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At CES 2024, Panasonic introduced the LUMIX S-E100, the world’s smallest and lightest medium-telephoto fixed focal length macro lens. This addition to Panasonic’s LUMIX S Series isn’t merely an incremental update but a significant leap forward in the realm of photography and videography gear, reflecting a blend of compactness, performance, and innovation.

Designer: Panasonic

A marvel of engineering, the S-E100 weighs in at a mere 298 grams. But don’t let its featherweight profile fool you. This lens packs a punch with high resolution, stunning bokeh unique to macro lenses, and an excellent depth of expression. The inclusion of a new optical design and a newly developed Dual Phase linear motor ensures that it’s not just lightweight but also a heavyweight performer in its category.

The S-E100 stands out not only for its close proximity photography but also for producing impressive portraits and images unique to medium-telephoto lenses. It comes with a bright F/2.8 aperture and supports fast autofocusing, making it versatile for various shooting conditions. With an increased demand for video capabilities, Panasonic has equipped this lens with a silent operation feature and optically corrected focus breathing, ensuring high-quality video content production.

Panasonic’s aim is clear: to spearhead a new era in the digital mirrorless camera market. With cutting-edge performance and enhanced mobility, the S-E100 is not just a tool for photographers and videographers; it’s a companion for those who dare to explore and capture the world in all its detail.

With features like a new Double Focus System, three aspherical lenses, and a newly developed Dual Phase Linear Motor with a new actuator, the S-E100 is designed for a wide range of scenarios. Its high resolution and photographic performance capture every detail of the subject, creating a mesmerizing bokeh effect unique to medium-telephoto macro lenses. For video producers, the S-E100 offers silent operation, suppressing focus breathing and allowing for smooth exposure changes.

Furthermore, the fast autofocus performance of the S-E100 expands its capabilities, enabling speed and precision for faster action tracking in both photo and video uses. Its ultra-high precision manual focus sensor ensures unparalleled manual focus precision, even at 1:1 macro.

Panasonic has also considered the overall user experience. The S-E100 is designed to integrate seamlessly with Panasonic’s existing F/1.8 series of lenses, offering a consistent and unified experience across various focal lengths. This thoughtful design extends to the color rendering, ensuring uniformity regardless of the lens used, a crucial aspect for professionals managing extensive shoots.

The LUMIX S-E100 lens is set to be available at the end of January 2024 for $999.99.

At CES 2024, Panasonic introduced the LUMIX S-E100, the world’s smallest and lightest medium-telephoto fixed focal length macro lens. This addition to Panasonic’s LUMIX S Series isn’t merely an incremental update but a significant leap forward in the realm of photography and videography gear, reflecting a blend of compactness, performance, and innovation.

Designer: Panasonic

A marvel of engineering, the S-E100 weighs in at a mere 298 grams. But don’t let its featherweight profile fool you. This lens packs a punch with high resolution, stunning bokeh unique to macro lenses, and an excellent depth of expression. The inclusion of a new optical design and a newly developed Dual Phase linear motor ensures that it’s not just lightweight but also a heavyweight performer in its category.

The S-E100 stands out not only for its close proximity photography but also for producing impressive portraits and images unique to medium-telephoto lenses. It comes with a bright F/2.8 aperture and supports fast autofocusing, making it versatile for various shooting conditions. With an increased demand for video capabilities, Panasonic has equipped this lens with a silent operation feature and optically corrected focus breathing, ensuring high-quality video content production.

Panasonic’s aim is clear: to spearhead a new era in the digital mirrorless camera market. With cutting-edge performance and enhanced mobility, the S-E100 is not just a tool for photographers and videographers; it’s a companion for those who dare to explore and capture the world in all its detail.

With features like a new Double Focus System, three aspherical lenses, and a newly developed Dual Phase Linear Motor with a new actuator, the S-E100 is designed for a wide range of scenarios. Its high resolution and photographic performance capture every detail of the subject, creating a mesmerizing bokeh effect unique to medium-telephoto macro lenses. For video producers, the S-E100 offers silent operation, suppressing focus breathing and allowing for smooth exposure changes.

Furthermore, the fast autofocus performance of the S-E100 expands its capabilities, enabling speed and precision for faster action tracking in both photo and video uses. Its ultra-high precision manual focus sensor ensures unparalleled manual focus precision, even at 1:1 macro.

Panasonic has also considered the overall user experience. The S-E100 is designed to integrate seamlessly with Panasonic’s existing F/1.8 series of lenses, offering a consistent and unified experience across various focal lengths. This thoughtful design extends to the color rendering, ensuring uniformity regardless of the lens used, a crucial aspect for professionals managing extensive shoots.

