Photographers love the freedom and flexibility of creating images, but when the shooting environment becomes complex, the folks behind the lens need all the help they can get. Hyper’s CameraMator, a wireless tethered photography device, lets you see and remotely control your shoot from a distance on an iPad, iPhone, Mac, or Android device.

Long in development as a Kickstarter project, CameraMator was released just in time for last week’s Macworld/iWorld with a $299 price tag. The CameraMator device attaches to your DSLR’s hotshoe or a tripod and the USB connection on your camera body (Canon and Nikon only). CameraMator uses Hyper’s iUSBport technology to wirelessly connect your DSLR’s USB ports with Wi-Fi mobile devices either via an existing Wi-Fi network or by creating its own network. When you shoot an image, the CameraMator sends the photo to your device, allowing you to review your shots on the larger screen. You can use it to share your photos and collaborate with remote colleagues and clients through the cloud.

The device works in conjunction with free apps for the Mac and iOS that are available on the Mac App Store and the iTunes store. The app features live viewing from the iPad or your Mac monitor, wireless camera control, instant image review, a 500-plus image buffer for continuous shooting, an intervalometer, HDR bracketing, a self timer, photo sharing to your laptop or iPad, and integration with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

CameraMator competes with a similar device called CamRanger, which was released a few months ago and offers extensive control over your camera function via a free app from an iPad or iPhone. An OS X application is still in the works.

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Thanks to the iPhone, many more of us have a camera in our pocket. But, like any art, great photography takes time. (Maybe not as much money wasted on roll upon roll of 35mm film, though.) That’s why we put together Macworld’s iPhone Photography Superguide, our attempt to help you glide through the rough patches and on to photographic stardom.

This book explains it all: The nitty-gritty bits of taking pictures, editing and sharing your work, and using third-party apps and accessories to move from mischief to mastery. Learn how your iPhone can quickly transform into a portable camera when you need it to, whether it’s buttons pulling double duty or app shortcuts built into iOS.

Discover how to take pictures in almost any situation using old photography tricks and tips. Decide how you’d like to edit, sort, and organize your images; we offer tips on the Photos app, iPhoto for iOS, and suggestions for third-party applications that can make your image-editing easier. And, if you want to see what other goodies can propel your iPhone to mobile photograph greatness, we’ve got just the thing with a roundup of the top iPhone photography accessories.

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The following article is excerpted from Digital Arts.

Canon on Monday debuted the EOS-1D C at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The EOS-1D C is a digital SLR with a video focus that supports in-camera 4K (4096-by-2160 pixel resolution) video recording with 4:2:2 color sampling.

4K video is recorded using 8-bit Motion JPEG compression at 24p, and full HD (1920 by 1080) video capture is available at frame rates up to 1080/60p. The camera supports internal recording to CF cards at all resolutions up to and including 4K, offering enhanced mobility. Video at 2K or below can also be output to external recorders via an integrated HDMI terminal using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.

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With the debut of the Nikon D4, Nikon has introduced its new flagship, full-frame DSLR camera. At 16.2 megapixels, this high-end professional model improves on the speed and accuracy of its predecessors by boosting image quality and low-light capability, adding full HD 1080p video recording to the mix, and offering a multitude of new features. Here are the highlights.

The camera sports a new Expeed 3 image processor, an expanded ISO range that auto adjusts based on lens focal length, and a burst mode of 10 fps in full frame format with continuous autofocus. It can shoot 200 frames continuously in normal JPEG mode.

The company employs its 51-point AF system to emphasize better focusing in low-light situations than its immediate predecessors, the D3 and D3s. You now get full autofocus at F8.0 or faster—an upgrade from F5.6 or faster in the previous flagship model. New controls make the camera easier and more convenient to operate, too: New joystick controls for the AF system and backlit controls on the camera aid usability in low-light shooting situations.

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The Pentax K-5 DSLR is engineered for serious enthusiast photographers who want a weatherproof camera with excellent image quality, but in a smaller package than most in its class. The K-5’s solid magnesium alloy/stainless steel chassis feels good in the hands, it’s easy to operate the buttons and dials, and the 16.3 MP images Pentax’s flagship camera captures are high quality, even at ISO settings up to 3200.

