Posted Apr 08, 2007 at 12:51PM by Enrico S. Listed in: Accessories Tags: Sony, Chotto Shotto
Ó

The Chotto Shot PSP camera can't handle the sun - Image 1


The Chotto Shot, a camera for the Sony's PSP which is currently being sold for US$ 49.99 at Play-Asia, has been reported to have a problem with bright lights. This was discovered by accident and was promptly posted on MNGRO.


The PSP attachment proved its worth as a main camera during the trip to Paris by Joel Monegro. However, after he took some really good shots, he decided that the Eiffel Tower would look great with the sunset in the background. Then things went downhill.

I wanted to take a pic of the et (Eiffel tower) with the sunset. And guess what happened: for one little second, the sun was SO bright my eyes hurt and I had to close them, and the camera went completely black. The sun killed the lens for some time. I watching and taking pictures, all black, until I turned off the PSP completely, and rebooted it, and it was working again.


The user had an idea on what could've caused this little incident. "My hypothesis is that the Sun might kill the lenses for a little time if it’s too bright." All in all though, he said that that the Chotto Shot is pretty good as a main camera. We, on the other hand, were caught up thinking about what would happen if we use the night vision mod and took a picture of the sun.


[Via MNGRO] Permalink  |   Email this  |   Linking Blogs   |   Digg It!

Bookmark / Find this article on:


34 Comments


Sort by:
   by ericlaw02 - 2007-04-08
 » ...

And guess what this teaches us?
Don't use the PSP for taking shots...
Cameras all the way.


   Re: maniac (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » -

looks like a spotlight stuck on top of the psp, next to the chotoshot :P

   Re: xche78x - 2007-04-09
 » i have camera

no problems here, great camera by day and well its still ok by night but not that great see. anyways this is not something that can happen to all psp camera's it just happens that you are one of those lucky persons that got a faulty camera, thats technology not everything is perfect.
   by HOE (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » yo

omfg second
i dont even kno wtf this article is abouyt but im second *****es
omfgfgfgfgfgfgg
*****ing ***** heads.


   Re: me (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » ...

using the nightvision mod would probly have the same effect, cause all the nightvision mod does is removes the infrared filter, so basically it would allow normal light + infrared light, so it might make the camera mess up worse
   by steven (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » HUH

umm, so is it just the playasia ones that do that or wat? also doesn't every camera go black out when the sun shine too hard


   Re: I (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » my camera

i tried taking a picture of the sun once, but the colrs were just inverted

   Re: erekiddo (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » finnaly someone who knows it

this is not a bug...this is a protection so the lens is closing itself when theres too much light for it or else then it would damage the lens.....
THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL ON A GOOD CAMERA....

   by Advertising -
   by DiabloTerrorGF - 2007-04-08
 » Bug

If it was fixed with turning the PSP off and on, it's a software or maybe a firmware bug.


   Re: exactly (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » exactly

this is exactly what i was thinking. its simply the brightness correction getting stuck at the lowest possible setting.

not that hard to figure out....
   by Fellatio Singh (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » ^%&

Glad to see QJ trying to make a story appear like it's actually going somewhere again only to find that, no, it's not.

"My hypothesis is that the Sun might kill the lenses for a little time if it’s too bright."

Yeah that really merits description as an 'hypothesis'.

   by Dave (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » was we

man it is hard to see while playing a game outside. why get a chotto shot while your psp only made for indoors?


   Re: gtauk - 2007-04-08
 » i use

i use my psp and chotto shot outside all the time, chotto shot is really good for taking pictures and video in a good amount of light, i've used it down at the skate park to take some skate videos

   Re: erekiddo (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » i agree

psp is very bad outside......very dark......so taking shots must be bad outside with the psp
   by Bob (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » thats gay

F/UCK

   by soopergooman - 2007-04-08
 » thanks for the info

Just put your sunglasses in front of it when taking shots that have a bright background image in them. it is a simple solution if you do not have a filter handy. I have used it many times when I hadn't had my filters on me. good for when you are in a pinch but want that great picture.
Cheers mate.

p.s. if you do this without the original filter inside the cam: night vision mod. you run the risk of burning the image of the sun permanently into the sensor. I would advise against it as this would ruin your Chotto Shot psp cam.

   by WOWOW (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » PIECE OF SHI+ CAMERA

i WANT ONE


   Re: Advertising -


   Re: 666 (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » When?

When is this camera going to be available for purchase in the United States.

   Re: wowow (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » I dunno

They're stupid for not releasing it here in the US since there's such a high demand for this thing.
   by satan (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » I use

the chotto shot to take pictures of anything and every thing, including the sun and thats never happened to me.
I think Ill go try taking pics of the sun right now

   by havier (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » 4real

i got 1 i guess i should watch out 4 the sun now hahah i take pictures and videos all the time its fun lol

   by LiquidBlood (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » Does This Work??

Does this work on US PSP consoles? Or only on Japan? Because I can read a bit of Japanes and all but yeah is it only for JP PSP or can you buy it and have it shiped to your house and use it on your US PSP?

   by Joel Monegro (mngro.wordpress.com) (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » Update

When my story got posted on PSP Fanboy.com, one of the readers who knwos what he is talking about said
"I'd suspect that the PSP camera adjusts its aperture artificially. This means it makes sure your photographs aren't too bright or too dark using software instead of a mechanical method that most standalone cameras use (which physically limit the amount of light that hits the sensor/film.)Therefore, because the sun was so bright on the CCD sensor of the PSP camera, the software tried to adjust for the amount of light hitting it but instead just hit a wall where anything less bright than that would appear completely black. Possibly a small software glitch. Which would be why resetting the PSP solved your problems."

