Tech Blog

[#1]

I’m all for dual-use technology when it can work equally well in both functions. Of course, the quest for a digital camera or camcorder that can capture excellent footage and shoot high-quality photos is still ongoing. But it’s still nice to see that camera manufacturers have come a long way from just being megapixel pushers. Hence, why I bring up the Nikon S1100pj and its secondary role as a portable projector.

This is Nikon’s second attempt at this with last year’s S1000pj being the first. While there was a novelty to it, that model was limited to only projecting images snapped with that camera. It was so restricted that you couldn’t even slide in another memory card and display photos stored on it. And at over $400, it was an expensive premium to pay for a really niche feature.

Good thing Nikon listened because the new S1100pj will be able to connect to a PC or Mac via USB and project anything displayed on its screen. Nikon says the projector is 40 per cent brighter than the previous one, and that it can display a 47” screen size from as little as 7 ft. away.

It will be interesting to see how good battery life will be when all this comes into play. Hopefully, the S1100pj can muster more than the 220 shots the previous model managed on one battery charge under normal shooting conditions. That’s relatively low for a digital camera these days. The lens is pretty much the same, and it appears that using other memory cards to display photos might still not be an option.

The projector element will be an interesting one moving forward, especially when you consider that both consumers and business users could make good use of a portable projector that isn’t just meant for one purpose.

Nikon says it will come in black only, and retail for around $349.99, hitting stores in mid-September.

[#2]

Wow... a 47" projected image from that little thing... IMPRESSIVE!