better way to organize digital images, please, please let me know.

NoPoPo's pee-powered battery

There's a sense of finality when something you've Craved about three years ago finally comes to fruition. NoPoPo's pee-powered battery harks back to our 2005 post on Singapore scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology producing what was then the first paper battery to be powered by biofluids (that's blood and urine to you noobs). Back then, one drop of pee (about 0.2ml) generated around 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery, and ran for about 90 minutes. A second droplet added after 15 hours would replenish the charge.

The NoPoPo batteries utilize the same principles. A few drops of water or urine injected into the battery chamber with the supplied pipette is expected to produce a similar charge as an AA cell.

Frankly, there's no good reason to fork out US$15 for a pair of AA or AAA NoPoPo batteries that can be reused only two to five times. But it does up your geek cred for being the only dude running your devices on pee-powered batteries.

Via New Launches

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