Cameras, Printers & Scanners News - Page 9

It looks like Sony could have one of the best smartphone cameras in recent history with the news of the commercialization of its new Exmor RS IMX230 stacked CMOS image sensor, an image sensor that will be baked into the company's upcoming smartphones.

Why is this a better sensor? Well, according to Sony, the sensor will capture 21-megapixel still photos, and is the first CMOS image sensor for smartphones that features an on-board image plane phase detection AF single processing function, something that can use up to 192 auto-focus points. This means it will allow super-quick focus for fast-moving objects, and much more.

The new sensor is also capable of capturing HDR still images, and video, and can gather data from two different exposure conditions. From there, it will create a single image output that attempts to correct the bright and dark areas of the photo. When it comes to video capabilities, the new sensor is capable of capturing 720p video at 120FPS, 1080p video at 60FPS and 4K video at 30FPS. We should see this new sensor baked into Sony smartphones sometime in the second half of 2015.

Something out of left field, is Samsung announcing its new Project Beyond product. Project Beyond consists of 16 individual HD-quality cameras, positioned in a circular pattern, which capture continuous 360-degree images. Project Beyond takes in a gigapixel of data every second, stitching it all together as if it were a 360-degree video, streaming it directly to Samsung's Gear VR headset.

Limiting its use to someone shooting a video while you sit in your house with your Gear VR sounds weird, until you think of the fact that Samsung could - at first - use Project Beyond at events, streaming you the VR imagery back to your Gear VR headset. Things like sporting events, concerts, and much more can be opened up into the world of VR with this camera.

We thought GoPro would wait a week or so to unveil its new Hero4 cameras, but nope, we were wrong: here they are! GoPro has officially unveiled the new Hero4 cameras, once again arriving in two editions: Black, and Silver.

The GoPro Hero4 Black is the star of the show, capable of shooting 4K video at 30FPS, and is touted by GoPro as "the most advanced GoPro ever". It can shoot 4K at 30FPS, 2.7K at 50FPS, 1440p at 80FPS, and 1080p, 960p, and 720p all at 120FPS. Previously, the Hero3 Black could shoot at 4K at 15FPS, but could shoot at 240FPS at 720p, something the newer GoPro can't do. For still images, you can snap 12-megapixel photos with the new GoPro Hero 4.

GoPro has improved the audio capture on the new Hero4, which captures twice the dynamic range. The front of the new GoPro features its expected ultra-wide angle glass lens, with three different field of view settings available: Ultra-Wide, Medium and Narrow. New manual settings make the cut, with color, ISO limit, exposure and much more to tinker with. It's waterproof at up to 131 feet, or 40m, has built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, exposure settings for nighttime shooting, a "HiLight Tag" feature for marking key moments in footage, a QuikCapture feature which powers up and starts recording with a single press, and auto low-light features.

Old-school camera company Polaroid has fought for relevance over the years, and has invested in research and development of modern technologies. The company hopes its Cube, a 1080p action sports video recording device with a $99 price tag available next month, will help spur interest in its porftfolio.

"GoPro has done an incredible job building a new category in the digital imaging space," said Scott Hardy, Polaroid CEO, in a statement. "But when we look at that market, we think it can be much bigger by not just targeting the professional and amateur and aspirational thrill-seekers but going after more of the lifestyle."

For action sports participants, having something like a Polaroid Cube instead of a GoPro might not be the worst idea - and could help force GoPro to continue to innovate. The low price, half the price of the entry-level Hero3 device currently priced at $199.99 MSRP, should prove to be helpful.

Flir is a company that has been making thermal imaging cameras for commercial and military use for a number of years. The company has been under pressure to branch out into the broader consumer market and has an interesting new product to help. The new product is called the Flir One and it is an accessory for the iPhone 5 or 5S smartphones.

The accessory camera will sell for $349 making it much cheaper than the $1000 price the next cheapest thermal camera sells for. A version of the Flir one for Android users will roll out next year.

