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A Special Wireless-Free Nikon Camera Is Publicly Available for the First Time

85 points by HardwareLust

by walrus01

4 subcomments

I understand it's probably because the GPS functionality is integrated into the same RF chipset that's handling wifi/bluetooth, but it would be possible to make a "no transmit capability" camera that still has GPS metadata functionality, with GPS receiver chip and an antenna tuned for 1400-1600 MHz, since ordinary consumer grade GPS is a receive-only technology.
But that would still possibly present a problem for serious government use where it can't have an antenna of any form in it.

by ChrisMarshallNY

3 subcomments

> no Nikon SnapBridge
Unless they significantly improved that app, in the last eight years or so, it may not be a great loss.

by doctor_radium

3 subcomments

I assume the average person buying the standard model could then just disable WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS if they so chose? So this really is for high security situations?

by rationalist

2 subcomments

It's a shame it costs more. I'm sure there are people who would like the non-wireless option, but would rather "save" $400.

by linzhangrun

1 subcomments

Unitl 2016 cameras with GPS could not be sold in mainland China (old secrecy regulations), so this is not anything new.
I guess modern integration has put Bluetooth and other devices together with GPS in one module.

by ButlerianJihad

2 subcomments

Seven years ago, I landed a fairly trivial job with a temp agency, and we were tasked with plowing through document archives and collating them all for the scanning team. Our client was a huge company, and though none of us were sworn to secrecy or anything formal, I figured I would do them a solid, and refrain from bringing in any device with a camera, microphone, or transmitter. At the time, this was possible because I didn't rely 100% on my smartphone for transportation and everything else...
So I delved into the fascinating and still-extant world of standalone MP3 players. I selected a SanDisk Clip Jam, and it had like 8GiB onboard, an sdcard slot of course, an FM radio receiver, and really cool firmware. It was very simple, robust, extremely light, compact and portable. It was the size of a matchbox and it could clip onto your sleeve or belt, or whatever.
And it met all the requirements. It had no BT, no WiFi, no sensors of any kind, and it did that job very well of music playback, however I found it. And it could indeed store arbitrary files, so being the kind of hacker I am, I stashed a copy of my password manager encrypted database, plus a full install MSI of the application. And I included some README.txt that would indicate who owned this thing and how to return it, if lost.
I really miss that thing for its elegant simplicity. With the Swiss Army Knife nature of smartphones, I still long for the specialization and compartmented functionality of separate devices.

by pixelpoet

2 subcomments

"Wireless-free" is such a ridiculous designation; you have a double negation and it still doesn't mean what you might expect (that it's wired).

by HardwareLust

1 subcomments

by ErroneousBosh

1 subcomments

"For the first time"?
All of my Nikons are wireless-free. Some of them are even battery-free.

by tujux

3 subcomments

>Nikon tells PetaPixel that this is to evaluate potential market demand for similar products moving forward.
Yes, evaluate market demand by making it more expensive and doing 0 marketing. /s
Am I crazy in thinking that doing it this way is close to meaningless?