Kodak Sets Sights on Flashless Future

Yes, including digital ones

(NEWSER) - It's the end of an era: Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, announced today that it intends to stop making them in an effort to save money—and yes, that includes digital cameras. It will also stop making pocket video cameras and digital picture frames, reports the Democrat and Chronicle . Executives say the move is a "logical extension" of their current strategy, and will save Kodak more than $100 million a year. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. More»

(NEWSER) - Kodak is discontinuing its storied Kodachrome film line, the company announced today. Introduced in 1935, Kodachrome was the first commercially successful color film, and was immortalized in a Paul Simon song in 1973. But these days it represents less than 1% of Kodak’s film sales, and only one lab in the world—Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, processes it, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports. More»

Picture-perfect phone closes the shutter on camera phone rivals

(NEWSER) - Adding a camera to a phone isn't exactly a novel concept, but the Motozine ZN5 breaks the mold by making it a proper digital camera instead of a feeble afterthought, David Pogue writes in the New York Times. For quality, he raves, "the ZN5’s photos trump anything offered by any carrier in the United States." More»

Spy pens, 3-D cameras and new lens technologies on display

(NEWSER) - The biggest photography-gear expo on the globe, Photokina, got under way this week in Germany as manufacturers rolled out everything from state-of-the-art lenses to geotagging devices. Wired takes a look:

1. Fuji’s FinePix Real 3D System incorporates dual lenses that capture separate images, then meshes them into a single 3-D file.