Way OT: Camcorder Autopsies

Tim L wrote on 7/4/2008, 2:28 PM
Have you ever wondered what your beloved camcorder looks like inside? Are you too timid to actually take a screwdriver and disassemble a perfectly good camera?

Well, here's a website that I came across some time ago that shows some teardowns of various camcorder models. Kind of interesting photos (lots of circuit boards...).

http://www.camcorderservice.nl/indexfotomenu.htm

(And no, I don't speak Nederlands... but the photos don't really need much captioning)

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/4/2008, 2:55 PM
Holy Crap! It's a geek's strip club! :D Nice! ;)
riredale wrote on 7/6/2008, 9:34 PM
Perhaps it's just the nerd in me, but I personally find these kinds of photos truly remarkable. The degree of complexity inside my FX1 on so many levels (mechanical, optical, electrical) is amazing to me, just as are the inner workings of a PC, or the fact that I'm composing this text on a device that currently holds about 10 TRILLION bits of information, all available to me within a fraction of a second.

When I travel through the great cathedrals of Europe or look at Michelangelo's David, I'm impressed, but these modern devices are, in their way, just as impressive as works of art to me.
rmack350 wrote on 7/6/2008, 10:48 PM
I'm impressed by the photography. They've done a great job of controlling reflections while still getting it all illuminated.

Rob Mack
Tim L wrote on 7/7/2008, 9:27 AM
riredale -- yeah, I agree -- works of art and marvels of engineering!

As users, we pick up a camera and assess the balance and the ergonomics, and always wish for a couple more features.

But there must be armies of engineers and designers who spend their days (and years) trying to cram processors and circuits into every nook and cranny of a beautifully sculpted plastic housing designed from the outside in. (Let's all stand now and recognize those underappreciated and unheralded designers...)

Even the plastic housings are impressive to me -- the fit and finish even on low-end consumer cameras is astounding, how everthing fits together just so. And I'd imagine the tiny little consumer handhelds are packed even more densely than the big boys.