Physical features

Despite the K-5 body being smaller than the Canon 60D and Nikon D5000 (two of its peers), it features plenty of physical controls including a mode dial, front and back e-dials, metering switching lever, main switch, and a host of useful buttons to control ISO, exposure compensation, playback, and more. Buttons and dials are well marked and intuitive to use. However, the settings screen on 3-inch LCD definitely feels more complicated, and it requires a trip to the owners manual to get the most out of it.

Speaking of the 3-inch LCD, it supports 921,000 dots of resolution and provides an excellent view of images. The top LCD panel glows bright green when you tap the shutter release and is easy to read in all lighting conditions. The K-5’s various ports (HDMI, AV, DC power, remote release) are on the sides behind rubber covers. A nice touch is the microphone terminal that is protected by its own, separate cover. The K-5 uses SD memory cards and is compatible with SDXC.

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Canon’s entry-level EOS Rebel T3 is a step up from Canon’s popular XS DSLR, adding a bump up to a 12 megapixel sensor, a DIGIC 4 processor, longer battery life, higher ISO capabilities, improved autofocus and metering systems and the now ubiquitous video capture—a feature missing from the older XS. Its core functionality is very similar to its predecessor although the updated $600 (MSRP) model is even more user-friendly.

In keeping with Canon’s naming system, the T3 is a stripped down version of the higher end T3i—an 18 megapixel camera that offers faster performance, more advanced features such as manual aperture and shutter controls in HD video, sports an external microphone input, supports wireless flash, and is outfitted with a high resolution 3.0-inch articulating LCD. With price drops and sales on the T3i, there’s much less of a premium attached to the more sophisticated model. That said, both cameras are easy to use and produce good quality images.

Basics

Built around a 12 megapixel sensor, the Canon EOS Rebel T3 utilizes a DIGIC 4 processor and has an ISO range from 100-6400. It’s equipped with an optical viewfinder that’s clear, although a little dark, and provides 95 percent coverage. The 2.7-inch LCD, which is used for navigating menus, checking and adjusting settings, and shooting in Live View, offers a modest 230,000 pixel resolution and about 99 percent coverage. Neither the viewfinder nor the LCD are award-winning but are more than sufficient for everyday use.

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At heart, the Lumix DMC-GF2 ($700 as a kit with an optically stabilized 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 lens or a 14mm/F2.5 prime lens; price as of May 16, 2011) is a souped-up successor to the groundbreaking Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. The GF2 improves on the GF1's basic specs with a smaller, more streamlined body; higher-resolution, 1920-by-1080 60i video recording; higher ISO sensitivity (ISO 6400 versus ISO 3200); and compatibility with Panasonic's optional 3D conversion lens.

The most noticeable new feature in the GF2 is its 3-inch touchscreen, which provides significant benefits while you're shooting stills and video. Namely, it lets you use touch-to-focus controls like the ones you'll find on many smartphones—a powerful, versatile feature in a camera with the GF2's bigger sensor and swappable lenses. The camera's touchscreen interface is also customizable, so you can touch-access your favorite settings quickly, and the camera's aesthetic design is clean and uncluttered due to the lack of physical controls.

But the 3-inch touchscreen is also where this camera's problems start. A touchscreen simply isn't an effective substitute for some physical controls—most notably a mode dial—and menu navigation via the touchscreen can make you perform a lot of screen presses, smudging up the only native viewfinder the camera has as you go. You don't need to use the touchscreen for everything; if you don't use it, however, you still have to navigate a lot of menus via the camera's directional pad to access some important settings.

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The latest addition to Nikon’s expansive DSLR line, the 16 megapixel D5100, fits neatly between the entry-level D3100 ($700 with kit lens) and the more sophisticated D7000 ($1200 body only). An update to the 12 megapixel D5000, this new $800 model offers some features that may entice current D5000 owners to upgrade, including full 1080p HD video, a bigger and better articulating LCD screen, larger burst mode capacity, expanded ISO, full-time autofocus in video and Live View, and special effects for still and video capture.

