Category Archives: Accessories

Add on accessories for the iPhone

Fujifilm now offering wireless pocket instant printer for iPhone

I covered the little wireless printer from LG that I have been carrying (LG Introduces An iPhone Bluetooth Version Of The Polaroid ZINK Pocket Printer). It has proven to work nicely, with the ZINK paper creating nearly indestructible long life ‘little’ prints that have proven nice to share or review how the printed photo will look.

Now, Fuji is jumping in with its Instax technology. If you remember the Polaroid cameras that pushed out the square framed pictures which developed in minutes, same thing, just smaller. Both the ZINK and Instax technologies are from the folks at Polaroid many years ago, but both have been updated and work nicely in today’s connected world.

For the Fujifilm Instax Share SP-1, it is more than just portable wireless printing. The device actually lets multiple people connect to it (via a free app) and print. Great fun at parties and gatherings. Using the app, some tuning can be done to the image prior to printing, then just send it and out pops a photo that literally develops right in your hand. The finished product is about the size of a business card. It’s the same film/printing that comes out of the Fujifilm Instax cameras (love my Mini 90 Neo Classic).

The Fujifilm Instax Share is portable, it is a bit big to put in your front pant pocket. There are colorful carry bag options, sold separately, as is the wall power plug. The printer comes with CR2 batteries (required 2) which Fuji says is good for 100 prints (printers are 10 per pack). The batteries are readily available and will set you back about a couple bucks a piece when needed.

While the device has yet to be delivered, I am familiar with the Instax prints which are pretty clear. The printer shows that it will be available June 1, but Lomography has brought a few over to the US to make available now. Their pricing isn’t much more than what folks are buying directly off the shelf in Japan so it’s nice to see no ‘limited quantity’ price gouging is going on.

I’ll post up some photos of the device and prints when it gets here in a day or two.

FujiFilm Instax Share

New 3 in 1 Lens Pack from OlloClip for Serious Macro Photography

OlloClip is well known for their double sided 3 in 1 lens accessory for the iPhone 4/4s and 5/5s. The units are different between the two due to the camera on the 5/5s being slightly off center from the round of the iPhone’s outer edge. The 3 in 1 that OlloClip has been shipping has 10x multiplier Macro, Fish Eye and Wide Angle lenses. I see that there has just been the release of the same trio for the iPhone 5c now too.

The news here is for the iPhone photographer that wants more power to do their Macro photography. Stepping beyond the 3 in 1 that OlloClip has been shipping which had one Macro lens, the new addition to the product line is a clip that contains 3 different Macro lenses! Now there is the option of  7x Macro, 14x Macro, and 21x Macro all built into one clip. Included with the clip is snap on shades to help avoid reflected light glare.

Shipping is soon so when one gets here I’ll post up examples of how the world around me looks really close up.

01 olloclip macro 02 olloclip macro 03 olloclip macro

iPhone Photographers Print Without The Need Of A Computer

After a photograph is captured with the iPhone, there are many ways to share the image with others via social share or cloud storage. While, it’s a very digital world now for photos, there is still a need to be able to print the photos too. Most people will sync their iPhone photo library to a computers which can then print, but that can be a limited line of thinking when the iPhone allows so much mobility.

I have covered a couple printers in the past that I have and use regularly. Along with physical mobile printing options, there are also online printing services available to use with the need of a computer. Everyone knows to think through both price and portability of the printing solution. First on my list though is the resulting image print. What the prints will be used for will impact the final choice.

Jumping right to the point, here is a snapshot of a few of the printing outputs available for the iPhone –

iPhone prints

A: The wireless CP900 from Canon. The prints are the size of a postcard, with the option to print full bleed or with a boarder. The paper is either Canon Branded back or with a mailing postcard marking (text area, address area and stamp box). Printing involves the paper automatically passing through the printer 4 times to layer the colors and protective surface on.

B and B: Two examples of printing through the LG PD233. It is the most portable printer being barely larger than the iPhone, using bluetooth, and the ZINK active paper. Kids love being able to have a little print right away from something that fits in a pocket (takes about a minute). QR barcode can automatically be added if the image is also uploaded to a social share service.

C: Just for reference, a real Polaroid print from a OneTouch Land Camera.

D: Printic service printed. The service charges less than a dollar per print uploaded from the iPhone, the service prints and mails in a nice envelope. Text can be added to the photo via the app too. The quality is very nice, but it isn’t instant gratification.

