Nova DSLR concept reminds us that cameras need not be boring
By Paul Miller 
posted November 28th 2009 4:50PM
posted November 28th 2009 4:50PM
posted November 28th 2009 4:50PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
lol
@WhatHappened
This could also be used a la crime deterrent.
uh, goatse?
@fanfare
That's a pretty massive stretch, no pun intended.
I personally haven't seen something this innovative since the Sony DSC-F505 came out. While I liked that, and this ... I'm not sure if I like it as a pro-dslr.
Entry level dSLR might be nice.
@Prasand J
I've got an old 5MP Sony F505. At the time it was a steal at around $800. I don't use it much anymore but when I do pull it down off the shelf I do enjoy the way the lens can rotate.
@Prasand J YUP!
@Prasand J
I still have my Sony 505v around somewhere. At the time it was am amazing camera, takes great photos, and has a great design. I have a DSLR now.
It's just too out dated to use now, with less than 5mp. If they made a new version with a similar design, but higher megapixel, I would be interested, again!
I think it's great, for one reason alone; it's design is not based on FILM. Digital Cameras do not need film, so why should they be designed or shaped as if they do?
@Boyo familiarity, dSLRs were intended to be adopted by pros who are resistant to change.
Give me a tubular camera without the elongated bottom grip any day.
@Boyo points for novelty, but it looks like it has the (poor) ergonomics of a set of old-fashioned hedge trimmers...
@Boyo Digital cameras don't need an "SLR" mechanism either. It was a neat solution to the viewfinder perspective problem and really has no place on a post-film camera. Lose the pentaprism and mirror - then a design like this is totally feasible.
@Yemble
Technically speaking the mirror it self doesn't really take that much space, it's the focal plane that does, though ironically it's that far back because of the mirror, but it's hard to change now.
The only current advantage today is that the focus/exposure meters are much better than if you would use the sensor itself for that.
@Boyo As an avid photographer this design is practically useless for a number of reasons:
1 - No access to lens controls. On a regular body, your left hand rests under the camera, to the front, where you have full access to the zoom ring and focus rings, as well as having your hand providing stability. With this design neither is possible.
2 - Balance. They're demoing with what looks like a 50mm standard lens... this is a really flat lens that is not indicative of what most people will be using (wide and telephoto zooms). Both of the above would seriously add a LOT of weight to the front of the camera. In a regular setup your left hand is there to counterbalance the weight. Here... well, have fun destroying your wrists trying to hold this thing up :)
3 - Tripod mount... to use any sort of pod would require a flat bottom. This doesn't have it, though it would be possible to redesign it so it does without throwing out the entire concept.
It's a cool concept, but I seriously doubt it would be very useful in real life.
@Yemble Used the Olympus EP-1 lately? That's your "post film" camera with no viewfinder or pentaprism. It's awful.
1 - LCD screens are unusable under bright sunlight, making composition in broad daylight (of all settings!) all but impossible.
2 - Possible solution is a digital viewfinder. These have such crappy resolutions that they're almost useless compared to a "real" viewfinder.
3 - Either way, LiveView has a huge amount of lag (up to 1 second) that makes it practically useless for anything but carefully manicured, set up shots. Forget about action photos!
Until we have a super-high resolution viewfinder that is also practically lag-free, the viewfinder should stay. Hell, have you used a good focusing screen on a viewfinder? It's awesome, and completely impossible if we went all-digital.
Mirror slap is really not a problem at all in all but the most precise use cases, and there's just no reason to say that the old SLR design is in need of replacement.
@(Unverified) Come on - you did read the thing about _movable_ arms?
As you could see on the linked pictures (which you obviously didn't), it's perfectly possible to turn both arms right under the camera, hold it there with one hand and put the other on the lens, quite similar to old super-8 cameras. And I like that very much. There - all your problems solved.
I'm all for being skeptic and all, but please: Before throwing around "impossibles" check your facts.
@DaHauns That makes the camera controls completely inaccessible, again rendering this design useless.
@Boyo
Because the design is actuall based upon the human hand, arm, eye placement and the poisition of your head.
Similar problems breed similar solutions and whilst I could operate my old Nikon F2 with one hand I can also operate my Nikon D50 with one hand because they are nearly the same shape, I could never operate this Nova DSLR thing without using both hands. This seems to be a completely ridiculos design having more in commin with a set of garden shears with no blades than an SLR. FAIL.
put some kind of propulsion system on there and i'm set (to spy on my neighbor)
I would like it if they removed those ugly arms. Then it would be a nice circular shape. And maybe they could throw in a rotating settings wheel.
