MacMegasite

There are a lot of photography applications for the iPhone, but none as beautiful and unique as Hipstamatic. Instead of going for high-quality images with perfect color, it emulates a vintage plastic toy camera that lets you produce some amazing & striking artistic effects.

Hipstamatic has several built-in lenses & film types, and a standard flash. You can buy additional packs of lenses, film, and flash options. The lens controls the color, vignettes, blurring, and saturation. The film determines the border effect, and the flash can add a color cast.

Hipstamatic looks just like a vintage toy camera. You look through the viewfinder and press the yellow button to take a shot. The slider below the viewfinder activates the flash with a realistic sound effect. To change the lens, film, or flash flip the camera over using the arrow icon in the bottom right. The square icon in the bottom left lets you see the picture you just took and post it to FaceBook or email it. The full resolution picture is also saved to your camera roll, although it doesn’t let you open existing photos to add effects.

The resulting photos are amazing, with a grungy discolored or blurred appearance.

If you enjoy photography, buy Hipstamatic. It’s a lot of fun and can turn your photos into a work of art. You can seel lots of great Hipstamatic photos on Flickr.

Eye-Fi Inc. has developed what it says is the next generation Eye-Fi experience, which includes an entirely new platform and more flexible sharing options. The 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 is powered by Eye-Fi’s proprietary X2 engine.

Photo enthusiasts will benefit from increased storage capacity, Class 6 performance for faster read/write speeds, faster-than-ever wireless photo and video uploads and increased Wi-Fi range, according to Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. Eye-Fi Pro X2 users will also benefit from a new feature, Endless Memory mode, which enables the Eye-Fi card to automatically make space available after photos and videos are uploaded. Last, Eye-Fi is introducing Eye-Fi Center, a new desktop application that gives users more options in sharing their digital memories.

The Eye-Fi Pro X2 wirelessly uploads JPEG and RAW images and videos from the camera to computer and one of 25 online photo and video sharing sites, such as Flickr, Picasa or Facebook. It also allows users to create an ad hoc connection directly to their computer to wirelessly upload photos and videos while away from a wireless router. Or users can upload away from home at more than 10,000 Wayport and open hotspots. Pro X2 automatically geotags photos with information about where the images were taken.

It is available for pre-order at Eye-Fi and at Amazon.com for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of US$149.99.

Our sponsor B&H Photo is offering the Nikon D90 with the Nikkor 18-200mm VR II lens for $1,367.45 until Dec. 31. This is a great price for an excellent camera & lens combination which I use myself. The D90 normally sells for $1199 with a 18-105mm lens, and the 18-200mm lens normally sells for around $800.

Until now, if you used an Eye-Fi card that supports sharing, you had only two options: Upload all photos to your sharing site and to your computer, or upload only selected photos both to your sharing site and to your computer. Now you have a third option with Selective Sharing: Upload only selected photos to your sharing site, while transferring all photos to your computer.

Selective Sharing is available immediately to all Eye-Fi cards that support sharing by simply updating your Eye-Fi Manager software.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Oct. 28, 2009 — Among consumers who share videos online with friends and family, nearly half do so on Facebook, according to the Consumer Electronics Association’s 2009 report Digital Imaging – A Focus on Sharing. So today, Eye-Fi Inc., makers of the world’s first wireless memory card for digital cameras, announced that Eye-Fi users can now wirelessly upload videos from their camera directly to Facebook without even turning on a computer. And users can now alert Facebook friends via newsfeed updates anytime they upload photos or videos to more than 25 sharing sites.

“We make sharing videos with friends and family as easy as possible, so memories are fresh and relevant when they hit the Web,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “Facebook is clearly a favorite site to share videos and we’ve made it effortless to do so, just in time for Halloween, one of our users’ most popular memory sharing holidays.”

