Today is the final day for CES 2018 and renowned camera manufacturer Canon has taken the opportunity to show several devices across two new concepts the company is working on. It’s worth bringing up that both of the cameras are only concepts, so neither was completely finished or fully functioning in the ways Canon wants them too yet. In fact, one of the cameras was completely nonfunctional. Having said that, the two concepts seem to primarily center around advancing and bringing together some of the best features brought to market in cameras made by other manufacturers over the past year. Moreover, the unique combination of those features makes for interesting concepts that would most likely be reasonably popular if they ever were brought to market – assuming the products were well-priced.
In the first range of concepts, Canon looks to build on the progress started with products such as Google’s Clips and the many 360-degree cameras that are currently available. The shape of the device and range of capture is similar to a 360-degree camera but auto-capture features brought by Clips has been improved significantly, at least in theory. The handheld-sized device features a single lens empowered by A.I. and machine learning to learn and track faces, people, and other objects. That, in turn, is given functionality by the fact that the camera is capable of shooting both video and photos and the camera can swivel or tilt at varying speed. What that effectively equates to is a Google Clips device which can also follow its subject to continue capturing content, at least for a short period time if the subject stays within a range around the camera. The design is made even more interesting by the variants Canon was showing, with one being a shorter self-supported concept model and another featuring a tall, built-in stand.
Meanwhile, Canon’s other concept takes a square shape and doesn’t feature any automated movement. Instead, the concept is built to be a compact portable camera lens with a larger aperture and better sensors. Essentially, it is intended to be used to quickly take photographs of a higher quality, while on the go, than what might be possible with a smartphone. Importantly, it builds on similar concepts that have already released or been announced by incorporating a 100-400mm zoom that could be either mechanical or digital. Since this concept isn’t quite as far along as the former, and although neither is guaranteed to ever be sold anywhere at all since they are just concepts, that decision hasn’t been made yet. It also features a detachable viewfinder and ports for connecting smartphones. So, a user could easily transfer photos or feasibly use their smartphone as a viewfinder in a pinch.