Arturo Rubio - Freelance Writer

InventorSpot.com • November 1, 2013

Lytro Announces New 3D Living Picture Experience

Lytro, Inc., creator of the world's first consumer light field camera just announced Lytro 3D, a collection of features that delivers a new way for everyone to experience living pictures in 3D on their desktop PC and on mobile devices. With the release of Lytro Desktop 3.1 for Mac and Windows, available for download at Lytro.com, and Lytro Mobile 1.2 for iOS, living pictures that have been processed for perspective shift can now take on a new dimension of storytelling in 3D. Show off your livin

InventorSpot.com • November 1, 2013

Lomography Presents New Winter Edition Cameras

Lomography has just launched holiday-inspired versions of its popular La Sardina and Diana F+ film cameras. Dressed up in Scandinavian-style patterns, and named after popular winter destinations, the La Sardina St. Moritz and Diana F+ Chamonix cameras will allow you to capture some great analog holiday shots. Grab one of these funky-looking plastic cameras, a few rolls of film, and start shooting. Matching scandinavian sweaters are optional. This 35mm film camera, which looks like a can of sard

InventorSpot.com • November 1, 2013

New Nikon Df Digital SLR Camera

The new Nikon Df, a recently announced FX-format digital SLR camera will surely generate a lot of interest due to its classic design. In an age when digital cameras pack tons of features, settings and customizations, all buried under menus and button combinations, the Nikon Df is like a breath of fresh air. Nikon has gone back to a more retro design in which the most important settings are controlled via dials, just like in the good old days. This means that you can check the camera's settings

InventorSpot.com • October 1, 2013

Nikon Sues Sakar Over iM1836 Android Camera

Nikon has decided to sue Sakar International Inc. over the design of the Polaroid iM1836, an interchangeable lens compact camera that looks a lot like the Nikon 1 series. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against both manufacture and sale of the iM1836. According to a press release Nikon tried to resolve the matter with Sakar, but did not come to a satisfactory conclusion. Comments about the lawsuit appeared quickly on various online forums, with some commenters comparing Nikon's actions to Apple

InventorSpot.com • October 1, 2013

Lomography's New Petzval Lens

When Lomography decided to jump on the crowdsourcing bandwagon hoping to raise enough funds to resurrect a 19th century Petzval lens, it never imagined the level of success it would attain. Granted; it has always enjoyed a strong following among analog photographers eager to go against the grain by ditching digital cameras and embracing film photography, but this was just out of this world. The goal was to raise $100,000 through Kickstarter, but that amount now seems like chump change compared t

InventorSpot.com • September 1, 2013

The New Nikon 1 AW1 - World's First Underwater Digital Camera With Interchangeable Lenses

Nikon is taking it to the next level with the Nikon 1 AW1, an underwater digital camera that will be especially attractive to divers and lovers of the outdoor. On September 2011 Nikon entered the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera race, announcing the Nikon 1 series. With its J1 and V1 cameras Nikon made inroads into this relatively new market of compact cameras with interchangeable lenses. Now, with the 1 AW1, Nikon promises to jump way ahead of other competitors. The Nikon 1 AW1 camera wi

InventorSpot.com • May 1, 2013

Lytro Launches Light Field Photography Contest

You can win up to $500 in Lytro's first International Photography Contest! Submit your pictures now for Lytro's first international light field photography contest. Five finalist will each win $250. One finalist will take the grand prize, doubling the cash prize to $500 and garnering an invitation to Lytro's Pro Shooter Program. Best of all, no entry fee. Don't have a Lytro Camera yet? No problem. Vote for your favorite living pictures for a chance to win your own Lytro Camera. Your votes help

InventorSpot.com • May 1, 2013

Lytro-style Camera Technology On Smartphones Soon

In a previous article I covered the Lytro Camera and Light Field theory. This technology allows you to refocus images after the picture has been taken. Now, Pelican Imaging, inventor of array camera technology for mobile devices, has announced an investment deal in which Nokia invested $20M in the company. This could mean that a Nokia smartphone with array camera technology may be developed in the near future. This type of technology operates on the same principal as the Lytro camera, but in thi

