Indonesian Digital News Archive

Looking for a little Monday morning inspiration to get your week off right? Then look no further than the video below which features some amazing timelapse images shot by photographer Enrique Pacheco in all corners of the globe. As we've come to expect from these amazing timelapse videos, there are some beautiful scenes here that will get you in the mood to start planning your next adventure.

Made on Earth from Enrique Pacheco on Vimeo.

When you think of locations that would make for a great timelapse videos, the Grand Canyon would seem to be right at the top of the list. This video more than confirms that as it simply captures one of the most stunning landscapes on the planet in the best way possible. The video was made over seven weeks in April, May and June, when more than 80,000 photos were take throughout the Grand Canyon region. The filmmakers even managed to capture the solar eclipse that took place back in May and it all makes for a grand 5+ minute experience.

Grand Canyon : Blink of Time from GOTM Films on Vimeo.

Wyoming is such a wild and beautiful place with wide open vistas, wind swept plateaus and rugged mountains. The essence of the place is captured all too well in the video below, which is a timelapse of some of the most stunning and unforgettable landscapes that you'll ever see.

Breathtaking to say the least.

Wyoming Wildscapes from Nicolaus Wegner on Vimeo.

We haven't had an amazing timelapse video in awhile but this one more than makes up for the wait. It features some stunning views from the Pacific Northwest that were shot by photographer John Eklund over a period of about a year. The imagery he managed to conjure up here is simply breathtaking and I suggest you take it all in without distraction.

Thanks to the Adventure Journal for sharing.

Purely Pacific Northwest from John Eklund on Vimeo.

Last week I posted some information on a newly announced Coolpix S800c camera from Nikon that is powered by the Android mobile operating system. The same OS commonly found in a number of different smartphones. Today, Samsung announced their own Android camera that has some welcome and distinct differences from Nikon's offering.

Both the S800c and the new Samsung Galaxy Camera feature 16-megapixel sensors but their similarities pretty much end there. Samsung slapped a 4.8 inch HD touchscreen on the back of their device, stretching it form edge-to-edge in the process. That's considerably larger than the 3.5 inch OLED screen found on the S800c. That's not all however, as Samsung also managed to squeeze in a 21x zoom, far more useful than the 10x lens found on Nikon's new toy. And while Nikon saw fit to choose an older version of Android (Gingerbread 2.1), Samsung is powering it's device with Android 4.1, AKA Jellybean. It even has simple voice-control options, allowing you to instruct the camera to "zoom" or "shoot" simply by using your voice. That could come in handy for solo travelers looking to take some self-portraits.

Those specs are just the tip of the iceberg however. Samsung also mixed in a 1.4Ghz quad-core processor to power this beast and added both WiFi and 3G or 4G networking depending on the model. That means you'll be able to share your photos while on the go, uploading them directly to Facebook, Twitter or a laptop without the use of a cable. Photographers will even be able to edit their images directly on the Galaxy Camera using special Android apps designed just for that purpose.

The new camera is due to hit the market in the fourth quarter of this year and prices have yet to be announced.

This looks like an interesting new option in what could be a new niche for cameras. By making these cameras "smart," consumers are getting some new options that they've never had before. While I'm not personally looking to add one of these to my arsenal of cameras, it will certainly be interesting to see how they evolve.

Looking for a serene and tranquil way to wind down your day? Then look no further than the video below. It's yet another beautiful timelapse that captures both urban and rural settings and the breathtaking beauty of the night sky. Words really can't do it justice. Enjoy.

EXISTENCE A TIMELAPSE PROJECT from Michael Shainblum on Vimeo.

The rumors have been circulating for weeks that Nikon had a new camera in the works and that it would be powered by Google's Android operating system. This morning the company confirmed that those rumors were accurate by officially announcing the Coolpix S800c, a 16-megapixel camera with the heart of a smartphone.

On paper the S800c looks like a solid point and shoot camera that will serve travel needs quite well. Not only does it have a relatively large sensor for this type of camera, but it also packs a 10x optical zoom, a 3.5" OLED touchscreen and it shoots full 1080P videos. It also has WiFi built-in, which when combined with Android allows users to upload images directly to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr while on the go. It'll even allow you to email your photos directly to your friends or wirelessly transfer them to your computer or tablet. GPS functionality allows you to geotag your images, which is becoming an increasingly popular option for travelers in particular.

