Olympus skins bring back the 1960s

If traditionally stuffy HP can come up with a psychedelic laptop, then certainly Olympus can do the same with its cameras. (Though that doesn't necessarily mean that's a good thing.)

Like it or hate it, Olympus is releasing a limited-edition Mju 1020 sporting colors and patterns that could be spotted by a one-eyed beggar a mile away. Designed by Romanian artist Matei Apostolescu, 5,000 of the 10.1-megapixel cameras will be produced with skins worthy of a Jefferson Airplane album cover. Aside from the funky threads, it features a 7x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, image stabilization, and face detection technology.

Olympus also claims that with the appropriate casing, it has an underwater range of up to 40m. The skins might help there too, because they'd probably make unappetizing shark bait.

Via Crave CNET

Seriously, don't try this at home

Would you subject your dSLR through a series of rigorous tests just to make sure it survives drops and knocks as advertised? Apparently, Joseph Spina believes firmly in it.

On three separate videos on YouTube, he subjected a Nikon D3 to a series of tests that no one should ever try at home. As if pouring chocolate, jam, yogurt, oatmeal and water over the camera wasn't enough, he dropped the camera from a height onto a solid concrete floor, and violently scraped a bundle of keys against the LCD. To show that the camera survived the battery of abuses, he would fire off the shutter after each test.

Not for the faint-hearted, any photographer who goes through such great measures to maintain the condition of their camera will find this video disturbing.

In any case, watch at your own discretion and never, ever try this with your own camera.

Quirky camera for scoping

Fancy an eye-piece camera? Not too long ago, German camera manufacturer Minox unveiled the Minox Digital Eyepiece Camera (DEC) 5.0, and at first glance, it looked nothing like a shooter. But underneath its quirky exterior, you'll find a digital camera, monitor and eye-piece, all rolled into one light package of 220g.

The DEC 5.0 acts pretty much like a dSLR camera body, but instead of fitting a lens, you attach a spotting scope to it (thus the term digiscope). The camera comes in several different mounts, each adapted for different brands of telescopes.

Bird lovers now won't have to lug around heavy equipment but can contend with just their telescope and this 5-megapixels camera. The 2.4-inch TFT LCD screen is not really big (compared to other digital cameras), but is ample for more then one person to view.

The DEC 5.0 is also shockproof and waterproof, so you can carry on scoping and shooting even in adverse weather conditions. It comes with 128MB of internal memory, but if you require more space, you can always pop an SD card into the expansion slot.

Though it is marketed for hunters (to scope their prey) and bird lovers, we're sure others will think of other quirky uses for it soon. Since a spotting scope can give magnification ranging from 40x to 60x, you can get much closer than using an expensive telephoto lens for dSLRs. Investigative work, anyone?

It's weird that we cannot find this on the online store at Minox's site, but there are plenty of other sites touting this innovative gadget at US$449.

This camera "sees" through clothes

If you remember the movie xXx, Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) was given the Eagle Eye, an enhanced binoculars that has X-ray capability to which our hero put to good use with some strip-searching. While the geeks among us dream of owning one, a British company Thruvision has already developed something similar. It has put together a revolutionary imaging system that can "see" what's beyond the clothing, but without showing the person's intimate details. (Too bad for the lechers.)

Enter the T5000, a camera that can detect and process Terahertz rays (commonly known as T-rays). This technology was built on the idea that living and non-living objects alike emit T-rays of different frequency which can pass through objects. By identifying and processing the data of these rays, the camera can reveal what is hidden up to 25m away. This eliminates the threat of close contact with potentially dangerous characters.

T-rays exists on the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave. By engineering it to be sensitive only to certain frequencies, it is possible to use this camera outdoors without having to worry about other forms of radiation that might interfere with the work.

The T5000 was developed with research from the astronomers at the European Space Agency, who study dying stars by examining the T-rays they emit.

Thruvision aims to apply this groundbreaking technology for civilian and military use. Security at crowded areas or large-scale events can be more precise and faster at identifying threats, thus saving lives before catastrophes happen.

The T5000 will make its debut at the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) exhibition, which will be held on March 12-13 in the UK.

Update: Thruvision's Web site was unavailable when we last checked. We'll put it up once it is active.

Snap-together camera

If you thought the process of assembling a camera is tedious work involving precision and a lot of small mechanical parts, think again.

The 35mm Model Kit Camera ships in a box containing the unassembled model kit. With the instruction booklet by your side, carefully pry out the stated plastic parts from the frames and snap them together. Before long you will be rewarded with a camera you can claim "I made it myself". Well, almost.

Unfortunately for digital buffs, this camera accepts only 35mm film (which is still very much available). The shutter speed and aperture are fixed at 1/125 of a second and F9.5, respectively. There is no zoom on the plastic 28mm wide-angle lens, so you have to take a couple of steps forward to get closer to your subject. On the upside, this shooter doesn't require any batteries to operate, and the process of fitting it together should bring you an hour or two of fun.

Available here at S$40 a pop, this inexpensive camera will also make a great educational tool for kids, although they may ask, "where is the screen"?

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