How to take the ultimate selfie

It's apparent that the selfie craze will only intensify as gadgets are streamlined for the purpose. Photo: JUNG YEON-JE

It's apparent that the selfie craze will only intensify as gadgets are streamlined for the purpose. Photo: JUNG YEON-JE

Published Mar 29, 2014

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London - Another day, another product designed to make taking selfies easier, this time from Samsung.

The South Korean firm’s NX mini is a super-thin camera with a 3-inch rotating, flip touchscreen display designed for choosing the perfect selfie angle.

The camera has a 1-inch 20.MP sensor, can shoot HD 1080p video, and photos are taken simply by winking at it – removing the need to manually press the shutter mid-selfie pose.

Once a wink is detected, the NX mini automatically takes a shot after a two-second delay.

Photos can also be controlled via a smartphone app.

The NX mini additionally features interchangeable lenses, including a 9-27mm compact lens, and a 9mm wide-angle lens, perfect for taking group selfies.

This lens would have been particularly useful during this year’s Oscars ceremony when Bradley Cooper took the now ubiquitous selfie of various Hollywood stars on Ellen DeGeneres’ phone.

Other specifications of the NX mini include a 6 frames-per-second (fps) Continuous Shot mode, Wi-Fi and NFC capability, and photo filters.

Samsung even claims the camera doubles up as a baby monitor. When it detects noise using its built-in microphone, a connected smartphone is activated via an app, meaning parents can see their child.

Samsung’s NX mini is available in the US for $449 (R4 834). A South African release date and pricing has not been announced yet.

A Samsung spokesman said: “The ‘selfie’ has found a permanent place in vocabularies across the world in recent years and its popularity shows no sign of stopping.

“Reflecting this recent consumer trend, the NX mini has a range of exclusive features which make taking amazing selfies effortless.”

When synced to a smartphone or tablet, photos on the NX mini can be shared over Wi-Fi, or by pressing the camera to another enabled device using NFC.

The NX mini weighs 158g and comes in four colours – white, green, black and pink. – Daily Mail

 

THE RISE OF THE SELFIE STICK

A number of companies are selling “arm extenders”, also known as selfie sticks, to make taking photos of yourself easier.

The stick not only holds the camera, but comes with buttons on the handle used to take the shot, and even focus the image.

The trend for cameras on sticks, also known as monopods, isn’t new and a number of sticks are already available for digital cameras from companies including Opteka and XShot.

But monopods designed especially for smartphones, however, were unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress, including a Samsung version.

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