I See London, I See France, I See Your Underpants from 32 Miles Away With Canon 5200mm Ultra Telephoto Lens [Big Ass Glass]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/230510886/i-see-london-i-see-france-i-see-your-underpants-from-32-miles-away-with-canon-5200mm-ultra-telephoto-lens

We have a winner. This Cloverfield-sized mirror lens by Canon doesn't do zooming action, it's a flat 5200mm, which can shoot stuff 18 to 32 miles away. That's like from one end of Rosie O' Donnell's ass to the other. To focus this baby, it has telescopes bolted to the side. And yeah, that little floating square is the camera. If you know of bigger and better—that isn't actually a telescope, please send 'em in. [CanonFD via kottke via BBG]

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Massive Panavision Bazooka HD Lens Delivers 300X Zoom [Big Ass Glass]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/230491889/massive-panavision-bazooka-hd-lens-delivers-300x-zoom

Even Canon's BFG of telephoto lenses is but a wee fish in the vast ocean of big-ass glass. Today's whale shark specimen: The Panavision 300x HD lens. It's actually a broadcast HD lens, but that makes this sucker no less ridiculous. It's over three feet in length and weighs 85 lbs. (dwarfing the Canon by several inches and 50 lbs.) while delivering a gaping 7-2100mm continuous focal length range (F1.9-F/13) for 300X zoom. Which is a .3 degree field of vision. The cost? 300X what you're thinking. [Panavision]

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LG Viewty Touchscreen Cellphone Can Now Record 640x480 DivX at 120FPS [Cellphones]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/230540576/lg-viewty-touchscreen-cellphone-can-now-record-640x480-divx-at-120fps

Recording VGA-quality movies is nothing new, but DivX and LG just announced that the LG Viewty smartphone can now record VGA-quality movies at 120 frames per second with what looks like a software update (new ones will ship with it pre-loaded). Best of all, it records in the DivX format, which means you can watch it back on all kinds of DivX devices (your computer, various PMPs, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 for example). Besides recording at such a high rate, the phone can also take 5-megapixel stills, for the times when one picture says more than 120 of them. The Viewty is already available in Europe, and we got a hands-on with it last year. [Mobile Burn]

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Modu Cellphone Changes Function with Jackets [Modu]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/230892436/modu-cellphone-changes-function-with-jackets

Modu's tiny cellphone could be inserted into multiple "jackets" to change its function. Or better said, the Modu phone carries your data, giving your personality to whatever gadget you insert it into, GameBoy cartridge style. After seeing all the pictures of the different jackets and the announced prices, the video and the idea makes a lot more sense now.

As you can see, Modu can be operated on its own as a very simple cellphone or become a full-fledge multimedia phone, a portable media player, a car sound system, a full car GPS, a bike mini-GPS, a toaster or a fully armed, fully operational battle station. Maybe, not so sure about the later. The video shows the Modu being inserted into a MacBook Pro and I wonder if it uses a standard

The concept of carrying a small module with basic communications capabilities, holding your personal data so all these other devices can change personality is attractive. Specially since some devices could be shared with other members of your family. On the other side, it could be the dumbest, biggest flop in cellphone history.

In any case, we will be all over them like shareware. If only for the NES clickity-clack sound of getting Modu inside whatever jackets. The price is great too: $200 for the basic module plus two jackets. The company says it plans to introduce other jackets for $20 to $60, which is quite an agressive strategy. If they work well, collecting them may get more popular than picking Pokémons. [Modu via Business Week]

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JPEG XR Means Faster Burst Shooting for Less-Than-Pro DSLRs [Digital Cameras]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/230688692/jpeg-xr-means-faster-burst-shooting-for-less+than+pro-dslrs

One obvious way to speed up continuous shooting bursts on DSLRs is to drop the image format down to JPEG, which takes less processing power to deal with than RAW. But, since JPEGs are compressed, you lose a lot of info, which doesn't cut it for a lot of photo folk. Canon and Casio think Microsoft's JPEG XR (formerly HD Photo) might be the middle-ground solution, especially for cheaper DSLRs.

It has a wider color palette and can show finer gradations than regular JPEG, but it's also got a better compression algorithm, so even with the extra info, it doesn't drag as hard on the camera. It's not going to be a solution for pros, obviously, who demand RAW, but for the regular people to accomplished amateur range, it'll probably be fine. Exactly how often do you shoot in RAW, anyway? [Crave]

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