In celebration of the Facebook uploads and Halloween, Eye-Fi today launched “The Eye-Fi Haunted Video Contest.” Beginning today, people can upload their best Halloween moment captured on video through the Eye-Fi Facebook page for a chance to win an Eye-Fi Share Video card and Eye-Fi connected Casio camera. Contestants can invite members of their social network to vote for the best video and on Friday, November 13 the winner will be announced.  For more information and the full rules, visit http://www.eye.fi/halloweencontest. Check out the videos at http://www.youtube.com/eyeficard.

Eye-Fi’s complete line-up of wireless SD memory cards range in price from $49-$149 and are available at www.eye.fi, in store at Apple Retail Stores and Best Buy locations, and at major online retailers such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com. The 4GB Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Explore Video cards can upload photos and videos directly to the computer and to one of more than 25 online photo and video sharing sites. The Eye-Fi Explore Video card automatically geotags photos with location information about where the moment was captured, and offers hotspot access from more than 10,000 Wayport and open hotspot locations in the U.S. to upload away from home.

Eye-Fi has received numerous product awards including Good Housekeeping’s V.I.P. award in 2009 and “Last Gadget Standing” at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the second year in a row. For more information, please visit www.eye.fi.

About Eye-Fi

Founded in 2005, Eye-Fi is dedicated to building products and services that help consumers manage, nurture and share their visual memories. Eye-Fi’s patent-pending technology wirelessly and automatically uploads photos and videos from digital imaging devices, including digital cameras and the iPhone, to online, in-home and retail destinations. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., the company’s investors include LMS Capital, Opus Capital, Shasta Ventures and TransLink Capital. More information is available at www.eye.fi.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 27, 2009 — Eye-Fi Inc. today announced that its Eye-Fi Manager software enables all Eye-Fi cards, both new and existing, to work seamlessly with Apple’s newly released Snow Leopard operating system. All Eye-Fi cards integrate seamlessly with Mac products like iPhoto ‘09, ‘08, the iPhone and MobileMe.

“We think one of the reasons so many Eye-Fi users are also Mac users is our shared value for a great user experience and simplicity” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “Snow Leopard’s ease of use and power are the reasons why it is so important to ensure that our entire family of cards let users make the most of their memories, and their Mac.”

Eye-Fi has embraced its Mac following by developing wireless memory cards that seamlessly integrate with Apple products and features. The Eye-Fi Geo ($59) is the newest addition to the Eye-Fi product family and is now available in all Apple stores and online. It includes lifetime geotagging and lets users wirelessly upload photos straight to Apple’s iPhoto or a folder on the computer. iPhoto ’09’s “Places” will plot automatically geotagged photos on a digital map for a richer experience and lets users search and sort photos by location. Users can also effortlessly share images online with MobileMe or on 20 other online photo sharing sites by enabling the WebShare service for $9.99/year.

Eye-Fi also offers an application for the iPhone, which wirelessly uploads photos from your iPhone to the Web and into iPhoto, or organized folders on a computer. Users can aggregate all of their photos – from both an iPhone and their digital camera – to manage and share photos in one place, regardless of which device captured the shot. The app is a free download exclusively for Eye-Fi users and is available on the App Store.

Eye-Fi’s complete line-up of wireless SD and SDHC memory cards range in price from $49-$149 and are available at www.eye.fi, in store at Apple Stores and Best Buy locations, and at major online retailers such as Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Costco.com.

Eye-Fi cards have won numerous Mac product awards, including “Best of Show” at Macworld 2008 and The Mac Observer’s “Editors’ Choice Award 2008” at Macworld. For more information, please visit www.eye.fi/apple, or follow Eye-Fi on Twitter @EyeFiCard.

About Eye-Fi

Founded in 2005, Eye-Fi is dedicated to building products and services that help consumers navigate, nurture and share their visual memories. Eye-Fi’s patent-pending technology works with Wi-Fi networks to automatically send photos and videos from a digital camera to online, in-home and retail destinations. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., the company’s investors include LMS Capital, Opus Capital, Shasta Ventures and TransLink Capital. More information is available at www.eye.fi.

