Jeremy Salvador assembled this strange contraption in an attempt to combine an SLR lens with the iPhone. Salvador created a prototype with an Owle Bubo iPhone camera mount, a 37mm filter with glass removed, a 37-58mm step-up ring, a Canon EF mount adapter ring, and a 35mm Canon lens.  Though he’s managed to fit all the pieces together, he’s been unable to actually take a useable photograph.

Salvador is first to admit that the “iPhone DSLR” is pretty impractical:

I realize that some people will be shocked and appalled that I would even attempt to Frankenstein together a DSL[R] lens on a crumby pocket phone camera. And I realize that this contraption will have no practical value. But for me it’s more of a piece of art than anything else. And I’m hoping to have some fun and learn something in the process.

Obviously, the design is pretty cumbersome, and you’d be sacrificing the standard DSLR’s 10 megapixel camera and sensor for 5 megapixels or less, on a tiny cell phone sensor. On the other hand, the idea of being able to snap a DSLR-quality image and be able to upload it instantly online or use Photoshop in-camera is nice, but you probably can’t get all that from the iPhone.  But enough talk about what the iPhone can’t do — after all, you can make some amazing fashion photos with it.

(via SlashGear)

Two weeks ago we shared a futuristic concept Sony DSLR designed by Tecnofotografia, and now they’ve done it again, with a concept design for a compact Samsung camera.

One of the main selling points of this concept is the fact that the external electronic viewfinder has a hot shoe of its own, allowing an external flash unit to be stacked on top:

What do you think of this idea? Should accessories that use the hot shoe have hot shoes of their own to allow stacking?

Prototipo de compacta con óptica fija desplazable (via Photo Rumors)

Here’s a new Sony Alpha concept DSLR camera that features a slanted LCD to keep your face away from the screen, similar to the Sony a352 concept camera that we featured last month. Unlike that one, which had a solar and rounded design, this one has a lot of edges and sharp angles, like what you might see in futuristic concept cars.

There’s also a concept flash unit that uses metal arms to make the flash extendable, allowing you to not only adjust direction but height as well.

What do you think of this design? Should camera makers design cameras to keep it away from the face, or do eyecup extenders suffice?

Prototipo reflex con nueva ergonomía (via Gizmodo)