Say Hello to iCam (Apple Mock Up)

michaelm8000 · June 22, 2002 11:18PM

This is a mock up I did of what I think Apple should do for a digital video and still camera all in one. It would be a lot like the iPod. No tapes, instead it uses a 60GB HD. When you plug it into iMoive it detects the camera and downloads all your clips in seconds. For anyone that has done any video editing I think they would agree with me when I say the worst part about editing a video is getting the clips from the camera onto the your computer. The iCam would only have 2 ports a AV port and a Firewire port. It would have a small B/W LCD screen on the back for monitoring sound levels and status. It would be about 6" by 6".

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/michaelmatas/PhotoAlbum3.html"; target="_blank">

</a>

Click on the image to see close up views of all the angles.

What do you think?

speechgod · June 22, 2002 11:35PM

If it has a 60GB HD, then you could do the editing on the camera. Good work.

bradbower · June 22, 2002 11:52PM

(1) I would be surprised if it had a convex shape on only one side, (2) I would be surprised if the shape were laterally asymmetrical (though it can't be completely symmetrical, I concede), (3) I would be surprised if Apple used slightly rounded curves like that, and (4) I would be surprised if your featureset were true: in order for it to couple a semi-decent video mechanism, lens, 60GB 2.5" HD, and a screen that large, it would be prohibitively expensive for any consumer?that's just for the components?don't forget to factor in all of the margins and Apple R&D costs passed off to the consumer as well.

But a very decent mockup, though.

I expect the form factor to be something new to the hybrid digital still/video camera arena, perhaps a little more ergonomic and compact. I had an idea that it might be like those old 110 cameras everybody had in the 80s, but maybe with a flip-up/flip-down/swivel screen (though probably 25-50% smaller than that!) for a viewfinder, an optical viewfinder, flash and lens in the front,, ports on the side, perhaps a piezoelectric mode and scroll wheel on the top, etc. Either that, or a more vertical take on it, as with the Canon Eluras.

[ 06-23-2002: Message edited by: bradbower ]

bradbower · June 23, 2002 12:21AM

BTW, there's no way that you could have the screen be 5" by 5" have a big asymmetrical lump of controls on the side that are at least 2", and have it only be 6" by 6". The LCD might be 3" by 4", and your whole enclosure 3.5" by 5", or perhaps 5.5", tall/wide.

macronin · June 23, 2002 12:26AM

When folded, you would be resting the unit directly on it's LCD screen...

'Nuff said...

Cheers!

<img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> Maya for Mac OS X <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

michaelm8000 · June 23, 2002 1:40AM

[quote]Originally posted by MacRonin:

When folded, you would be resting the unit directly on it's LCD screen...

'Nuff said...

Cheers!

<img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> Maya for Mac OS X <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" /> <hr></blockquote>

ever think it might fold the other way and rest on the back of the LCD?

eugene · June 23, 2002 1:46AM

And have it collect dust?

Big old camera with a tiny tiny lens...Ick...

eman · June 23, 2002 9:14AM

Not bad.

nebagakid · June 23, 2002 10:02AM

[quote]Originally posted by Michaelm8000:



ever think it might fold the other way and rest on the back of the LCD?

<hr></blockquote>

Mike is Back! From outer space?

jonathan brisby · June 23, 2002 1:31PM

Hello. (you told me to!)

penhead · June 23, 2002 9:31PM

Nice design!

It would be even better if it had a lense and a flash to go with that light sensor

/penhead

salmonstk · June 23, 2002 10:51PM

nice design. But I am still not sure what Apple has to offer in a camera that is new besides a nice design.

max8319 · June 23, 2002 10:56PM

there should probably be an inch of space around the lcd to hold the camera. the other part is good for holding it with one hand, but most people (at least me) like to hold a camera with 2 hands. and i'd suspect they would use a 4x3 ratio screen. and you need something to protect the screen....

but otherwise, very good. very impressive

welcome to darwin · June 24, 2002 2:29PM

Well, I was contemplating something like this a while back on Slashdot. I think the idea to integrate the camera with the computer is a poor one.

Apple can't make digital still/video cameras as well or as cheaply as Canon, Olympus, Nikon, etc. So these parts needs to to be separate. The device should have ports for various forms of camera input(4 and 6 pin Firewire, analog, and USB 1/2). The latter is a good idea for still cameras, as well as for opening the possibility of other peripherals.

It should have some form of video-out. Once again, TVs are plentiful, and cheap LCDs can be had quite easily. Integrating an LCD into the package just needlessly complicates the device, and indeed encourages people to use it as a stand-alone device, rather than as a complement to a desktop Mac, which is what the Digital Hub strategy is about.

I'm basically envisioning an iBook with an Palm-esque touchscreen for input(Ink might come in handy here), no large output LCD, and perhaps a low-power G3.

vr6.1 · June 24, 2002 7:55PM

[quote]Originally posted by salmonstk:

nice design. But I am still not sure what Apple has to offer in a camera that is new besides a nice design.<hr></blockquote>

I think Apple could offer a lot.

For one, a good combo video/still camera that integrated both automatically with iMovie and iPhoto. That is, when connected to your computer all still photos would automatically be imported into iPhoto and all video be available as clips in iMovie.

Second, the camera could use a superdrive to record the video rather than a hard disk or a tape (there's one from I believe Hitachi already on the market) which would allow you to use the superdrive for recording DVDs using iDVD and give you a decent reason for buying DVD-Rs in quantity for recording on. This way you don't have to buy the top of the line iMac

naepstn · June 25, 2002 12:54AM

A 10x zoom (assuming you meant optical) at 3 megapixel would require a significantly longer focal length, thereby requiring the thickness of the whole camera (at least where the lens part is) to be quite a bit thicker than in your mock-up. Basically, if you look at the Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom, that is about the minimum focal length you can get with a 7x zoom and that can only provide enough detail for a 2.1 megapixel CCD. Increasing the max. res. requires that you increase the focal length further.

BTW, this camera already uses some nifty tricks to achieve what it does (just compare this camera to others with large optical zooms, and you'll see this one has a much shorter lens)

Really nice layout work though. (Lots of thanks for not trying to pass it off as a real leaked Apple photo though!)

Say Hello to iCam (Apple Mock Up)

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