Olympus SZ-30MR CameraThe people at Olympus describe this as the ultimate travel companion. They really need to get out more. Though it does conjure up a pretty clever trick. The MR in the suitably unwieldy name stands for multi-recording, because this camera can film HD video and shoot full-res stills at the same time. Simultaneously. All at once.
This is thanks to its muscular processor, which was specced for their DSLR models, but gives the SZ-30MR the brain power to capture both full 1080 HD footage and 16 megapixel stills at the same time. In fact, it can shoot two different video formats simultaneously too, for example, a close-up and a wide angle. There’s even a 3D-ish setting which uses two shots slightly apart to create a stereoscopic effect.
Oh, the SZ means super zoom in the Olympus glossary and this compact boasts a 25-600mm equivalent with a 24X optical zoom. And it has a whole bunch of “magic” filters, presets and shooting modes which complicate many a digital camera, yet are used by just a minority, one suspects. Those with a camera as their ultimate travel mate perhaps. HDMI, USB 2.0, A/V output.
CostAbout £299 (€347), due out next month.
Walkin' Bag ZipCart LiteFrankly, this is like the sort of product a rapidly stiffening traveller might riff about while uncomfortably propped up on the floor in the corner of an overcrowded airport departures lounge: wouldn't it be great to have a bag that's got a seat too?
Tah-dah! Of course, the kids have had their Trunkis for a while now, the cool little ride-on, animal suitcases, but unless an adult was willing to find (or rob) their inner child and ditch their dignity, there weren’t many options.
Polio survivor and Walkin’ Bag founder, Etsuo Miyoshi, agreed – and did something about it, designing a range of carry-on luggage with fold-out seats.
He has a few different versions; this one has a 23cm seat that can take 136kgs (more than 20 stone). It’s part of a detachable frame for when you don’t think you’ll need it.
It’s well put together otherwise too, with efficient storage and bottom-mounted castors for smooth 360-degree wheeling and a curved handle for leaning on. So, as airports seem to offer less and less seating, walk in with your own.
CostFrom $125 (€90), from walkinbag.com.
Spacesuits (two careful owners)We haven't featured second-hand gadgets before in this column, but then it's not every day gear like this appears online. These bring a whole new meaning to technical clothing.
Two actual astronaut or rather cosmonaut suits are just part of the offering at a Space Sale in Bonham’s Auction House in New York in May. Both have travelled well. One is a Sokol K spacesuit worn by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov during the historic 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Project, drawing the curtain on the East-West space race, and the other is a Sokol KV-2 spacesuit worn by Gennadi Strekalov during his 1990 mission to the Mir space station. The spec on the latter suit includes pressure gauge on left sleeve, mirror on right sleeve; lace-up crotch covered by Velco-affixed placket; aluminium umbilical interfaces for electrical, air and coolant supplies and so on.
Makes your Gore-tex shell seem a little on the tame side.
Online bidding will be accepted on May 5th if you really want one.
CostGuide €50,000, bonhams.com.