Eye-Fi cards make transferring photos from your camera to your computer almost effortless. No more fussing with card readers or cables – you simply leave your camera on and let it send your photos wirelessly. Eye-Fi cards are available in several different versions to fit every need & budget and work with most cameras that use SD memory cards.

The Eye-Fi Geo is their newest version, available exclusively at Apple Stores with built-in geotagging support for iPhoto ’09’s places feature.

Like all Eye-Fi cards, the Geo is easy and painless to set up. You simply plug the reader into a USB port, drag the Eye-Fi manager application from the card to your application folder, and double-click it. The manager will open in your web browser to configure your card. If you already have a Wi-Fi card, you can add the new one to your account.

The first thing you need to do with your Eye-Fi card is to add your wireless network to it. The manager will then prompt you to remove the card, put it in your camera, and take a picture. Like magic, the picture will appear on your computer. You can then configure additional options, such as whether you want the pictures sent directly to iPhoto or to a folder on your computer.

The Eye-Fi Geo, like the $49 Eye-Fi Home, can only upload to your computer. Other Eye-Fi models can upload to a variety of photo sharing sites.

The Eye-Fi Geo card has a 2GB capacity, which makes it well suited for most point & shoot cameras. Several 4GB cards are available to provide extra storage for more advanced cameras. The 4GB cards also support video as well as photos.

Most new Nikon DSLRs, including the D90, have special support for the Eye-Fi card and will automatically adjust their power settings and let you enable or disable wireless uploading.

I especially like the Eye-Fi Pro in my D90 since it supports RAW images as well as JPEG. Since I’ve been using the Eye-Fi card, I almost never take it out of my camera or use a card reader. I simply let it send the photos wirelessly to a folder on my computer. I then import the photos into Aperture where I can make any necessary adjustments & upload them to Flickr.

This chart explains the differences between the Eye-Fi models:

Topaz Adjust is one of my favorite Photoshop plugins for enhancing & cleaning up images. With Topaz Fusion Express you can now use Topaz Adjust and other Topaz Labs plugins in Aperture.

Topaz Fusion Express is an image editing plugin that runs other Topaz Labs plugins including Adjust on selected photos. Topaz DeNoise and DeJPEG can be used to remove excessive noise and compression artifacts from poor quality photos. Topaz Simplify creates art effects such as line drawings or watercolors from your photos, and Topaz Clean smoothes and manipulates details.

Topaz Adjust gives many options for enhancing images and adding stunning effects. Adjust can enhance details, contrast, color, and exposure for a more natural appearance or for extreme effects.

In this photo, I used Topaz Adjust to emphasize the storm clouds.

Before

After

Here’s Topaz Adjust’s Color Blast preset for a more extreme effect

Before

After

Other presets let you sharpen or soften details, fix the exposure, and adjust the color. You can also manipulate all of the settings manually and create your own presets.

I received my production model Eye-Fi Pro card today, after beta testing it for a few months.

Unlike earlier Eye-Fi cards, the Eye-Fi Pro supports RAW files as well as JPEGs and movies, which is great for anyone using a DSLR who likes to shoot RAW. Since it’ a 4GB card, it will hold 256 RAW files from my Nikon D90 or 1000 JPEGs. The Eye-Fi Pro also lets you set up an ad-hoc network with your computer for peer-to-peer connections without a router or access point when you lack a WiFi network.

As a bonus, it also geotags your images, avoiding the need for a GPS attachment for your camera.

See my full set of unboxing photos here.

The Nikon D90 is one of the camera models with built-in Eye-Fi support. It recognizes an Eye-Fi card and sets its power management accordingly, to avoid shutting off while an upload is in progress. It also adds an item to the setup menu which allows you to enable or disable Eye-Fi wireless uploading.

