Kickstarter: Moment - Amazing Lenses for Mobile Photography

I'm crazy about iPhone photography and also app addicted. It seems I have an attachment to gadgets and accessories for my iPhone as well. My latest discovery is a Kickstarter project called Moment. The project was started by Marc Barros whose intention was to empower mobile photographers by providing them with lenses that are of the highest quality, sharp, portable and easy to attach. It looks like a good idea to me and apparently other mobile photographers think so as well because with 19 days left to go on their Kickstarter campaign, Moment has already received pledges of over $270,000 which is well over the $50,000 needed to fund the project!

Marc describes his lenses way better than I ever could, so watch the video below to find out more about Moment - I think you'll be as excited as I am to get your hands on these lenses.





Recently photographer and adventurer Bradley Castaneda (@bradleycastaneda on Instagram) tested the lenses and the results look great (as shown below). You can see more images by Bradley shot with the Moment telephoto lens here. (Follow Brad on Twitter)

Captured With: iPhone + Moment Tele + VSCOcam b4 preset
© Bradley Castaneda

If you pledge before the campaign closes you can get both the telephoto and wide lenses for $99, retail value $199 (or either for $49, retail value $99) estimated delivery June 2014.

PocketShot and JUMP Cable- My Latest Kickstarter Pledges

One of my favorite television shows is Shark Tank - I love to see the ideas people come up with and imagine what I would do if I were given the opportunity to invest in them. I'll never be a billionaire investor on Shark Tank, but with Kickstarter, I can help smart people with good ideas bring them to fruition and get some cool new gadgets as well.

Here are two Kickstarter projects that I recently backed.

PocketShot - a portable smartphone accessory for mounting any phone in any case. This folding universal smartphone mount consists of two parts, the Cradle and the Handle. The Cradle will hold any phone and the Handle will mount on any tripod (including monopod, suction cup, Gorillapod, etc).

This project has received nearly $7,000 of the $35,000 goal and has 28 days to go for their campaign. The pledge amount is $25 and the item is scheduled to ship in May 2014. (Note: if you back a project and it is not fully funded, you will not be charged).








JUMP - The Smarphone Charger That Charges Itself! If you've ever been on a photo shoot and found yourself low on battery you may want to take a look at JUMP.  It's a charger and back-up all in one. Plug one end into your phone and the other into a power source. JUMP knows when your phone is fully charged and then begins charging itself. The fully charged JUMP will provide ⅓ the battery life of an iPhone 5s which is 3 hours 50 minutes of talk time or web browsing or 87 hours of standby time. The good part is that is weighs less than 2 "AA" batteries.  My current battery back-up weighs about 12 ounces and is larger than my phone! To top it all off, JUMP ends the messy tangled cords that we all have wherever our phones are charged. I can't wait until the release.

This project already has over $200,000 pledged and only needed $40,000 to fund, so it's a done deal. Estimated delivery of JUMP is May 2014 - currently available for pledge of $40.

Daguerreotype and Ambrotype Inspired Mirror and Glass iPrints

Thought I'd share this exciting new Kickstarter venture by Nate Parks and Daria Polichetti. You may recognize those names as the founders of iphoneart - a vibrant, creative community of mobile artists. I'm happy to be a supporter of their new venture which will give us wonderful 3D options for printing and displaying our photographic art.

Please watch the video featuring the very charming Nate and please join me in backing this project. If you've never backed a Kickstarter project before here's the way it works - no money is exchanged until the project is fully funded. If for some reason the project doesn't reach it's goal in the time set your credit card will not be charged. It's all or nothing, so I hope you'll pitch in and help Nate and Daria make this happen - they've given so much to all of us!

Ambrotype

Daguerreotype

Wally Case - Minimal Wallet with iPhone Protection

I like supporting Kickstarter projects and this one looks like something that is practical and functional. It's called the Wally Case - it's a wallet and protective case for your iPhone. This seems like the perfect solution to carry my iPhone, a few bucks, driver's license and credit card.  I just love smart people.

Watch the video below to see the Wally Case and how it works. To fund this program, Distil Union of Charleston, South Carolina needs $15,000 by September 15, 2013. That's 32 days and counting. As of this post, backers have pledged $5,765. I sure hope they get funded because I really want to own one. If you'd like to help fund Wally Case, click here.




Don't know how Kickstarter works?  Kickstarter is a place for creatives to pitch their product and get backers to help fund it. The project creator sets their funding amount and goal date. A backer can pledge at different levels.  For the Wally Case, I chose the black case and pledged the requested $40. If the project gets fully funded, I will receive my case in October of this year. The expected retail price will be $49.99. The $40 I paid will include shipping (within the USA), so I'm getting a bargain!

But here's the nice thing about Kickstarter. If the project doesn't get fully funded, your credit card doesn't get charged! It's their "all or nothing"funding which allows less risk for both the backer and the project creator.

Do you have a project idea? Kickstarter allows projects in the following categories:  Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology and Theater.  You can check out their project guidelines here.

Wishing Distil Union Good Luck!!!

iblazr Portable Flash to Hit Kickstarter soon!

The first universal LED flash for smartphones and tablets to hit Kickstarter.

The best camera is the one that’s with you… well, not at nighttime. The device that solves the lighting problem will be available on Kickstarter for pre-order later this month.

iblazr is the World’s first portable flash that can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet. The flash has in its construction four hi-end CREE LEDs that provide an uncompromising amount of light for smartphone photographers. Most important, with its own built-in battery, iblazr will not drain your smartphone's power.  The flash will come with a free camera app that will control the brightness of iblazr in video and impulse mode.

iblazr was designed specifically for smartphones. It has less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) in thickness, but the audio connector makes it truly universal. The audio jack allows the flash to rotate and use it both with back and front cameras.  This tiny flash has only one button, which allows turning it on and can be used autonomously, without connection to the smartphone.

iblazr has the most efficient LEDs in their size. It provides over 100 lux on 1m in video mode (x7 than iPhone) and more than 180 lux on 1m in flash mode (x4 than iPhone). The state of the art optics has just 1mm in thickness but provides a 60 degree beam.

With iblazr the buyer will receive a free camera app for iOS and Android devices. The camera app will adapt the raw power of iblazr to the external environment so you will get a perfectly lighted face for every portrait! In video mode, you will be able to change the level of light only while shooting.

iblazr will be made available in several colors and include white, yellow and blue diffusers in the kit. The diffuser provides soft light to prevent harsh portrait shadows. Moreover, the diffuser will also reduce the brightness of the flash for a more pleasing result.

Test Photo provided by iblazr

Finally, the iblazr kit will include innovative flexible usb to 3.5 mm charger, which can be used as an external stand for the flash.

The device is in the prototyping stage and will be available for pre-orders on Kickstarter later this month.

Test Photo provided by iblazr

For more information, go to the product Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/Iblazr.