Concept Technology Archives

Xiaomi’s brings interchangeable lenses to phones with its new 12S Ultra Concept smartphone

Nov 5, 2022 by John Aldred 5 Comments

The idea of using a lens from a “real camera” on a smartphone is not new. There have been a number of adapters announced over the years with some as far back as 2014 and older. Most of them haven’t really had an amazing reception, which is why they’re not really all that mainstream today. But mobile photography has come a long way since those early devices. Now, there are a number of 3D printable adapters and other options out there to do this.

Xiaomi, though, is doing away with adapters completely and building an interchangeable lens mount right into the phone itself. Their newest 12S Ultra concept phone sports a Leica M mount with a 1-inch 50.3-megapixel sensor.

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Vivo’s new IFEA concept smartphone has a removable pop-up selfie camera

Oct 16, 2020 by John Aldred 7 Comments

I know not everybody’s a fan of the pop-up selfie cam – mechanical moving parts n’ all – but I think they’re fantastic. They free up that screen space, they aren’t hindered by having to try to look through the display, and there’s no risk of scratching them when your phone’s just rolling around in your pocket.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer VIVO, though, has taken the pop-up selfie cam to a whole new level with their new IFEA concept camera – which has won a Red Dot Award for the design. And it opens up a whole host of possibilities for modular cameras in future smartphones. No longer might you need to upgrade your entire phone to get better shots!

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Canon to release three new cameras aimed at “young people” this year

Jun 28, 2019 by John Aldred 3 Comments

At just about every show I’ve been to for the last couple of years where Canon has been in attendance, they’ve been showing off some concept camera prototypes. We featured a couple of them last year during The Photography Show 2018 in the UK. And at CP+ 2019 in Japan a few months ago, they were showing off more. Now, Nikkan is reporting that three of these concept cameras will be released before the end of this year and suggested they are cameras we’ve seen before.

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This camera uses a window for a lens

Aug 23, 2018 by Dunja Djudjic 4 Comments

Cameras need lenses to work, right? Electrical and computer engineers at the University of Utah have developed a camera that doesn’t need a lens. Instead, just like you or me, it sees the world through a window. And this technology could have lots of different applications in the future.

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DIYP takes a sneak peek at two new Canon concept cameras

Apr 18, 2018 by John Aldred 2 Comments

Even though I’m not primarily a Canon shooter, I’m always intrigued by the concept cameras and sensors that Canon bring to show off at shows around the world. During The Photography Show, Canon brought two with them. Actually, they brought a bunch, but they all basically stem from two different types of camera. We had a chat with David Parry on the Canon stand to find out more.

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DJI’s Concept Phantom X Presents the Future of Drones

Nov 8, 2015 by Liron Samuels 1 Comment

The future has never seemed less exciting.

A new video released by DJI presents the Phantom X Concept drone, including a bunch of new(ish) and (kinda) useful technology.

Claiming to “turn wide-eyed dreams of future possibilities into fact”, the Phantom X includes multi-angle shooting, artificial intelligence, obstacle avoidance and free-flight object tracking.

Enlisting help from companies and brands such as Adobe, Lexar, House of Cards and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., DJI also presents what I predict could become the next biggest PITA – drone sky painting.

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The Camera Restricta will force you to take unique photos

Sep 9, 2015 by Liron Samuels 19 Comments

Open any social media platform and you’re pretty much guaranteed to see the same type of photos. If you’ve got a friend in Paris there will a photo of the Eiffel Tower and your cousin visiting NYC just posted a filtered photo of the Statue of Liberty. Two of your friends posted selfies at the gym and fifteen others posted pics from last night’s concert.

Enter the Camera Restricta. This prototype camera uses a GPS to track your location and then searches for photos geotagged in the same area. Should there be too many photos uploaded online from your location, the shutter button will retract and the viewfinder will show a big red “X”, effectively preventing you from taking another photo at an already overly-popular location.

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Land Rover’s concept technology uses cameras to make trailers disappear

Sep 8, 2015 by Liron Samuels 2 Comments

This next feature might sound like a David Copperfield trick, but the well-known British car manufacturer deserves the applauds in this case.

Towing a trailer, caravan, horse box or any other large item seriously hinders the driver’s ability to see behind him, creates blind spots and makes the roads more dangerous for him and other drives.

Using a network of camera on both the vehicle and the towed item the system provides the driver with an uninterrupted view through his rear view mirror, which acts as a monitor.

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