Exposure 4 can accurately replicate the looks of numerous of types of analog film such as Kodachrome or Polaroid, but can also simulate the unique optical properties and anomalies of various cameras.

While you can quickly dive in and start playing with Exposure 4′s numerous presets, you’ll find there is a nearly infinite amount of flexibility under the hood. The application provides granular control over color, tone, focus, grain, as well as infrared halation and aging effects you can layer together onto your images.

What’s really cool about Exposure is that – assuming your machine is fast enough (I’m on a speedy Core i7 iMac), it provides instantaneous preview feedback as you drag its control sliders around. That means there’s less time waiting to see what your image might look like, and more time experimenting and creating. The preview even lets you toggle between seeing your modified image in full, or various split-screen modes which let you see the before and after effect. Once an effect is applied, Exposure 4 is kind enough to set it into its own layer, and even names it appropriately for easy reference.

I’m not going to go into gory detail about each control you’ll find in the various panels, but suffice it to say that you can adjust just about any exposure-related attribute you can imagine, along with the application of color filters, dust and border layers, and even cyanotype and split-tone effects.

Perhaps the coolest effects you can achieve with Exposure 4 simulate all sorts of film types and light properties of specific cameras. The plug-in can emulate a variety of film from Agfa, Fuji, Kodak, Ilford, Polaroid and others, as well as effects like light leaks, scratches, grain and the artifacts from printing from a negative. If you love that Lomo or SX-70 look, but still want to shoot with your Nikon, you’ll love this.

The tools provided in Exposure 4 give you a tremendous amount of control – assuming what you’re looking for relates to color modification or lens aberration. Having played with a number of tools for creating retro, Lo-fi and vintage images on my iPhone, Exposure 4 will spoil you with its depth. That said, it is a bit of a niche product – but if you’re looking for a professional grade tool for create stylized photos from just about any subject matter, I can’t think of a better tool for the job.

Exposure 4 sells for $249(USD), and is available in a trial download version over on Alien Skin’s website. If you happen to own an earlier version of Exposure, you can upgrade for $99, and users who purchased Exposure 3 since November 2011 will be sent a free upgrade.

[Image Credit: D Sharon Pruitt]

The watch was conceived by Finnish designer Nils Kajander and was shortlisted in designboom’s competition for the renowned Italian watchmaker BREIL. The Paparazzo watch was inspired by some of recent BREIL TV ads that features a classic camera.

In addition to the obvious shutter and lens design elements, the lens ring functions as a calendar, and the self-timer knob acts as the watch’s crown.

Of course, the way it’s designed, I’m surprised that there’s not a tiny digital camera built into the middle of the face, so you could snap pictures with it. Maybe if they decide to make it, they’ll include that enhancement.

[via designboom]

The body of the M-27 is made from aircraft-grade aluminum, and comes with 37mm wide angle and macro lenses. It will allow photographers a 130-degree field of view, and includes compatibility with a wide range of tripods, microphones and lights. It looks interesting, but only if you’re serious about your iPhone photography. You certainly don’t need something like for taking everyday snapshots.

The wide-angle and macro lenses can be easily removed, though it’s not clear if other lenses will be available at some point. In addition, the mount has a pair of ergonomic hand grips which make it easy to go on long handheld shoots.

The M-27 mount is available from iSteadyShot for the iPhone 4 and 4S, where it sells for $99.99(USD). It’s also available in a $199 bundle with the iSteady Shot ARC, a camera stabilizer system similar to a Steadicam.

[via Ubergizmo]

The iPhone Lens Wallet is designed to keep your magnetic iPhone cell lenses in one fold-out case since it comes with a magnetic strip to hold your macro/wide lens, fisheye, and the 2× telephoto lens. It will even take an 8× telephoto lens in its side pocket, as well as a one of those lens-adapter case backs and a mini tripod.

Photojojo sells the iPhone Lens Wallet for $15(USD), or you can get it all packed up with all of the lenses mentioned above for $79.

The case works exactly the same as the iPhone 4/4S version and has the same nine effects and filters. It just looks slightly different, with the wheel located more to the middle of the case because of the difference in the placement of the rear camera between the two phones. Note that the sample shots below are taken with an iPhone. Tsk, tsk. Lazy Holga.

Snap open your browser and head to Holga’s online shop to order the lens filter case. It’s a bit more expensive than the iPhone version at $28 (USD).

