Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

While the post dates back to October of last year, on the Kodak ‘PluggedIn‘ blog Steve Sasson took a walk down memory lane regarding the company’s first portable electronic still camera. And who better to do so than Steve Sasson who is actually credited with inventing the digital camera and was one of the guys who created the prototype pictured above. The camera is really a Frankenstein of technologies from 1975 built from various components including a Super 8 movie camera lens, a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder, 16 nickel cadmium batteries, a new type of CCD imaging array and a collection of digital and analog circuits all wired together. All in all, the first prototype doesn’t look half bad.

Instead of memory cards, the camera relied on the aforementioned cassette deck to capture still images which took about 23 seconds to record the digitized image to tape. Viewing the image required you to put the tape in a custom built playback device which featured a frame store that would interpolate the 100 captured lines of data from the CCD to 400 lines so that it could then be viewed on an NTSC TV.

This reminds me of the electronic camera I invented as a child, but my version was actually capable of producing full color images. Unfortunately when I tried to apply for a patent the government informed me that my ‘camera’ was actually a Lite Brite that my parents had bought me for Christmas. But they were impressed with the photos of Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner I had ‘taken’… Or maybe they were just trying to let me down easy now that I think of it… Those jerks!

[ PluggedIn - We Had No Idea ] VIA [ Retro Thing ]

By Evan Ackerman

If you’re even a semi-serious photographer, you almost certainly have found yourself in a situation where you could have really, really used a tripod. We’ve seen one or two (or three or four) creative little tripods that you can carry around with you, but the StandPouch is extra handy since it pulls double duty as a semi-soft camera case. A tripod connector is built into the front of the case; just flip it out and screw in your camera and you’ve got an instant, tiltable little mount.

The StandPouch comes in a few different sizes in either grey or blue and is available for about $13 from America Digital Accessories (whose website seems to be seriously broken at the moment).

[ StandPouch ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Ever wonder what it would feel like to be in the driver’s seat of an RC car as it races around your house? While you can already buy remote control vehicles that feature a built-in video camera, I like the fact that this standalone wireless camera is small enough to use with even the miniature Bit-char G RC cars that were so popular a few years back. The camera unit features a 2.7 megapixel color CMOS sensor and a rechargeable battery that’s good for about 45 minutes. Given it’s just under an inch and a half on its longest side, that’s pretty impressive. It’s able to transmit the 1.2GHz video signal about 98 feet to the included Morse type s receiver, which can then be connected to a television set with a composite video cable.

The mini video camera also features a waterproof case allowing it to be attached to an RC submarine or boat without the fear of H20 ruining your fun, and you can get it from the Japan Trend Shop for $269.

[ RC-12 Wireless Mini Video Camera ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The next time you break into someone’s home or office and notice an adapter plugged into the wall that’s missing a cord, you might want to think about stealing that too. Because there’s a good chance it could be this fake AC adapter from Ajoka that’s recording your every move. Not surprisingly, the camera is actually powered by AC whenever the adapter is plugged into an outlet, but also features a lithium ion battery allowing it to record up to 3 hours of audio and video without an external power source.

The video and audio are recorded to a microSD card, and a 2GB card is capable of recording up to 66 hours of footage. Of course the video has a resolution of just 176×144 pixels at 15fps in the 3GP format, so unless the perp walks right up to the lens and look into it, there’s a good chance it will be hard to recognize anyone’s face.

[ Charger DVR ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]

By Andrew Liszewski

My parents often wonder what their dog does while he’s home alone. I’ve suggested they set up a digital camera to take some time-lapse photos while they’re away, but I think something like that might be a bit beyond their gadget comfort level. But if you’re the type who lets their pet wander the neighborhood all day, and have wondered where they go and what they do, this Pet’s Eye View Camera will document their wacky misadventures.

The built-in intervalometer can be set to automatically take photos at intervals of 1, 5 or 15 minutes, but even with a crappy resolution of just 640×480 (which they claim is fine for 4×6 prints) the camera only has enough memory to store about 35 shots. So if you set the timer for a 1 minute interval, it’ll run out of space in about 35 minutes. The camera includes a 4-foot USB cable for transferring the photos to your PC or recharging, and the ABS plastic housing is water-resistant so as long as your pet stays out of the local ponds or lakes, it should survive.

