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Earlier this year, at CP+ 2019, Canon showed off a collection of creative concept cameras it has been developing behind-the-scenes for quite some time. Now, Canon has taken the first steps to bring at least one of these cameras to market in the form of an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.
The first of the concept cameras Canon is hoping to make a reality is the IVY REC, a ‘clippable, go anywhere camera’ that appears to be an ultra-compact point-and-shoot camera that’s about the size of a USB flash drive and features a built-in carabiner.
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Currently, the Indiegogo campaign page is nothing more than a landing page where you can sign up to receive more information on the camera and updates on when the campaign will go live. According to the campaign page, the IVY REC features a 13-megapixel 1/3-inch CMOS sensor capable of recording 1080 / 60p video.
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| Note what appears to be a standard 1/4-20 tripod thread beneath the lens of the IVY REC. |
Canon says the IVY REC is lightweight, shockproof and waterproof1. The ultra-compact camera also features wireless connectivity via the CanonMini Cam App, which will turn your smartphone into a live view display and allow for wireless transfer of photos and video. Canon also says the square clip section of the camera can double as a primitive viewfinder.
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| A single dial appears to be the only menu interface on the camera itself, meaning any minute adjustments will need to be done using the accompanying smartphone app. |
At first view, both the camera and the crowdfunding campaign appear extremely out of character for Canon, but in a previous interview with DPReview at CP+ 2019, Canon executives noted the company is determined ‘to capture as many customers as [it] can’ and expressed the belief that ‘there’s a new genre of capturing: a new casual capturing market,’ of sorts that has ‘potential for new developments.’ Sure, Canon has the resources to go out and built this concept for the mass market, but a crowdfunding campaign is a simple solution to gauging the public’s interest without investing any additional capital into the concepts.
There’s no pricing information or details on when the crowdfunding campaign will go live, but the landing page does note ‘early birds’ will receive upwards of 30% off the retail price. You can sign up to receive updates and see the information for yourself on the campaign’s landing page.
1Up to 30 minutes at a depth of 1m (3.3ft)
Update (July 1, 2019): A previous version of this article compared the IVY REC to Google’s Clips camera. It has been updated to remove the comparison, considering the IVY REC isn’t so much a lifelogging camera as it is a specialized point-and-shoot camera.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)