[via Engadget]

This low-tech solution to adding a close-up lens to your smartphone is definitely interesting. The Macro Cell Lens Band allows you to easily mount a tiny convex lens onto your phone, thanks to the included elastic band, which can stretch up to a diameter of 16 inches. This means it will also work on tablets, but hopefully it won’t snap easily.

Once attached, it provides the ability to grab sharp images of stuff just inches from your phone, though they do blur and distort towards the edges, as you can see in the example images below:

Photojojo sells the Macro Cell Lens Band for $15 (USD).

The iPhone Lens Dial is a photo-enhancing tool made out or aircraft-grade aluminum. It also doubles as a case. It works for both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. It has dual tripod mounts, and a wheel attachment that allows you to spin through three different lenses. There’s a 0.33x fisheye lens, 0.7x wide-angle lens, and a 1.5x telephoto lens.

In case you hadn’t heard, the iPhone 4S is quickly becoming the most popular camera on Flickr, thanks to its impressive image quality and portability – so this will definitely be useful for some people who use their iPhone as their main way to take snapshots.

Other than its rather ridiculous looks, the only real problem with this thing is the price. The iPhone Lens Dial sells for $249 (USD) over at Photojojo, making it nearly as expensive as the iPhone itself.

The case installs easily onto your iPhone 4 or 4S. Once its fitted, you have access to 9 different and crazy effects, without the need to access any specialized software or apps. And since these are actual optical filters, they can be used in concert with any picture-taking app.

The filters are on a wheel designed to look like an old school rotary phone dial, with settings which produce colored vignettes, multiple images, macro shots or other photo distortion effects.

The Holga lens filter case comes available in a variety of colors and sells for $24.99 (USD) directly from Holga.

[via NOTCOT]

The adapter goes on the front of the camera and gives the videoographer back the ability to control aperture when shooting. The downside to this adapter is that it doesn’t work with autofocus. However, since it is aimed at video vs. still shooting, that isn’t such a big deal. You have to manually focus for video most of the time anyway.

The adapter has a little screen on it that allows you to control the lens aperture, instead of from the camera body. The LiveLens adapter looks pretty cool and you can buy one right now if you can stomach the $442.50 (introductory) retail price.

[via Wired]

Each of the three glasses holds a standard 1.5-ounce shot just like you would get in a typical U.S. single shot glass.

Each of the glasses is made from ceramic and look like tiny Canon EF 24-105mm lenses. You can also use the shot glasses for things like holding paper clips and change if you want. They come in a gift box for helping the special photo geek in your life get the shot they really need.

The little shot glasses come three to a package for $18 (USD). These glasses are out of stock right now, but I bet more will be coming so keep your eyes peeled on Photojojo.

[via Laughing Squid]

If you have a small room, the Zoom for Kinect will reduce the distance you need to stand back from the Kinect by up to 40%. The Zoom needs no drivers or power to operate. The device has a ship date of August 23 and as of now; you can pre-order it at Amazon.

Amazon is selling the device for $29.99 (USD). You can also pre-order at other retailers or just wait until the 23 of the month and you might be able to find it in retail stores. I suspect this will be a very popular accessory for Kinect fans.

However, now tilt-shift photos are easy for anyone to take, thanks to this handy tilt-shift point-and-shoot camera.

The guys over at the always awesome Photojojo dug up this cool pocket-cam called the NeinGrenze 5000T, which has a built-in tilted lens rig, which creates not only tilt-shift images, but video as well. Images shot with the camera’s cheap 5 megapixel sensor have  a cool lo-fi look to them, including some pretty dramatic fringing to really give your pics some style. It also has a few other color effect modes built in, but it’s the tilt-shift lens that really makes it shine.

The tilt-shift images shown here were all shot with the NeinGrenze camera, and I have to say they look pretty great. They certainly look way better than any tilt-shift images I’ve managed to make with iPhone apps or Photoshop plug-ins which claim to create such effects. I guess there’s still something to be said for real-world optics.

Another thing I do like is that it offers shutter speeds from 1/4 to 1/3000th of a second and offers exposure control. The rest of the camera’s specs are pretty basic – a 2.4″ LCD display, built in-flash, 8x digital zoom. Best part about the tilt-shift camera is that it’s pretty reasonably priced. It sells for $149.99 over at Photojojo, and starts shipping later this month.

[via The Awesomer]

The Leica Lens Holder M screws into the tripod mount. So you can have one lens on the camera itself and another one in reserve. The placement of the second lens also makes it useful as a handle:

Leica even suggests that “the setup could even be used as a miniature tripod.” That’s one expensive – and fragile – tripod.

