From time to time I spend a couple of hours reading Olympus and Panasonic patents. I found a kind of design I never saw before. Don’t know if you have seen such a thing. Guess form the picture on top what this could be!
The full patent can be viewed here: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D671584.pdf
Weird or not?
79 Responses
Looks like an AC to DC adapter.
Looks like a waterproof case for a mirrorrless camera but….what’s that thing on top. Antenna?maybe it’s a remote flash commander.
Think the thing on top will actually have a cord running through it, just not shown on the drawing
They added the thing on top just to confuse/deceive anyone snooping through their patents.
Looks like a wide angle, wired, wearable camera? Guessing aimed at police or similar and connected to an external battery and/or storage.
“Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you”
It’s a walkie talkie!
Interesting, though.
That was my first thought too!
Wireless radio triggers?
My guess is that it’s something to compete with the GoPro
a device that will produce really really really expensive black metal for olympus lenses?
It does look like shit.
I don’t think is related to cameras , but other devices from Pana .
Now is getting close & close to Christmas , wonder what is my Christmas gift ?
Under water casette tape player.
Yeah finally, have been waiting ages for this 😀
Olympus want to get in on the smart phone industry. They are going for a retro look though keeping in line with current products.
did not check the patent, it looks like a Trailcamera (camera which is triggered by ir sensor to take pics of wildlife which is evolving into security cameras)
Something like these…
http://www.trailcampro.com/
I agree, it looks most like a Trail Camera to me. I suppose it could be something else, but that’s what it most looks like.
…expecially if you look at the image on the right side:
On top flash leds, in the center the camera lens, below the IR movement sensor and on the bottom the screen for menu functions.
It would make sense that a major camera manufacturer enter this market where image quality could be drastically improved and no traditional camera players are involved
I agree it makes sense for the camera manufacturers to enter the trail camera market. It is growing rapidly, but it mainly appears to be the brand names of mid-tier binocular manufacturers that are in it at the moment. You have to figure that the big camera and electronics manufacturers could produce much better versions. Plus with Wi-fi apps being included in cameras, there must be some potential for some sort of remote link with trail cameras. I’m thinking that because that thing at the top looks like some sort or radio antenna.
It’s a combination cell phone camera case and bong. The thing coming out of the top is the mouthpiece. Perfect for adding extra mellowness to your blurry Instagram shots.
fiber optic camera perhaps?
I thought the one on the left should fit on a hotshoe? So… some remote thing, radio, slave, trigger, commander?
light meter?
Sure the product use underwater
its and underwater walkie talkie! lol
their own version of GO PRO with micro 4/3 sensor!
Ghostbusters Ghost Trap?
Looks like a light meter to me.
looks like a clip on the back… kind of resembles a walkie talkie hand set. but a round front element… so it could be a design for a clip on camera to be used by cops.
so after looking at most of the cited patents in that document, it seems this belongs in a series of surveilance equipment patents. This specific one looks like a wearable camera for law enforcement officers.
George Orwell 1984 is here: PolicWatch.
Obviously a time machine..
That was my guess. It’s man-sized, clearly, with a viewport so you can see where you are before you contaminate the timeline by stepping outside. The bit on top is a tachyon funnel, and the whole thing is heavily shielded against radiation when you’re inside the wormhole.
I forgot to add, I’m very much looking forward to this going into production at Panasonic. It’s going to be great getting all those lens designs, coatings, and sensors from the future.
Might be a 3D camera I think, it has two lenses
It is a combination cassette tape rewinder and a remote switch for the next GF. The switch will be bigger than the camera, for better ergonomics than the camera itself. The large circle on the left picture is actually the OVF, and the shutter trigger is on the bottom-right of that view. The smaller window is for the frame counter. The large strain relief bushing on top allows the use of a full-size HDMI cable, with proprietary modifications to prevent it from being compatible with Sony monitors. The cassette tape rewind mechanism can be synchronized to the video feed, so that rewinding will be complete in time to pop in the next SD card. There is a CDS light meter, the small circle on the far right of the right picture, that can be detached and wirelessly connected to the switch, which allows for metering that is independent of the image being captured, a much-demanded feature in Hollywood. The light meter mechanism also doubles as a stand, so the device can be placed on a flat surface on its side, sloping slightly.
May the patent gods strike me dead now. It is a CdS light meter, not CDS. 🙂
its a baby phone with video control.
Wall mounted industrial switch. Look at the wire outlet, bendy thing on top. 😛
If you check out the patent cross-refrences the first one is:
U.S. Patent Number D275,294
Surveillance camera housing
August 28, 1984
So it is some sort of housing for a surveillance camera.
