Apple Digital Camera?

[arn]

YourDailyMac posts their predictions for MW Tokyo (http://www.yourdailymac.com/mwtypred.html)... and publishes a supposed email referencing a 4megapixel Apple Digital Camera:

Apple is currently working on a 4 megapixel digital camera. I have seen the prototypes and it rocks. It has firewire connectivity along with a crisp 2.5" display. But the thing that I loved about it was that it doesn't use floppies or crappy flash cards. It uses the same hard drive that is in the iPod. That's right a 5gb hard drive is inside this beast.

Many have speculated about Apple's future digital devices - and with no other sources... this may simply be further wishful thinking...

[Macmaniac]

Sounds really cool but it may not make it in todays SONY market.

[mymemory]

I think is cool the thing about the camera, strange too Apple doing cameras now.

I do not think Apple is gonna get in to troubles selling a camera, specially because there is not a standart in the market, every body is doing something different and every year the manufatures chage things, specially with storage (smart media, floppys, the memory stics, etc) and connections (video out put, mac seria, pc serial, flash cards, usb, fire wire...).

In my case I have an Agafa digital camera, my surprise last week (if any body had the chance to read my post) was that Agfa discontinued the camera and they took away from their site the entire support , I meand that I can not download the extensions or drivers, not even for OSX. They do not reconize their product any more. And that one thing Apple sould be proud of, endless suport in discontinued equipmnet. So, I had to buy some other connectors to make the camera work againg to be able to sell it to a PC user.

----------------
The thing with Apple building cameras is that there are not too many variables in the product. Apple just made a very good MP3 player (a bit expensive I think) and the camera would be in the same standar.

I guess the reason of so many cameras in the market is because any of them would give you a complete solution. The iPod was solution to the user. Right now there are too many cameras with too many features but the user have to adapt to the product and should be the other way around.

[marrlin]

Hope they use the new foveon x3 chip.

[whfsdude]

that would be sweet!!!!! :D

[udannlin]

i think this is complete BS. Apple would not go into the digital camera market. It is already too saturated as it is. Whats next? DV Camcorders? DVD Players? No fxxking way. 5 GB hard drive on a camera is a waste. People will not see the benefit of it since most people cant even fill up a 128 MB compact flash card. I hope apple doesnt do it. It would flop like a fish out of water.

[kansaigaijin]

yes there are way too many digital cameras, but most of them look cheesy and dont look or feel commensurete with the price.
Anything decent costs more than an iPod. So if Apple couldput something together with a hard drive and firewire it would rock. If it had the quality feel of a iPod . . .

But I think the post is wishful thinking, although just exactly what I am looking for, a digital camera that doesn't look and feel like a cheap peice of cr#p.

[arn]

yeah...

personally, I don't think Apple will or should enter the digital camera market again

arn

[theranch]

Don't be surprised if they DO unveil a digital camera. Look what they did with the iPod. I'm not saying that it is going to happen but I think that it could happen. Another point...Apple could make a digital camera that is a step ahead of the current consumer level digital cameras as far as storage goes. We all know that if they did put out a digital camera that it would be easy to use.
my 2cents

[synp]

When people think cameras they think Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Olympus, even Kodak, Fuji and Sigma. They do not think Apple.

How would Apple do a great camera? who'd they buy the sensor from? Sony? Who'd they buy the lens from? Canon?

A camera such as the one described would be inferior to the good cameras from all the manufacturers listed above. Hardly the image Apple is after.

What I would like to see is an advanced iPod that can store and maybe display images. Ideally it would be compatible with iPhoto and would be able to play USB master when connected to cameras. You'd connect the device to your camera, press a button and the device would such the images off the camera. Sort of like Digital Wallet, but no need for PCMCIA adapters. The Terapin mine can do this. I'd bet apple can do it better.

Here's what we need: A mobile storage device that has special handling for image files (unload a camera, display in a video out, connect to printer?) and sound files (play mp3) and also acts as a USB disk for easy trasportation of all files.

[dongmin]

Yes I think Apple can do something cool with the digital camera but it's a pretty damn crowded market. And most cameras work well with Macs out of the box. My Canon G2 rocks. And it works seemlessly with OS 9.2.

