For its fourth Kickstarter, camera trigger/accessory company Miops has created a hot-shoe attachment called the Flex that’s designed to help photographers “capture stunning timelapse videos, HDR photos, high-speed actions, extraordinary lightning strikes and more.”
Compatible with a bunch of DSLR and mirrorless cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm, the Flex connects wirelessly to a smartphone running an iOS/Android companion app to take control of the host camera or assist with creativity.
Miops lists almost 20 creative modes on the Kickstarter campaign page. There’s a pretty big focus on timelapse here, with interesting tools like live preview of the shoot while it’s being captured, and something called the Holy Grail Timelapse, which automatically adjusts the camera settings in changing light conditions (including day-to-night and night-to-day).
As well as live preview, there’s also a live framing mode that allows photographers to see how their image will square up on a magazine cover or page layout, for example, and make any necessary adjustments for spacing, text or other images before taking the shot.
Freeze-frame action shots of a balloon bursting, splashes of water or a pitcher of water smashing on the floor, and more, can be triggered using the device’s onboard sensors. And if you’re a storm chaser but often get frustrated at just missing those impressive forks and flashes, the Flex can take control of your camera so that you never miss a lightning strike again. It can even merge multiple shots into one image at the push of an app icon.
Miops says that the creativity toolbox can also boost a camera’s dynamic range chops, by going beyond the bracketing limits to generate eye-popping photos – snapping multiple images at different exposures, and quickly stitching them all together into a single HDR photo.
It comes with a number of long-exposure modes, too, to help users capture impressive light paintings and star trails without having to touch the camera and worry about camera shake spoiling the shot.
The Flex wirelessly sends captured images to a smartphone for touching up or adding filters, before sharing to social media, and can geotag photos using smartphone location data. A custom watermark can be added too.
If that arsenal of creativity weaponry looks useful to you, Kickstarter pledges start at US$219 – which is an $80 saving on the expected retail price. If all goes to plan, shipping is estimated to start in June, 2021.
Miops aims to put a creativity toolbox on your camera [New Atlas]