E: StickyGram is an online printing service. This is an example of their Instagram magnets (9 different per sheet). It can be accessed via the iPhone browser. The magnets are only one of the many printings that are offered using a person’s Instagram photos.

F: Another ‘for example’, this is an print from the current Polaroid camera, like the Canon uses Zink paper.

G: Not shown, Prinstagram has an iPhone app (called Print Studio) to select the print size and format (small/large cards and small/large photo books) and photos. They offer as many print sizes and formats as there is examples above. Again, not for instant gratification but provides a nice quality product.

If I’m going to use a flash with my iPhone, it has to be cool, but still have warm light too

Alright, having a ‘must be seen with’, cool, flash isn’t really on my checklist. In fact, a little less cool on the light end and more towards ‘warm’ light would be nice.

What would this flash have to have?

Mobile – it has to be small enough to carry with me. I don’t carry a bag when buzzing around town and that is usually when a dark subject matter could use some fill in light.

Less wires – best would be wireless, at the minimum I need manageable wires that I don’t have to wind up and unwind constantly. The flash needs to be able to get away from the iPhone.

Warm light – not just a big bunch of dumb LEDs that blast the subject with white white light. A warmer light is what most of my shots could use. Maybe adjustable would be a bonus since warm isn’t always best, but definitely cold white is not a 100% solution.

Battery life – I don’t mind the iPhone sharing a bit of power if the flash has to be wired, but the flash can’t rob me of hours of iPhone battery time. Best would be the flash has it’s own battery, rechargeable without the need of a special charger/cable.

Price – Affordable. Since I will be traveling around with this flash in my every day life, I really don’t need a flash that is close to the price of my iPhone! I don’t mean ‘cheap’, I mean reasonably priced for the technology, not for the novelty.

It’s a basic list, but the list is a tall order to fill it would appear since I have been challenged to find something that hits the whole list. Which brings me to the reason for this post, I seem to have stumbled on a hardware solution, the Nova. Take my above list and check everything as ‘included’, and towards the wish list side also, not just the minimum required.

Nova stand alone

Have not heard of the Nova? No, you wont find it at your local Photographers mall store, or even online. It’s one of those Kickstarter projects. Which means – while it’s cool and everything looks like it’s a must have, the earliest one will be in my hands will be early next year.

Mobile, it’s the outside dimensions of a credit card and thinner than a iPhone!

nova size with iPhone5

Less wires… it’s Bluetooth 4 wireless, working with iPhones and iPads.

Warm light is available as is cold, the flash is actually adjustable via the free iPhone app. Which means that to use the Nova flash, you have to use a special app. While my first reaction was “how limiting”, a second thought was that it makes sense since the built-in camera app wouldn’t know to tell a Bluetooth device to strobe a light source.

nova app 1

nova app 2

Battery life is a surprise on the little Nova. The folks creating this solutions say that the lithium ion polymer battery is good for weeks of stand by, with up to 150 flashes. Win for me also is charging is done via a USB Micro B connector.

Finally, Price – when I discovered the project, all of the early adapter $49 priced options where used up. The Nova flash is now available for a $54 pledge. I wonder if this will be a stand alone solution or will others ‘see the light’ and start building similar. I’m looking forward to lessening the wish for more light when the subject calls for a bit of fill.

image with novaAll images in this post are credited to the creators of the Nova wireless iPhone flash

 

Using Binoculars As A Telephoto Lens For Your iPhone 5

Here is an interesting find I came across over on ThinkGeek’s Web site. No need to carry a special telephoto lens set up for your iPhone to get closer to those far away shots. A particularly handy option if you are vacationing and already carrying binoculars. The description says Included is an adapter for iPhone 4, 4S and 5… which I doubt. The thickness difference between the 4 and 5 bodies has meant that sleeves work on one of the other. Either they have gotten creative with their adapter, or the title is correct that this is for the iPhone 5, while the text was from an earlier product.

Either way, the idea is a great way to avoid having to haul a lot of extra equipment and still get photos in a wide variety of situations.