You can order the Leica Lens Holder M from Amazon for $200 (USD). And get a tripod if you still don’t have one before you’re tempted to use your lens as a substitute.

[via PetaPixel]

The geeks over at LensRentals who entertained us with that lens with 50 UV filters attached last month came up with the idea for this camera lens chess set. As the story goes, a couple workers were in a new warehouse waiting for people to show up to connect some utilities and decided to use some tiles they found to kill some time.

They also had some lenses sitting in the warehouse so the thing that came to mind was a chess set. The white lenses are Canon and the black are Nikon. You can even rent the chess set if you feel the need but it’s not cheap. The lens chess set rents for $9,221 per week and the shipping runs into the thousand-dollar range. One can only imagine how much it would cost to purchase it.

Before you jump for joy, remember that the iPhone’s 5-megapixel sensor is pretty paltry, so don’t expect to take DSLR-quality photos with it. However, it might come in handy if you want to have a bit of fun. Honestly though, if you’re carrying along these big lenses, might as well just carry along your DSLR. The only reason would be to give the iPhone some more visual control, and for its instant sharing options.

The lens mount is selling for $249 (USD) and will ship in August from Photojojo. At that price, you might be better off spending the money on another lens for your DSLR.

You can get the lens cushions from a company called Plushtography. They are made from fleece material and felt. I suspect that felt would be as itchy as a pillow made from cat hair. The pillows come in three different versions including the Canon 24-105mm pillow that is the largest one available. The other two are smaller and designed to look like a Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.

All three of the pillows have the correct markings on them from the real lenses. You can order them up now directly from Plushtography with the big pillow costing $80 (USD) and the smaller ones going for $35. Where is the giant DSLR body pillow to go with these lenses?

[via Trendhunter]

The Pentax Q series camera has a 12.4MP resolution image sensor and uses a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor. Pentax says this is a new category compared to normal point-and-shoots, APS-C, and micro four thirds cameras. The sensor is backlit to allow for better light gathering. That means you will be able to get clearer photos in all light conditions. The camera uses a new Q mount for lenses. That also means you will need all new lenses though if you are moving from another camera system.

The camera has a bunch of user DSLR-esque shooting modes, and has a lightweight magnesium alloy body. The camera has a number of effects modes such as HDR integrated and a quick dual on the front for adjusting settings. It can shoot 1080p full HD video at 30fps and has a sensor shift shake reduction system with integrated dust reduction tech. It’s not cheap though. The camera will ship in early fall for $800 (USD) and the optional viewfinder is $249.95.

The cats over at LensRentals are though, and they have a slew of filters that the sell and are returned. They clean them up on occasion and then do who knows what with them. Apparently, the last time they cleaned filters they ended up with a stack of 50 of the bad boys, and screwed them all together. I wonder what the guy is compensating for with such a long lens? A short umm… exposure? That lens has enough UV filters to keep a vampire from bursting into flames.

They even took some photos with all those filters in place. The picture of the building with 890 on it is the result. The bottom is with the filters and the top is without. My pics tend to look like that bottom one by accident, only I generally have a finger in the shot too.

If you want to use your Kinect in a smaller space, what you need is the new Zoom Play Range Reduction Lens for Kinect from Nyko. This is a slip on lens contraption for your Kinect that allows you to play 40% closer to the TV and still have accurate tracking with the Kinect. That is perfect and will let me stand in roughly the center of the room when I play the Kinect with my kids.

There is no software needed and Nyko claims that you don’t have to adjust the device to use it. The Zoom clips to the Kinect to stay in place when it moves around. You can pick the Zoom up for $29.99(USD) and actually start using the Kinect if your room is too small for the thing right out of the box.

My wife loses the lens cap every time she uses the camera, which is one of the reasons she is banned from using my gear. If you have issues keeping up with your lens cap and want something to keep the cap right on your neck strap this simple and ingenious device might be perfect. It simply called the Camera Lens Cap Holder and it is designed by Mark Stevenson.

There will be several models to fit the caps of all sorts of vintage and new, Nikon, Canon, and other cameras. All you need to do is thread your neck strap through the holder and then clip you lens cap onto it and no more losing the cap. Mark is seeking $3,900 in pledges over on Kickstarter to cover the costs for the molds for injecting plastic to form the lens cap holders. The project already has over $2,000 pledged right now and 14 days to go. Pledge at least $15, and you’ll get one for yourself.