Apple Watch for Photographers

So there have been thousands of articles about the apple watch since the event in San Francisco yesterday, but nothing I have seen focused on what it might mean for photographers, so here's a brief update.

• All three versions of the Apple Watch will have 8 GB storage, but the photo app will be limited to 75 MB worth of (resized) photos.
• Synced photos are stored locally, i.e you can look at them without being connected to your phone.
• The watch will come preloaded with the 'camera remote app' basically like pebblecam with better resolution (live preview and remote control app for pebble (takes pics from phone)
• There will be an instagram app for the watch so you can look at really small photos on your wrist.

For those of you with the cash to spare, the Apple Watch will be available for pre-order April 10 and will be available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom and United States on April 24 starting at $549 for the small faced apple watch steel . Or you can pledge for a Pebble Time Steel on kickstarter for $250.

Lenovo vibe shot, 16MP IS smartphone

Announced at MWC in Barcelona, this 5" android phone has a 16MP rear cam along with an 8MP front facing one. Image stabilization and a hard button release add to this smartphone /point and shoot combo. You can check full specs from the source link below. The price announced is pretty impressive too, $349, slated for release in Jun. 

Cajun up

I'm shooting at the Celina Cajun Fest on March 28th. Music all day from the likes of The Pine Leaf Boys, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, the Band Courtbouillon and Wayne Toups, and all the crawfish you can eat. Come along and try it out! 

Catch the Lightning

Just heard that my MIOPS unit is shipping on Saturday! Android app already installed and ready to go. MIOPS is a device you slot into your hotshoe, controllable through your phone over bluetooth and contains multiple sensors allowing you to capture events you wouldn't normally be able to. What attracted me to this unit in the first place were the high speed photography options - lightning, sound, laser break triggers etc, but it comes with a range of other options and allows you to create your own custom triggers. Can't wait to play. 

Otto - the hackable camera

Meet Otto , well online at least. The team at nextthings are putting the finishing touches to their kickstarter funded raspberry pi powered camera. I'm one of their backers and have been happy to put up with the delays they inevitably encountered, mainly due to their frequent and detailed updates and general responsiveness - believe me that's not normal on kickstarter.

There's no telling how many people will go beyond the pre-installed modes on the camera - including animated gif maker, photo booth etc but at least you can! I'm a fan of cameras that look like toys, they make it easier to take fun spontaneous pictures - people let their guard down much more than being faced with a fully specced DSLR. The Fuji Instax mini i have is always a favorite with the kids.

So hopefully I'll have an Otto in my hands in the next couple of months, I'll post some of the results back here. Good Luck team Nextthings!