InventorSpot.com • April 1, 2013

Lomography Announces LomoScanner App For iPhone

Lomography just announced the first version of the free LomoScanner App, which is now available for download in the iTunes App Store. Designed to be used with the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner, the LomoScanner App allows you to scan 35mm film with your iPhone. The App also includes a feature for quickly scanning and stitching panoramic photos and for animating movies shot with the Lomokino camera. With this app you can scan all types of 35mm film (including color/black and white negative a

InventorSpot.com • April 1, 2013

Top 3 Best Watch Phones

For those younger readers who may have never heard of Dick Tracy, it was a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. The comic strip debuted on October 4, 1931 and became very popular. One of the strip's most recognizable icons was the 2-Way Wrist Radio, worn by Tracy and members of the police force. The creators of Dick Tracy were definitely on to something. The wrist device became a reality, and now we have watches that let us place call

InventorSpot.com • April 1, 2013

Minox: History Of A Spy Camera

The original Minox subminiature camera was invented by Walter Zapp in 1936. Zapp, a Baltic German from Riga (now capital of Latvia), discussed with friends the possibility of designing and manufacturing a camera that could easily be carried. Although there were compact 35mm cameras back then, like the Leica series, there was nothing small enough to drop inside a coat pocket and carried everywhere. After demonstrating a Minox prototype (UrMinox) at VEF (Valsts Elektrotehniska Fabrika), an electro

InventorSpot.com • April 1, 2013

45-Year-Old Vietnam War Photos Rediscovered

Charlie Haughey served a tour of duty in Vietnam from March 1968 to May 1969. A photographer from a young age, he was commissioned by his commanding officer to take pictures. He was asked to focus on uplifting images, to boost the morale of fellow soldiers serving in his unit, the Army's famed 25th Infantry Division. As a side note, Oliver Stone's movie Platoon depicts the Vietnam war from the perspective of soldiers serving in this unit. By the time Haughey left for the States he had taken almo

InventorSpot.com • March 1, 2013

Top 10 Best Photo Apps For Your Android Device

With so many Android applications in the marketplace -- 450,000 in 2102, according to Google -- you are sure to find tools that will turn your Android phone or tablet into a powerful image editing platform. The problem is wading through a bunch of useless apps to get to the good ones. Not to worry. Here are ten great photo apps that will make you more creative, help your better manage your images or just have fun. This free photo app has lots of great features. Some of the most helpful adjustme

InventorSpot.com • March 1, 2013

Lomo Celebrates 500k Facebook Likes, Offers Camera Discounts

To celebrate the milestone of reaching 500,000 Likes in the Lomography Facebook page, Lomographic Society International is currently giving away voucher codes. Get them while they're hot! What is Lomography anyway? It is a photography movement that got started when the Lomo LC-A (Lomo Kompakt Automat) 35 mm film camera was introduced in 1984. In a digital age it promotes the use of film photography using inexpensive (for the most part) plastic cameras that have quirky image-taking characteristi

InventorSpot.com • February 2, 2013

Polaroid iM1836: Cool New Android-Powered Camera

Polaroid recently announced the first and only Android-powered compact interchangeable-lens smart camera, the 18 megapixel Polaroid iM1836, which will hit store shelves in the first quarter of 2013. The iM1836 camera features the Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" operating system. For all those Android junkies out there, this is definitely the camera to have. It sports Google's well-known graphical user interface on a vibrant 3.5" capacitive touchscreen LCD display. It comes standard with a 10-30mm f/3

InventorSpot.com • February 1, 2013

How Photographers Can Go Retro With Pinhole Cameras

Although the concept behind pinhole cameras --an inverted image passing through a very small hole into a light-proof chamber-- has existed since the 11th century, it was only until 1850 that a Scottish scientist by the name of Sir David Brewster took the first photograph using this technology. The pinhole camera is basically a sealed box in which a piece of film is placed. Light enters the box through a tiny hole and exposes an image onto the film. As basic as that. Due to its simplicity a pinh

InventorSpot.com • February 1, 2013

Lytro Light Field Camera: Focusing Not An Issue

Imagine a camera that lets you just point and shoot, and later on, back at your computer, decide on what will be the main point of focus. The Lytro Camera does just that. Using a light field sensor, that replaces the regular image sensor in a conventional camera, it captures the color, intensity and direction of all the rays of light flowing into the camera. It basically captures all visual data that the lens sees, foreground to background, into a digital file that you can manipulate afterwards