Posts in Digital Cameras
The GasfindIR-LW infrared camera: Who farted?
Will Greenwald, CNET.com | Apr 12, 2007
According to Pollution Online (which, despite its name, is actually against pollution), one pound of SF6 has the same potential global-warming impact as 11 tons of CO2. Sulfur hexaflouride is used in high-voltage electrical equipment. If inhaled, it acts like antihelium, and, according to Wikipedia, makes one "sound like the god of hellfire". Finally, this dangerous (and potentially hilarious) gas is odorless, colorless, nontoxic, nonflammable, and extremely difficult to detect.
That's enough of a chemistry primer. The big news is you (if "you" are a master electrician or environmental engineer with deep pockets) can now buy a camera that can detect the gas. Infrared-imaging company FLIR Systems recently revealed the GasfindIR-LW, a thermal imaging camera that can detect SF6 and 20 other environmentally perilous gasses. If you ever wanted to hunt down acetylchloride; allyl flouride; or Freons 11, 12, 112, 113, or 114, the GasfindIR-LW is just the device you need.
Of course, like most fun toys, it's a strictly specialized piece of scientific equipment. The camera is a four-pound box that can capture footage only at 320 x 240 resolution. You can't exactly find it at your local BestBuy or Circuit City, either; this sort of device can cost several thousand dollars and must be bought either directly from the manufacturer or a very small number of professional supply stores.
Still, if you want to spend the time and drop the cash, it's a great way to find out just how dangerous the air around you really is.
Via CNET Crave
Tilting security cams for the paranoid
Mike Yamamoto, CNET.com | Apr 10, 2007
One of the most vexing things about being chronically paranoid is the limitations of our equipment (technologically speaking). No matter how many security cameras you've installed, for example, there will always be blind spots--and we know that's exactly where our enemies are sure to be lying in wait.
We may be getting some much-needed help, however, from a new remote-controlled tilting camera on the market. This neat little device can pan the landscape at will, controlled from up to 1km away with a handheld monitor that includes at 2.5-inch LCD screen to watch your target's every move. Built-in infrared LEDs even give the camera up to 4.8m of night vision.
These devices don't come cheap, at US$250 apiece, but it's still cheaper than hiring a 24-hour security guard. And it doesn't take coffee breaks.
Read more gizmos here | Via CNET Crave
ColorPath: Making out rainbows in the dark
Mark Rutherford, CNET.com | Apr 07, 2007
Blood may be thicker than water, but unfortunately they're both the same color if you're wearing night vision goggles.
The world of night vision has come a long way since the clunky, Vietnam-era starlight scopes, but it's still a monochromatic green. Tenebraex Corp. aims to fix that with a night vision filter that tricks your brain into seeing objects in different colors, The Boston Globe reported.
The ColorPath (Color Capable Night Vision Device) is mechanical, not computer based, which makes it more temperature resistant, light weight and power frugal, according to the manufacturer.
The ability to see in color after dark would allow a soldier to tell the difference between green grass and brown mud, orange smoke and green, or whether that's a white UN jeep or a bad guy's tan technical, according to Tenebraex.
It could also help medics tell the difference between red blood and wet water under "battlefield obscurant conditions"; a selling point Tenebraex hopes will get it in the front door of military procurement.
Note to cheaters: Call Tenebraex. We're tired of watching fat, green people getting it on.
Read more gizmos here | Via CNET Crave
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G1: Wireless penpals
Edvarcl Heng | Apr 06, 2007
The G1 tries to make the most of its Wi-Fi abilities. Here's our hands-on experience trying out this unwired camera.
The collaboration shot feature on the G1 is essentially Friendster on camera. You link up your G1 with your friends' (up to three more), shoot a picture of that hot young thing and the same illicit image will be automatically sent to your buddies' cameras, too. In practise, we found connecting G1s to be slow-going. First, we had to set up nicknames for each G1s before initiating the proper start-up screen, press both WLAN buttons simultaneously (we tried, even a lag of 1 second is not permitted) and wait for the cameras to shake hands before collaboration shooting was a go.
Sony claimed a connectivity range of 10-30m. But do take note that if you want to sync up while one G1 is a fair distance from the other (in our case, it was 10m), you would need to work out a signal to allow both of you to sync the cameras at the same time (we tried shouting). If you are looking to link up three cameras, you need to run through the same procedure twice; once to hook up two and the second time to sync all three together.
Once everything was up and running, we found the collaboration shot feature to be rather fun. A 10m range is a lot to play with when we start shooting from different parts of the office. It is akin to having a periscope to look over the wall at the other side of the fence.
When we took a picture on one G1, there was a one second lag before the image is transmitted to the other G1, though the transfer speed can also depend on the resolution you are shooting at. That's cool by us. But the lag time increased to 4 seconds when both G1s shot a picture at the same time. So if you and the buddy are liable to be shuttle-happy, be forewarned that the cross-update of pictures between two cameras is not exactly real time.
The second Wi-Fi feature is the picture gift. As the name suggests, it allows the user to select pictures from one G1 and transmit them over to another G1. It's easy, but there are quite a bit of permissions involved. After the G1s are linked, you would need to specify which G1 is the receiver and which is the sender. Next, you would need to select the pictures and each highlighted picture will be notated with an arrow pointing upwards, after which, small thumbnails of the pictures you have selected will appear in your pal's G1. He will select the ones he will accept from you and the download will start automatically. We felt the transfer speed was not too shabby at 0.34MB per second.
Read specs here
Read more gizmos here
More images of the Sony DSC-G1 in the flesh:
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Canon releases hot models into the Singapore wild
Edvarcl Heng | Apr 05, 2007
It has been almost a month since the 83nd annual PMA International Convention and Trade show ended. But the products first seen at the show are only just trickling into Asia.
For starters, Canon showed off various digicam models like the camcorder-like PowerShot TX1 camera which is a 7.1-megapixel camera capable of HD video recording and what Canon claims to be the fastest dSLR to date, the EOS-1D Mark III. While the bulky dSLR on show is only a prototype, hands-on experience with the camera's 110 frame bursts (for JPEGs) proves its claim to speed demon fame. A Canon spokesperson hinted that the retail price for the EOS-1D Mark III would approximately be in the range of S$7,000 to S$8,000.
Canon also unveiled the M80, an 80GB photo storage device with media playback features that was first demo in the fourth quarter of 2006 as well as the PIXMA iP1880, an aesthetically sound photo printer at a budget price (S$109).
Read more gizmos here
More images from the Canon launch:
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Photos taken with Nikon D70
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