01 Binocular adapter iphone

02 Binocular adapter iphone

LG Introduces An iPhone Bluetooth Version Of The Polaroid ZINK Pocket Printer

I outlined the fun I’m having with the Canon wireless printer earlier (Canon SELPHY CP900 Wireless Printer and an iPhone is my modern Polaroid). While the printer is small and has an optional battery pack, it isn’t ‘pocket’ size. Polaroid introduced ink free printing with their ZINK paper. I played with it on my Polaroid Z2300 Camera/Printer… a boxy camera that has the option to print any photos you choose directly on paper cards inside of the camera. Polaroid also has a line of printers using the same technology, the CZA (often called the Pogo at local stores like BestBuy). Bad news for iOS device users is that the printer only supports Android devices.

01 Polaroid ZINK Printer

In a magazine out of the UK, I noticed that LG said they were producing a line of ZINK based Pocket Printers. When I looked around, I found on Amazon two models available, the PD221 and PD233. Both of these printers claim they are for Android only, like the Polaroid manufactured version.

02 LG Pocket Printer for the iPhone

Visiting LG’s site, I found that LG is showing the PD233 now works with iOS devices via their free universal app! It would appear we can now send photos from our iPhones (and iPads) to the LG PD233 for printing via Bluetooth.

03 LG Pocket Printer iPhone

The iOS app does allow for some editing, stamps, sharing on Social sites, and adding QR codes. Uh, QR codes? Yup, use the app to upload a photo to Facebook, then print that photo with your LG Pocket Printer to include a QR code for people to jump from the Printed version to the online version.

A few facts from the LG Product page:

  • Bluetooth – Yes
  • Micro USB – Yes
  • USB Host – Yes
  • NFC Tag – Yes
  • Resolution – 640 x 1224 pixels
  • Print speed – 40sec/ Per paper
  • Battery type – Li-Polymer(7.4V , 500mA)
  • Charge time – 1 and 30 hour
  • Print number – 20sheet (After fully charge, connect BT) 15sheet (After fully charge, connect USB)
  • Printer size (W x H x D) – 72.4 x 120.9 x 24.0 mm

Androids have the ability to send to the printer via a tap using NFC, I wonder if iOS7 might get an upgrade to include the PD233 in their options to ‘send to’.

Canon SELPHY CP900 Wireless Printer and an iPhone is my modern Polaroid

Why did we love our Polaroid cameras? It was the experience and the instant gratification of seeing the photo in a time that everyone else had to go to the local shop to get their film developed and printed. The ability to share a printed version of a photo just taken. While the sharing of a print with others quickly following the taking of the photo, the Polaroid experience has the limitation of there being only one copy of the photo… and you just gave it away!!

Trying to mimic some of the fun, I have been playing with a variety of printers. There are a lot of ink printers available on the market. Many are very inexpensive, until it comes time to buy the ink cartridges. Most printers also use a single cartridge for all colors (Black gets it’s own cartridge). This means that you have to buy a cartridge if any of the colors gets used completely. This drives up the ‘per print’ cost when partially used cartridges are getting thrown away. Also, printers are generally for printing a 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper so they are much larger than needed for a small photo print.

Over the recent holidays, a new smaller square printer appeared all of the gadget stores. It came with a 30 pin connector on top so a person can print their iPhone stored photos. After playing with one at a store, I could see the value, except I have no interest is having to dock my iPhone to the printer. It’s a wireless world!

Enter, the Canon SELPHY CP900. A wireless printer that prints to 4 x 6 paper that lasts for 100 years… and the prints are water resistant too! Printing with a iOS or Android device requires the use of a free Canon app which does have some limitations but gets the job done in under a minute.

01 CP900 for iPhone

The CP900 is pretty small, just 7″ x 5″ x 2.7″. Along with connecting to wireless network, there is a SD card slot and a USB plug. Power is provided by an included wall plug, or an upgrade external battery power supply. A small pop up LCD screen allows for managing of printing from the SD card, the USB is handy for mobile or desktop connections. I’m only using via the wireless capability.

02 CP900 for iPhone

The printer has some uniqueness in it’s paper and ‘ink’. The paper comes from Canon where the front and back edges are removable via perforated lines. The extra paper is for the printer to pull the paper in. The reason for there being the extra on both ends is because of the printing method Canon has chosen to use. The ‘ink’ is a canister of ‘film’. The CP900 pulls in the paper from the front and pushes out the back. The print paper is pulled towards the front, where a single color (starts with Yellow) is applied to the paper. The page is returned automatically to the back of the printer then fed to the front to have another color applied, happening 4 times, all in about 40 seconds. Since the multi color film in the cartridge has to advance at a rate to handle each pass of the paper, this means there is an exact amount of the film to print each page. The card paper comes with ‘Canon’ printed on the back or a specialized version that has been printed to use as a postcard. A bulk pack has three color film cartridges and 108 4×6 papers for less than $30… which means there is a cost of 28 cents per print, no more, no less.

