Back in 1998 when Apple was facing a hard time Steve Jobs launched the iMac G3 with translucent case ([shoplink 20067 ebay]can still be found here on eBay[/shoplink]). It quickly became a huge success. And now the same feature could appear on cameras soon too! A recent Sony patent (USA P.Number 20130201393) describes exactly that. A camera having a translucent (or transparent) case. Sony explains why they want to do that:
Present principles recognize the advantages of providing a camera that has features that make it distinct from other cameras and that also provides aesthetic visual appeal. Accordingly, a camera includes a translucent or transparent housing having a color, the camera also having a processor in the housing. The processor is visible through the housing. The camera also includes a camera element in the housing that generates signals representing an image, it being understood that the processor communicates with the camera element. Additionally, the processor has a periphery and the housing has a visible border line positioned over at least a portion of the periphery of the processor to thereby highlight a presence of the processor.
Moreover, if desired, the border line may be a color matching the color of the housing. Also, in some embodiments, the color of the housing and/or border line may not be clear and the housing may be translucent.
Now imagine a NEX or Alpha camera with…naked view! I think it could like it 🙂
P.S.: Our reader Neo found the image of the transparent A900 on Flickr. And here is the A77 image:
41 Responses
Toy camera.
+1 It will be hideous as well. Just grab that underwater point and shoot, which has a clear plastic case and try to get a feel for it. Do you really want a camera with bright green motherboard visible, as well as a bunch of wires, connectors, etc?
Admin, I think you are jumping the gun on “I want it” bandwagon. When you will actually see something like that, I bet you will change your mind fairly quickly.
You may be right that it looks bad in real.
And that requires a patent????!!!???
Sheesh!
Wasn’t there a mockup of the A900 (I guess) which was transparent also?
Yep! There was:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flysheep/3571924019/
wow this thing is ugly
There was also an a-77 translucent.
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/109018-sony-see-through-camera-concept-hands-on
Many pictures of it there
Note that it date back to march 7th, 2011
Why not make an Translucent Camera 😀 😀 😀
… with blinking lights … for nfc, wifi, gps, etc. … now that’s ‘flash’ ! 😀
Don’t forget the “Naked” A77 here.
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?48690-Have-you-looked-into-the-new-SONY-SLT-a77
A transparent lenses would be a sellout! Imagine seeing how the elements move when focusing!
Yeah imaging the crazy lens flare from all the light hitting the elements at all angles. Might was well not even coat the elements.
I hate it when Apple are portrayed as the pioneers of something they weren’t. As a little kid I had a Gakken LCD pocket game, similar to the more popular and common Nintendo. This Gakken had a transparent top part of the body, and you could easily see the pcb and some cables through it. And the parents of a childhood friend had a Ericsson telephone (yes the old kind that had a cable to the wall) that had a fully transparent housing. This was all during the 80’s, and I am fairly sure there was a trend during that decade when many manufacturers had transparent products.
True, especially remembering this 80’s classic translucent neon telephone: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/$T2eC16FHJF8E9nnC6Nm7BRPu4i6gmg~~48_20.JPG – very long time before iMac.
NEX-5T(ranslucent) might be just around the corner…
This is plain stupid marketing bullshit. A really stupid explanation. And just thin of the following: Canon had problems with light leaks through the LCD screen on top as I can remember. And now Sony wants to make the housing translucent. How are they shielding the sensitive parts? This is a very nice idea for an exhibition piece but not for an everyday cam! The internals are not that beautiful and I doubt if the translucent material is really scratch proof. Stupid marketing idea of Sony with absolutely no use for the user!
Canon had that problem because DSLR uses a complex mirror and prism system for viewing and focusing. For mirrorless, it’s easier to make tighter because focusing, viewing and AF all done on sensor.
Its been done many times https://www.google.com/search?q=transparent+camera&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=HOMDUvrgCoqZiQLwwYCYAQ&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=2132&bih=1435
All those left over materials for the SLT mirror must go somewhere …
“Present principles recognize the advantages of providing a camera that has features that make it distinct from other cameras and that also provide aesthetic visual appeal”.
And still they abadoned the iISO hotshoe!
You can patent a color of the case (transparent in this case)? Where is invention?
Maybe they’re slapping a patent on transparent demo bodies?
Mayby i can patent the wheel and fire. I ciuld make a fortune.
This would be cool for display purposes but other than that I would not want to shoot with something like that.
Looks kinda cool, kinda… pity it would need to have a non-transparant lens on top of it (otherwise there would be very disturbing light entering the camera) which would ruin the effect.
Make is in Crystal!
Send that suggestion to Hasselblad.
The least classiest thing I’ve ever seen.
It may well be just a showstopper for the CES or other Photokina.
Check it out: ” This is how our camera work ! ” Patent pending or not, it may not be intended for general distribution.
Having said that, didn’t Pentax offer some 120 colors of body for their cameras not so long ago ?
Jean
I’d pay good money for this! Because if there’s one thing that would improve my photography, it’s stray light getting into the body.
There’s no problems with light getting into the body of the camera, as long as it don’t get into the photographic chamber.
Then again, it still just a demo model built for photokina, CES or other show like that. I don’t beleive it has a future with the mass market.
There was transparent Xboxs but you couldn’t see the inside because they needed shielding to keep rf signals out because they would effect it’s performance. They would only be able to make the middle or low level cameras clear because they don’t have a magnesium body. The a900 and a77 showen in post would be to weak because they wouldn’t have the magnesium body just for look
Transparent Plastic = huge cost savings on material
That was a patent APPLICATION, not an issued patent. Anybody who wants to spend the money on the application fee can submit an application for anything, however stupid. Getting the Patent Office to issue a patent requires that the invention be novel. In this case, there is plenty of prior art, so no patent would be issued.
And in response to peevee, it should be impossible to get a patent on a color. However, it is possible to get something like that trademarked, if it is sufficiently distinctive.
hey guys I just want to clarify. Isn’t the translucent camera in the Photo is an a99? It has that distinct silent wheel.
sorry wrong photo. ^^
There was a transparent beercan for sale here in sweden a couple of years ago.
I actually like it and would pay for it
Sony should sell it! They should also include some paint so that buyers can customize it like the BMW art cars of the ’80’s…
What would be cool is if instead of a transparent shell, the camera came in a frame, onto which you could add whatever shell you wanted.
So the camera would come inside the basic frame encased in a plastic shell (ie like that which comes on most low-mid range cameras). You could take that off and add a magnesium alloy shell, a waterproof one, a different shaped shell for videography or even a really really expensive bit of designer wood….
Um, nah, nobody would try the last one.