Awesome Cameras

Keep an eye on your house with this Wi-Fi-enabled security camera from Sinji. It can automatically pan and tilt to follow movement and can send notifications to your phone when movement is detected. It captures recordings on a microSD card (up to 128GB), has an infrared night vision mode, and two-way audio capabilities.

Get the best recordings on the road with this dual dashcam. It captures 1080p HD images of both the road ahead and your car’s interior. Its GPS logger can record the date, time, location, and speed as well. It also has night vision and can send video directly to your mobile device via Wi-Fi. Save 15% in The Awesomer Shop.

Another year, another GoPro. The HERO9 Black shoots 5K video and 20 mp stills. It has a front-facing selfie monitor, improved battery life, upgraded stabilization with 360º horizon locking, 1080p live streaming, and an available Max lens mod for an even wider angle perspective. The HERO8 Black is still available for $299.

Sony managed to stuff a full-frame sensor into the body of a compact mirrorless camera, for no-compromise image quality and portability. The α7C has a 24.23MP sensor, super-fast autofocus, optical five-axis stabilization, and can shoot pro-quality 4K video. It takes Sony E-mount lenses and has a digital audio interface.

Sony’s Alpha 7s camera ups its video game, capturing full-frame 4K at 60 or 120fps, with blazing fast autofocus, and low light performance to 409600 ISO. It can output 16-bit RAW video via HDMI, or HEVC/H.265 compressed, and its 5-axis stabilization offers a new Active mode for run-and-gun shooting. Sample footage here.

So you’ve spent a ton on your camera, lenses, and other gear so you can take the best possible photos. It’s important to have a good bag for protecting and organizing all of your equipment, and Everyday Carry is here with their top 10 picks, from structured, hardshell bags, to lightweight rolltops, and compact sling bags.

Keep tabs on your home from anywhere with this totally wireless security camera. The Kami captures crisp wide-angle HD footage. It works day or night, and only requires charging once per month. It can alert you when it detects motion, and store footage to the cloud (6 mo. trial service included). Save 37% in The Awesomer Shop.

Professional camera maker Hasselblad updates its 50 megapixel, medium-format X1D mirrorless digital with a larger 3.6″ touch screen, a faster live view, a 3.69-million dot OLED viewfinder, quicker startups, and a speedier user interface. While by no means cheap, it’s substantially less expensive than its predecessor.

There are countless lens add-ons for smartphones, many of which are under $10. But if you’re really, really cheap, or just like to hack stuff, Chris Notap’s video will show you how to recycle lenses from cheap thrift store cameras, with shockingly good results.

Based on Sony’s RX100, the ZV-1 is a digital camera for vloggers. It has a 3″ hi-res touchscreen that can flip out sideways for selfies, a 3-capsule directional microphone, and a recording indicator light on front. Its lens is a ZEISS 24-70mm zoom at f/1.8-2.8, with a 20.1MP 1″ sensor that shoots video at 4K/24p and 30p.

This low-cost add-on for Raspberry Pi computers lets you build a 12.3 megapixel camera that accepts interchangeable lenses. Its 1/2.3-inch Sony IMX477 sensor can also shoot 4K/30 video. Its mount accepts C- and CS- lenses, which are common in CCTV and 16mm film cameras. It also has a tripod mount for ease of use.

Photography expert Mathieu Stern loves to work with unusual camera lenses. After being stuck at home sickened by COVID-19, he decided to build a lens using stuff he had lying around the house. He enlisted the help of his wife to design this LEGO camera lens, while he focused on the optics. We love the brick-shaped bokeh.

Smartphones have some great cameras built into them, but they’re not usually as tweakable as a DSLR. The Pictar Pro case aims to close that gap, adding knobs for adjusting exposure and preset modes, along with a companion app that provides access to manual camera settings. It doubles as a wireless battery pack.

Samsung drops three new flagship phones, the 6.2″ S20, the 6.7″ S20+, and the 6.9″ S20 Ultra. The big news here is the cameras, with the S20 and S20+ getting a 64mp resolution, 4X “hybrid optic”/30X digital zoom, and the S20 Ultra getting a 108mp camera with 10x “hybrid optic”/100x digital zoom. They also offer 5G and up to 8K video.

Give your iPhone videos a cinematic look with FusionLens 2.0. This clip-on lens can shoot 23:9 anamorphic images, 8mm wide angle, and 210º fisheye shots. Its dual-lens covers both the front and rear cameras for 180º selfie shots, and stitching together 360º panoramas. Available for iPhone X/XS/XS Max, XR, 11, and 11 Pro/Pro Max.

Filmic’s amazing app for multi-camera phones like the iPhone XS, iPhone 11, and iPhone 11 Pro lets you capture two videos at the same time, so you can mix and match footage of wide, telephoto, standard, or selfie footage at the exact same point in time. Best of all, it’s free to download.

Z CAM’s bargain-priced, professional-grade interchangeable lens cinematic camera captures movie-quality 4k 30, 10-bit footage with its Micro-4/3 CMOS sensor. It’s controllable via a companion mobile app, and has all kinds of mounting points for accessories. Lens compatibility list here.

Edelkrone’s motion control jib is an app-controlled tripod attachment that can smoothly and silently move your camera horizontally, vertically, or diagonally via its app. It’s compatible with the HeadPLUS and HeadONE motorized tripod heads, and packs down small enough to fit into Edelkrone’s backpack.

Want to shoot ultra-wide angle images with your iPhone? This high-quality glass fisheye lens has an 8mm focal length, increasing the width of the standard camera up a massive 238° field of view. Attaches securely to Lemuro’s case (sold separately).

Sirui’s value-priced 50mm prime lens captures truly cinematic imagery, with a 2.4:1 ultra-widescreen ratio. It has an outstanding f1.8 aperture, can shoot from 0.85m to infinity, and produces impressive lens flares and bokeh. Built from aircraft grade aluminum with German-made Schott optics. Works with most APS-C cameras.

Insta360’s action cameras are all about versatility. They feature a modular design that lets then switch between 4K wide angle and dual-lens 360º recording. They offer HDR capability, a reversible screen, super-smooth FlowState stabilization, and come in both a twin-mode kit and a version with a pro-grade 1″ sensor and Leica lens.

With builds like this and this, maker Giaco Whatever isn’t exactly known for his subtlety. So when he wanted to shoot a promo video for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign, he not only busted out one of those crazy Laowa probe lenses, but he fabricated a camera mount for an industrial robot to give it motion control.

Retro reigns supreme with Polaroid Original’s limited-edition MTV instant camera, a snappy throwback to the first Polaroid 600. The refurbished and redressed analog camera sports a bold color block design in MTV’s original color-scheme: red, yellow and blue. Be sure to grab some film cartridges too.