camera

Olympus camera housings cater to the wet set

Olympus announced a divers set (Get it? Get it?) of waterproof camera housings Monday for underwater photographers using the company's latest digital SLR and a few point-and-shoot models. The housings protect the cameras at depths of up to 40 meters or about 130 feet.

The PT-E03 housing is designed for the lower-end SLR (single-lens reflex) Olympus Evolt E-410 camera, and the PPO-E05 can be attached to protect the new 14-42mm Zuiko lens. (Other existing PPO lens ports also are compatible, too.)

The company also announced underwater housings for four compact cameras, the SP-550 UZ model with an 18x zoom … Read more

Time-lapse photo system for amateur science teachers

This seems like a lot of money to do some time-lapse photography, but if you're an aspiring science teacher it will undoubtedly produce better footage of plants growing than the reel-to-reel films we were subjected to in grade school. This all-in-one system from Harbortronics can also provide a lesson in alternative energy because it runs on solar power.

The package includes a Pentax K110D Digital SLR, two 2GB memory cards and an automatic shutter controller for $2,300, according to Uncrate. Let's hope the photos look better than the system itself, which resembles a camera stuck in a … Read more

The camera behind Google's Street View

If you've been playing with Google's new Street View feature--that $25 billion time suck--you may well have wondered how the heck they took those 360-degree images while driving down the street.

Well, wonder no more. Thanks to our good friend Xeni Jardin at Boing Boing, we now know that many of the images, at least those shot outside the San Francisco Bay Area--were shot using this fairly disco-ball-esque device by the outside contractor, Immersive Media.

What's not clear just yet is if Google used the same kind of camera in the Bay Area, where the company … Read more

Concept 360-degree panorama cam draws lots of interest, little understanding

Update, 5/30/07: I knew this wasn't the first concept of its kind, and sure enough, our own Candace Lombardi had covered one in a previous life. Cedric Tay's 360 Degree Digital Camera even won a European design award.

While it lacks the visceral impact of the film version shown to the left, designer Ye Chen's hypothetical digital camera optimized for shooting 360-degree panoramas has the advantage of being a lot smaller and cooler looking. The camera concept, posted today on the Yanko Design site, incorporates a rotating camera lens, essentially turning the entire camera body … Read more

Panasonic follows 12-megapixel trend

In a move bound to surprise no one after both Casio's and Sony's recent announcements, Panasonic has announced a new 12-megapixel compact camera called the Lumix DMC-FX100. However, this new Panasonic distinguishes itself from the competition with a 3.6X optical, 28mm-to-100mm, f/2.8-to-f.5.6 zoom lens, which should prove useful for snapshooters trying to compose photos of friends in tight quarters, such as a crowded nightclub. The new Lumix also includes Panasonic's Mega O.I.S. optical image stabilization, as well as a 2.5-inch, 207,000-pixel LCD screen.

Panasonic has reached new heights … Read more

Kodak's CMOS camera will be 5-megapixel

BOSTON, Mass.--Eastman Kodak plans to release its own CMOS sensor in a Kodak camera and several Motorola cell phones by the end of the year.

Kodak President Antonio Perez shared the info at the JPMorgan Technology Conference in Boston on Monday.

While Perez would not release details on the camera phone, he did say that the new Kodak camera would have a Kodak-developed CMOS chip and be a 5-megapixel camera. The Kodak CMOS camera will be released in time for the holiday season and the Motorola-Kodak camera phone with a Kodak CMOS chip will follow close behind.

Kodak has been known to be developing a CMOS sensor … Read more

Casio joins 12MP club

Casio has announced its plan to participate in the latest round of the camera world's now-futile megapixel war with its forthcoming Exilim Zoom EX-Z1200. The company's next top model will sport a 1/1.7-inch, 12-megapixel CCD imaging sensor. A 3X optical, 37mm-to-111mm equivalent, f/2.8-to-f/5.4 zoom lens will funnel light toward that sensor, while a 2.8-inch, 230,400-pixel LCD will let you view your work.

More exciting than this new camera's abundant pixel count is Casio's decision to include CCD-shift image stabilization. This is the first time the company has offered … Read more

Digital camera shipments up 6 percent

Digital camera shipments increased 6 percent to 4.9 million in the first quarter of 2007, market researcher IDC said Wednesday.

Top leaders were Canon at 21 percent of the market, Sony at 16 percent and Kodak at 13 percent. Samsung jumped from 4 percent in the year-earlier quarter to 11 percent this year, propelling it to a fourth-place finish, IDC said.

Kodak fared better, with shipments increasing 5 percent--the first growth in five quarters, attributable to its emphasis on compact cameras costing between $200 and $300, IDC said. Nikon, though, didn't fare as well.

"Nikon was seventh … Read more

Deal of the day: Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1 MP camera for $260

Sandwiched between similar 7-megapixel siblings--the PowerShot SD800 IS on one side and the PowerShot SD1000 on the other--the Canon PowerShot SD750 nevertheless manages to distinguish itself as a well-designed, practical option for snapshooters who favor big LCDs over optical viewfinders.

If you're the rebating kind, there are some impressive rebates associated with this offer, including two on printers and one on poster-sized prints from Shutterfly. Check out the seller's site for details.

What: Canon PowerShot SD750 How much: $259.95 Shipping: Free, varies Where: Amazon.com (via FatWallet.com) When: Through unknown date Click here for product review.… Read more