Geek News

Pentax has unveiled the 36.4-megapixel K-1 Mark II DSLR, the successor to its first full-frame, the K-1 . The new model hasn't changed much, apart from one outstanding new feature. Thanks to a new "accelerator unit" for its Prime IV image processor, the K1 II can do noise reduction much quicker, allowing you to shoot at up to 819,200 native ISO. That crazy ISO number is native, so it uses the electronic gain, rather than software to attain that sensitivity (unlike with extended ISOs). Pentax didn't supply any samples in the upper ranges, but images at ISO 25,600 and 51,200 look decent. The K-1 Mark II also has a new pixel shifting system called Pixel Shift Resolution System II. Like similar systems from Sony and others, it can capture four burst photos and marry them into "super-high-resolution images," Pentax parent Ricoh said. The new system now captures RGB color with each pixel however, allowing for "significantly finer details and truer col...

Flying a drone isn't as easy as it looks, as any beginner who has ever purchased one of the pricey things and then immediately crashed it can attest. A startup called MotionPilot wants to help beginners and pros alike with a joystick that makes it more intuitive and tactile at the same time. The device, still in a prototype stage, has motion sensors that let you maneuver a drone just by rotating and tilting your hand, while haptics let you feel it turn and accelerate. MotionPilot, founded by four grad students from France's École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EFPL), says the joystick's hand gesture control are so intuitive that beginning pilots can learn to fly "in a few seconds." To maneuver, you just lean the device forward or sideways, while using a trigger to change altitude. The joystick has beginner, intermediate and advanced modes, selected by a smartphone app, depending on your level and the type of flying you want to do. The beginner mode con...