World's First Self-Powered Digital Camera Actually Takes Decent Pics

With the proper apps, I’m convinced I can take on the world with my smartphone camera. I don’t usually even notice other digital cameras, but this one caught my attention. It looks like a little retro box, and that’s because the creators wanted to make it look a bit ‘old fashioned’ or retro on purpose. It’s the world’s first self-powered digital camera. That basically means you don’t ever have to think about the battery running low because it has no battery in it to run low if that makes sense.

It’s appropriately called the Sun and Cloud camera, and its self-powered system is brilliantly simple yet sophisticated at the same time. If you are outside, the sunlight will charge it. Yup, it’s solar-powered. If it’s a cloudy day or you are inside with little light, you can charge it with the hand crank. If you are in a rush, and you have no time, energy or sun, you can charge this little cutie via USB.

According to PetaPixel, “Inside the camera is a tiny 3 megapixel CMOS sensor that has an ISO range of 100 to 800 and is capable of both still photos and video recording (AVI files with 30fps or 8fps frame rates). Data is saved onto SD or SDHC memory cards of capacities up to 2GB and 16GB, respectively.”

This self-powered digital camera was created by Superheadz Japan, and they say it’s the world’s first “self-generation” digital camera capable of shooting both stills and video. You can pick one of these up for yourself on AC Gears for $200. That seems like a lot of money to pay for a digital camera that almost looks like a toy, but I’m sure to some hobbyists, it will be worth it. I’d love to try one of these out in person. It’s such a great combination of high tech and low tech.