Like many other people, I've been blessed with some very fine optical equipment; superior to most cameras on the market today.

The list of features would make Nikon's marketing team drool: Selective autofocus, automatic white balance, superb depth of field, high frame rate, good low-light sensitivity, enormous dynamic range, high colour density, a selection of filters available, functional underwater, and attached to the best fuzzy logic on the market.

The downside in any camera lens comparison is immediately obvious, though. Eyes effectively work at a fixed focal length! Zoom out / Zoom in? No way - Mother Nature didn't tick the feature box for that when she evolved us.

Surely the military, or the intelligence agencies, would be up for funding this one.
-- koshua, Nov 29 2003

Were eagles able to read, they would be able to read a newspaper at the other end of a football field. Get a transplant.
-- DrCurry, Nov 29 2003


Um, but our eyes DO zoom. No, really. When you read, the lens in your eye is reshaped by the action of small muscles (ciliary muscles to be precise). They squeeze the outside edge of the lens inward, making it more convex in shape. Voila! You can read up close! They relax when you look toward the distance, flattening the lens and decreasing it's convex curve. Now, when we all get to be about 50 years old, these muscles start to give out and the lens itself becomes less flexible...VOILA! YOU NEED READING GLASSES! You lost your "zoom".
-- eyeguy, Jan 23 2004


([eyeguy], is there anything you *don't* know?)
-- k_sra, Jan 23 2004


I understand that they are now offering the eagle eye transplant, although it may not be covered by your insurance yet.

Unfortunately, one of the side effects is a tendency to fixate on carrion and small animals.....
-- normzone, Jan 23 2004


I have that implant actually. It's all I can do to not swoop into a lake every time I drive past one. On a positive note, my kids think it's cool that I can regurgitate mice and salmon onto their plates.
-- eyeguy, Jan 26 2004


A while ago I heard aboout some kind of 'bionic' eye that would zoom a fairish bit, all you'd hear is a faind 'zzzt' at is goes in or out. try newscientist for info, or you could google.
-- Herbicide, Apr 14 2004



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