U.S. Patent Number D275,294
Surveillance camera housing
August 28, 1984
If you look up the referenced patents it is a spy cam.
maybe, a gps module.
the next pentax mirrorless camera ?
like Primos Truth Cam 35 Camera(Amazon best sell 100) http://www.amazon.com/Primos-Truth-Cam-35-Camera/dp/B003PVGA1O/ref=zg_bs_502394_20
It’s a ghost trap like this:
http://www.gbfans.com/images/fans/props/1725_1375732849.jpg
Excavator control unit:)
It’s most definitely an it. Maybe even 12-bit 4:4:4 raw.
It looks like a birdwatch cam with infrared-led an weatherseald body.
It certainly is.
It look like a wired remote to steer heavy machinery or cranes outside.
It’s Ghost Trap!
by Ghostbusters:)
Its a wireless Go_pro style camera with walkie talkie built in that is designed for the police and emergency services. Has clip on back.
My guess is that it’s some kind of industrial camera. The thing coming out the top is one of those things that keep the power cable from getting pulled out of the unit. It could be used to check for material Fatigue??? This seems to be the most likely answer.
It’s clearly a breathalyzer. No taking photos until you sober up.
who cares…. it´s panasonic….
a detonator for nuclear warhead!
its a camera that can see thru clothes with micro 4/3 sensor for perverts! oh yeah oly and panyy
Looks to me like a topic of converstaion for slow-news day.
Nope, it’s a digital camera i have never seen before form a patent that is brand new. I posted it immediatly!
The relatively enormous cable bush/strain relief on the top puzzles me. It look big enough to take a cable of domestic power cord dimensions – unless the whole thing is very small.
A camera on the end of a cable. Hmmm.
An iphone 6?
a wireless washing machine OR wireless focus pulling device…
It is something like this, a camera to shoot wild animals and pick the camera in woods etc.:
http://img02.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/i2/119219540/T2nCNNXodcXXXXXXXX_!!119219540.jpg
In german it is called “fotofalle”. a big seller is boly guard.
It’s a fridge or a tankless heater…
By the position of the shutter release button, it is not hard to understand, that the front features with two holes. So quite obviously, it is an underwater 3D camera. And a bulb on the back is viewfinder. What is this antenna-like thing I don’t know. And I can only suspect what the dashed lines might mean: that the camera can switch between 3D and 2D.
It’s the new 10 axis IBIS!
Very GoPro-ish.
Tactical camera with radio transceiver
It’s a wildlife camera! They usually take pictures or videos of wildlife when a motion sensor is triggered. Antenna may be for satellite/cell link? Maybe you could get Bigfoot alerts or something.
It reminds me of the modular varicam Panasonic showed at NAB. Could be a camera head, front looks like swapable lens board (like red epic), rear looks like modular plate connector with contacts, the button on the left side looks like a run/stop switch with status indicator light and the top seems to be a port for an EVF/LCD. Just a guess.
Looks like a 3D digital camera possibly waterproof with that kind of bulkiness. Wire could go straight into a 3D printer or any maybe
Looks like a go pro style camera, the front with single lens protective cover and the back looks like a removable clip, not sure what the side thingy is perhaps could take some sort of adapter ….That’s my guess.
Not sure if anyone said this, but to me it looks like a wearable battery pack. It has a clip to clip on your belt, a wire coming out of the top to hook up to the camera, and a wire wrap-around to make it a nice flush brick when you have it stored in your pack.
What is there to guess? It is a clip-on wireless digital camera with a WA (or UWA, or fish-eye) lens.
Not sure what it is, but here are the features that I recognize:
– It’s shockproof, very likely waterproof too
– It’s on a mount and can be easily taken from it
– The mount is not wearable, but rather something to mount on a wall
– It is wired, the thing on the top is definitely a place to connect a wire
– It has a speaker or ventilation grill on its back side, which can mean one of the two thing: either it’s a ventilation (less likely) and in this case this thing is supposed to work when mounted or this is a speaker (much more likely) and in this case this is supposed to be used when detached from the wall. The speaker is is
– The big round thing is either a button or a lens mount with a cap. I don’t see how this thing could be a lens itself judging by the way it’s depicted
– There is another button on the side with an indicator on the side of the device. It is very likely to be on/off, and the kind of on/off designed not to be switched occassionally
– There are some small holes underneath the big round thing, that seems to be a microphone. Judging by it’s position I must say I am inclined to thing the big round thing is rather a lens mount.
– There is some misterious compartment on the side of the device, that is unlekely to be for a battery, due to the device being wired. Very likely an SD card slot
– The dimensions of the device (judging by the sizes of it’s part) are likely to be quite small – about 6-10cm height.
Summing it’s all up I would imagine some outdoor wired camera that is able to work continuosly for long periods of time. May be something to mount on a yacht, for example. Or a compact CCTV solution.
walkie-talkie design
duhh!!!!