Camera

Even if you have a home alarm system, it can be comforting to actually see what's happening inside or outside your home, whether you fret about thieves or pets. Here's a Wi-Fi security camera that lets you do just that: Dropcam Echo. The Echo monitors audio and video, with a horizontal field of view of 47 degrees. You can watch a live video feed on Dropcam's website on your computer or use the company's free iPhone or Android app. The camera comes with a free basic subscription for a live feed, but to record and watch events later, you'll need a monthly subscription.  Prices for that service start at $8.95.

Modern technology seemed on the verge of helping to solve a west San Fernando Valley burglary. But then a different kind of high tech dashed Los Angeles police investigators' hopes. In March a thief stole a $700 digital camera from Dr. Jeffrey Plotkin's Canoga Park chiropractic office. Two months later, photographs being taken by the missing camera suddenly began popping up on Plotkin's computer screen. First came an image of a group of young people in what looked like a parking lot. Then others arrived, some snapped at a party and one depicting a young man flashing a gang sign.

It was something of a Kodak moment for Dr. Jeffrey Plotkin when his stolen camera suddenly began transmitting pictures to his computer again. Except that the $700 camera was a digital 3-D device produced by Fujifilm Corp. — not by the Eastman Kodak Co. Apparently unbeknownst to the thief who swiped it from Plotkin's Canoga Park chiropractic office in March, the camera was equipped with an Eye-Fi memory card. The device downloads photos directly into Plotkin's computer without a connecting cord.

For Lights, Camera ? we ask a craftsperson to talk about a specific scene in his or her latest film. This week, cinematographer Danny Cohen writes about creating tension in "The King's Speech" and the tricky lighting issues of filming in a recording booth. In the climax of "The King's Speech," Colin Firth comes within 2 inches of a microphone to deliver a speech announcing the outbreak of war. Public speaking is something the monarch he plays has always dreaded due to a paralyzing speech impediment.

The encampment around City Hall known as Occupy L.A. has drawn the interest of photographers and journalists from around the world, but few arrive with quite the same resume as that of Haskell Wexler. The two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer has made several visits to the protest site, using a small hand-held digital video camera to document what he finds there. Now 89, Wexler has begun posting short documentary vignettes online about the people camped out in downtown Los Angeles.

Officials from Major League Baseball and the players' association were in Angel Stadium on Tuesday night to evaluate the test of a new overhead camera used on FS West's telecast of the Dodgers-Angels game. Fox would like to implement the "Field Cam," which gives viewers shots from above the playing field, for three nationally televised games in May, the All-Star game, the American League Championship Series and the World Series. The camera, which is computer-operated and moves on a system of wires and pulleys rigged throughout the stadium, is similar to that used on NFL telecasts.

Wednesday's Wall Street Journal brought the story of a New York University photography professor who has set off all sorts of academic debates with his plans to embed a camera in the back of his head (where, evidently, there’s some free space available). A museum in Qatar apparently plans to show his image feed. This is genius, of course. And think of the prospects it holds for travelers. With a back-of-head camera, you have a chance to double your vacation experience, capturing all sorts of singular sights that elude you now. Look at the tourists above, gazing at the red rocks of Kata Tjuta, Australia . Who knows what kangaroo-wallaby-koala spectacle they might be missing behind?

When Scott Norwood's last-ditch field-goal attempt sailed wide right in the 1991 Super Bowl, cameraman Mark Allan ran onto the field as if he had every right to be there. In his mind, he did. For 18 of the last 21 Super Bowls, Allan has been part of the NFL Films crew that shoots the familiar TV commercial in which a star of the game exclaims, "I'm going to Disneyland!" Or, for East Coast viewers, "I'm going to Disney World!" That's why Allan was on the field at Tampa Stadium in January 1991, his camera rolling as running back Ottis Anderson of the New York Giants dutifully repeated his lines.

He'd never acted in a feature before, much less played the lead in a big-budget science-fiction extravaganza produced by Peter Jackson. But for Sharlto Copley (SHARL-toe COP-lee), "District 9" was something of a relief. "I've been in the business side for a long time. I've owned companies. I've been a producer, director, writer; I've done quite a lot of stuff," he says. "A lot of it was planning, strategizing, very stressful. Trying to control things that are ultimately out of your control.