Basic features

As expected, the D5100 employs manual, semi-manual, and auto exposure modes, along with 16 scene modes. Nikon’s Picture Control, presets for Landscape, Monochrome, Neutral, Portrait, Standard, and Vivid, with adjustable sharpness, contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue can be used in conjunction with program auto, semi-manual, and manual modes for fine-tuned image capture. Automatic distortion control, Active D-Lighting (which helps maintain details in shadows and highlights), Long Exposure, High ISO Noise Reduction, Multiple Exposure, Interval Shooting, and a new HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode are among the included standard options.

The D5100 is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor, measuring 5-by-3.8-by-3.1-inches and weighing 19.7 ounces (body only), and its body is well-balanced and comfortable to hold. As always, it’s recommended that you budget for the highest quality lens you can afford for the best results. However, the D5100 doesn’t have an AF motor, so you’ll need an AF-S lens with a built-in motor to use autofocus.

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Sony said Thursday it has been forced to postpone the launch of a new camera and cut production of another because a factory in Thailand has been affected by the widespread flooding there.

The company’s new NEX-7 high-end portable digital camera was due to be released next month in time for this year’s holiday season, but its launch has now been postponed indefinitely. Production of Its new SLR Alpha 65, which had already launched in some countries, has also been cut off. Several accompanying lens kits and headphone products have also been affected.

Months of heavy monsoon rains have flooded the central and northern portions of the country, killing more than 300 people, according to media reports. Tens of thousands more have been evacuated and Bangkok is now under threat, and hundreds of factories producing everything from cars to semiconductors have been swamped.

“Sony is currently shifting production to another unaffected factory in Thailand that normally makes car audio products, but there is no set date when production will start up again,” spokesman Yasuhiro Okada said.

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Canon has announced the Canon EOS-1D X DSLR, a high-speed, 18-megapixel camera that replaces the company’s EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS-1D Mark IV models. Aimed at professional photographers and cinematographers, Canon’s latest offering features increased speed, a brand new image sensor, a high density AF (auto focus) system, and more.

The camera's current list price is $6,800 (for body only) and it is scheduled for release in March 2012.

According to the company, the EOS-1D X represents a reinvention of the EOS-1D series. The camera includes three DIGIC image processors, including a new Dual DIGIC 5+ processor that works at 17 times the speed of its predecessor, the DIGIC 4. The camera’s 18-megapixel full-frame image sensor is also new to Canon’s EOS line, and utilizes large pixels for enhanced light gathering and less noise. Users can adjust between a huge ISO range—from 100 to 51,200, while extended ISO ranges from a low 50 to a super high 204,800.

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After Nikon’s unveiling, journalists left with early production units of the Nikon 1 J1 (the Nikon 1 V1 is still in preproduction) and a trio of lenses. I tested the J1 at a shoot set up by Nikon, complete with glam models and a dancer.

The Nikon 1 J1’s core hardware specs

Like the Pentax Q, the Nikon 1 J1 is amazingly pint-size, measuring 4.2 by 2.4 by 1.2 inches. Despite the fact that it has neither a physical grip nor an electronic viewfinder (the Nikon 1 V1 does have an EVF), the J1 is small and light enough to hold and operate comfortably. A 3-inch LCD on the back lets you compose and review your shots.

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Instagram, for the uninitiated, is a typical photo filter app à la Hipstamatic or Camera Bag. What sets it apart is a helping of social-networking integration. Users can easily share their Instagram photos on popular services like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, and Tumblr. The app launched in October 2010 and its user base has been growing at an incredible rate ever since. The boom is especially impressive because so far, the app has been exclusively available on the iOS platform. That could change in the near future.

"We're focusing on making Instagram the best possible mobile photos experience," said Kevin Systrom, Instagram's co-founder and CEO in an email. "A lot of what we do day-to-day is dream up new interesting features that'll make that goal a reality. We're definitely paying attention to the need for both a website and Android."

