14 DAY TRIAL // Going small and compact probably took on a whole new meaning, or will, once word of Hammacher Schlemmer's latest invention spreads far and wide enough.
Some photo and video shooting items are supposed to be small, especially webcams and projectors meant to be included in laptops or other electronics.
As such, they are necessarily small and, quite frankly, hard to rival in that respect, though, naturally, they don't have a body of their own to speak of, beyond the base circuitry.
Hammacher Schlemmer decided to let the hounds of creativity loose upon the concept of portable camera.
The result was what they more than likely have all the right to name the world's smallest camera, which they did, in their press release. That is, in fact, what its name is: World's Smallest Camera.
Physically, the product can be held on one's fingertip, since it is not much bigger than a marble, and yet it still packs all basic functions, and then some.
One needs only to press the shutter button (though it might be tricky without slim fingers) and the item will autofocus and snap the picture.
A 2 megapixel image sensor is used (JPEG photographs at 1600 x 1200, 30 fps AVI video in 640 x 480), as is a 2 GB SD memory card, plus a battery that can last for up to 30 minutes (it charges fully in one hour, via USB).
"Although The World's Smallest Camera is only slightly larger than a marble, it takes still images and records video just like much larger cameras," explained Hammacher Schlemmer's General Manager, Fred Berns.
The one bad thing that can be associated with this whole project is the fact that such a small thing can easily be lost.
Fortunately, the developers paid mind to this caveat and came up with a suitable means of minimizing the risks.
"The World's Smallest Camera comes with a wrist lanyard that keeps it close at hand and enables ease of portability."
Prospective buyers should already be able to find this camera up for sale, priced at $99.95 (about 74 Euro).