Clamshell Blog

This practical and sleek camera concept from designers Sun Ho Sin and Jeong Eun Park takes inspiration from laptop design to

protect both LCD screen and lens when not in use.

There have been folding cameras around almost forever, but this was usually to protect just the lens, or to make a bulky box

more portable. This flip around design, called the Zero Angle, fixes a very modern problem: both the front and the back of a

digicam have easy-to-scratch parts. The camera opens up like a clamshell and the hard front cover swings 360-degrees to

become the screen at the back. This makes it pretty much pocket-proof.

The hinge also acts as a chunky hand-grip, especially useful on such a small camera. What I like most is that this is

effectively a case and a camera in one: you don’t have to spend time taking the camera out, or finding somewhere to stow a

padded pouch while you shoot.

The render of the design is a little odd, though. The redundant lens-cover makes us think that the flap was digitally added

to a photo of an existing model. Still, the idea is great, if not completely original. Canon: add this to your already

wonderful S90 compact and you probably wouldn’t be able to make enough of them.