It's definitely not like the mp3 market which was lacking big time before Apple entered. Plus, digital cameras are a lot more complicated than mp3 players.

Maybe not just a run-of-the-mill digicam but something hybrid, like a digicam-camcorder-mp3 player like the one promised by Archos. It'd be great to have a simple 2 mpxel camera that doubles as a webcam (to take advantage of Apple's new quicktime technology). Something that shoots 320 x 240 video and compresses it directly to quicktime.

A $499 iPod with a 10GB HD and with a built-in 2 mpixel digicam/camcorder would fly off the shelves. The complete media solution for the average consumer. Take pictures, shoot movies, listen to music, and record sounds (via some sort of digital stereo-in connector)--all working seemlessly with Apple's iApps. The total solution: digital appliance, digital hub, digital editing, and digital output.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by udannlin
i think this is complete BS. Apple would not go into the digital camera market. It is already too saturated as it is. Whats next? DV Camcorders? DVD Players? No fxxking way. 5 GB hard drive on a camera is a waste. People will not see the benefit of it since most people cant even fill up a 128 MB compact flash card. I hope apple doesnt do it. It would flop like a fish out of water.

Of course, if it shot digital video as well, the 5 gb drive would be very sweet....

[kansaigaijin]

I live near Osaka we have a new big store, Yodobashi camera, well I am sure everyone knows how insane it is in Japan about cameras. This place is like a future shop or bigger, but 4 -5 floors downtown Osaka.
If there is a idgital camera made it is in there , from 25-50$ up to 5000$ and more. But except for the really high end pro stuff they all feel like junk, I don't care if it is Nikon or Sony. The same was true for the various kinds of MP3 players, few had a quality feel.
It is like the difference between a Sony and a new iMac. I havent bought a camera yet because I dont trust them. Now that iPod, it feels comepletely different. and I dont have to deal with all those different storage systems.

[oldMac]

I hate to say "me too", but I think it's very unlikely that Apple would enter the digital camera market right now. It's really crowded and the cameras that are out there a pretty good and they work well with iPhoto. Heck, Sony seems to be releasing so many models that they've alone crowded the market! (Of course, I think that's one of Sony's fundamental problems right now, but that's another thread...)

The only way it would make sense to introduce a camera with the 5GB hard drive is if the camera was really intended to be a cross between a still camera and a video camera.

This "new breed" of camera could have a niche, since there are a lot of folks who don't like lugging around a big video camera for the 10 minutes of video that they'd like to shoot *and/or* they don't like plunking down the cash for a digital video camera required to be used with iMovie.

So... maybe...

Question is... what would the price point be on such an item? Would the quality be good enough to satisfy the theoretical niche?

[Rocketman]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle


Of course, if it shot digital video as well, the 5 gb drive would be very sweet....

When Apple released iPod it was widely criticized by immediate critics as being too expensive, overkill and generally a one trick pony. Apple has since sold a satisfying number of them, has received good general press reports on them, has improved their brand name in the field of general consumer products and generally succeeded.

If Apple comes out with a high resolution DV camera with internal 10gb drive (up to 20gb might be available to Apple), it will be compatible with all computers via firewire. My brother has a USB camera stated to be for PC's only. I hooked up to my Mac and BOOM, instant access to all photo files as a visible drive. I decided to not rename his files for him :)

Since Apple has a digital hub strategy and a desire to sell cameras in their educational packages it makes sense to have an Apple branded product to include in those systems. I suspect the camera internals are the same as or OEM'd from those camera makers anyway. That's how things are done these days. Sony or Cannon or Panasonic might just be rooting for Apple all the way to the bank.

A superior camera would attract people to the retail stores. Apple only needs to increase sales conversions by 1% of store visitors to DOUBLE its market share. Any product that contributes to that will be released independent of if it is profitable or a mass seller.

2U Apple servers and 4U 4 board Apple servers wanted.

Rocketman

[cplmd]

Yea, a 10 or 20 gig HD with a firwire port would be VERY INTERESTING but the CCD and lens are what makes the camera. It would be sweet to shoot a mixture of video and stills, both at high quality.

Seems today if you want to do both you need two devices. An all in one device would tie in nicely to Apple's hub.

