Camera

If you've ever wanted to look really, really close at your gums on television, then you might have a bit too much time on your hands. Fortunately, you can satisfy your strange videoral desires with the Miharu Intraoral Camera. The funky, toothbrush-shaped Japanese camera plugs into your television to pipe live footage of your teeth, gums, tongue, or any other body part you'd like to see close-up. For your reading pleasure, we've left out the sample pictures shown on the camera's site.

This isn't the first time we've looked at a gadget that gets … Read more

This week's news includes some camera announcements, new digital imaging technology, and even more on the future of photography.

Casio expands its digital camera lineup with the Exilim Zoom EX-Z9, a budget shooter with a scant price tag and a surprising selection of colors. While it doesn't present any new features compared to previous Exilims, it should still appeal to both budget- and fashion-minded consumers.

The Z9 uses a 37.5-112.5mm-equivalent, F/2.8-5.2 3x zoom lens, typical for a compact budget shooter, along with a slightly-later-than-usual 2.6-inch widescreen LCD. Like most Casio Exilim cameras, the Z9 offers nearly two dozen "Best Shot" scene preset modes, along with an "Easy Mode" … Read more

There isn't a helluva lot new about the E-420, Olympus' minor update to its E-410 bottom-of-the-line dSLR, but that's not unexpected for a model that will only set you back between $500 and $700. The most significant new capability is a built-in wireless flash controller, which Olympus seems to be putting in many of its enthusiast models (including the SP-570 UZ).

Though Olympus makes a big deal about the E-420's size, in truth it's only 0.01 to 0.02 inches smaller in any dimension than its predecessor, and in fact weighs a couple of ounces … Read more

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology has launched its image-sensor business as a more independent division called Aptina Imaging, a move the company believes will improve its flexibility and business potential.

The new subsidiary is based in San Jose, Calif., a Silicon Valley location that's a long way from Micron's Boise, Idaho, headquarters. It will employ several hundred of Micron's 19,000 employees, Micron said.

"We need the additional flexibility and identity to be able to grow the way the markets we see are growing," said Shane Thomas, director of product marketing for the imaging business.

For … Read more

In the market for a digital camcorder? You could spend $179.99 on one of those Flip Video Ultras, which let you record a whopping 60 minutes of YouTube-quality video. Or you could pay $119 for the Aiptek A-HD, which records hours' worth of high-definition (720p) video on inexpensive memory cards. Hmmm...

Yeah, talk about a no-brainer. The A-HD is a slim, pocketable camcorder (and 5-megapixel camera) with a swiveling 2.4-inch LCD and an SD slot that accommodates cards up to 8GB (good for about 4 hours of HD video--get one here for a measly $28). It captures … Read more

Remember that $40 HP photo printer from a couple months back? For an extra $5.99, you can get one that's similar but way better: The HP A716 churns out snapshots as large as 5x7 (panoramas, too) and comes with 4 gigabytes of internal storage.

The big benefit, of course, is that you can offload photos from your memory card when it gets full, then copy them over to your PC later. Like any good photo printer, the A716 also features card slots for all major memory-card types, support for PictBridge connections directly to cameras, and a good-sized LCD (… Read more

Sony held its annual "Open House" in Las Vegas this week and, as usual, pulled out all the stops. Here's the latest news:

Home theater

Portable media

It's one of the oldest, most common problems in photography: that picture you thought would be the prize shot is out of focus.

Refocus Imaging, a Silicon Valley start-up, thinks its technology can be used to make cameras that can fix that problem--after you take the photo.

By fitting a camera's image sensor with a special lens and then processing the resulting data with new methods, Refocus Imaging's technology will let photographers fix their photos and exercise new creative control after the shutter is released, founder and Chief Executive Ren Ng said.

"There's a lot … Read more