Throwing your digital camera in the air at night, with the shutter set to a long exposure, is producing some nifty artwork.

The Times (London) reported on the new craze: “Ryan Gallagher, a 28-year-old theatrical lighting specialist from Texas kick-started the trend last August. Unable to sleep one night, Gallagher took his low-grade digital camera and experimented by waving it at some city lights while set to a long exposure. So intrigued was he with the results that he decided to display them on Flickr.”

“Part of the addiction comes from the fact that the results are always a surprise,” Gallagher said. “Each picture is like opening a little black box into a world we cannot see.”

Be warned, though, eventually you’ll drop the camera, so don’t use that new Canon 5D. An old VGA model is recommended.

Complementing Syntagma’s network of websites, including Digital Camera Latest, we will shortly launch Syntagma Photographic from its own studios here at HQ.

Initially, we will shoot most of the pictures used across the network. Eventually, they will be posted online and offered for sale, firstly to other website users, then in hard-copy form by mail order.

All our photos will be flagged “Image by Syntagma Photographic”.

We haven’t had a major expansion of the public business for quite some time, so it obviously gives us great pleasure to start growing again in the midst of this dangerous downturn.

Antiques Emporium : Image by Syntagma Photographic.

As an experiment, I embarked on a Photowalk with my three digital cameras to discover which would be the most useful, and in which circumstances.

The cameras are, from left to right:

1. Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ8 — a DSLR
2. Advent MP8 — a compact.
3. Panasonic SDR S7 — an SD camcorder.

So, two still cams and a movie camera.

The walk was around the centre of Exeter, including the Quay, the High Street and the river bank, plus a number of tourist sites around the city.

Conclusion
As expected, I used the movie camera the most. There was just too much movement and activity for static shots.

However, when confronted with a fine view, the DSLR came out and a staged shot was taken. Even so, these were all hand-held. Pulling out my tripod would have involved too much effort and made me too conspicuous.

Where a fairly static scene was involved, but with something interesting going on, I reached automatically for the compact.

So, predictably the ratio was 3:2:1 for video, DSLR, compact.

Does that tell me anything about my usage and preferences? Probably not, except that I’ll make sure I carry the videocam everywhere from now on.

Nikon has just announced its new Coolpix P80 with 18x zoom. Although described as a compact camera, it looks and feels like a small DSLR.

Nikon’s new Coolpix P80 with 18x zoom

Here’s part of the press release :

MELVILLE, NY (April 10, 2008) Nikon Inc. is pleased to announce the COOLPIX P80, a high-performance compact camera built to satisfy the needs of camera enthusiasts and family photographers alike. The P80 harmoniously integrates a 10.1 megapixel CCD image sensor with Nikon’s innovative EXPEED digital image processing concept and an 18x optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens designed with the compact and comfortable styling of the Nikon COOLPIX brand.

The COOLPIX P80 addresses a need from consumers for an ultra-zoom compact camera that offers unrivaled Nikon performance and clarity, said Bill Giordano, General Manager, Marketing, COOLPIX for Nikon Inc. Nikon is proud to continue delivering the highest quality imaging products for photo enthusiasts and aspiring photographers with a broad range of creative control options and superior imaging ability.”

At around $400, this looks a very interesting addition to the legendary Nikon range.