Using this card has changed my photography workflow. Instead of shooting pictures, then removing the card and using a card reader to import them into Aperture, I just let it send the pictures wirelessly to a folder on my MacBook Pro, where I can then import them into Aperture.

When I import the photos into Aperture, I prefer to keep them in their original location, rather than copy them into the Aperture library, which saves some disk space by avoiding redundant copies. iPhoto also offers the same option when importing from local files rather than a camera or memory card.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 10, 2009 — Eye-Fi Inc. today unveiled the Eye-Fi Pro, a new wireless SDHC memory card for digital cameras that allows professionals and photo enthusiasts to automatically upload images straight from their camera to their computer and the Web. Available today, the Eye-Fi Pro includes RAW image support and peer-to-peer connectivity for a direct connection between the camera and a computer, no router or Internet connection required (also known as ad hoc).

Eye-Fi also announced today that all Eye-Fi card users can now select which photos or videos they want to wirelessly transfer from their camera to their computer or the Web, using the new Selective Transfer feature.

“People are engaged in photography at a deeper level than ever before. They have moved from being casual photographers to passionate enthusiasts, shooting in RAW for more extensive editing, adding geotags for a richer experience or using an online gallery to share their work,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “These people are looking for tools that advance the art of photography and make it more efficient – and the Eye-Fi Pro does both.”

About the Eye-Fi Pro

The Eye-Fi Pro lets users wirelessly upload more file types, including JPEG and RAW images and videos. The Eye-Fi Pro also allows users to create an ad hoc connection through their computer or other mobile device to wirelessly upload media files while away from a wireless router.

“The Eye-Fi Pro has streamlined my workflow. It lets me quickly upload files in the background while I continue my photo shoots. My clients can choose their best shots in near real time,” said Jeff Sockwell, an Eye-Fi Pro beta user and professional photographer who used Eye-Fi in a portrait session with more than 150 dance students. “I also have assurance that photos are automatically saved both on my computer and my Eye-Fi Pro.”

Like the Eye-Fi Explore Video, the new Eye-Fi Pro will automatically upload images and videos direct to more than 25 online photo and video sharing sites. It also lets users upload away from home at more than 10,000 Wayport and open hotspots, and will automatically geotag photos with information about where the images were taken. The Eye-Fi Pro is now available at Amazon.com and www.eye.fi for an MSRP of $149.

Selective Transfer

Also announced today is Eye-Fi’s newest feature, Selective Transfer, that gives users more control over which photos and videos to upload. Using the standard “protect” or “lock” feature in any camera’s menu, users can select which files to wirelessly upload. Any “protected” photo or video will automatically be uploaded, and all photos and videos will remain on the memory card until the user manually deletes them. Selective Transfer is free and available now for all Eye-Fi card users through the Eye-Fi Manager.

At the Leading Edge of Camera Technology – Eye-Fi Connected cameras

In effort to meet prosumers’ increasing camera feature set demands and widen wireless adoption, manufacturers are offering Eye-Fi card recognition and optimization. The Eye-Fi Connected camera features range from power setting optimization to on-camera notifications while photos and videos are wirelessly uploaded. These new cameras include Nikon’s latest model, the D5000 (which follows in the footstep of the already Eye-Fi Connected D60 and D90), as well as the entire spring line-up of Casio cameras, including the Casio EX-S12, Casio EX-S5, Casio EX-FS10, Casio EX-FC100 and Casio EX-Z29.

Eye-Fi’s complete line-up of wireless SD and SDHC memory cards range in price from $49-$149 and are available at www.eye.fi, in store at Apple Retail Stores and Best Buy locations, and at major online retailers such as Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Costco.com.

Eye-Fi has received numerous product awards including Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New” for 2008 and PC World’s “The 100 Best Products of 2008.”

For more information, please visit www.eye.fi, or follow Eye-Fi on Twitter @EyeFiCard.