No thanks. Seems like it would be way harder to hold steady. Keeping your elbows in is rule #1 when holding a camera, and this design seems to make that harder.
Also, adding more moving parts never has good implications for longevity/sturdiness
@triptych I agree with this. I'm a bit worried about longevity and sturdiness. It also looks extremely unbalanced and you wouldn't be able to properly keep your elbows in to maximize stability. Maybe I'm wrong though but I love the way my d60 feels and handles.
@triptych I'm a pro photographer and I completely agree. It would be very awkward trying to keep your elbows in while holding this, just to get a steady shot. And you're right that moving parts = short longevity. And how does it attach to a tripod? Can you use it one-handed? And I noticed a hotshoe bracket. Adding a flash would make it very top-heavy. How would you keep it from flopping over holding it like the model is holding it? You would have to go for an underhanded approach, which would be very awkard.
I'm all for new form factors, but in order for it to fly in the professional (or even prosumer) markets, they're going to have to take some things in mind.
For a point-and-shoot or consumer dslr, this would probably be fine.
@triptych Ditto that.. makes me wonder if the designer is a pro photographer or even a hobbyist :P
@bminata
I would say neither. Someone with a good imagination though. It surprises me that Canon would be on board with this design. They must be banking on "if we build it people will buy it because we are Canon".
with the camera strap connectors on the bottom, won't that mean that the camera lens would be facing your chest if its just hanging from your neck?
i imagine it would be hell to keep the lens clean, and pretty inconvenient if you had a lens attachment on there too.
but props for thinking outside the box!
@darthgoon It could just as easily face the other way...
@(Unverified): If it were the other way, you'd be looking at the lens.
@(Unverified)
Not if you grab the opposite handle and twist when you bring it up to your face. Try not to strangle yourself. Erin Fong likely didn't think that far ahead when designing to be different for the sake of being different.
Modern SLR is over 50 years worth of evolution, and it is designed the way it's designed with utilitarian, photo-centric mindset with a purpose of giving you the best photograph in the easiest possible way. This looks like a design student wanting to get some website traffic, nothing more.
@(Unverified)
I'll agree that this is a silly design, but the SLR shape we are used to is down to over 50 years of evolution around the 35mm film. We now have the sensor and so no need for film spools on either side of the sensor.
I really enjoyed the time when prosumer style cameras were popular, although image quality and handling couldn't match TTL viewfinders, it lead to a variety of inovative designs. Sony F505, Dimage S7 etc etc.
The first DSLRS were literally sensors crammed into traditional film bodies, I had a Fuji S1 pro, it was based on the nikon F70, and they didn't even remove the motor that winds the non-existant film on.
But these days, DSLRS are being designed from scratch, and it's about time someone makes something that looks new. I vote for a pistrol grip configuration instead of something like this.
@(Unverified) Amen. I can see this thing rotating forward in your hands when you've got a larger lens attached. This is just a design exercise.
@(Unverified) Luddite
@(Unverified) well we might not need 35mm film anymore, but we do need a whopping huge lithium ion battery, compact flash cards and tons of electronics, so it evens out in the end.
Reminds me of this:
http://www.thetoyzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/loud_bopit.jpg
@Special Agent Steve You took away my need to say the exact same thing.
@Special Agent Steve
I hate that game. Many wasted hours of angry frustration.
ewww
10th!
@AndroidRokz The amount of people on this forum that want you gone are your age (I'm guessing 6) to the "10th" power. That's 60,466,176 that want you gone, so gtfo.
@MJGAMER 1991 XBL Btw, you're 11th, so you fail either way...
Have to agree with darthgoon. wouldn't like the strap placement. Very cool looking though.
They don't have to look like film cameras, but they don't have to look like that either
yippie
Must be a big bag of hurt for DSLR users if this becomes standard.
I just came.
with all the work he put into the body, you'd think he would stick a lens on that was made in this century...
@eikon805 Some of the best glass ever made was made last century... not to mention build quality. I have in my hand a Canon FD-mount 28mm f/2.8 from the 80s... it's built more solid and with better attention to detail (engraved lettering? sick) than anything I can buy for 10x as much today.
I think that this could be used for the non pro / point and shoot market. It is a great design, considering that you dont need film anymore in cameras. But it seems like it would be hard to hold steady, and maybe not that easy to use. I think that this would be a terrible design if you are a professional photographer. But I am not one, and many people dont even know what a DSLR is. So I think that this would be and awesome idea for the point and shoot market, but definitely not anything near pro.
As long as it is ergonomically design, then it's perfect whatever the form may be.