conceptcamera

An Instax Camera with a Leica M Lens

Good photos have become commonplace. Smartphones have demystified camera technicalities in the past decade, and its pervasive adoption has democratized photography for mass consumers. Since the first known photograph was made in 1820, camera functions evolved significantly to compensate for human error.

Print: A Concept Digital Instant Camera in the Age of Smartphones

Digital instant cameras are an emerging trend in the world of photography: Polaroid launched the Pop in January, and Fujifilm followed suit with the SQ10 a few short months later. But industrial designer and photographer Jordan Steranka thinks he can do better: his Print is a concept instant camera designed with an ultra-modern aesthetic.

This Concept Camera Won’t Let You Shoot Unoriginal Photographs

Say hello to "Camera Restricta," a new concept camera by designer (and photographer) Philipp Schmitt. It's described as a "disobedient tool for taking unique photographs." In short, the camera searches the Web for other photos that have been captured from the same place and if too many photos are found, the camera will prevent you from taking another unoriginal photo.

Equinox: A Modular Concept Camera That Can Take on Various Form Factors

Most high-end digital cameras (not named Ricoh) aren't designed to be modular. If you want a new sensor in your camera, you'll need to buy an entirely new camera. Want to use a different lens system? You're out of luck.

What if there existed a universe in which all the major camera companies came together to form an extremely versatile modular digital camera? That's what Korean designers Dae jin Ahn and Chun hyun Park are attempting to answer with their concept camera design, called Equinox.

Socialmatic Camera to Arrive in the Real World with Polaroid Branding

A few months back we shared the news that, assuming Instagram's trademark lawyers didn't get ahold of it first, the Socialmatic camera would indeed be making an appearance IRL. And now, none other than Polaroid has stepped up to place its name on the Instagram icon turned physical camera.

Pentax Si is a Concept Camera Based Around a Single Dial Button

Designer Andrew Kim thinks that point-and-shoot cameras aren't simple enough for many ordinary consumers. After all, if you're only looking to take snapshots of everyday life, having buttons and dials that can toggle undesired functions is more of an annoyance than a benefit. Taking a page from Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa's book, Kim created a concept camera that he calls the Pentax Si.

Iris: A Concept Camera That’s Controlled Using Your Eye

Using the human eye to control cameras isn't a new idea -- Canon used to offer eye-controlled focusing in its SLRs -- but designer Mimi Zou's Iris concept camera takes the concept one step further by having the camera be entirely controlled by the eye. Shaped like a lens, the photographer uses the camera by simply looking through it. Focusing, zooming, and snapping photos are done by looking, narrowing/widening the eyes, and blinking (respectively).

A Heartbeat and Body Temp Controlled Concept Camera for Your Pet

Ever since the move to digital, and especially with the advent of the camera phone, we've seen a huge spike in photography -- everybody is taking pictures. But even so, our four legged friends haven't really gotten in on the action. That may soon change, however, if a concept camera by designer Jaehwa Lee ever becomes a reality.

The All.Round Camera Concept: A Bendy Take on the DSLR

Concept products aren't a rarity. In the world of cars and computers concepts usually make us ooh and ahh at their beautiful styling and implied functionality, but in the world of cameras things can get a bit, strange. Such is the case with a new SLR concept by industrial designer Arti Patel called the All.Round SLR.

Apollon: Concept Cameras that Connect Together for Social Photography

Apollon is a concept camera designed by product designer Gordon Tiemstra for his industrial design university project. The big concept is that the camera can be physically combined with your friends' cameras, allowing them to snap photographs together to create things like panoramas and 3D photographs. The images captured by any camera in the cluster is wirelessly transferred to all of the others, giving everyone the complete set of images that were snapped.

Canon AE-D Mirrorless Camera Concept

Olympus recently rebooted its OM line of film SLRs with the OM-D mirrorless camera, and many photographers are hoping that Canon will follow suit with one of its film bodies. Industrial designer and photographer David Riesenberg is among them, and recently decided turn what he wants to see into a concept drawing.

D-CAN: A Cylindrical Concept Camera

Designer Jean-michel Bonnemoy thinks that traditional camera designs are wrong, and that form factors were driven more by technical necessity (e.g. the need to hold film) than by ergonomics and ease of use. Instead, he proposes that modern digital cameras should be cylindrical and resembling a handheld telescope. A lens cap is built into the front, a viewfinder and LCD screen are built into the back, and the controls are in easy-to-access locations on the side of the camera.

Apple iCam: A Modular Concept Camera That Uses an iPhone for Brains

The Apple iCam is a concept camera by Italian designer Antonio DeRosa that imagines a future where cameras are modular and powered by smartphones. Smartphones have already invaded the compact camera market in recent years, but their small lenses and sensors keep them from being seen as suitable alternatives to more advanced cameras. The iCam camera changes that by adding a large sensor and interchangeable lens system to the mix. Simply attach your iPhone 5 to the case and you'll have yourself a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with a huge LCD screen, fast processor, internet connectivity, and countless photo apps!

Air Camera Concept Shoots When You Pretend to Take a Picture

What if framing a scene with your fingers actually caused photos to be created? Air Camera is a clever camera concept by designer Yeon Su Kim that would make that idea a reality. It consists of two components: a ring-like camera worn on the thumb, and a tension-sensing device worn on the forefinger. If the tension unit senses that you're making a camera gesture, it triggers the camera to snap a photo. Make a video camera gesture, and it begins recording video! The resulting photos would also be synced automatically with your smartphone.

Canon EOS-0: All the Bells and Whistles You Never Wanted to See on a DSLR

The Canon EOS-0 is what you get at the Apocalypse when all the major camera, software, and operating system companies get together to unleash unspeakable evil into the world. It's a camera with a little bit of everything: support for every major lens mount, a drive for various kinds of discs, Windows Vista as the operating system (shudder), Photoshop available on the giant widescreen LCD, etc... Pretty much the only thing you won't find on this camera is a toaster.

Nikon D5R Concept Camera Features Rotating Sensor and Viewfinder

Illinois industrial design student Ned Mulka created this Nikon D5R concept camera for his senior thesis design project. While the design itself may be pretty iffy for a camera, the main idea behind it is pretty interesting -- instead of having to rotate the camera itself for portrait orientation photos, why not only rotate the sensor, mirror, and viewfinder? An even crazier design would involve only rotating the sensor, allowing the camera to shoot any orientation without having to change how you hold the camera -- though this would probably be an engineering nightmare for the camera makers.

Imagining a Compact Camera Designed by Leica and Apple

The Leica i9 is a concept camera case dreamed up by design firm BLACK Design Associates for the iPhone 4. Unlike the Slow Photography Camera we shared last week, the i9 is actually an independent camera that simply uses the iPhone as a giant touch screen and as a modem for the web.

Slow Photography Concept Cam Lets You Use Your Phone Like a Hasselblad

With the recent craze on mimicking retro photography through phone apps, it's only natural that someone would take it a step further and design a retro way to shoot with the phone as well, right? The Slow Photography camera concept by photographer David McCourt is a medium format-style box that lets you use your phone as a digital back.

Hitch Concept Camera for Capturing Memories at Group Events

At weddings, guests are often given disposable cameras that they can use to capture memories from their vantage point, but collecting and processing them afterwards can be a hassle and it's definitely not something that has caught up with our digital photography age. Hitch is a concept camera idea by industrial design student Martin Spurway that makes a lot of sense -- guests at an event are given simplified digital cameras, and photographs from the cameras are automatically collected when the camera is placed on a special dock.