Photography

In late October, a massive fire completely destroyed the AKM parts factory in Japan. While mostly responsible for A/V parts manufacture, speculation that it could affect the camera industry popped up a few weeks later. A new notice of camera parts shortage from Sony appears to confirm that link. Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) is responsible for producing parts that are critical to the production…

It’s common for photo writers to state, “A 100mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera has the equivalent reach of 200mm on full frame”. While the field of view is equivalent to 200mm FF, the reach is not necessarily equivalent. To understand reach, the important metric is pixel density or pixels per mm. You can calculate this for any sensor by dividing the width in pixels by the width in…

Asus recently took top honors in a smartphone camera showdown, but the company is still pushing new grounds. An ultrasonic button technology from Sentons, and already implemented in an Asus phone, is poised to bring a virtual shutter button to smartphones next year. With Sentons technology, smartphone manufacturers will be able to integrate nearly invisible buttons onto the sides of the device…

In November, Google announced that it was removing easy access to its unlimited photo storage option in Google Photos. Sensing blood in the water, Verizon has launched an unlimited storage option in its own competitor cloud service. Verizon is known more as a data provider than a purveyor of any tangible product, but the company appears to be spreading its wings a bit in the wake of Google’s…