As you would expect from a camera built by Nikon, the S800c appears to take great photos and solid video as well. But adding Android to the device opens up the possibilities for this camera quite nicely. In theory it should run most apps in the Google Play store, although this is an older version of Android. (Gingerbread 2.1 for my fellow geeks) That means there could be some incompatibilities with newer apps. That said however, this device should be able to run Google Translate, Maps, and other travel friendly apps that could extend its usefulness well beyond just a simple camera.



There are indications that we could see other camera manufacturers using Android to power there devices as well and perhaps one of them will bring a more modern version of the OS to market. For now though Nikon's offering is definitely an interesting experiment that leaves me wondering how consumers will react.

I'm also interested in the battery life on the S800c as Android is a notorious energy hog, particularly in older versions. Nikon says the included battery is good 140 still shots, which quite frankly isn't much when you're out snapping photos all day. That could easily mean that the camera will need to be recharged every day, which is also a lot like a smartphone. Using WiFi and GPS probably will kill that battery even faster.

Despite these misgivings however I'm looking forward to playing with the camera a bit myself. I think the upside to having a camera with the brains of a smartphone could be quite good, especially for frequent travelers. We might even be able to play Angry Birds on it!

The S800c will be available in September for $350.

Update: Here's a promo video of that gives you a better idea of what it looks like and what it can do. Very interesting.

The CheapTents Blog continues their string of great adventure interviews today, this time turning their sights on polar explorer and photographer Phil Wickens. This past January, Wickens led a team of climbers and skiers to Antarctica where they took on 13 peaks along the peninsula, claiming first ascents on eight of them. Phil also documented much of the expedition through his fantastic photography as well.

In the interview, Wickens talks about his early inspirations for adventure (he was a Cub Scout!) that led him to becoming a mountaineer and polar guide. He also discusses his work with the British Antarctic Survey and goes into some detail on the Antarctic expedition, touching on his favorite moments as well as some of the dangers the team faced. Phil even shares some thoughts on shooting photography in the polar regions of our planet.

As for his favorite pieces of gear? Phil says his skies and ice axes are amongst his favorites, because without them he wouldn't be able to play as hard as he does. Seems like a good reason to love any piece of gear to me!

Check out some of the action from the Antarctic expedition below, then head over to CheapTents and read the entire interview.


The Ascent and Descent of Mt Banck from Phil Wickens on Vimeo.

Last week I wrote a post about NASA's successful landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars. Following touchdown, the robotic explorer first had to undergo a series of system checks to make sure everything was fully operational. After that an updated software package was sent to Curiosity that should improve performance over the course of its two-year life mission, which is to search for signs of the building blocks of life on the red planet.

That mission really hasn't even started yet, as Curiosity is still in the final stages of it's systems check. But the rover has started to send back some high resolution images from Mars and they are spectacular. NASA has stitched a number of those images together to create a 360º panorama around Curiosity. That image has been posted online and can be viewed by clicking here.

Once the high resolution images load up you can use your mouse to rotate in all direction, giving you a fantastic view of the surface of Mars in all directions. I was surprised at how clear the photos were and impressed with what Curiosity has captured already. The landscape is eerily similar to some that we would find on our planet and the same sun, albeit a bit smaller in size, shines overhead. To truly get the full effect, I recommend putting the panorama in full screen mode.

Simply amazing.

Australia's Blue Mountains are a beautiful piece of land that has been designated as a World Heritage Site. Located just outside Sydney, the region is made up of towering sandstone plateaus and deep gorges that have to be seen to be believed. Fortunately for us filmmaker Konstantin Basov has visited the Blue Mountains and spectacularly captured their beauty in the short film below. It seems a fitting start to a new week.


Blue Mountains, Australia (timelapse) from konstantin basov on Vimeo.

Mountain2Mountain is a non-proft dedicated to promoting the ability for women and girls to act as catalysts of change in developing countries across the world. The organization sees women as an underutilized resource in nations that refuse to grant them rights and privileges due to outdated views on gender roles. Founded in 2006, M2M first began working in Afghanistan, where the organization has already opened many opportunities for females that didn't exist even a decade ago.

Last year the organization inspired many with a powerful photo exhibit entitled Streets of Afghanistan. The images used in the exhibition were captured by 11 prominent Western and Afghan photographers, including Farzana Wahidy, the first female Afghani photog to work for international wire services such as the Associated Press. The exhibit displayed the life-sized photos in such a way to portray a street scene in Kabul and using kites, music and video, vewers became immersed in the culture of the place.