This is very logical, which might explain what happened.



   Re: sashimi (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » fdsdggfg

interesting theory.
Or maybe in a simplier way, when the camera is fed to much light and its photosensor saturates, there might be some kind of lowlevel security measure which disables the sensor, until the power to the camera is cut off. Could have been a good idea to unplug + replug the camera. Anyway, it does seem to be a "software" (whatever level) issue.
   by spencer (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » .

trust me the psp camera is more trouble than its worth, DCs are so chepe these days you can get a 3mp camera for the same price as the psp camera.


   Re: Turbocat777 - 2007-04-08
 » o rly?

a 3mp camera for 50$?!?!?!

ok, ok, maybe without an lcd screen, but come on

there's no way you can find a good 3+mp camera for 50$ that has sound, an lcd screen and can take video

   Re: Clovers (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » rly

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item+N82E16830109001
   by Advertising -
   by Lucky_Bastard - 2007-04-08
 » Defense Mechanism

Just a Defense Mechanism on every Camera. Just like your eyes..

   by DiabloTerrorGF (Unregistered) - 2007-04-08
 » ...

Hey cool im DiabloTerrorGF... wtf.

   by Rich (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » Lens Damage? No.

This guy in the article says it could have damaged the lens.

Actually, what was most likely effected by the sunlight was the CCD chip inside the camera, which is essentially the same as a person's retina. It records what is being seen.

A lens cant really be damaged unless blunt force is used. I mean come on, it's just a piece of glass.


   Re: Vipre (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » actually...

I'd bet it's a plastic lens. Much cheaper than a glass lens.

This is such a non-story. The vast majority of the people using these cameras probably don't know squat about cameras beyond "they take pictures." There are very few consumer-level cameras that will function properly when pointed directly at the sun. I'm fairly sure that if you guys read the owner's manual, it would tell you in there somewhere to not do exactly that. I'd wager that the Chotto Shotto doesn't have a mechanical aperature, which a diaphragm that opens and closes a little hole between the lens and the image sensor. This controls the amount of light that enters the camera and is one factor in determining how bright/dark and image is. The other factors are shutter speed and sensor sensitivity (ISO 100, 200, 400, etc.). All of these are likely controlled electronically on such a small, low-budget camera, since it probably lacks an aperture diaphragm and probably a shutter, too. All of these functions combine to produce the final image and changing any one of them can alter the brightness of the final image.

The guy that mentioned the sunglasses trick is correct. On a real camera, good photographers will use a polarizing filter when shooting sunsets to prevent the sunlight from screwing up the light metering. The sunlight is so intense, that the only way to compensate for it is to physically reduce the amount of light entering the camera. The aperture can only get so small, the shutter speed can only go so fast, and the sensitivity (ISO speed) can only go so low. That's why sunglasses (only if they have polarized lenses) should work with the Chotto Shotto, though it's a crude way of doing it.
   by NeoDraven (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » Chotto Shot rocks

I've had mine for less than two weeks, but have already taken more than 5gb worth of video. It sucks inside, unless you've got a nearly flourescent room, but the outside video quality is MUCH better than a damned cell phone camera. For $50, it was definitely worth it.

Plus, now I can play SOCOM 2 with the mic, and use Talkman with the mic.

I haven't showed the camera to one person yet that wasn't impressed.

   by bich ass (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » bich

***** u all go suka c0ck *****n h0m05

   by willie (Unregistered) - 2007-04-17
 » non-story, but iPhoto + PSP = Bugs!

- tried ordering through play-asia but the company was flagged as a security risk by Mastercard (despite play-asia's Web site reporting that my CC was *not* recognized, it was indeed and i ended up with FOUR charges on my CC, all while play-asia keeps asking for money via email)... i instead went with japanvideogames, which shipped my chotto shot from LA...

- great camera software in the PSP firmware - lots of options and nice controls - good job and kudos to the programmers... however, Apple 'bites' on this one, as iPhoto recognizes the PSP as a camera but fails to import the PSP's DSC*JPG files as 'bad data' - even though OS X's Preview client reads and prints the files!!!! BAD PROGRAMMING, APPLE!

- i just don't understand why Sony has not marketed this camera to the U.S. market - it would be one of those accessories that would be sold out immediately in any big chain store...

- perhaps there's a new PSP on the horizon? (why the current one is now being heavily discounted?)



Featured Content
QJ.NET Blog Network RSS Feeds
MyQJ Feed / PDA
MyQJ RSS / PDA
Blog of Blogs Feed / PDA
QJ.NET RSS / PDA
Gaming Consoles Feed / PDA
Nintendo DS RSS / PDA
PlayStation 3 RSS / PDA
PSP Updates RSS / PDA
Wii RSS / PDA
Xbox 360 RSS / PDA
PC Gaming Feed / PDA
Age of Conan RSS / PDA
Games for Windows RSS / PDA
MMORPG RSS / PDA
Tabula Rasa RSS / PDA
World of Warcraft RSS / PDA
Science Feed / PDA
Science RSS / PDA
Technology Feed / PDA
Apple RSS / PDA
Gadgets RSS / PDA
iPhone RSS / PDA
Mobile RSS / PDA
Photography RSS / PDA
Tech RSS / PDA
Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!

 Username: 
 Password:
Forg