Cameras, Printers & Scanners - Page 5

GPS manufacturer Garmin has launched the VIRB X and VIRB XE next-generation action cameras, available to consumers in Australia.

The VIRB XE is able to record HD video at 1440p/30fps or 1080p/60fps with super slow motion, image stabilization and various zoom levels. Meanwhile, the VIRB X records HD video at 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps with slow motion and zoom.

Both cameras are waterproof up to 50 meters without an external case, and has the ability to capture crisp underwater shots. Both units support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ANT+, G-Metrix, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope.

The UK may have anywhere from 4 million up to 5.9 million CCTV cameras in use, but many of the cameras are useless and there must be concern so the region doesn't 'sleepwalk' towards becoming a surveillance state, according to UK Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter.

"You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation of surveillance that is actually useless," Porter recently said on BBC Radio 5. "Surveillance can be an extremely good thing and run well, it's a useful tool for society. But to quote a former information commissioner, 'we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society.'"

Broken, damaged and older analog cameras aren't effective to enhance public safety and deter crime, Porter also added. In the future, Porter wants better interaction with the public, especially regarding regulation so cameras are not simply being added just for the sake of purchasing and installing new cameras - especially if there is no benefit to the public.

Coming up on the heels of their first thermal camera we reviewed earlier last month, Seek Thermal is releasing their brand new Seek XR which features manual zoom capabilities. The new camera weights only half an ounce but can capture long-wave radiation from as far as 2000 feet.

Seek's patented sensor features a resolution of 206x156 for a total of over 32,000 thermal pixels, which is very high compared to other cameras in the sub $1000 range. Like the first Seek thermal camera, the Seek XR will come in a magnesium case, but feature a custom made chalcogenide lens.

Seek is looking to market their new camera to a more diversified range of users, many of which we depend on every day. Seek Thermal founder Bill Parrish on the Seek XR, "Last year we introduced the first consumer thermal camera, and this new, extended-range camera is based in part on the specific feedback we received from gun experts, law enforcement, boaters and other people excited about thermal imaging." The new Seek XR will come in at only $299 and will be available directly from Seek as well as from Amazon starting this month. The Seek XR will be available for both Android and iOS devices.

SpotCam has just announced its first home monitoring Wi-Fi video solution, with the cloud-based video startup offering 24-hour cloud-based HD playback, for free.

The camera itself captures 720p, or 1280x720, in low bandwidth, with clear night vision thanks to its 12 IR LEDs. It has a 110-degree wide angle view, motion/audio/disconnection event detection, 256-bit SSL encryption, can have its video playback done over the web, or through it's mobile app, and has two-way communication. The SpotCam camera sells for $149, with 24-hour recording for free. As for 3-day, 7-day, and 30-day recording, the following prices apply:

You can grab the SpotCam from Amazon, or Newegg right now.

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.

Nikon has rolled out a very cool new camera today called the Nikon 1 V3. The camera looks like a typical point and shoot, but it's not. The Nikon 1 V3 is an interchangeable lens camera that claims some interesting world firsts in its resume.

The camera has a hybrid auto focus system that promises the world's fastest continuous shooting mode good for 20 fps with full autofocus. If you fix the focus, you can get even faster burst shooting at up to 60 fps. The rear LCD is a 3-inch unit that supports touch and variable angles.

The resolution of that LCD is 1.037 million dots and it can be tilted 180-degrees. The camera sensor is an 18.4MP CX-format CMOS sensor that lacks a low-pass filter. Images are processed y the EXPEED 4A image processor and the camera has an ISO range of 160 to 12800.

Back in February, Panasonic rolled out a new camera called a DSLM, or Digital Single Lens Mirrorless camera called the GH4. The camera promised to deliver the sort of image quality you get from a DSLR along with the ability to shoot 4K resolution video.

We knew the specifications for the camera, but we didn't know exactly when it would launch or how much you would pay. Panasonic has now offered those official details. The camera will launch in early May.

Buyers can get the body of the camera only for $1699.99. If you want the body of the camera along with the video Adapter for cinematography, the camera will set you back $1999.99. For the money, you get the 4K video recording capability, a 16.05MP Digital Live MOS sensor paired with the Venus Engine and more.

Typically, when an electronics firm recalls a product it has to do with some components of the device not working correctly. I have heard of plenty of recalls for things that didn't work as promised, batteries that overheat, and other reasons. I haven't heard of a company issuing a recall due to allergic reactions.

That is exactly what Canon has done with one of its digital cameras. The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is the camera that is being recalled. Canon is working with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on the recall.

The reason for the recall is that a chemical used in the rubber part of the viewfinder that touches the eye can cause skin or eye irritation. The chemical has caused allergic reactions in users before. The recall will affect about 14,000 units and Canon says users need to stop using the camera immediately and send them in for free repair.

PAPAGO is known for its in-car dash cameras, and with its camera technology being such a success the company has created an entirely new division centered around action cameras. The new PAPAGO GoLife Extreme is the first installment into this line of HD action cameras and represents one of the most affordable of its kind on the market today retailing for just $269.99.

The GoLife Extreme has been designed with ruggedness in mind and features an aluminum alloy body with a crystal clear protective cover over the lens. The camera features a image resolution of 1920x1080 and has an effective field of view of about 160 degrees. Weighing in at just 80-grams the GoLife Extreme is much lighter than the GoPro or Contour HD and comes with a mount as well as a tripod.

The GoLife Extreme also features built-in Wi-Fi which is only used for file transfer, but allows users to view their video capture in real-time via an Android or iOS app on their mobile device. The GoLife Extreme App also allows users to adjust the camera's settings, and save their videos to the cloud. I got a chance to check out the GoLife Extreme for myself at CES 2014 earlier this year and will be utilizing a few of them in an upcoming Maker / DIY project here at TweakTown, so keep your eyes open for that in the coming month!

Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras have been one of the biggest items in the photography market space over the last two years and companies like Samsung have been leading the charge to make them smaller, more efficient, and higher quality than ever. Today we got a fresh look at what could be Samsung's next NX mirrorless camera thanks to the website NXRumors.

Specs accompanying the leaked image says that the camera will feature a 20-megapixel, 1-inch back illuminated CMOS sensor that is powered by a DRIMe 4 image processor also of Samsung origin. An ISO rage of 160-12,800 is on hand to handle all lighting situations, and video capture is set to 1080p at 30FPS. Burst speeds up to 22 frames per second are possible and shutter speed can be dialed up to 1/16000 of a second.

The rear LCD is of a 3-inch hVGA variety and is capable of flipping 180 degrees for instant selfie acquisition. The new NEX camera will be bundled with 9mm and 9-27mm lenses, but may not be backwards compatible with previous NX lenses. The entire camera measures in at just 1.37-inches thick and weighs less than a pound with lens attached. All of this information should be taken with a grain of salt though as nothing official has been announced from Samsung yet, and this is the only leak we have seen on this particular camera.

If you are the sort that likes to create your own stuff, you may think that having your own 3D printer is something that would make your life much better. The problem is that many 3D printers cost thousands of dollars putting them out of reach. MakerBot has announced a new 3D printer that also happens to be the cheapest one it makes.

The printer is called the MakerBot Replicator Mini and it was unveiled during CES 2014 earlier this year. The printer is now up for pre-order and you can get one for $1375. That is about half the cost of the full size Replicator.

As you might guess with the word "mini" in the name, this printer is for making smaller items. It can produce items that measure up to 3.9" x 3.9" x 4.9". The printer is built for fast printing and uses a build plate that requires no leveling.