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San Francisco artist and programmer Ken Murphy has combined a point-and-shoot camera, a Canon firmware hack, and a motorized telescope mount to create lively, panoramic time-lapse movies.

Typical time-lapse movies show a fixed scene changing at an accelerated rate over time. Time-lapse photographers accomplish this by shooting photos at regular intervals (anywhere from every few seconds to every half hour) and combining the frames into a movie file. Panning time-lapse movies add motorized mounts to the set-up, so the final movie slowly pans across a scene. Murphy has taken this technique one step further by editing the final movie so that it creates a full, 360-degree panoramic view.

Murphy shot two movies, one with a Canon A590 and the other with a Canon G12—both point-and-shoot cameras. He installed the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) software on the cameras, amd programed them to take photographs every five seconds. The cameras were mounted on a panning telescope mount ($250) which slowly rotated the camera 360 degrees. A full rotation took 60 to 90 minutes.

To create the final product, Murphy spliced 12 views of the scene together, each section playing the same video at slightly different times. Check out one of the final products, which was shot outside of a San Francisco cafe at night:

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Japan’s Ricoh plans to acquire Pentax as part of a push to get into the digital single-lens reflex camera market, it said Friday.

Ricoh will buy the Pentax business from Hoya, a Japanese optical technology company that acquired the camera maker in 2008. The acquisition, agreed by the companies on Friday, is expected to take place in October this year.

The companies didn’t announce a price for the deal, but the Nikkei business daily said Ricoh will pay around ¥10 billion (US$124 million) for Pentax.

Single-lens reflex cameras, which typically allow the photographer to change the lens, are becoming increasingly popular. Sales are rising and a recent report by InStat predicted revenue growth in the market between 2011 and 2012 will surpass that of fixed-lens cameras as prices fall and consumers become more discerning about image quality.

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Snapseed is Nik Software's new $5 image editing app for the iPad. There are a lot of cool image editing apps for the iPad, but none of them are as cool as Snapseed. Snapseed is cool because of its interface, which, in turn, is cool for the same reason that the iOS interface is cooler than other mobile interfaces.

Doing more with iOS

It's almost difficult to remember now, but before the iPhone, mobile OS interfaces were simply small versions of desktop interfaces. They had drop-down menus, and were generally built around interface widgets that were designed to be used with a mouse. With the iPhone, Apple came up with new widgets and interface mechanisms, which were designed to be used with a finger.

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Play with group composition

When it comes time to shoot the entire family, don't just line them up against the wall, execution-style. Instead try some more complex or natural compositions. Mixing up sitting and standing can be a nice option, and don't forget that not everyone has to be on the same plane. Lines of people stretching toward the camera can be interesting to play with.

Take portraits at the right distance

If you decide to shoot some portraits—or even just small groups of people—be very careful about where you choose to stand. You'll get more flattering results if you stand farther away from your subjects and zoom in than if you stand very close and zoom out.

Use fill flash indoors

Since you'll be doing a lot of shooting indoors, you'll need to be careful of windows. Shooting someone in front of a window during the day can present bad back-lighting problems—the camera will expose for the bright window, leaving your subject underexposed and lost in shadow.

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Are you looking for a way to take the coolest photos at your kids’ track meet? The pan-motion photographic effect can make them look like they’re the Flash.

The pan-motion technique adds drama and movement to photos and is commonly used in sports and even news photography. The idea is that if you slow down your shutter speed and follow your subject with the lens as you are taking the photo, the subject will be clear and the background will be a spectacular blur. To take pan-motion photos, you need a camera with manual controls, a moving subject and a lot of patience and luck.

Pan-photography is a quick, frantic technique so it is best to rid yourself of the variables. If you can, switch to manual focus so your lens doesn’t try to auto focus on the background instead of the subject. In high-traffic areas, your plane of focus can be easily predictable. A bike lane, for example, is an easy spot to focus on in order to keep your attention to the subject’s speed.

