Canon, the world’s largest camera maker, has taken its first action camera to crowdfunding site Indigogo to make it a reality. It’s called the Ivy Rack, and it’s a small, USB thumb drive-sized clipable action camera called waterproof, shockproof, and capable of shooting stills and video. The campaign is currently live on Indiegogo, although at the moment, it’s a sign-up page for more product information. However, if you pre-order (whenever the pro-order is live), Canon is offering a 30 percent discount on the price.
This is a wonderful move for Canon, taking a crowdfunding route to create a new product. However, it can be a way to see how many people will be interested in this kind of product before moving forward with R&D, development and marketing for a pretty special product. Also, considering that this will be Canon’s first attack in action camera space, it makes sense to run safely. The Canon Ivy Rec Indiegogo page is live, but has not been pre-ordered yet so we don’t know how much the Ivy Rec will cost.
The Canon Ivy Rec has a 13-megapixel, 1/3-inch CMOS sensor, full-HD video recording capabilities up to 60fps, built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a companion app called CanonMini Cam. Get previews and transfer photos and videos to your device. What is unique about Ivy Wreck is its design. According to DPRiew, the camera is the size of a small pen drive. It has a carabiner-style clip that can be clipped to things. It’s being marketed as a “final, must go anywhere” camera.
Looking at some pictures on Indiegogo, it looks like there is a standard tripod mount at the bottom so that it can be mounted on a portable tripod. There’s no viewfinder, but you’ll get a single shutter button and a mode dial on the back, with a power switch, and to sync with it, you’ll be able to switch between still, video, multi (which can be a burst mode) and Wi-Fi. Phone.
This is a bit different from what we’re used to seeing in GoPro offers on action cameras. A few years ago, Nikon also entered this category with its KeyMission series of action cameras. We hope that the look of the Canon Ivy Rack will become a reality, it could be a fun little casual shooter.