Spherical Panoramic Camera Ball

As a species. creativity has to be one of our greatest strengths, granted some ideas and inventions can come across a little whacky and strange, but with perseverance they often blossom into excellent gadgets. One such idea is the Spherical Panoramic Camera Ball, created by Jonas Pfeil. The ball is tossed into the air where it proceeds to snap a full 360 degree panoramic image of the surrounding scene. The images produced are an amazing snapshot of the moment, with every direction able to be explored. Unexpected details appear in every corner, even capturing the scene behind you that was till then unseen.

A built in accelerometer is able to calculate the launch speed of the ball, that is in turn used to calculate the maximum height and time to maximum height. This is then used to time the shot for that zero g moment when the camera ball is stationary. At that moment the 36 fixed-focus 2 megapixel mobile phone camera modules fire off simultaneously. The camera’s internal 8bit Risc processor then stitches them together into a panoramic picture of the scene. Depending on the surroundings the Camera Ball will capture detail out to a few hundred meters in each direction. Read the full article »»»»

Olympus PEN E-P3

We’ve held off writing this review for more than 8 weeks, why, well put simply – it was hard to believe a camera could be this good. Literally, we fell in love with the Olympus PEN E-P3. Those clever little boffins at Olympus make some pretty bold claims on the E-P3, Geat Lens Range ✓ World’s Fastest Auto Focus ✓ Superior Picture Quality ✓ HD Video Stabalisation ✓ Ooh, and that Popup Flash ✓ Brilliant User Interface and OLED Screen ✓ PEN E-P3 ticks all the boxes, seems the mighty claims Olympus make aren’t simply rhetoric? Read the full article »»»»

The Sony PJ Series Handycam, The Projector with a Handycam Attached

Sony is back to innovating once again, returning to their core business, and the reason we loved them, leading edge gadgets. A prime example has to be the recently released PJ family of Handycams with integrated Projector. Shown earlier this year at CES the camera caused quite a stir – won a CNET award -, now it’s available world-wide and still every bit as impressive.

This is the best implementation of an integrated projector on any gadget to date. Able to project a 60″ image with a bright and vivid picture this is a viable alternative to using a TV to watch your video creations, this is no matchbox projection. Also providing full Hi-Def video recording and enough clever functions to keep Inspector Gadget busy, Sony has produced a well rounded, quality video camera with a sparkling surprise, cinema on the go. Read the full article »»»»

How Deep is Your Pocket? Deep Enough For ‘Pentax Q’ Compact ILC

Pentax has announced what it claims is the first pocket-friendly interchangeable lens camera to sport its new bayonet – Q – lens mount. Pentax says that its Q mount is about a third less in diameter than the more familiar K-mount, thanks to a reduction in the distance from the lens mount surface to the image sensor and by tweaking the size of the lens image circle to be proportionate to the sensor. The Pentax Q also makes use of a compact sensor and sacrifices the onboard optical viewfinder, mirror box, focusing plate and autofocus sensor to help keep proportions pocket-sized.

According to the press release, “the Q carves out an entirely new camera category that extends beyond traditional digital compact, APS-C or 4/3 digital cameras.” This is a bit disingenuous; the Q isn’t so much smaller than models like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 or Sony NEX series that it’s in a category all by itself. All of them are jacket-pocket-friendly equipped with a pancake prime lens, but none of them are with a standard zoom. The Q’s body is roughly the size of the Canon PowerShot S95, but as with all ILCs, the lens can’t retract into the body and so, unless you have TARDIS pockets, there will always be an issue. It is lighter, though, and like Panasonic and Olympus, the lenses are much lighter than Sony’s E-mount offerings. If not for size, I’m not sure exactly what niche Pentax thinks it’s carving out. Retro? Olympus got there first. Overpricing? Everyone else has been there, still doing that, though at $800 Pentax seems to be trying to outdo the crowd. Read the full article »»»»

Panasonic Lumix GF3

Just months after announcing the Lumix GF2, Panasonic has trumped itself with the tinytot sized GF3. Panasonics ever growing – yet shrinking - stable of Lumix Micro Four Thirds cameras. Panasonic claims it’s GF3 is the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens camera with a built-in flash. The new DMC-GF3 is 16 percent smaller and lighter than its predecessor, the DMC-GF2. The Panasonic GF3′s size and weight reductions are largely thanks to the elimination of an optical viewfinder and mirror-box, which also means there’s – eek – no electronic viewfinder.

The Panasonic GF3 is smaller than Sony’s latest NEX series of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, and offers a larger – DSLR-sized – 12.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor in comparison to the Sony’s NEX C3‘s APS-C sized sensor. The Panasonic GF3 also features the same Venus Engine FHD image processor found in the GF2 to produce low noise images in low-light conditions at high ISO settings.

For still shots users can lock onto a subject with a touch of the 3-inch 460,000 pixel touch display and the camera will track the subject using the AF tracking feature. Another touch allows the user to select the size of the autofocus area, while a Pinpoint AF function enlarges the focusing area to allow for near pixel level touch control focusing on close up macro or still life objects. Users can also release the shutter using the touch-screen. While all the camera’s functions can be controlled via the touchscreen menus – which can also be customized using drag and drop – the touch interface can be disabled for users that prefer using the physical thumb wheel. Read the full article »»»»