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Here are some tips to remember when taking macro photos (Enter your best macro photographs into Macworld's macro photography contest):

Pick a camera

Digital point-and-shoots are great for macro shooting, because most have macro modes and lenses capable of extreme close-up. Some point-and-shoots can get as close as one or two centimeters from a subject. You'll also find that your iPhone does a very good job of shooting up close. If you’re using an SLR, and are serious about macro shooting, then you’ll want to invest in a macro lens. These are lenses specially engineered for macro shooting. Typically, they’re fairly large, even if they have a short focal length. A macro lens will be clearly designated as macro.

Depth of field will be extremely shallow

That is, the area that is in focus will not be very deep, which means that your point of focus will be critical. If you don’t focus specifically on the area that you want sharp, then it might very well end up out of focus, due to shallow depth of field. This can be particularly tricky if you’re trying to shoot something that’s moving, such as a flower on a windy day.

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I’m heading toward the start of the Lycean way, a roughly 300-mile hike that winds through the villages of Anatolia. Because this will be a backpacking and photography excursion, I’m trying to travel as light as possible. As such, I’ve left my 13-inch MacBook Air at home, and have decided to bring only my iPad, my cameras, and a HyperDrive.

This was not an easy decision. While I knew the iPad would be fine for reading email and browsing the web, I was worried about where I was going to offload images, and whether I could do without a full photo workflow. On the upside, I knew I would be traveling with a mid-sized backpack, so the iPad’s lighter weight, and durability was a big appeal.

iPad versus the 11-inch MacBook Air

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For most events, parties, family gatherings, and vacations, there isn’t just one designated photographer in charge of taking and sharing all the pictures. It’s more likely that photos from various people will end up sprinkled across online galleries, posted to social media sites, or circulated via e-mail.

Instead of each person uploading personal albums to a separate site or figuring out who’s on Facebook and who’s not, try creating a collaborative album online. Here are five resources for carrying on the togetherness online, even after the party is over.

MobileMe

If you use Apple’s MobileMe service ($99 per year), you already have the power to create collaborative albums. Best of all, you’re the only one who needs a MobileMe account—you can allow anyone you want to add photos once you’ve created the album. To create a collaborative album from iPhoto, go to the album’s Info pane and click Change Settings. In the resulting pop-up window, check the boxes under Allow For Uploading Of Photos Via Web Browser, and Adding Of Photos Via Email.

To limit access to the album, you can specify exactly who can see and add images to it. Create a group name and password, and then select that group from the Album Viewable By drop-down menu. Share the name, password, and URL with your group. To get the word out, click the Tell A Friend button in the album’s Info pane, and iPhoto will compose an e-mail with all the info they need to contribute.

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Movies created through time-lapse photography can be stunning. And for some people in the sciences they can also be a useful tool. While there are a variety of applications that allow you to create time-lapse movies of your own, none of them are built into the Mac OS save this one: Automator. The following workflow allows you to automate not only the shooting of your images, but their conversion into a movie.

Before you launch Automator, create a folder on the Desktop called Time Lapse. Now launch Automator and from the template sheet that appears, select Application and click Choose. In the resulting workflow window add these actions: Take Picture (found under Photos), Pause (Utilities), Loop (Utilities), Get Specified Finder Items (Files & Folders), Get Folder Contents (Files & Folders), Import Files into iPhoto (Photos), and finally, Run AppleScript (Utilities).

For the Take Picture action to work (and thus the workflow) you must have a camera compatible with that action. My point-and-shoot Canon S95 isn’t, but my Nikon D300 DSLR is (and I suspect many other DSLRs are as well). When you plug your camera into your Mac’s USB port and switch on the camera, this action will display your camera’s name, if it’s compatible. From the Download To pop-up menu choose Other and then navigate to your Time Lapse folder. If you’re concerned about your camera’s media card filling up during the shoot, enable the Delete Picture From Camera After Downloading option. Also, you’ll probably want to attach your camera to a power supply rather than depending on a battery that might drain before you finish the shoot.

In the Pause action choose an appropriate interval between pictures—30 seconds or 1 minute, for example. Configure the following Loop action so that the first pop-up menu reads Loop Automatically, the second reads Stop After X Times (where X is the number of shots you’d like to take), and Use the Original Input is selected in the last pop-up menu.

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