Olympus
A man passes a logo of Japan's Olympus Corp outside the company showroom in Tokyo December 21, 2012. Olympus and Sony Corp said on Friday that a planned merger of the two firms' medical business will take longer than expected due to delays in obtaining regulatory approval abroad. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

Popular camera company Olympus closes the gap between camera makers and its users with its new addition, the Air A01. The camera strikes a balance of convenience and image quality that neither a standalone smartphone or an individual camera has. The Air A01 is shaped like a lens and connects directly to a smartphone so that gadget’s screen effectively becomes the camera’s live view display.

The company also welcomes app developers and creators to tweak Air A01. Since the gadget is an open platform, Olympus is making tools available such as app development kits (SDK) for complete freedom to “Hack & Make” with the OPC. The SDK can be used to easily “hack” or develop applications to control the camera from a smartphone or tablet. In the same way, the 3D data of the OPC exterior and interfaces can be used to “make” or design original accessories to be fabricated on a 3D printer.

Air A01 features a Micro Four Thirds standard image sensor and lens mount as the current generation of Olympus mirrorless digital cameras. The technology combines the quality of a larger image sensor and versatility of an interchangeable-lens system with the ease and convenience of a smartphone, The Next Web reported.

Air A01 works by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth pairing with an iPhone running iOS 7.0 or later, or any Android phone running Android 4.0 or later. Another notable feature about the camera is its ability to work either attached to a smartphone or separately. And it works well until around 30 feet, accounted the online camera store Adorama. This gives its users the ability to take an image from afar while keeping the camera as close as possible to the photography subject.

Yet, Air A01 lacks on-camera flash. The camera is not equipped with built-in stabilization unlike other high-tech lenses. However, the large sensor size of the device more than makes up for it.

In the market, the Air A01’s closest competition is the Sony QX1 , which still has the disadvantage of costing $100 more than Air A01. Currently, the product is available in US, Canada and Japan only. It costs $499.99, including starter kit lens and $300 for body-only. It is available in colours black and white with silver accent.

Olympus Air A01 lens system (Credit: YouTube/Digital Trends)

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