By all accounts the exhibition was a big success, helping to dispel stereotypes of modern Afghan life. Now, Mountain2Mountain are hoping to take the same exhibit home to the Afghani people and as such they've launched a Kickstarter program with the hope of raising funds to do just that. The group hopes to raise as much as $20,000 to help pay for the costs of moving the art exhibit to Afghanistan. Those costs will offset production, transportation and security in Kabul.

For more information on Streets of Afghanistan checkout the Kickstarter page, which also has some amazing sample images as well.

As someone who is fortunate enough to travel on a regular basis I'm always looking for new ways to cut excess weight from my pack and go lighter. Over the years I've actually gotten quite good at packing the minimum amount of gear and taking just the bare essentials that I need on the road. But one area that I continually struggle with is my camera equipment. Obviously I want to document my travels and capture good photos of the places that I visit, but carrying my DSLR and an extra lens or two adds a lot of weight. Sure, you can travel with a good point and shoot, and I usually bring one of them along as well, but there are a lot of circumstances where they just don't perform at the level you need. For that reason I've been considering investing in one of the new mirrorless camera options such as the Nikon 1 series or a Panasonic Lumix G3. These types of cameras fall in between an SLR and a point and shoot, offering you the best elements of both, namely interchangeable lenses in a compact, lightweight form factor.

Up until yesterday there was one big name in the camera industry that was conspicuously absent from the mirrorless market. That was Canon, a company that makes some of the most popular and high quality SLR's on the market. That changed with the announcement of the new EOS M system however, which is the company's first entry in the growing mirrorless arena.

On paper the EOS M brings a lot to the table. The new camera features an 18 megapixel CMOS sensor that is on par with Canon's excellent Rebel T4i and comes with a very nice 3-inch touch screen LCD monitor. It'll shoot 1080p video, is compatible with Canon's EF and EF-S line of lenses (with an optional adapter) and promises fast performance in a variety of lighting conditions. The new camera has it's own specifically designed lens system as well and will ship with a 22mm kit-lens with the option to add a 18-55mm zoom. The body doesn't include a built-in flash, although an optional Speedlite will be available when it hits the market in October. The kit is expected to retail for $800.



In a lot of ways this new offering from Canon is a fantastic entry into the mirrorless market and in others the company is still playing catch-up with competitors. I have no doubt that EOS M will deliver Canon's trademark image quality and performance in a compact package, after all the camera weighs just 9.2 ounces (262 grams). But similar offerings from competitors include many of the same features for less money and have a built-in flash as well. Panasonic, Sony and Olympus are all now several generations into their mirrorless systems and over that past few years they've refined them quite nicely and delivered great performance at a reasonable price.

That said, consumers now have some excellent compact, interchangeable lens systems to choose from and if you're already a Canon user, the fact that you can attach your lenses to the EOS M is a nice selling point. Canon's entry into the market should make for good competition as well, forcing competitors to step up their game further and hopefully bringing prices down.

Why should  you care about the EOS M or any other mirrorless camera? Because they are now getting to the point where they offer DSLR performance in a much smaller body. For those of us who like to travel light that is a very important feature to consider. These systems are a fraction of the weight of their big brothers, but offer image quality that is superior to a point and shoot. We all know how limited weight and space can be on an extended expedition and this type of camera, which can also shoot excellent video, can be a real game changer.

I haven't decided which system I'll personally purchase yet, but I do know it's only a matter of time before I do. I have a feeling I'll enjoy having a DSLR at my disposal for when the demands of trip require it, but on other occasions the lightweight mirrorless option is likely to be next travel companion.

Clif Bar has announced the launch of a great new campaign that not only lets us share some of our favorite outdoor photos but also save our favorite places as well. The company, which makes some of my favorite energy bars, has just launched a new website at MeetTheMoment.com where we can all share our favorite adventures and help the planet in the process.

The concept is simple, outdoor enthusiasts go to the site and upload their images. For each photo that is shared, Clif Bar will donate $5 (up to a grand total of $100,000) to one of several non-profit organizations that are dedicated to protecting the outdoors. Those organizations include Access Fund, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Leave No Trace, Surfrider Foundation and Winter Wildlands Alliance. Additionally, another $1 donation will be donated each time one of the images is shared via a social media outlet, and a grand prize winner will be selected from the top 25 shared images. The person who earns that honor will have an additional $10,000 donated in their name to the organization of their choice and they'll walk away with a year's supply of Clif Bars too!

I know a number of you are avid outdoor photographers and this is a great way to not only get some of your best images viewed by a large audience, but also help those worthy organizations above earn some much needed extra cash. Head on over to MeetTheMoment.com and start adding your favorite images and adventures ASAP.

