Look through the tube for a shot

While we are quick to conclude that this concept camera was designed by a famed Italian fashion house, it turns out industrial design student Manuel Perez Prada has absolutely no association with the label.

The tube-like conception is what Prada perceives future dSLRs will look like. While I am comfortable with the design of today's cameras, I can't help but to be intrigued by the mechanisms and layout of his concept.

Rings around the camera can be turned to dictate different functions, ranging from a power switch to "adjusting the camera for the user", according to the designer, although we are not sure how that one works.

The circumference of the lens looks like a ring flash, which seems to be a hot photographic peripheral this year. This also brings to mind that a dSLR's advantage is the ability to use different lenses. Though we aren't sure how optics are going to be changed on this model.

Call me traditional, but until someone can convince me that this camera will not roll off the table and fall to pieces, I'm sticking to the old, chunky design.

Via Yanko Design | Picture credit: Manuel Perez Prada

Sony Ericsson looking to add data functions to digicams

It's only a matter of time before someone decided that enough was enough with mobile phones crammed with imaging features. Surprisingly, it's Sony Ericsson that wants to turn the tables around.

The firm has just filed four patents, with one of it looking to apply GSM (used in mobile phones) as a data-transfer medium in cameras. Other possibly useful proposals include installing presets into the built-in memory of shooters, therefore providing convenient access to popular picture-sharing Web sites (like Flickr or Picasa) or to connect to personal hardware like PCs or printers.

In a world that is getting more and more connected, if these ideas take off, it's going to spark another round in the digital imaging revolution.

Via Unwired View | Photo credit: Unwired View

A bucket full of printing needs

My mom uses a bucket to soak the laundry, so I'm going to keep the Canon Selphy CP770 away from her since it looks too much like one.

I can bring it to the beach and no one will know it's a photo printer. The dye-sub unit sits on top of the bucket and is detachable so the space below can be used to store extra photo papers or maybe shovels and sand molds to entertain the kids while you snap and print their pictures.

The button layout below the 2.5-inch color display is now more user-friendly, and you can plug in commonly used flash card formats (like CompactFlash, SD or Memory Stick) straight into the printer. If your image-capturing device has an infrared port, images can be beamed to the inkbox as well. Those more tech-savvy may want to get the optional BU-30 Bluetooth module.

Before printing, the CP770 can automatically adjust the brightness of images for optimum print results or to correct red-eye effects. While making the 300 x 300dpi print, the printer also applies a thin overcoat of lamination over the paper to prevent smudging and to extend the longevity of the picture.
Read more »

Creative's new budget video camera

Though most well-known for sound cards and MP3 players, Creative has always had a wide range of products including Webcams and even input peripherals. The Vado Pocket Video Cam is the latest, a low-cost video camera which is extremely compact at 100 x 55 x 16mm. It has a 2-inch display and a USB connector which hides away when not in use.

The purpose of this device is to make taking videos easy. It captures at VGA quality with a maximum frame rate of 30fps. Some high-end mobile phones (like the Nokia N82 and LG Viewty) can also capture at that resolution, as well as most modern compact cameras-- a fact that narrows the target audience of the Vado. But for those without an expensive camera-phone or don't carry a digital camera around, it could be a good way to get higher-quality videos for all your YouTube uploading needs.

The Vado will be available starting June in Asia Pacific at a retail price of S$169. It comes with 2GB of in-built memory with no expansion slot and weighs 84g. For more details of its specifications, visit Creative's Web site.

Click for more images

Olympus announces two new dSLRS and a pancake lens

All this time that Olympus was lying low, it was probably developing the E-420--the world's smallest and thinnest dSLR. Measuring just 53mm thick and 380g, the Japanese company touts this camera as "ideal for traveling or just walking around town". It will ship with a 10-megapixel sensor and 2.7-inch HyperCrystal III LCD display with Live View.
To complement the size of the E-420, Olympus has also released the 25mm F2.8 lens in the traditional pancake form of 23.5mm thin and 95g light. While you may be scratching your head and wondering what "pancake" means, it is a term of endearment that photographers give to small and thin lenses usually found on rangefinders. The lens offers a view of 50mm (35mm equivalent) when used with Olympus 4/3 systems.

Alongside, we see the E-520. Although it is chunkier than the E-420, we attribute this to the built-in image stabilizer (IS) mechanism that is not present in its smaller sibling. The IS system is driven by Olympus' proprietary Sonic Wave Drive, and shutterbugs can expect to shoot at lower shutter speeds without using a tripod. Other than the IS, the E-520 specifications remain pretty much the same as the E-420.

The shooters and lens will be available in Asia from June. However, pricing was unavailable at press time but we will update once we have the information.

(Photo credits: Olympus)

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