The Holiday Special: Christmas Fantasy Cameras

The Camera Store's Chris Niccolls spends this holiday season pondering what are the best camera that no one has made.



Shot and Edited by Jordan Drake
Filmed on the Panasonic GH3

[ChengHooSew]

Looking back at this after 2 years there's a few fantasy camera actually became reality! Jordan fantasy camera became the gh4, the smartphone attach to the back to a high end camera became the strange Sony Qx camera and Christ fantasy FE have also became a reality.... In a horrible way on the Df.

[mhbackman]

I love how cheeky and tongue-in-cheek this video is! Chris is a fantastic host, he makes you feel like you're a guest in his own home when talking to his audience. Great job, mate.

[TheCameraStoreTV]

The Beachtek works fairly well, but it still requires the signal into a camera's miniphone jack, instead of losslessly sending the signal directly to the camera. Also, the headphone jack only records what the Beachtek is recieving, not what is being recorded, so it's not great for monitoring. I used a Beachtek in the 5d Vs D800 Part 1 video, if you're curious how it sounds.
Jordan @ The Camera Store TV

[TheCameraStoreTV]

Does the footage look choppy during playback off the camera, or when the camera is connected to a TV? If not, it's probably a computer issue. Regarding shutter, for panning shots at 25P you'll want to shoot at 1/50th. Any faster and footage will come out really jerky. If these aren't the issue, then I'm at a lost. Message me and let me know how it goes.
Jordan @ The Camera Store TV

[Vinniespace]

That batterypack idea by the elf is actually awesome!

[TheCameraStoreTV]

Chris mentioned the Galaxy, but what we want is a DSLR with a phone OS, and 3G or faster network support.
Jordan @ The Camera Store TV

[Skrieeeen]

I really liked the sonar autofocus on the old polaroids, those could focus in pitch black darkness and were super fast and accurate, With the technology today it should be possible to make it more refined smaller and working together with optical focusing.

They could like work around the drawback of not being able to focus through glass or stuff.

[TheCameraStoreTV]

The RX1 is pretty close to a fullframe X100. No sweet hybrid viewfinder though.

Jordan @ The Camera Store TV

[theallmikey]

You can combine your first and second idea and make a digital F3 with interchangable viewfinders, and use the waistlevel viewfinder.
I've been hoping for something like that for a while!
The only problem is the lack of aperture rings on modern lenses, but a little dial on the back can solve that.

[TheCameraStoreTV]

I would buy one of those in a heartbeat!
Jordan @ The Camera Store TV

[renehache]

A suggestion that I saw on Luminous Landscape is a camera that would take audio commands. I can see that be extremely quick: certainly faster than dials, buttons or touch screens for changing settings.

[brianpotstra]

That battery grip with the audio jacks is BRILLIANT!!!

[shirokagez]

I'd like to see a camera with integrated TheCameraStoreTV channel and automatic notification system of the newly uploaded videos so I could watch them even during photoshoots instantly.

[taylornoel]

Or maybe a camera system that lets you swap in different types of sensors for different situations.. You know, like a standard color, a monochrome (thank you Leica), an infrared and so on. No clue how it would be done but it sure would bring some of that "film feel" back.

[izwiz]

I like the idea of the nikon retro camera but it has to be full frame and compatible with all of the heritage lenses too.

[DaveLundy]

There already is a somewhat similar sensor - Fuji, if I recall correctly - that has large & small photosites for that very purpose. Not sure if they're still making them. I read about that a few years ago.

[bayshiro]

A camera that matches the quality we see out of our eyes...

[lucidx]

Speaking of the RX1, are you going to do a test video for it pretty soon? :)

[Legen]

oh and also have customizable buttons and knobs on the camera that can be set to control various features like iso white balance and other stuff, and lets not forget a dual SD slot and wifi features but it has to be almost the size of the TM900, not exactly the same but it has to atleast be smaller than the sony NEX VG20 and of course with it having the GH3 sensor it will be using the M4/3 mount and built in ND filters like the AF100, and that about it

[mygoodstuffreviewed]

Many years ago (about 30!) a UK photo magazine had an end of year prediction of a "magic" SLR camera that was their fantasy. Let me give you the specs they came up with:

1) Autofocus
2) Auto portrait zoom and crop
3) Smile and blink detection
4) "Immediate" prints - no waiting for developing
5) Configurable auto programs for different scenes
6) High ISO with low noise (I think they said 1600 ISO)
7) Vibration/camera shake reduction
8) Affordable for amateurs

Sometimes fantasies can come true!