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California College of the Arts ID student Ryan David Francis breaks out of the box with his radically-shaped Sony DSLR concept, above. The unusual form isn't purely aesthetic: Francis' aim was to provide a shape that allowed a variety of ways to grip the camera while shooting.
Ergonomically, the emphasis is on old-school shooters who use the viewfinder more than the LCD; Francis tilts the latter, not to make it easier to look at (which it probably doesn't) but to provide space for your nose when your eye is up to the viewfinder, which would hopefully eliminate that grease stain you get on the typical vertical LCD.
You might recognize Francis' name from last month's Home & Housewares Show in Chicago. His omnidirectional Swivel Gardening Cart concept, below, placed in the student design competition.
Check out both of these projects on Francis' Coroflot page.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Ryan David Francis' newfangled DSLR shape
My DSLR is shaped almost exactly the same as my 20-year old film camera and hundreds of other cameras from dozens of manufacturers and a few decades. The old saying goes "if it aint broke..." but I believe there's a lot of room for improvement.
One of my favorite things from the whole show was a tissue box made out of recycled paper with seeds in it so it could be composted afterwards and grow flowers. I should post my pictures up somewhere...
Overall I was really impressed with the work of that class.
Is this going to be available anytime soon at Lowe's or Home Depot?
I'm all for rethinking the DSLR form factor, but I don't think this is it.
If the front wheel was fixed, just the size of it would be good improvement over the traditional narrow wheel while providing greater maneuverability...
--Ed