Flir thinks that consumers will see the benefit in a thermal imaging camera that sells for $350. Using the camera people can do things like check for cold or hot air leaking into or out of a home allowing them to better insulate and save money on heating and cooling. Developers are working with Flir now on making apps to take advantage of the camera.

Kickstarter is a place where more and more products head to get the funding they need to come to market. We have seen some very cool and successful products launch from Kickstarter including the Pebble smartwatch and Ouya game console over the years. One of the coolest projects that has turned up on the site in a long time for DIY fans is there now and it's for a cheap 3D printer.

The printer is called the Micro 3D printer or M3D for short. One of the biggest selling points of this printer is that it is cheap with a price of $299. That makes it hundreds and hundreds of dollars cheaper than other 3D printers on the market.

When the M3D printer hit Kickstarter, it was looking for $50,000. It hit that number within hours of going live. A few hours after that it had raised a million dollars. The project keeps going up and as of writing, the M3D printer has raised over $2.2 million only a few days after launch.

Photographers in the market for a new high quality lens to use with one of the full frame sensors on the market will be excited about the new offering from Sigma. The company has announced that the lens they unveiled back at CES 2014 called the 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art will ship late this month. The price for the lens is set at $949.

On the company website, it appears the MSRP is right at $1300. It's unclear if the lens is on sale during its launch or if the markdown is just a marketing ploy and it will always sell for $949. Sigma uses SLD glass and the lens has a new autofocus algorithm that makes focusing smoother.

The lens uses 13 elements in eight groups and can focus on objects only 15.7-inches away. Maximum magnification ratio is 1:5.6. Sigma offers the lens for Sigma, Sony, Nikon, and Canon mounts

ZUtA Labs has taken to Kickstarter to fund its super mobile robotic printer known as the Pocket Printer, which will set you back just $180 if you fund it on Kickstarter now, or $200 when it begins shipping early next year.

The Pocket Printer will scoot along a piece of paper - of any length - leaving ink as tracks. It will print much slower than a traditional printer obviously, but you can't kick its portable goodness. You could take it anywhere, printing something on the plane while you're travelling, or in the coffee shop while you're trying to connect to its Wi-Fi.

ZUtA Labs' Pocket Printer has a print speed of just 1.2ppm in its current prototype specs, and in its current form, prints at 96x192 DPI. It has Bluetooth connectivity, supports Wi-Fi, has a run time of around one hour, charge time of three hours, supports Android, iOS, Linux, OS X and of course, Windows. It is just 10cm or 3.9-inch high, and 11.5cm or 4.5 inches in diameter, weighing in at 300g or 10.5oz.

Panasonic has show off an interesting new camcorder for those that want to be able to record 4K video hands free. The camera is called the HX-A500. This strange looking camera has the lens and main unit as separate pieces connected by a cable.

This allows the lens of the camera to be placed at eye level so the user can record hands free. I can see that being a popular feature with people that are into action sports. However, the lens is too large to be worn inside a helmet, but perhaps it could be worn on the outside.

The camera is able to record in 4K UHD resolution at 30 frames per second. It can be connected to a smartphone making it easy to upload video recorded. Panasonic does ship the camera with a head mount and an armband case for the main unit.

Samsung has rolled out a new digital camera called the Samsung NX Mini with 20.5MP resolution. The camera is billed as the world's slimmest and lightest interchangeable lens camera. The camera also has Wi-Fi and NFC tech inside. The thickness of the camera is 22.5mm and the body only weighs in at 158g.

The camera is designed to let those that like to take selfies do so with better quality. The camera has a 3-inch flip up and touch display that flips 180-degrees allowing the user to frame themselves perfectly. The lens on the camera is 9mm wide and has a wide angle so you can get a group shot by holding the camera at arm's length.

Samsung made the camera able to shoot continuously at 6 fps and the camera has a 1/16000 second shutter speed to freeze fast action. The camera has a number of automatic and manual modes for photography and video.