Are you reading?

Sure, we’ve seen homebrew digital microscopes built out of old webcams and proper digital ’scopes with USB interfaces, but if you’re really serious about your closeups, Nikon’s new Fabre Photo EX system is probably calling your name. The stereoscopic microscope can be fitted to a Nikon DSLR back to capture images, with max magnification based on sensor size and crop factor — FX backs will yield 20x zoom, while a DX back will let you keep tabs on your favorite c. elegans at 45x. Various attachments can boost that up to 66x, and there’s even an adapter that’ll let you mount various Coolpix compacts to the system — although we doubt that’ll look nearly as imposing on your lab bench. Mad scientists can order as of February 20th, provided they’re in Japan and have an extra ¥108,150 ($1214) for the microscope and ¥37,800 ($424) for the DSLR mount handy. On more pic after the break.

[Via Slashgear]
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By Andrew Liszewski

On one hand, having a webcam embedded just above your MacBook or iMac’s screen can be quite handy, since it never goes missing and it’s one less thing cluttering up your desk. But on the other hand, it really limits where that webcam can be pointed. Now there are probably hundreds of different webcams on the market that could easily solve this problem, but what sets the BT-1 apart is that it’s completely wireless, relying on Blueooth to transmit the video signals to your Mac.

So not only is the BT-1 completely flexible when it comes to where the webcam can be pointed, but the 10-30 foot wireless range is way more convenient that carrying 10-30 feet of USB cable. Now the 640×480 resolution of the BT-1 isn’t amazing, but it does encode the video using H.264 with 48kHz AAC stereo audio, so the compression shouldn’t be that bad. And given it’s completely wireless, you’ll have to keep in mind it does have a limited battery life of about 4 hours.

The BT-1 Wireless Webcam is expected to be available in late March (OS X only) for $149.99, but you can pre-order one now if you think it’s a must-have.

[ Ecamm BT-1 Wireless Webcam ] VIA [ Gear Live ]

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By Andrew Liszewski

At one time or another everyone’s dreamed of becoming an evil criminal mastermind who takes over the world. And thanks to late night re-runs of Pinky and the Brain airing where I live, these thoughts have been occupying my mind more than ever. But I’ve come to accept that the demands of becoming a world leader by force are more than I’m willing to take on, and to make that realization easier to bear I’ve been spending my days staring at HenchmansHelper.com, imagining what could’ve been.

It’s really nothing more than a collection of animated weather map gifs and webcams embedded into a wall of old-timey-looking CRT TVs, but it really does make you feel like you’re hanging out in your secret lair, keeping an eye out for intruders and wondering how your weather control machine is coming along. Sigh… Maybe the local college offers a night course on dictatorships or totalitarianism?… There’s still time right?… right?

[ Henchman's Helper ] VIA [ FAZED ]

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By Evan Ackerman

At their press conference this morning, Casio showed off some new additions to their line of high speed digital cameras. The flagship model is still the EX-F1, a beefy prosumer camera that can take stills at 60 frames per second and video at up to 1200 frames per second… We posted some sample movies when we covered it back in April. The new Exilim models that Casio released today feature a comparable high speed engine capable of 30 fps burst shooting for stills and up to 1000 fps for movies, in a much more compact size. Normal pictures are captured at 9 mpx, burst mode cuts that down to 6 mpx, and it’ll also take standard video in 720p.

Features include the ability to extract the perfect frame from long high fps bursts, and somehow the camera is able to combine multiple blurry shots in a burst into a single image that’s in focus. There’s also a novelty mode that will take a video of you moving, clip you out of the background, and transpose you onto a different background, which is something that you’ve been able to do with webcams for years. Basically, if you’re going to buy one of these, you’ll do it for the high speed, and that’s a pretty good reason if you ask me. Look for these in April for $400 with a 5x optical zoom and 2.7″ LCD, or $350 for a 3x optical zoom and 2.5″ LCD.

Thanks to Brian Westbrook and his D90 for the picture.

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In case you haven’t noticed, 3D is the topic of this year’s CES. And we’re not talking about 3D HDTVs exclusively — we’re talking about 3D figurines that double as webcams. To be quite honest, the USB 2.0 Minoru 3D Webcam is ripe for a Billy Mays plug, but considering that he’s charging like seven figures per promotion these days, Minoru is settling for the spotlight in Vegas. The device features two cameras spaced “roughly the same distance apart as human eyes” in order to create a stereoscopic effect, and buyers get five pairs of 3D glasses just in case you lose one (or four). For those interested in seeing even more depth in their video chats, you can snag one from Amazon on January 8th for $89.95. Full release is after the break.
Gallery: Minoru 3D Webcam ships this week, still looks freaky

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It looks like Mac users tired of their built-in webcams and concerned about the clutter caused by regular USB cams will soon have another option to consider, as Ecamm Network has just announced what it’s claiming to be the world’s first Bluetooth webcam. Apparently, you can expect to get some standard 640×480 H.264 video out of the thing, along with 48 kHz AAC stereo audio and a promised four hours of talk time before you need to pull out that dreaded USB cable. None too surprisingly, you’ll also have a pay a bit of a premium over your run-of-the-mill webcam, with the so-called BT-1 set to demand a hefty $150 when it rolls out sometime late in the first quarter of the year. No word on Windows support just yet, but we’d presume that’d follow shortly thereafter, officially or otherwise.

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Bezel-integrated webcams for laptops will soon get a sore-ly needed boost thanks to Samsung. Its new 1.2 megapixel S5K4AW System on Chip does what your VGA webcam can’t: shoots real-time 720p at 30fps. The 1/4-inch CMOS imager is also 3x more sensitive to light than current sensors thanks to its superior 2×2 binning technique — or so Samsung says in hopes of drumming up interest to sell samples to OEMs. Mass production is set to begin in the first half of 2009 for all your dimly lit, locked door, HD video conferencing needs. Just remember, some things are not meant to be seen in high-def. You listening Bruce?