Tag Archives: handheld camera

Sony VLOG-001: A Handheld 3-Axis Stabilized Camera Concept That Resonates with DJI Pocket 2

Posted on by

Sony is an absolute behemoth in the camera space, pretty much dominating the sensor market with its high-quality CMOS sensors that form the bedrock of most camera systems. However, the company (which has pretty much created every product under the sun from robot dogs to bouncing/dancing speakers) hasn’t made much progress beyond professional cameras, smartphone cameras, and the odd CCTV security camera (yes, they exist). The VLOG-001 puts that fact to rest by proposing a unique concept for a Sony-branded 3-axis handheld action/vlogging camera.

Designer: Priyanshu Jaiswal (Stang.ID)

Rendered on KeyShot: Click Here to Download Your Free Trial Now!

Designed during Advanced Design’s Offsite Cohort, the VLOG-001 is a culmination of all of Sony’s high-end consumer electronics products. It picks up on design cues from its mirrorless cameras, hi-fi audio players, TWS earbuds, and even the SRS-RA3000 – one of Sony’s most absurd high-end speakers.

Simply put, the VLOG-001 is Sony’s answer to the DJI Pocket, a category-defining handheld camera with its own built-in 3-axis stabilizer. Designed to bring DJI’s drone technology to the handheld format, the Pocket (formerly called the Osmo Pocket) set a new standard for handheld vlogging. While the company clearly enjoys the limelight in this category, sharing the vlogging space only with Insta360 (as GoPro fades into obscurity), the VLOG-001 tries to imagine a future where Sony has a dog in the handheld gimbal-cam market too.

The handheld camera is reminiscent of Sony’s professional cameras, and comes with the same faux leather textured grip seen on most DSLRs and mirrorless builds. The bronze-accented black design is a nod to the company’s high-end Walkman audio players, while the controls borrow directly from its camera and music-player interfaces. Knobs, buttons, and switches let you control the camera on the fly (even while recording), and the gimbal-mounted single lens captures either the recorder (for vloggers) or what’s ahead simply by flipping around 180°. The camera can also alternate between landscape and portrait-style shooting formats, and a fold-out display (reminiscent of the Handicam days) lets you view what you’re recording. The display is measurably larger than the one found on the DJI Pocket 2, and the VLOG-001 does it one better by also coming with a built-in flash for low-light recording.

The post Sony VLOG-001: A Handheld 3-Axis Stabilized Camera Concept That Resonates with DJI Pocket 2 first appeared on Yanko Design.

DJI’s latest action camera just made the GoPro look like an expensive hunk of plastic

Posted on by




With an incredibly diverse eco-system of snap-on modules that let you practically attach the camera anywhere you want, the DJI Action 2 is what you get when you create a camera after intense research and design-thinking… not by simply copying what the rest of the market is doing.

Drone and gimbal makers extraordinaire, DJI seems to be completely disrupting the non-smartphone consumer camera market. The OM, Osmo, and Pocket give you a set of really powerful stabilized on-ground recording capabilities, while DJI’s drones really speak for themselves… With the Action 2, however, the company hopes to conquer yet another market that was up until now dominated by GoPro.

“The blueprint of an action cam is a familiar one – tough, waterproof, in a compact body”, says the narrator in the video above… and in doing so, perfectly describes the pit into which most tech companies fall – the pit of the ‘template’. It’s easy to be the second or the third best company in any domain… simply follow your biggest competitor and provide ‘the next best option’ for consumers to consider. This is something most action cameras have been doing by simply recreating what the GoPro pushed out. Once you hacked the template, you could make your action camera cheaper, have more memory, have a better battery, or cloud storage, and voila… your product was a worthy competitor to the GoPro. What the Action 2 aims at doing is redrawing that template by asking itself “If the GoPro didn’t exist, what would an action camera in 2021 look like?”

What the Action 2 gets right with its design isn’t just the camera (after all, DJI’s cameras are pretty fantastic to begin with) but rather how the camera is operated. The company designed an exhaustive list of modules, holders, and even accessories to go with their camera, all of which affix themselves to the Action 2 using an incredibly powerful set of magnets (a la MagSafe). The modules simply snap on or snap off, and give you a variety of use-cases, from being able to hold the camera in your hand, fix it to your chest/arm/head, attach it to your helmet, handlebar, or dashboard, place it on a steady surface, or even go underwater with it. If there’s a place you could take your Action 2, or an activity you could conduct with your Action 2… DJI’s thought of it and designed a module/accessory for it.

In many ways, this holistic approach is GoPro’s undoing. The way DJI’s modules just magnetically snap on or snap off the Action 2 make it really easy to use the camera anywhere and anyhow… and the camera’s all-terrain + waterproof design, 155° Super-Wide lens, powerful digital stabilization algorithm, and the 4-microphone recording setup make the Action 2 an incredibly compelling purchase.

Perhaps the Action 2’s most defining feature (and you’ll see it practically all their images) is the snap-on touchscreen module. Traditionally, all action cameras have lenses on the front and displays on the rear… and that’s great for filming everything except yourself. DJI’s Front Touchscreen Module basically lets you turn the action camera into a wide-angle vlogging camera. The module snaps right on and lets you attach other accessories like the tripod, selfie stick, car-mount, etc. Moreover, snapping it on doesn’t just give you a front-facing extra screen… it gives you an extra battery pack too, doubling the Action 2’s recording time to 160 minutes, and also adds extra mics for crisper audio recording – a feature that vastly benefits vloggers and influencers who want to be in the spotlight.

HTC Re Is a Periscope-Like Smartphone-Compatible Handheld Camera

Posted on by
HTC Re Camera 02

It looks like HTC is testing new waters with its handheld Re camera, a device that was quite a surprise for the entire world, given this Taiwanese company’s history.

HTC Re is a standalone camera that’s compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, so no one can accuse the manufacturer of discriminating anyone. The premise for making this camera is that smartphones are not always as convenient as standalone handheld cameras, and a prime example of that includes underwater photography.

This camera is waterproof, so it can be used while swimming or even when scuba-diving, should you be in the mood for taking pictures then. Having a lot of things in common both with GoPro cameras and with smartphone cameras, HTC Re proves to be a worthy companion when it comes to taking spontaneous pictures (just take care who you’re photographing). Judging by the promotional pictures that were used for the launch of this camera, the HTC Re could become the next best camera for selfies.

One of the most interesting features of HTC Re is that it doesn’t have a power button. Its integrated accelerometer is used for turning on the camera as soon as you pick it up. The 16 MP Sony CMOS sensor can capture 1080p video at 30 fps and slo-mo 720p at 120 fps. According to HTC, Re’s 820mAh battery should last for 1 hour and 40 minutes of video recording in full HD, or just about 1,200 still images. In case you’re not satisfied with the 8GB microSD card the camera comes with, you’re free to get a 128GB card, assuming you are willing to pay that much to extend the capacity.

There are a few problems with the HTC Re camera, though. First of all, this device must have one of the most uninspired names in the history of cameras, and of gadgets, in general. Secondly, it’s small (which sometimes is a good thing, but…) and therefore quite easy to misplace or lose. Not at last, HTC Re costs a whooping $200, which is a bit of a steep price, especially for a product of its kind. My advice is to get a compact camera for that money, as its sensor would produce much better pictures than the HTC Re ever could.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the HTC Nexus 9 photos from the FCC, and the metal HTC M8 that was launched on March 25.