The GoPro Hero 5 is a feature-loaded camera to be sure, but its real boast is its ability to be waterproof without a specialized case and respond to voice commands for hands-off use.

The sleek-looking gadget comes in silver and black, shoots 4K video at 30 frames per second, and is designed for amateur and professional users alike. All for $400 (well, $399).

You can also frame shots with your smartphone wirelessly and self-stabilizes for shots from, say, the handlebars of a bike or a helmet cam.

No more external shell is needed in order to dunk this durable gizmo into up to 30 feet of water (besides, how are you going to get that deep anyway?).

There are also voice commands for powering up and down the camera, starting and stopping timelapses, and for tagging important moments while the Hero5’s recording. And they can be called on simultaneously, so while you’re recording video, you can still grab still images with a quick shout-out.

GoPro has also updated its smallest action cam with the Hero5 Session that gets a massive bump in video resolution from just 1080p on the original to full 4K now, without a boost in its minute size (at $299).

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What used to take a clear sky and a telescope can now be accomplished on a semi-dark evening with an off-the-shelf, computer-model camera. No need to join NASA or hitch a ride with SpaceX to see the lunar surface when there’s a Nikon P900 handy.

As consumer camera tech takes off, more and more possibilities are available without needing specialized equipment. The camera comes with a 24-2000mm lens that can pull off a 83x optical zoom – point, zoom, click and you can become an amateur astronomer.

Not that the P900 is the only camera that can do this – give it a few years and your smartphone will probably be able to do the same as these other semi-professional setups.

The post Lunar Close-Up: New Consumer Camera Zooms Way Into the Moon first appeared on Gajitz.

Seeing photos of your friends’ travels is great – but when your Instagram and Facebook feeds are all full of the same landmarks over and over it can get old rather quickly. Designer Philipp Schmitt came up with a way to combat this burnout: he invented a disobedient camera that won’t take pictures in places where too many have been taken before. Want to take a photo from the top of the Empire State Building or in front of the Eiffel Tower? Tough luck, because about ten billion other people have beat you to it.

Camera Restricta uses GPS tracking to determine where it is. It constantly scans the internet to find photos geotagged with nearby locations. Looking at the screen, you can see how many pictures have been taken in your current spot and whether any more pictures are allowed to be taken there. Schmitt doesn’t divulge how many pictures of a given spot constitute “too many,” but we’re assuming it’s relative based on the accessibility and popularity of any given place.

If the camera decides that the place you’re in has become too cliched a snapshot site, it will refuse to work. A large red X will appear when you look through the viewfinder, and if you try to push the shutter button anyway, the shutter will retract and you’ll be shut down. This can add a kind of sense of adventure to your photos, as you never know when you’ll be the very first or the very last person to be allowed to take a photo of that scene.

This concept is a weird form of futuristic censorship in which the recording of our own memories takes a backseat to “originality.” The inventor also notes that the idea could be used by businesses or government entities that want to restrict photography in certain places. It’s unlikely that this type of technology will make its way into consumer cameras anytime soon, but this 3D printed prototype might be a glimpse into our future as tourists.

The post Picky Pics: Camera Won’t Let You Snap the Touristy Places first appeared on Gajitz.

Polaroid has announced a brand new digital camera, the Snap, which brings it back to its analog roots, printing immediately and in full color, and all without ink.

Their fresh release employes an SD slot that can hold up to 32 gigabytes and features a built-in inkless ‘printer’ (details below) co-developed with ZINK (Zero Ink) and using their printing technology.

Effectively, the paper already has the colors in it, with cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals covered by a protective polymer overcoat. Heat activates these latent colors on demand.

The prints are 2 inches by 3 inches (wallet sized) and the camera body comes in red, blue, black and white. It will be coming out before Christmas and sell for just $99. Tapping into that classic functionality of original Polaroids as well as the give-to-to-me-now generation of instant gratification, this is sure to be a holiday gift hit for all ages.

The post Sleek New Polaroid Camera Prints Instantly & Inklessly first appeared on Gajitz.

Invisibly linked to your handheld mobile device, this ultra-portable drone (with a built-in HD video camera) can fly itself or, if you choose, can be easily piloted from your palm via iOS or Android using intuitive tilts of the device in your hand.

Just 2.5 inches on a side (and weighing under 2 ounces) but smart enough to avoid collisions on autopilot (while also checking its position against your smartphone), Zano one of the smallest yet most versatile drones on the market. It can be set to follow you wherever you go while using infrared sensors to stay clear of trees, animals or other objects that might come up in its path.

The drone can be driven manually in a variety of ways if you want to control what it is shooting or where it is capturing videos or images from, but can also be left to its own devices, so to speak, leaving you free to move below it. If it runs low on energy or straying too far afield, the tiny flyer hones in on and returns to the location of your mobile device. Meanwhile, you can also check its status manually at any time via a simple user-friendly interface.

Zano can be recharged via microUSB and take pictures at up to 5 megapixels – bandwidth remains the biggest limiting factor in current models but can be addressed down the line with software upgrades (no hardware limitation prohibiting improvements on that front). For around $200, the price point makes it an appealing alternative to other drones and cameras on the market as well.

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