But I'd rather better server software and a nice Mac box to plug a broadband home connection into and serve both Internet services (mail, web, news) and multimedia to my home net (wire and wireless) and to the world.

[benmac]

Sounds like this :

http://homepage.mac.com/benvp/.Pictures/Other/icam2.jpg
By Jason Prini
From Apple Mock-Ups (http://homepage.mac.com/benvp/)

[menoinjun]

You know what? I think an Apple Digicam would be great!! I sell these things every day, and here are the biggest gripes about them:

1. Media expense. People don't want to spend $70 on 128mb of storage for a 4 megapixel camera. It really cant hold as much as most people want.

2. Battery power. Most of the digital camera out there dont come with rechargable batteries, and the few that do mostly come with NiMH instead of LiION ones. It's very expensive to get batteries and a charger.

3. Card readers. People dont want to spend $20 on a card reader, but they don't want to waste the camera's battery by using it to download. Most of these cameras don't come with a wall charger.

4. Simplicity. Most of the 4 megapixel cameras are very complicated to use, and lack style. People want the hi res, but with a simple interface while still having aperture, film speed, exposure, and shutter speed adjustments.

Apple can hit the nail on the head with a 5 gig, firewire, stylish, simple 4 mega pixel digital cam. They could capture both the pro market and the highend consumer market with one. People would never have to buy media, never worry about battery power because the 10 hour battery is great. (probably less in a cam) They wouldn't have to buy a card reader because it charges and transfers files all through the firewire port. If Jonathan Ives really puts his mind to it, I think that we could see a very simple yet powerful digital camera with all of the pro features, yet aimed for high-end consumers.

I SAY GO FOR IT!!! I'LL BUY ONE!!

As for the price...even if they made it a hundred more than other 4 megapixel cameras, the fact that you dont have to buy card readers or cards EVER, is firewire, and has a great battery in it would substantiate the price.

-Pete

[cryptochrome]

One thing is for certain - there's no point in Apple getting into the Camera fracas unless it's going to be either best-of-breed or new-breed. Specifically new breed, in this case, since best of breed is so subjective.

That said, a small, 5GB+ hard-drive based digicam designed for both stills and video that integrated tightly with iPhoto and iMovie/iDVD would make the most sense. Using a hard drive would allow you to save a LOT of power versus a tape, conserving battery life. It would however need to have some sort of onboard high-quality MPEG4 compression, or you would run out of HD space too quickly. And unlike tapes, you can't swap drives, although you could download them to another drive easily - such as an ipod, or your laptop, or your desktop. From there you edit your video and distribute (the key factor being that only superdrive-equipped macs can make things for distribution - I see a need for iVCD). The great potential is that this could be not too much larger than an iPod, making it a medium-sized digicam and an extremely small videocam.

And here's my idea - what's the biggest problem with any camera? You never have it on you when you need it, and even if you did getting pictures quickly to other people is a hassle with anything except a polaroid. So what we need is a low-rez digicam/mobile phone combo. There are a couple of ultrasmall VGA resolution image recievers, some small enough to fit in a package the size of a credit card or a pack of gum - or the inside of a cell phone. Not only do you carry your cell phone with you all the time, modern networks are designed to send packet-switched data alongside traditional voice. You could happen upon a scene, whip it out, snap a picture, and send it to your account or the appropriate person. One with a well designed interface would be incredibly useful. Reporting accidents and crimes could have unambiguous photo records, tagged with location and time data. The potential is endless, the only limitations are cost, network capacity, and miniturized technology.

[StuPid QPid]

Remember the Apple QuickTake. It's not a new market for Apple. They must have previously had a source for all the parts like lens, CCD/CMOS's etc, and also, they must know the market.

Interestingly I did a quick search for "Apple QuickTake" on Google, and the first site it listed was Apple Japan!

Maybe it isn't that far fetched a rumor, especially if Apple think they can bring something different to the market. And with Apple's design knowhow, I'm sure they could bring out something infinitely better looking than 95% of the stuff already available...

[dualburn001]

Apple shouldn't waist it's time with a digi camera. It would be pricey for most people and only really obssesed Apple users would buy it over a Sony with the same specs, but being $200 cheaper. Apple should only worry right now on the iPOD, and bumpin up thier computer lines. Just take a break eveyone. Their's all this hype about, iwalk, a digi camera. GOD calm down. They cant make everything at once.