Yesterday we got our first sneak peek at the new action cam from Sony and today we get word that JVC is getting into the game as well. The difference is that we know a lot more about JVC's offering, which looks to pack a lot of features into a tiny casing.

The new JVC ADIXXION Camcorder (Marketing people come with the best names!) weighs in at just 4.5 ounces (127 grams) and is waterproof to five meters, able to shrug off a fall of up to two meters, and is dust and freeze-proof as well. That means, unlike some of its competitors, you won't need to purchase separate housing for basic operation.

The camera features a 1.5-inch LCD screen, built-in image stabilization and WiFi. Additionally it can shoot full 1080p HD video at 30 fps, or 720p at 60 fps. The camera's built in 5MP CMOS sensor will capture decent still images as well and it's ultra-wide angle lens should capture a lot of action. The camera is capable of shooting time lapse recordings, has a self-timer and a 5x digital zoom.

The press release for the ADIXXION says that the WiFi feature will allow the camera to connect to smartphones for an external monitor and can attach to a PC for wirelessly transferring data as well. Perhaps most interestingly of all, the camera is capable of streaming live, high definition video in real time to USTREAM without the use of a PC. Apps for Android and iOS will be available at time of release too.

Seems like a pretty powerful little device and I can't wait to see how it performs. JVC says it'll be available later this summer starting at $349.95. Seems pretty reasonable for what you get and I can see how these could potentially be used in a lot of different situations.

Looks like GoPro and Contou  are about to have some new competition in the action/helmet cam market. Yesterday Sony gave us the first look at their entry into that space, which features image stabilization technology, an ultra-wide angle Carl Zeiss lens and rugged build construction designed to take punishment in the field.

Aside from that, not much else is known about the device at the moment. Sony has said that it will offer  waterproof and ruggedized housings for the camera, which doesn't even have a name yet. They were a bit light on the technical specs, simply saying that it will offer "super high-quality video," which I'm assuming translates into 1080p HD. Price and release date remain a mystery as well, although it is being shown off at a major camera conference in New York this week.

Sony's entry into the action cam market shows how big that market actually has come. A few years ago these types of cameras were mostly a novelty, shooting blurry video of our adventures. Now they've matured greatly and they not only have great image quality but a host of other technology that has made them much more useful. GoPro and the other action cam companies have been doing some amazing things in their recent iterations, and Sony is going to have to come strong if they want to break into this space.

Still, it is always great to have another option, particularly when it comes form a big company with an established track record. Looking forward to checking this out myself.

We already know that some climbers will go to great extremes to climb Everest, but it appears that others will simply say they went and use Photoshop to fill in the details instead. That seems to be the case in a story that is making the rounds today, which involves two climbing teams from India who are at odds over just exactly who managed to climb the world's tallest mountain.

According to this story from Desi News, the two teams are from Pune, located in Western India. Both sent expeditions to Everest this spring, with the Giripremi Team taking a more traditional approach to their climb, while the Sagarmatha Giryarohan Sanstha squad attempted to make a cut rate, budget approach. The Giripremi expedition successfully put all eight of its climbers on the summit, while their rivals claim that managed to get three (of their eight) to top as well. But now the former team is accusing the latter of falsifying summit claims and doctoring photos in effort to earn official summit certificates from the Nepal Ministry of Tourism.

Apparently the official summit photos submitted by the Sagarmatha Giryarohan Sanstha group have been modified to include two climbers who never actually reached the top. Sherpas on the trip say that Shahiri Tapkir was the only member of the team to actually climb Everest, while climb organizers say that their other lead climbers, Anand Bansode and Sagar Palkar, made it to the summit too. They say that the photos have not been tampered with at all, and that all three men were successful in their bid.

Nepal has formed a committee to investigate the claims and to look into the matter further. They take falsified climb reports very seriously and they will examine the evidence very closely. There are also some indications hat one of the climbers may have not been listed on a permit as well.

So why would anyone go to such great lengths to falsify summit claims? In India a successful summit of Everest translates into endorsements and sponsorship deals that will allow climbers to continue their pursuits. For these climbers it could potentially mean a lot of money and a degree of fame, and that is enough of a reason alone to generate false stories.

On a side note, I'm going to become the first person to be photoshopped into summit photos on each of the fourteen 8000-meter peaks. A guy has got to have dreams and aspirations.

Thanks to the Goat for the tip on this story.