Loreo announces SLR body cap with a twist (UPDATED)
By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Saturday, September 28, 2002 - 22:51 EDT)
Hong Kong-based Loreo (Asia) Ltd. has announced a rather unusual accessory for interchangeable-lens cameras, be they film or digital based.
The "Lens in a Cap" is a body cap to put on your camera body whenever you take the lens off, ensuring that dust can't get in and wreck your pictures. The unique twist, though, is that the body cap itself features a small pinhole lens with an adjustable aperture from f/5.6 to f/64, so if you grab for your camera but don't have time to put a lens on before you miss a photo opportunity, you'll at least have a lens of sorts ready to use.
The "Lens in a Cap" has a fixed-focal length equivalent to 35mm before focal length conversion, and a fixed-focus range of 50cm to infinity at f/64. Loreo claims in its press materials that the device works with "any SLR", but even if there are various versions for different cameras, we'd be surprised if they covered all the different lens-mounts on the market. Also, when the attached camera attempts to communicate electronically with any attached lens, one presumes that various versions would be required that include the necessary electronics to tell the camera that a lens is attached and what aperture it is using before the shutter can be triggered.
That said, if the device is compatible with the particular camera you owned, then at a price of just US$20, it would be kind of neat to have - if only for the 'coolness quotient'. Courtesy of Loreo we have two pictures of the "Lens in a Cap" both by itself and on an unidentified camera.
There are also two sample images identified by Loreo as having been taken in Hong Kong in 2000 with an unspecified camera - the first being of the Citibank Tower and Bank of China Building, and the second of a Rolls Royce with 'Hello Kitty' decoration at a wedding:
UPDATED 2002-09-30 15:33ET: We've now been in contact with Loreo's founder, Tony Lo, regarding the "Lens in a Cap" device. Tony clarified the compatibility of the device for us: "For your reference, the products in the Lens in a Cap line were developed with a modular mount system, and are shipped to demand in 5 major mount types - Canon EOS, M42, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax K. The Canon FD is not currently supported, but we are considering making a Minolta mount."
Loreo has quickly submitted a new press release including the lens mount info, and also updated its corporate website to include the same. One interesting note from the press release adds further detail: "We also need to let users know that on some cameras the camera body must be set to manual focusing and sometimes manual exposure. A list of these cameras will be published on the www.loreo.com website."
Source:
Loreo (Asia) Ltd.
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Original Source Press Release:
| Loreo introduces digital SLR dust control Lens in a Cap Loreo (Asia) Ltd. today presented owners of digital SLR cameras with the LOREO Lens in a Cap, a new accessory for dust control. Digital SLRs are generally excellent cameras, but are notorious for having dust control problems. Every year pixel resolution increases, but the higher it goes the more visible the dust particles are.
Fragile, expensive sensors accumulate dust and dirt, which appear as dark smudges on images, especially if clear blue sky is in the photo. Photographers who carry digital SLRs around in camera cases know that every body must be protected with a cap, or else not only can images be wrecked, the camera itself might have to make an expensive trip to the repair factory.
While liberating photographers from print film, digital SLRs have spawned a whole new menagerie of exotic cleaning liquids, sensor swabs, built in air pressure sensor cleaning, internal dust filters, dust blowers, vacuum pumps, high pressure compressors, and ofcourse the ever-useful Photoshop Rubber Stamp to clean up the mess afterwards.
The best solution is still protection with a body cap. The Lens in a Cap is a body cap that protects a digital SLR from dust and dirt while still keeping it ready for taking quick snapshots. Focal length is 35mm and aperture f/5.6 - f/64. The aperture itself acts as a built-in lens shade.
Chief Engineer Tony Lo demonstrated how the converted camera could take excellent impromptu photographs, starting from the basic f/5.6 setting. At f/64 the Lens in a Cap turned the SLR into a pocket pinhole camera, pre-focused from 50cm to infinity.
The Lens in a Cap will retail at US$20.
About Loreo
Loreo was founded in Hong Kong in 1982 by engineer, inventor and camera enthusiast Tony Lo. The company has since released a number of cameras and accessories. A rim flash converter was followed by the Loreo 3D Photokit, then the VeriDoc, an infrared forgery detector. Loreo's 2002 products include the Lubot, the Lens in a Cap line, the Loreo 321 and the Loreo Photokit Mk II.
Tony Lo trained and worked as an engineer in the United Kingdom for many years. Prior to starting his own camera technology and manufacturing business, Tony Lo worked as an engineer in the aircraft industry. This gave him invaluable experience in practical implementation of technology and designing reliable products. He constantly improves his products through extensive testing.
Tony Lo is also a member of the advisory board of camera prices internet portal camprice.com. |
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