For years I’ve envisioned a future of digital cameras that would be smart enough to take more than one picture at a time, but instead would simply take a stream of pictures that you’d select from a little later. I didn’t have all the details worked out, but it seemed like the logical evolution. When I read David Pogue’s column a few minutes ago, it looks like the guys at Casio have in fact worked it out:
It takes 60 pictures per second (not 60 frames of a compressed movie file, which is different), all are 6MP.
After taking, you can keep em, delete em, or pick manually.
Per Pogue: “In pre-record mode, you half-press the shutter button when you’re awaiting an event that’s unpredictable: a breaching whale, a geyser’s eruption or a 5-year-old batter connecting with the ball. The camera silently, repeatedly records 60 shots a second, immediately discarding the old to make room for the new.
When you finally press the shutter button fully, the camera simply preserves the most recent shots, thus effectively photographing an event that, technically speaking, you missed.” – WOW!
It also has a motion detector.
For a full review, go back to David’s article, it’s very balanced and thorough.
Will I really buy one? I don’t know, I still don’t like the idea of a big bulky camera to lug around. I’m also not sure if this is exactly up the alley of a “prosumer” such as Thomas Hawk, as Pogue laments about the quality of the actual picture-taking-thingamajig inside the camera.
But this definitely marks the future of the entire category. In fact it’ll always be features and functions like these that keep the digital camera sector enough steps ahead of cell phones to remain extremely relevant. Me likey.
Wow, I thought the (small) digi-cam I saw in Best Buy last week that took two pics back-to-back (one with flash, one without) was useful and impressive. For the gadget stuff I like to snap, it’s great, but the Casio would be useful for sports.
It also shoots video at up to 1200 frames a second – it’s a bit freaky. I haven’t had a unit in for review, but I did call it the single most astonishing product I saw at CES in my CES Wrap Up report after attending their press conference.
-avi
Well, I’ve got one, just picked it up today from Ritz. Darn glad I bought a memory card. Haven’t even fired it up yet; just charging the battery. And yes, it’s way bigger than my Canon SD-850, which I love. But this will do so many things I want … .264 codec shooting plus seamless integration with Macs; the high-speed; the HD; the 12X optical zoom…
The finish is a little rough, but only if you look closely. It is nice and balanced ergonomically. I’m on an airplane tomorrow, so I’ll have time to study the manual and play with the cam! Wish me luck!