Dualburn001

[Choppaface]

5 gigs is a lot, especially for a 4 megapixel cam. I've had a hard time filling up my 1 gig card with my D1x, although I always shoot using NEFs which only use 7 megs. either its going to have fabulous features, or some kick ass glass to justify that 4 megapixel CC. I rented a normal D1 once pitting it against a 950...my 14mm f/2.8 sure kicked that wide angle attachment up and down....not to mention the interface was a billion times better (so I got a D1x :D)

[blakespot]

I doubt this is on target.

The iPod's HD is/was $399, alone, retail (clearly that's going to drop as the 10GB 1.8" drive is released, etc.). But I have a 3.2MP Canon PowerShot S30 and a 128MB card. I can take just about 80 pix at highest res / quality. I paid $45 for that CF card (new). Apple would be much wiser to just bundle 256MB of flash storage in the camera and be done with it. You _really_ do not need 5GB of digicam pix, unless the camera is capable of taking moderate res, high quality motion video.

Thus, I think it's not true.






blakespot

[mischief]

Can't you just picture it? Another 5 years and every Mac user'll be able to just whip up their MP3 player and video tape that guy getting beaten by Cops.Morbid but funny.

[tw9876z]

they mentioned something about g4 ibooks on the website with the letter on it, g4 ibooks i dont see coming for a while and if they do it would only be 300Mhz to 400 Mhz most for a while so that the powerbook still has value but still, why by a powerbook if the ibook is just as good, or they might pull the imac deal again, but i dont want my powerbook to become useless, also they just updated the ibook to 14 inch screen.

[greg6028]

Originally posted by udannlin
i think this is complete BS. Apple would not go into the digital camera market. It is already too saturated as it is. Whats next? DV Camcorders? DVD Players? No fxxking way. 5 GB hard drive on a camera is a waste. People will not see the benefit of it since most people cant even fill up a 128 MB compact flash card. I hope apple doesnt do it. It would flop like a fish out of water.

I agree! APPLE will not go down this road!

[kishba]

although i see your points about apple not introducing a digicam i believe they should. i am in desperate need for a camera. i have looked at all the specs and just do not trust other companies because they have so many options. the current digicam situation makes me think of how apple simplified its line into the four basic computer quadrants that exist to. if apple could make a solution for each of its "digital lifetyle" apps i would be in heaven. i need a camera and am waiting on buying one simply because apple can do it better.

after all... everything is easier on a mac

[edenwaith]

If this is true, I might even look into this for my first digital camera. However, I agree that there should be Windows support also available so there will be a wider market to sell to. If the camera went for $400 or less, I think this would be somewhat reasonable.

While filling up 5GB of space of just pictures would be very difficult to do, it would be useful in making small videos. But I would still love having the space and not worrying about running out. I was at my friend's wedding, and the digital camera I was borrowing took a few shots, and then it started making a 'not-going-to-do-it' error sound. I thought the batteries kept dying and I replaced them, but the problem was the camera was full!

[elgruga]

5 gigs worth of pictures? NO.
An average pic is 300 - 500k. - thats over 15000 pics on 5 gigs. And anyway the point is to store them on your computer (the digital hub concept, remember?), not in the bloody camera!
The iWalk is much more likely than this one........

[AmbitiousLemon]

sure the average picture is 300k if you are taking crumby pictures. Have you ever used a megapixel camera? Probably not. Each picture take about 12mb with a 6megapixel camera. I would assume a 4 megapixel camera would be similiar to this. the 128k chip allows you to store a whopping 10 pictures. oooh fun.

Ok so you rarely shoot at full quality but you still shoot at quality over a couple megabytes. And the thing with a camera is when you are using it you are usually shooting LOTS of pictures.

I shot 5 rolls fo film when i moved into my last apartment (before i got my digital camera) just taking pictures of the apartment so i could get my security deposit back when i moved out... guess what i got that deposit.

When you are on vacation you shoot tons of pictures. And you dont have a computer nearby to drop yours pictures off everytime you fill the 128k.

