Video

Cameraman Wendelin Sachtler developed a tripod with a gyroscopic head, in a garage in Munich, in the late 1950s. Sachtler’s creativity, combined with a good business sense, helped create a brand name that has been highly respected by industry professionals for more than 50 years. In fact, it's the 50 years of customer feedback that has enabled Sachtler to fine-tune its products to the point of near-perfection. 

It was a couple of hours into a day-long shoot. It was hot out, and to say that we were sweating would be putting it lightly. Being a pretty barebones shoot, we were passing the video camera around quite a bit. Many a sweaty eyeball was pressed up against that poor viewfinder. As I strained to look through the slippery sweat-covered eyecup, it occurred to me that this might not be all that sanitary.

It’s difficult to hold a camcorder while, say, climbing up a sheer face in Yosemite. But there are many camcorders on the market that allow hands-free operation. The LOREXvue Video Sunglasses will capture video while freeing your hands up for other duty. You put them on, turn them on and shoot video, all while doing whatever else you like. Whatever you see, the camera sees and captures. 

It is amazing to watch the evolution of surveillance gadgets that modern technology brings us. Hidden cameras are now tucked away inconspicuously in smoke detectors, motion detectors, stuffed animals, clocks, and countless other innocuous products.

Today, it’s easy for manufacturers to squeeze a great deal of functionality into a tiny package. Integrated circuits have millions of transistors packed onto tiny chips, wristwatches offer a thousand functions, and cell phones can access the Internet and capture still and video images. Of course, those tiny integrated circuits enable the manufacture of most of these devices in the first place.

Ever since nanny-cams grabbed the spotlight, video surveillance has hardly been the monopoly of law enforcement. Cameras masquerading as common household objects can be bought by anyone. This raises the question: sure it's a hidden camera, but is the outward product functional? Can the clock with a clandestine camera tell time? As a value-oriented consumer, I want the cover story to be genuine, not a prop. It turns out the answer depends on the product.

Sanyo’s Xacti-branded pistol-grip Dual Cameras are ideal for capturing the memorable events in your life. Whether it’s your family vacation, friends gathering at the skateboard park, or a child’s birthday party, the Xacti cameras are typically up to the task at hand. The pistol-grip cameras in particular are easy to grasp and small enough to carry in your pocket. Unfortunately if your idea of fun involves being in or close to water, either liquid or frozen, these cameras could easily get damaged. But that changes with the introduction of the Xacti DMX-CA100, available the end of June.
 

You've probably seen those adventure reality shows where people like Bear Grylls, Les Stroud, and other daredevils find themselves in one perilous situation after another. Sometimes you wonder how they will make it to safety. But even more often you wonder how they were able to capture such footage in the first place. Sometimes the footage is captured by an equally nutty cameraman, but quite often the footage is captured using something like Drift Innovation's X170 Action Camera.