News

International Supplies has announced that Japanese lens maker Yasuhara just released a Nanoha Macro Extension Tube Set for Micro 4/3rds and Sony E mount cameras. These tubes allow users to increase the distance between the lens and the sensor, thus enabling the lens to focus much closer than its minimum focusing distance. The set includes both a 10mm and a 16mm hollow extension tube that can be used either individually or in combination to achieve optimal magnification. Simply mount one or both of the tubes between the camera and the lens. The two tubes, when used together, can provide a combined length of 26mm. The greater the distance, the closer the lens will be able to focus. For macro photography, the focal distance of the lens must be larger than the extension length of the Nanoha tube(s) used.

The state of Wisconsin is teaming up with NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in a unique project to identify the state’s wildlife populations with the installation of 5,000 strategically placed trail cameras. The “Snapshot Wisconsin” initiative employs remote sensing satellites and a global crowd-sourced database to create what aims to be the “richest and most comprehensive caches of wildlife data for any spot on our planet.”

In exciting news for Nikon, NASA just placed an order for 53 unmodified D5 DSLR cameras for use at their astronaut training facilities on Earth, as well as aboard the International Space Station. These are the same Nikon D5 cameras available to consumers that are known for both high performance and durability under harsh conditions.

Selfies tend to get a bum rap from serious photographers these days, but you really have to love the latest self-portraits beamed back to Earth by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover with Mount Sharp in the background. 

When 14^th century poet Piers Plowman said “Patience is a virtue” he could have been channeling the future work of National Geographic Photographer Charlie Hamilton James who captured this amazing image after making over 200,000 photographs with a motion–activated camera in Grand Teton National Park. James was intent on getting images of bears and wolves with the Teton Mountains in the background, and he sure came up with a winner!

When we think about great adventure/travel photographers and spectacular imagery, National Geographic magazine immediately comes to mind. And the folks at Nat Geo just picked their best images of 2017, including the lead photo above of a black crested macaque captured on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. This striking shot appeared in the magazine’s March issue as part of an article on the social structure of monkeys.