A short family vacation of one week could easily use a nice gig drive. If you have kids, better toss in another gig or two (parents take lots of pictures of their kids). And then the big one... grandparents. Anyone who takes five pictures of a kid a christmas with each and every present the kid gets can easily fill a 5 gig harddrive.

But the most brilliant part of an apple digital camera (although i think it would be likley to fail since the market has a lot of nice cameras) is the firewire. I hate transfering files off my camera with usb. it takes forever. And if you have a firewire digital camera you can hook it up to your ipod. Ok not a big deal since the camera has a 5 gig drive and a 2 inch lcd, but maybe it will inspire other companies to make firewire cameras. So even if the apple camera fails if it inspires sony, olympus, and fuji to make fireiwre cameras then id say it was a sucess because now apple has created a market for cameras that will be of a use to someone who wants iphoto on their ipod.

[dswan34]

Hopefully apple has or will get a hold of this http://www.foveon.com/X3_vps.html

This would work perfect with a 5 gig drive in the camera. Hold a ton of images and a hole lot of video, you could probably pick the size too. The first still and video cam in one. Sounds nice to me.

[av11d]

Most digital camcorders have still picture options, so that you can take regular pictures. I believe these are called hybrids... Check out Sony's TRV line of camcorders/cameras

[BiCuriousGeorge]

It seems to me that the only reason for making a camera with a 5 or 10 gig hard drive built in would be if it were indeed meant to record video, not just still pics. This sort of beast, however, would face some daunting power consumption issues:

1) A 2.5" color LCD viewfinder would suck up tremendous amounts of power, severely limiting the battery life.

2) Unlike the iPod, which only needs to spin up the hard drive for a few seconds every 20 minutes or so (since the MP3 files are cached and played from RAM), recording video would necessitate a constantly spinning drive. This, combined with the juice needed to power the viewfinder LCD, would create a massive double hit on the battery.

It wouldn't make much sense to be able to store 10 gigs of video if the battery runs out before you can record 10 gigs. So unless the battery is somehow going to be vastly superior to the (already state-of-the-art) iPod battery, this dog ain't gonna hunt.

Hope I'm wrong, cause it would be an awesome product, especially if it were as small as the iPod so it could be carried around in your pocket for spur-of-the-moment use. But unless I'm missing something here.... I just can't see this rumor panning out.

[kishba]

Originally posted by BiCuriousGeorge
But unless I'm missing something here.... I just can't see this rumor panning out. [/B]

I hope you're missing something too...

if you hadn't noticed i REALLY need a digicam (i have a sony dv cam but really want incredible stills)

[rekras]

sorry guys but remember the little statement apple made about a month ago that they wouldn't be releasing any new hardware for the next few months (probobly up to MWNY).

[kishba]

Originally posted by rekras
sorry guys but remember the little statement apple made about a month ago that they wouldn't be releasing any new hardware for the next few months (probobly up to MWNY).

the statement said "no new CPUs"

don't believe me? read the maccentral article:

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0202/11.applehardware.php

[j763]

um... just a little observation -- they probably will release another digital hub device for tokyo if no new CPUs are coming out... It's Japan -- the perfect place to release a digital hub device.

[CHess]

I don't really put much weight in the rumor, but as has been pointed out here. This is NOT a new market for Apple. In fact, wasn't Apple was one of the earliest of the digital camera marketers?

I think it is possible that Apple could make an extremely cool firewire digital camera. It would have to be small, lots of storage capacity, so you could capture video, with sound. The important thing is that it has to offer features that make it unique. In terms of price, it doesn't have to be cheap. Digital Cameras and especially DV cameras are pricey. Apple does not need to go after the consumers who want something cheap and simple. They need to go after those who want the features and making it firewire is a good start. USB was great early on - it downloaded pictures much more quickly than serial equipped cameras, but these days, camera memory capacities are large and USB downloads are getting increasingly time consuming.

IF Apple were to make a camera, it would have to be simply that - a camera. Not something that is a mediocre conglomeration of digital devices. However, as long as it is recording to perhaps a hard disk (which would also make it stand out), and you want to be able to record sound with your video, it might as well also be able to record a sound-only file in .wav or .mp3 format.