The LUMIX S-E100 lens is set to be available at the end of January 2024 for $999.99.

Automation almost always means the death of imperfection. The reason we have robots manufacturing products is because not only is it faster, robots are much more precise than humans, resulting in the kind of consistency we’ve come to expect from the Industrial Age. In a world hyper-focused on sheer perfection, Chipolo is embracing the flawed with its latest release at CES 2024, the limited edition “Perfectly Imperfect” Chipolo CARD Spot, exclusively compatible with the Apple Find My network.

Designer: Chipolo

The brand has launched 10,000 of these unique item trackers, each with its own minor cosmetic imperfection, a bold move that’s more than just a marketing strategy — it’s a statement. Chipolo is challenging the pervasive societal norms dictating that perfection is paramount, suggesting instead that these so-called “defects” are often barely noticeable to others and might be unduly magnified in our own eyes.

Primož Zelenšek, Co-founder, and CEO of Chipolo, expressed his excitement about the launch, stating, “Through the ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ series, we aim to ease lives not just physically through functionality but also mentally, by promoting peace of mind.” This initiative isn’t just about producing unique trackers; it’s about inspiring a change in how people view themselves and their imperfections.

What sets these Chipolo CARD Spot trackers apart is not just their philosophy but also their design. Each tracker features a distinctive blemish on one side and the campaign’s motto, “Perfectly Imperfect,” engraved on the other in a marker-like font developed in collaboration with a female-owned type design studio in Slovenia. This choice in typography reflects the brand’s core values of friendliness and openness and supports the campaign’s message that our imperfections contribute to our uniqueness.

To ensure that this ‘imperfection’ isn’t just a gimmick but is more of a well-rounded message on sustainability, Chipolo has chosen to use plastic with minor imperfections that would typically be discarded, thereby reducing waste and avoiding the creation of additional pollution. This choice underlines Chipolo’s commitment to the environment, ensuring that each tracker is fully functional, with only its exterior bearing the marks of its sustainable journey. It also isn’t the first time Chipolo’s relied on recycled plastic, as the company debuted a series of trackers made from repurposed ocean plastic back in 2020.

Keeping in line with the campaign’s overall message, the company has partnered with The Global Mental Health Peer Network, Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs, and VDC Zasavje, promising to donate $1 for every “Perfectly Imperfect” Chipolo sold. This partnership aims to support the missions of these non-profits, focusing on mental health, support for the blind and visually impaired, and social welfare, respectively.

As these limited edition trackers make their way into pockets and purses worldwide, they carry with them a message of acceptance, sustainability, and community support. Sometimes, it’s about discovering a sense of acceptance and peace within ourselves — and that’s something worth searching for.

Xiaomi’s knack for building virtually every conceivable gadget under the sun – from smartphones to electric vehicles – shows no signs of slowing down. Just last week, they made waves with the announcement of their SU7 electric car, and now they’re aiming to transform our living rooms with the Xming Q3 Neo projector (not to be confused with Realme’s Q3 phone or their Neo TWS earbuds). This latest offering from Xiaomi, in collaboration with Xming, is designed to bring a premium home cinema experience at an astonishingly affordable price of 799 yuan (approximately $112).

Designers: Xiaomi & Xming

The Xming Q3 Neo projector, equipped with an advanced LCD projection system named Photon X, promises to enhance image quality while tackling common issues like light leakage and dust accumulation. It boasts a native 1080p resolution, 230 ANSI lumens brightness, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio, ensuring that visuals are not just sharp but also vivid and detailed.

Xiaomi’s ecosystem integration shines here, as the Q3 Neo seamlessly connects with its Mi Home IoT ecosystem, effectively becoming a smart home hub. This connectivity allows users to easily control various smart home devices directly through the projector. Additionally, the projector doesn’t skimp on audio, featuring a dual 3W speaker system for an immersive audio experience.

On the connectivity front, the Q3 Neo supports Wi-Fi 6 for a stable and fast internet connection and Bluetooth 5.0 for compatibility with various devices. Even for its budget, it comes equipped with features like automatic keystone correction, autofocus, auto image obstacle avoidance, and auto screen alignment, all contributing to a hassle-free setup experience.

The projector runs on the upgraded FengOS 3.0, offering access to over 100,000 content sources. It includes a TikTok-inspired algorithm for personalized recommendations, a new sports channel for live events, and a variety of other content genres, enhancing the overall viewing experience. Given Xiaomi’s product track record, who knows what they’ll announce next… maybe a Xiaomi-branded popcorn machine to go with the projector??