Olympus develops wooden cameras

[Rex914]

Olympus claims that the compression process produces a frame that is more durable than one made out of engineering plastic. Quite a feat though I personally think this looks pretty ugly as is. This goes up there alongside that Canon DSLR prototype that looked like it was made entirely out of crystal (forgot the actual material).

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/09/25/olympus4.jpg

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/09/25/olympus7.jpg

This is the process by which a noral slab of wood (cypress in this case) is transformed into the camera's frame.

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/09/25/olympus6.jpg

[Topher]

Wow, very interesting, I wonder how it reacts to the oil from hands

[timmciglobal]

Dumbest thing yet.

Tim

[cdifoto]

Wasting trees on cameras that'll be thrown away in a year or two? :rolleyes:

[JTL]

"Hello, Olympus customer support? Yes...my camera has termites! Is that covered under the warranty?"

[CptOfGondor]

"Hello, Olympus customer support? Yes...my camera has termites! Is that covered under the warranty?"

Haha thats hilarious! yea about the wood....the camera sucks all the moisture out of the air and expands two fold the moment you take it out of the bag. (no more slica gel packs..lol)

[tim11]

How about some boomerang shape? Or putting a lens to a wooden axe handle? That will surely sell millions amongst the natives. :D

[ReF]

Olympus claims that the compression process produces a frame that is more durable than one made out of engineering plastic.

what oly is doing could be completely different, but for us woodworkers (even for knife makers) it's sort of common knowledge that there is a process where wood is exposed to high pressure and treated with some chemical agent that basically makes it like plastic while preserving it's look (well, sort of. doesn't look quite right sometimes). it's usually used for light, low density woods or those with low structural strength, like burls, and for enviromental resistance. so plastic in combination with the existing fiber structure of the wood and it's pretty believeable that it's stronger than plastic alone. it comes out very very stable and is hard as hell too. i'm not sure what's going on here but wood can be hard to photograph sometimes. i've seen books where pics come out horrible and nothing like the actual wood. the example pics here remind me of that look. the dark splotches in the pics here also look like areas where the wood is refecting light in a different direction (have you guys seen the reflective stripes in mahogany?) - the effect is actually pretty neat, almost like a hologram but you have to see it in person. of course it could either be just a bad staining job (i hate wood stains) or just could be the plasticising process which i'm not a big fan of myself. and yes they can find a more decorative wood but most of those are endangered and i'm REALLY glad they are not using those precious materials for stuff that will be worthless in 2 years.

[Topher]

well said ReF, I was thinking that was true, but didn't want to say anything without having some concrete background knowledge :D

[Rhys]

Any idea what wood they're using? It looks a bit like pine to me.

[JTL]

If you're ever stuck alone in the wilderness, you could always use it for kindling. Try that with your plasto/metallic cameras!

[coldrain]

It is not such a weird idea, there is a niche market for wooden electronics.
It would for instance match this setup really nicely:

http://www.woodcontour.com/images/sale/mahogany_set_bg.jpg

[nism]

ugh
what were they thinking

[JTL]

I know Ted Kaczynski would just love that camera and that comupter! :eek: :D

[Rhys]

I wonder if it's more environmentally friendly than plastic?