Fairphone 2 Review

In today's smartphone climate it makes a change to see something different – and whatever else the Fairphone 2 is, it's certainly different. Built with sustainability and repairability in mind rather than joining the high-end-specs race, this is a phone for the environmentally conscious – which, really, should be just about all of us.

That said, its specifications aren't actually that bad, putting the Fairphone 2 firmly in the mid-range section of the market, but the focus of this handset is on where its components come from, and how long they're going to last.

The Dutch startup behind the phone has been in operation in some form or another since 2010, and this new phone follows up on the first Fairphone, which had a production run of 60,000 devices.

Fairphone has grander ambitions for the Fairphone 2, bumping up the capabilities of the handset, introducing a new design from Fairphone itself and making itself available to a wider market.

The aims of its makers are two-fold: first to produce a smartphone built from materials that are all ethically and sustainably sourced, and second to reduce e-waste with a modular approach that makes the handset simple to repair (and potentially upgrade in the future).

It can be yours today for €525 (around £395/US$570/AU$805. That's by no means cheap – you can get a Nexus 5X or a 16GB iPhone 5S for less – but you're buying into an ethos as well as picking up some hardware.

You're also getting a phone that should last you a long, long time (five years, says Fairphone), which makes price comparisons somewhat tricky to make.

Design

The Fairphone 2 has an eye-catching look, but not in the conventional sense: the back of the phone case I was sent is transparent, so its components are on show, x-ray-style (other backings, including solid colours, are available).

Its inner modules – seven components in all, from the camera to the speakers – are easy to swap out. And yes, that does include a removable battery. Read the complete  FAIRPHONE 2 REVIEW on Flagshipblog.com

Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 lens now available on Kickstarter

Meyer-Optik Gorlitz, a company known for launching fancy lenses, has launched a campaign on Kickstarter which is aimed at bringing back to life the Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 soap bubble prime lens.

Back in the golden era of film photography, Trioplan lenses were known for their bokeh effects. They were considered a bit too much by some, but others believed that they were simply perfect.

Well, Meyer-Optik Gorlitz has decided to allow this series to make a successful comeback to the market. First, the company launched the Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 telephoto lens on Kickstarter. The campaign received the funding from the users, so now it is time for another project.

The target is a modern Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 lens, which is here as a celebration of Trioplan’s centennial. The project is now up on popular the crowd-funding website and it has already been funded.

Meyer-Optik Gorlitz introduces modern Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 lens

This lens has a famous nickname: the soap bubble bokeh lens. The name was given thanks to its overdone bokeh effects. It is a great product for portrait photography, albeit it can be used for other purposes, too.

the optic comes packed with a secondary front focus element. Despite this fact, the product remains compact and lightweight. According to the announcement, the new Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 lens weighs only 200 grams / 7 ounces. For more Digital Camera Rumors visit Flagshipblog.com

The front focus element can be moved, thus allowing photographers to focus on subjects located at a distance slightly under 30 centimeters. As a result, the manufacturer says that it can be used for macro photography.

Its main goal is to make bokeh balls create a swirling effect in the corners. However, contrast and image sharpness have been turned up a notch, so that that quality of your shots reaches the highest levels yet for a Trioplan-series product.

Kickstarter campaign has been funded successfully in less than one day

The company has confirmed that the Trioplan 50mm f/2.9 lens will be released in Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Micro Four Thirds, M42, and Leica M mounts. It is worth noting that the rangefinder of Leica cameras will not be supported, meaning that users will have to rely on the Live View mode to focus.

The project had a goal of $50,000. Well, in less than 24 hours, it has been exceeded, as more than $200,000 have been pledged to the cause at the time of writing this article. More Camera Rumors at theSonyblog.