I’ve been a pretty big fan of DropCam for a year or so now. This set-it-and-forget-it camera sets up in minutes – just point it to a wireless router when plugged in through USB and then connect it to the wall power. The camera automatically wends its way past your firewall and you can view and control the device from any phone or browser. It also sends notification messages (albeit a little effusively) so you know when people are entering and exiting the field of view.
Whereas the original DropCam looked a bit cheap, this new model is, the Dropcam HD, is the height of elegance. Made of black plastic, the round camera fits perfectly into the metal stand and it includes a long USB cord to connect to your PC or a power outlet. → Read More
If you got a digital camera for the holidays, or already own one, take a moment and write down the serial number. That way GadgetTrak’s new CameraTrace service can help you recover it if it’s ever stolen. Launching today, for a one-time fee of $10 CameraTrace lets you register your camera’s serial number. If you later report it lost or stolen, you’ll be notified by email if anyone else tries to upload photos from it. You can also search CameraTrace’s serial number database of 5 billion photos for free. Both tools could help you track down unauthorized uploaders and get your gear back. Camera thieves beware, there’s a new sheriff in town. → Read More
TIM is a new $60 camera kit from Holga that – get this – shoots in 3D and half-frame without digital technology! Groovy, right? It includes a detachable flash with color filters and uses something called 35mm “film,” which seems to chemically recreate patterns of light and dark on something called “photo paper” when used with the proper “agents.” It was very popular at the turn of the century.
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Japan’s mobile carriers are currently releasing a number of interesting handsets, which are all part of their summer 2011 line-up. While smartphones, the iPhone and Android in particular, are taking over the Japanese market, there are still some cool feature phones coming out, too. → Read More
In what could amount to a very hefty haul, Moscow thieves took a sledge to metal security shutters and then a glass case to grab twenty items including a Leica Pro Set with three lenses. Interestingly, they left a $32,000 Leica S2 on the shelf and, not surprisingly, focused mainly on lenses and the familiar standard M9s.
Serial numbers are after the jump if you ever spot these in the wild. → Read More
Smartphone cameras have drastically improved in quality in recent years, but they’re still not good enough for you? Then Toshiba’s announcement [PDF] of a new CMOS image sensor, specifically designed for cell phones and other mobile devices, from today should be good news for you. → Read More
Hasselblad, makers of $10,000+ cameras that once flew to the moon, is now owned by the Ventizz Capital Fund IV, a Swiss/German capital fund. Not much will change, at least internally, but there is some thought being put to expanding the Hasselblad line to the general public, a move that sounds just about ham-handed enough for a Swiss/German capital fund to try. → Read More
Camera brand Pentax will soon have a new owner: Tokyo-based Hoya group, which purchased the brand in 2007, is ready to sell [notice of sale as an English PDF] it to Ricoh in October this year. According to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, the office equipment maker plans to pay an estimated US$124 million for Pentax. → Read More
Olympus just announced the new PEN E-P3, PEN E-PL3, and PEN E-PM1. Why so many, you ask? Well, this is a full range of M4/3s cameras in various sizes – the granddaddy P, the “light” PL, and the mini PM. The E-P3 costs $899 with 12.3-megapixel Live MOS Image Sensor and 14-42mm lens. Only the E-P3 has been priced but here are some specs on the other, smaller cameras. In all, we’re looking at a fairly complete family of M4/3s cameras with big boy chops. The question? Will someone pick this up over an entry-level DSLR. → Read More
The ultra-tiny Pentax Q is the smallest interchangeable lens camera (which leaked today) in all the land and costs a little over $800, a wild price to pay for a camera that is arguably tiny. Sadly, as Engadget points out, the value for money just isn’t there with a “1/2.3-inch backlit CMOS image sensor” that competes with other compact cameras rather than other cameras from Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung. It’s tiny, sure, but it’s not particularly better. However, doesn’t it look like a little cutie? PR after the jump. → Read More
Training surgeons in hospitals is difficult and expensive, but what if you could use some 3D tech in order to simulate treating patients in a realistic way? That’s what Japan-based Totsu Sangyo thought when it used their Gemelos 3D Base [JP], a 3D camera that captures pictures in full HD resolution, during a surgery at the University of Tsukuba. → Read More
The Super Hi-Vision TV Japanese national TV broadcaster NHK and Sharp recently showed isn’t the only impressive piece of technology NHK is working on. Take their Super Hi-Vision camera, for example, which boasts a 33-megapixel image sensor. → Read More
Panasonic Japan announced [JP] a special Lumix camera yesterday, the LUMIX DMC-FP7D (where the “D” stands for Disney). Unlike many other cute special edition cameras from Japan, the design on this model is rather subtle. → Read More
Another month, another special edition camera from Casio: this time it’s blue cartoon cat Doraemon (super-popular in Japan and many countries in Asia) that gets the Exilim treatment. Technically, the so-called Doraemon’s Bell×CASIO EXILIM EX-Z800 [JP] is nothing special, but it’s – as you can easily see – designed to be a hit with kids. → Read More
It kind of leaked yesterday, but now Panasonic made the Lumix DMC-G3 official. The micro four-thirds camera is the successor to the DMC-G2, and apart from improving just about every technical feature, the new model is more compact and now boasts a touch-based UI. → Read More
Japan-based Sanwa Supply announced [JP] a mini camera specifically aimed at cyclists. The so-called “Bike Mini DV Camera 400-CAM003″ can not only shoot videos and pictures, it also doubles as a voice recorder. → Read More
It took them 1.5 years, but it’s out now: Tokyo-based USB gadget maker Thanko finally released an update to their spy necktie [JP] with built-in micro camera. Just wear the tie (you’ll even get a fitting handkerchief and cufflinks) and press the button on the mini remote to start shooting video. → Read More
To be sure, Olympus’ micro 4/3s cameras, the E-PL1 and the E-PL2, are changing the way we think about removable lens cameras. However, I worry that high price coupled with potentially limiting features will cause some shooters to shy away from this line. While that may be the case, I encourage anyone thinking about a point and shoot or ultrazoom camera to look into these clever and high-quality shooters. → Read More
Our own review of the M9 pales in comparison to thislabor of love by Thorsten Overgaard who has been shooting with the storied digital since 2009 and continuously updates his post with commentary, pictures, and advice. Not only is he a great, quirky photographer he writes passionately about the places he visits and, most important, the camera itself. → Read More
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a security camera that shoots video in color even in pitch-black conditions. The so-called Color Night Vision Camera [JP], produced by AIST spin-off company Nanolux [JP], uses infrared to reproduce the red, blue, and green colors of objects. → Read More
