Just twist and snap away

Here's a digital camera that doesn't require any batteries to power up. All it takes, is your fingers to give it a few good twists to juice it up and snap away.

Conceptualized by product design students Bryn Seymour and Jon Rothapfel, this camera relies on kinetic energy via the winding of a cap and stores this energy for just several images. We're curious whether if we stay up all night winding the cap, would that let us take more shots? Or would we end up busting the gadget?

This concept camera doesn't have an LCD screen to frame your shots, but relies on a simple circular hole in the camera body itself. So…are we going to get rounded images?

There is also a built-in USB plug which is hidden underneath the cap and an LED near the hole (which the designers claim is for the user interface, but we're not sure how that'll help).

The students stated that with the current technology, their camera can support up to 5-megapixel resolution.

So forgive us while we strengthen our fingers and wrist. Eco-friendly cameras may be the next wave of gadgets to come.

Panasonic adds Wi-Fi to its Lumix TZ-series

Panasonic seems to be introducing incremental feature upgrades to its new cameras these days. Just less than 24 hours ago, we saw the Japanese camera maker showcase its new FX520, which is an upgraded model to the FX36, but with an added touchscreen interface.

Today, Panasonic Japan did it again with its new Lumix offering, the TZ50, which sports an almost identical feature set as the TZ15 annnounced at the annual photo tradeshow PMA earlier this year, except for one big difference: Wi-Fi. The TZ50 comes equipped with onboard 802.11b/g which will allow users in Japan to wirelessly upload pictures to Panasonic's Lumix Club Web site from the camera. The global launch of the TZ50 should, however, see the camera maker unlock this function for uploading to other popular image-hosting sites.
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Canon expands its family of digital cameras

Canon today showcased some of its newest models to roll out from its factory. Among the new cameras is the entry-level dSLR, the EOS 450D. Canon claims that with the new DIGIC III image processor, we can expect faster processing time and "true-to-life" colors from its 12.2-megapixel sensor. Bundled with the camera body is the 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS lens. Lenses with image stabilizer are usually more expensive, and typically used by professionals. Canon also said it is looking into the possibility of including IS lenses with their future dSLRs. The 450D is priced at S$1,394 (body only) or S$1,499 with the kit lens. This shooter will be on shelves from early April in Singapore and April/May in other Asia-Pacific markets.

We featured the three new Digital IXUS last week, and at the event Canon announced the pricing and availability for these. The IXUS 970 IS, IXUS 90 IS and IXUS 85 IS will retail at S$669, S$599 and S$529, respectively. These three point-and-shoot units will also house the DIGIC III image processor. The trio will be available in Singapore from April and April/May for the rest of Asia-Pacific region.
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Panasonic unveils FX-series Lumix with touchscreen

The Japanese electronics giant has just announced that it will be introducing the DMC-FX520, its second compact Lumix camera with 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens. Its first 25mm lens offering, the FX36, was unveiled at the PMA Show in Las Vegas earlier this year. For those new to lenses, a wide-angle lens typically offers a larger capture view compared to cameras with conventional lenses. Panasonic claims its FX520's 25mm lens can capture almost twice the viewing space compared with standard 35mm cameras.

What's new on the FX520, however, is that in addition to the conventional joystick navigation controls, it also comes with a 3-inch touchscreen display, which is a first on a camera for Panasonic. This combination of two different user interface on one camera should give users a lot more flexibility when operating the device. It will be interesting to see how this hybrid system will fare against the popular T-series touchscreen Cyber-shots from Sony.
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Samsung mentions GX-20 dSLR successor

Talk about fast! Even before the GX-20 dSLR camera is on the shelves, Samsung had told us that we can expect to see its successor soon.
The GX-20 is strategically marketed against the big boys, like the Canon EOS 40D, and its successor is expected to be seen in the same light. Michael Min, general manager of the Digital Still Camera division for Samsung in Southeast Asia, told Crave Asia that the new model will be showcased at Photokina in Germany later this year. The specifications for the yet unnamed dSLR are unknown, but we guess it will be more souped-up than the GX-20.
To add on to the current lineup of eight dSLR lenses from Samsung, Min also mentioned that users can expect six more optics from the Korean company. The launch dates for these lenses are unconfirmed, but Min said we will be able to catch a glimpse of it at Photokina.

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