[arn]

Originally posted by CHess
I don't really put much weight in the rumor, but as has been pointed out here. This is NOT a new market for Apple. In fact, wasn't Apple was one of the earliest of the digital camera marketers?


In fact, the first consumer digital camera (http://www.macrumors.com/images/applefirststxt.jpg)

arn

[arn]

http://www.yourdailymac.com/mwtypred2.html

more supposed info...

arn

[lewdvig]

This rumour is so full of crap I don't even know where to begin!

[lewdvig]

I don't doubt that Apple may want to do a camera...

I just don't think this new ydi 'site' has any more info than any of us. Why risk your job to bring traffic to a rinky dink site?

The Foveon X3 part is a dead give away - the only camera announced with this so far is the new Sigma. It will cost at least $2000, perhaps more.

[lewdvig]

If Apple were going to announce a camera they would do it at PMA or CAMEX - on right now and recently ended respectively. Not MW Tokyo.

Perhaps Comdex?

[katchow]

why by a powerbook if the ibook is just as good, or they might pull the imac deal again, but i dont want my powerbook to become useless, also they just updated the ibook to 14 inch screen.


screw that...I WANT A G4 IBOOK~!

katchow

y'know they've really got to phase that G3 out sometime...when you consider how much they've pushed for os x and how much they've said about it being built to take advantage of the G4 chip...

[cleo]

Originally posted by katchow

screw that...I WANT A G4 IBOOK~!

y'know they've really got to phase that G3 out sometime...when you consider how much they've pushed for os x and how much they've said about it being built to take advantage of the G4 chip...

I'll second that! If Apple released a G4 12-inch iBook, I'd buy one immediately, even if I did just plunk down two grand on an iMac!

[sjs]

Here are a couple of reasons Apple could make a digital camera and why it would not fail.

1. People say Apple would or would not make a digital camera: as far as I know, Apple doesn't "make" anything. They design and engineer things. Then they purchase the components from manufacturers and pay an assembler to put them together. That's just what they would do with a digital camera. Either buy components from, e.g., Sony, or just do it as a joint venture with a great camera company. Not a great finacial risk, but loads of potential payoff.

2. Some say it would fail because there are lots of other nice cameras out there: look, if there was no Apple in existence, everyone would be pretty satisfied with their beige boxes with blue screens, and if a new company tried to get in the game everyone would say it would fail because there are lots of nice boxes out there. Same thing for LCD monitors...there is no lack of product available, but yet Apple succeeds in this market, too.
3. Before iPod came out (in fact, for a while after it came out) everyone thought the exisiting MP3's were fine. So Apple came out and redefined the market.

That is just what I think Apple can and will do with photography, combining a dig cam with iPhoto. Also, anyone who thinks a 64 or 128mb card is good enough just doesn't understand. But I don't think the hard drive HAS to be in the camera...just give me a way to download the images to an iPod while in the field so I can keep shooting. When I get back to my computer they go into iPhoto. I'd bet the farm Steve will do it, and I'd bet that when the product is out it will be so good everyone will wonder why we ever doubted it.

Oh well, I have a mediocre camera and am trying to hold for a great one. Come on Apple!

[Classic]

I think that Apple definately will not outfit a camera with a hard drive. They will make it compatable with the iPod so that you can use that as your larger storage.

I think Apple will be more interested in selling iPods and digital cameras to people rather than covering the same ground with two devices.

[sjs]

I think you are right. It will keep the camera cost lower plus encourage the purchase of both the camera and iPod. Which I would be willing to do!

BTW, if I was using the dig cam in video mode could you record direct to the iPod by firewire?
Or is that not possible? Cause if you could, would the Apple camera serve both purposes and save some people form having to buy both still camera and a mini dv? The hard drive could hold quite a few minutes of video.

(I now expect to be flamed by someone cuz thats a dumb idea, for technical reasons...)?

[katchow]

OK, so i have my doubts that they would ever make a camera, but...

the idea about having to have an ipod to download your pictures to when your away from your computer is just silly...y'know not everyone has an ipod. Not everyone wants one (though i do). To require people to buy an mp3 player they may or may not have use for just so they can have portable storage for their Apple digital camera doent make much sense...

and the argument about how no one thought we needed anymore mp3 players is faulty too..that market was hardly as saturated as the dig cam one.