You can get it from Discover This for $47.95.

[ Pet’s Eye View Camera ] VIA [ bookofjoe ]

By Evan Ackerman

This sexy little camcorder is the Scarlet, designed by RED, the same guys who released the super badass (and super expensive at $18k) RED One. Although the Scarlet can’t really compete with its bigger brothers on sensor size and feature set, for a mere $3,000 here’s what you get: a 3k resolution sensor, framerates up to 120fps, data recording on dual CF cards, a 4.8 inch LCD and 8x optical zoom, WiFi control, and HDMI + Firewire 800 + USB 2.0 outs. Although “specifications, delivery dates and design are subject to change… count on it,” this is still a pretty serious camcorder for the money.

After the jump, take a look at a chart comparing the resolutions of the RED cameras to the piddly HD you’re used to. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

I haven’t gotten around to finding the perfect macro lens for my Nikon D70 as of yet, so I mostly rely on a Nikon point & shoot digital camera when I’m taking close-up product shots for reviews. When combined with a bit of Photoshopping the shots turn out great, but this LED macro ring for compact cameras would make my life a bit easier. Instead of relying on a flash that’s offset to one side of the camera, the ring of 8 LEDs surrounds the lens, providing even illumination from every side.

It’s powered by 3 AAA batteries which are housed in a battery pack that can be attached to the tripod mount on the camera, or to an actual tripod. The ring itself connects to the battery pack with a 12cm flexible arm, making it compatible with almost any P&S camera configuration. The LEDs have two levels of intensity you can select, depending on how much ambient light there is, and includes a carrying case to keep it safe during transport.

You can find it at EnjoyYourCamera.com for about $126.

[ Marumi LED Macro Ring For Compact Cameras ] VIA [ Smart Stuff ]

By Luke Anderson

I love my latest digital camera because it takes CompactFlash memory, rather than SD. While that unfortunately meant that I was left with several useless SD cards, I was more than happy to shell out the extra cash for a much faster format. While CompactFlash is already the fastest flash memory that you can put inside of a camera, the standard is getting revamped to provide even more speed.

The new standard being developed by the CompactFlash Association, dubbed CFast utilizes a SATA interface which promises theoretical transfer speeds of up to 375MB/sec. I’m sure that in reality speeds will be much slower, but even half of that would be a tremendous boost. There are a couple of downsides to this new memory. The first being the fact that it is still 18 months to 2 years away from being finalized. The other (and more important I think) is that the cards won’t be compatible with current cameras. You’ll need to start saving now if you want to take advantage of this faster format.

VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve already added this ridiculous zoom lens to your iPhone photography kit, you might as well go ahead and add this wide angle lens as well. While my concerns with the iPhone’s camera are more related to its crappiness than its field of view, if you’ve come to rely on it for random celebrity snaps or unexpected blackmail moments, this could make it a bit more useful. It’s easily attached or removed thanks to a clear plastic ‘cap’ that sits on top of the phone and positions the lens directly over the standard one. Just don’t expect to be able to use any of the iPhone cases on the market while this lens is attached.

You can get one from from USBfever.com for just $11.99, though it won’t ship until sometime around February 29.

[ iPhone Wide Angle Lens ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Luke Anderson

I envy kids today, as they get much cooler toys than we did. Sure, my Nerf guns and Laser Tag games were cool and all, but even those have been upgraded with the latest technology. If kids want to pretend that they are spies, they’ve really got it made. Just check out these working night vision goggles from Jakks Pacific.

Most toys that claim to be night vision really just have some sort of crappy flashlight attached to a helmet, but not the EyeClops Night Vision. It utilizes an infrared imager and LCD monocle which will let you navigate (and spy) in even the darkest of environments. If you’re wanting to photograph some evidence, they even make an EyeClops BioniCam which is the same thing, only with a digital camera instead of a headset. Each will retail for $80 when they hit stores this fall.

[ Jakks Pacific ] VIA [ Crave ]