03 CP900 for iPhone

So, I am mobile with my iPhone, and I can print quickly to share with those that like paper photo prints. Just for fun, there is always apps like ‘Instant’ that lets me frame my print to look just like a Polaroid snapshot.

04 CP900 for iPhone

Adding a camera grip to your iPhone for effective one hand photography

Back in July 2011, there was a Kickstarter Project for ‘Red Pop’. Named after the red headed photographer father of one of the designers, the project successfully funded at over double the requested funds. The hardware was pretty nifty. It snapped over the connector end of an iPhone 4 body, providing a large shutter button when using the specialized photography app. Recently, I visited the site that was selling/shipping the Red Pop, Beep Industries. Interesting, the site says the company has shut down. Yet, the rest of the products the group offered, iPhone/iPad stands, is now available called Everything Beep, near same logo, but no Red Pop.

01 Red Pop iPhone

What brought Red Pop to mind was when I found another iPhone camera grip on Kickstarter. Snappgrip is less about cute fun and more about mimicking the look and feel of a camera. The project is already successfully funded but wont end till January 28th so at the time of this writing there is still time to get in at the pre-order lower pricing. Though, the project is out of the UK so funding is not in US Dollars and the system requires a credit card rather than payment through Amazon like the US Kickstarter projects.

02 Snappgrip iPhone

The Snappgrip doesn’t snap onto the raw iPhone to use the sync connector. Instead, the handle attaches to a case for either the iPhone 4 or 5 communicating via Bluetooth. It also carries a rechargeable battery charged through a micro USB connector on the bottom next to the stand by switch and tripod mount. The controls on the handle allow for half press focus, full press shutter, flash on/off and zoom. The Snappgrip seems like a nice add on device for the serious iPhone photographer. I’ll do a follow up review when I have one in hand to use around town.

03 Snappgrip iPhone

04 Snappgrip iPhone

Joby iPhone stand for still photography

I have played with a variety of grips for the iPhone in an attempt to produce better shots where the camera needs to avoid movement. The most popular ones are either cases that must stay on the iPhone or a edge mount that wont work with my iPhone since I have a thin vinyl protection sticker on the back. So, I set out with a friend to do our own with the help of our million friends on Kickstarter. About the time we were doing the video, the Joby GripTight was found. The expandable frame that will work with about any iPhone is really close to what we thought we would be cool, so we bought a couple Joby unites.

For this weekend, if your thinking you may need a mount for your iPad, Joby is offering 20% off!

There are three different versions of the GripTight kit available. All of them use the same ‘grip’ feature, but each have their own stand to best suite your needs. The little fold up tripod fits in about any bag so it’s handy when the need pops up.

A lot of others call these flexible three legged stands, Guerrillas. Great for those times you need to hold your iPhone to a pole or tree. The legs are much longer than on the solid tripod above.

If you already have a favorite tripod you may have for other equipment, GripTight is available with a standard mount on the bottom without being attached to an included tripod.

KLYP iPhone Accessories for the serious photographer

There are many fun accessories for the iPhone to give it help with photography. You can clip on lenses, add a case that protects the iPhone in all weather or clip on a edge so the iPhone can mount to a tripod. The KLYP package makes all of that look like entry level options.

When looking over the KLYP options, you may ask yourself if it would be easier to just carry a regular digital camera that has much of this built in. If you prefer using your trusty iPhone 4/4s, then these accessories will put the iPhone over the edge into the land of enhancements for noticeably better shots.

KLYP offers a case that has two mounting areas: one for a tripod and one for a light attachment. The tripod isn’t included in the packages so you have to add that one or use the one you already have. The lighting isn’t a flash, rather a high power LED group that comes in a variety of sizes (available separately or with the package).

Do you ‘need’ this set up? Most likely it is way more than the average snapshot needs. But, if your doing close ups or video, these should make a marked improvement. Price wise though, the parts add up pretty quickly… as does any professional camera equipment.