And to be honest, firewire and a large HD on an mp3 player was the next logical step (thank Apple for hitting it first, and doing it so elegently).

katchow

if they did happen to make a camera the HD would be its best selling point...

[Classic]

katchow,

I don't mean that the camera would need the iPod to work. The iPod would just supplement the camera for those who don't feel like dealing with a smart media card or other removable storage.

Steve Jobs can tout the camera alone for all its virtues, and then say that those people with iPods can also use it as a traveling photo storage device.


Regarding SJS's comments about the still/DV camera... I'm not sure what the tech specs are for the Toshiba drive in the iPod, but it may not be quick enough for DV. Maybe some other lower res though... 320x240 @10 fps?

[krossfyter]

an apple digicamera...hmmm.. dont think so. but i guess it would be cool. im down with whatever them boys put out.

[holmesf]

5GB hard drive in a camera a waste!?!

*presses apple-i on picture folder*

I've got 1.15GB's of pictures. That would be sweet to be able to store them ALL on the camera and show them off to friends. Also, most cameras put WAY to much compression on photos to make them small enough to fit on the cards. Apples camera could achieve a much higher quality with compression that doesn't effect the look of the picture.

From the way I see it, a camera is inevitable. Apple wants to control the user experience from begining to end. Take the whole MP3 thing:

1. Turn on apple iMac
2. Rip CD using apple iTunes
3. Play with apple iPod.

They could apply that to digital cameras:

1. Shoot with apple iWhatever
2. Sort with apple iPhoto
3. Send pictures to be developed with Apple.

This is what apple is trying to do people!

[katchow]

yeah, i mean i figured there would be some memory...but to enter a field like this i just thought they had better have a mind-blowing concept...aka internal HD...i mean i'm sure ipod sales have been pretty good but to tout that "to really take advantage of this cam you should have an ipod" would be a bit overwhelming and prentious of apple...

a large HD could make this thing standout in a saturated market...

katchow

just an opinion...every opinion has value...i dont like sounding like i'm discrediting

[katchow]

another thought...from an utterly bored pwerson right now...

the design community eats up apple stuff w/ a fork...the thought of being able to carry this digital camera and take super high res images (which will most likely be needed for a serious print) would really draw attention...you'd be surprised at the photographers still using film so they can get the quality they want...i still see a lot of c-prints...and scanning can cost a fortune (thank god for me)...

katchow

it'd be hard to tell a serious designer..well, this could be really great quality if only you'd buy a mp3 player first...lets face it, we still know who apple's core audience is.

[marrlin]

yourdailymac.com has updated the story.

Their source is indicating foveon x3 chip and bundled with iPHoto Pro.

They're really pushing their credibility now.
Sigma, which is the only announced camera that will have the foveon is only 3.x megapixel.
iPhoto is still only a 1.0 version. 2.0 is probably 4-6 months away, and they're saying a iPhoto Pro version is ready.

I would love a apple digicam, foveon x3 4 megapixel, 3x zoom, hotshoe, 5 gig drive, firewire, some manual features, but it's not going to happen. Especially not for $599.

[CHess]

A new version of iPhoto? Perhaps that explains why the Apple OS X suggestions website has one section for all OS X features and applications and a DIFFERENT path for iPhoto suggestions...

[Timothy]

There are great digital cameras on the market already...the issue of digital cameras have been "solved" for the most part, IMO.

I have a Canon G1 (3.3 mp) with a 340 mb IBM microdrive (will take a 1 gig drive), and great battery life. The camera is simple to operate, but extremely powerful if I want to control the individual settings. It connects to my Powerbook through iPhoto seamlessly. It is extremely well built and solid. I think this camera is great, and it is now a couple of years old; canon has already released newer/better models.

I also have a Canon Elura Mini DV camera, and again, it is great. I don't want a hard-drive based Mini DV camera, at least for now. Tapes can be given to other people, are simple, inexpensive storage, and cheap to buy. The harddrive would have to be much larger than 20 gigs to be very useable. I use this camera a lot, and just can't think of too many improvements that I absolutely need that don't already exist in the market.

