1. Impossible Project PX 680 Color Shade First Flush, $21.99 for 8 exposures
The Impossible Project, started in 2008 after Polaroid stopped making instant film, is using a former Polaroid factory in the Netherlands to attempt to create new films for Polaroid SX-70 and 600 cameras. They started with "SilverShade" monochromatic films, but now also make "ColorShade" films. Between the facts that the results aren't yet to par with Polaroid film and the price comes out to almost $3/exposure, the Impossible Project film is something that I will probably try at some point, but can't see myself using on a regular basis.
2. Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR Camera, estimated retail around $6,800
There are so many things about this camera that are drool-worthy, such as its ability to record 1920 x 1080 HD video, a 18.1Mp full-frame CMOS sensor (I'm determined that my next camera will be a full-frame camera, though a less high-end one), 61-point AF, and up to 12 fps (RAW + JPEG) continuous shooting. Beyond the technical stuff, it's a ridiculously legit camera, with a magnesium alloy body and a whole slew of buttons and information screens. Honestly a lot of the specs of this camera go way over my head, but based on what I've read I kind of think of it as the superhero love child of the higher-end Canon sports and studio cameras. I mean, with a name like "X," how could it be anything other than a superhero?
3. The iPhone Lens Dial (Wide Angle, Fisheye, and Telephoto), $249 (plus, for that matter, an iPhone… $200-$400, plus the wireless service price)
Okay, so despite (or maybe because of) loving my Macbook Pro and iPod, I'm a little wary of Apple taking over the world. That said, iPhones and their cameras are just so fun! My next phone will probably be an iPhone, and I will probably join the wave of "iPhonographers." Which will mean that I will probably join the ranks of people longingly eying sleek, expensive accessories like this lens dial, which adds wide angle, fisheye, and telephoto lenses to your options. Given my tendency to break phones and phone accessories, this will probably stay solidly on the "want" rather than "need" list, but it's still a neat idea.
4. Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Fisheye Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens, $1,425
Beyond the steep price, this is one of those lenses where half of me says "and how often would you actually use it, exactly?" and the other half says "all day of course because it's just so cool!" On a full-frame body the lens provides a circular 180 degree fisheye at the wide end, or a more classic fisheye at the long end. On a cropped sensor body, the lens acts as a fisheye to wide angle, with an approximately 13-24mm equivalent focal length. Though there are some practical applications for such an extreme lens, for someone like me it would be a very expensive (and very awesome!) toy.
5. Lytro light field camera, $399 for model with 8GB internal memory, $499 for 16GB
Apparently the idea of a light field camera has been floating around for a while now, and some experimental and industrial or scientific models have been made, but as far as I can tell the Lytro camera is the first offering aimed at consumers. The camera body itself is essentially a tube, with a lens at one end and a touch screen at the other. The lens offers a constant, wide, f/2 aperture and "8x optical zoom lens," though the company's website doesn't specify the focal lengths of this range. The images the Lytro camera produces are not especially high resolution in the traditional sense, but can be refocused after they are taken (with some limitations - for example, refocusing to a sharp infinity point is unlikely if your original focal point was fairly close). Right now the technology is young, and, in my opinion, still falls solidly in the "gadget" category, but it is a fun and intriguing development in consumer-grade technology.
-Hannah