The point is, I am a Mac fanatic; I don't think I would buy anything that Apple puts out in the camera market. Optics are not their game, and there is no significant hole in the market for them to attack.

Now...as for a PDA? Bring it on! :D

[AmbitiousLemon]

Timothy: your right on this. the best thing for an apple digicam to do would be encourage use of firewire. it would fail to sell well but might get enough copy cats on the market tat firwire would replace usb on the market. or at least make a good presence. that woul be my big hope for an apple digicam. ibm's microdrive are amazing. i looked for a digital camera that would take one but couldnt find any under $1000. but i also was looking for a minimum of 4megapixels. i hope these spread as well. im a lil pissed apple didnt use an ibm drive in the ipod. ibm has 5gig ones ready to go, there is just no market for them now. apple could have cut he ipod in half with one of these, or left more room for more connections.

but Timothy's last comment as much as it will get under eye's skin (hm that sounds odd) is true. the ipod is a great example. apple took a dying market and revived it. the digital camera market is doing anything but dying. but pdas are dying. if you dont like the word pda, then call it a handheld. its all the same. this is a market apple could revive, the only question is does apple already have too many balls in the air. with major updates to osx necessary just to make it usable, powermacs that are severly underpowered, and a beautiful new imac that is having production problems, a handheld would be a lot to take on. maybe in a year or two though...

[jail]

GO APPLE!
an apple digital camera would sell well, it would, most importantly, look and feel solid, eligant, and simple. look at the iPod, it sold well, a camera would sell well for the same reason. people would look at it because it's different from the rest, then see what it's capable of, 5GB = how many photos? people would be able to store their photos ON THE CAMERA, rather than moving them over to the computer (a hastle, no mater how easy), just plug-in and view. thousands of photos you can take to your friends computer whenever you want, no hastles with choosing wich 2% of your photos to copy to a zip first.

go apple
if people were about price they probabely wouldnt spend more than $50 on a digital camera anyway.

apple means ease of use, most people know that

iTunes, i thought "nice, but why?"
then came the iPod, perfect match to iTunes
iPhoto, "ok, looks useless to me"
here comes the iCamera, perfect match to iPhoto



iHope you do it apple
iWill by one

[lewdvig]

Both your cameras suck.

G1 = old.
G1 + 340microdrive = more than the price of the 5gb Apple camera if you believe the source.
Taking TIFF shots without Firewire takes more patience than I have.

Elura sucks in low light. A bit more than 50% of the day. Duct tape and a flashlight!

I can say this because I have the same taste in hardware.

They may be best of breed, but there is lotsa room for improvement.

If you double the price and take the Foveon and iPhoto Pro BS out, we may be close to the truth here. Maybe add another $400 just to be safe.

There is lots of room in the digicam market right now. A camera that could take 4mp images and record high def MPG-2 onto a 10gb hard drive (2-hours of DVD quality video). All integrated through iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD...

we have a genre/category buster here folks for a reasonable $1400 SRP.

[Timothy]

Thanks for the info...and here I had been using these cameras for more than two years and didn't even realize they "suck." :rolleyes:

[theranch]

I think Apple could put out a digital video/photo cam. It would have to be hard drive based along the lines of iPod. It would make things easier since you wouldn't have to go to a store when you don't have any more DV tapes.
I'm not saying pro level camera here....maybe mid-level very consumer friendly.
Just thinking outloud...

[lewdvig]

Just kidding.

Like I said, I made the exact same selections.

Don't tell me you wouldn't mind upgrading that G1 though. You can still get alot for it used.

I'll sell mine if something as cool as these rumours come out. Don't be surprised if it uses Canon optics and CCD or CMOS. Canon supplies many of its competitors (just like Sony does) with parts for their cameras.

It will have to be both different and a step up.

[jefhatfield]

the ipod sold when people thought there was not any need for a product like that

i am sure an apple digital camera would sell, and if it is reasonable and not as premium as the ipod, i would buy one...but i would not spend 400 dollars

for 400 dollars, i would get the canon digital elph, perhaps the top selling medium/high end digital camera of all time!

[lewdvig]

Yuck.

2.1mp? = grainy 8*10 and no cropping.

Apple does not do low end. Exactly why their product is appealing.

As described above, this thing would be the best $1400 you ever spent.