Opal Tadpole — The first portable webcam

3 min read Original article ↗

Opal Tadpole

A new species of webcam

A new species
of webcam

Introducing the Tadpole
the smallest webcam ever built. With a category-first directional microphone, a mirrorless Sony sensor, and the easiest way to mute your call with a tap, it’s the perfect webcam to take with you everywhere

And now, it works with both Mac and PC.

Introducing the Tadpole
the smallest webcam ever built. With a category-first directional microphone, a mirrorless Sony sensor, and the easiest way to mute your call with a tap, it’s the perfect webcam to take with you everywhere

And now, it works with both Mac and PC.

Uniquely designed for your laptop.

The Tadpole is the remarkably small, laptop dedicated, camera system designed by Opal.

It comes with an adjustable clip that fits most laptop displays, a bead you can use to safely store your camera or wrap it around your wrist, and a premium woven cable.

Mirrorless quality, peerless reputation.

Our powerful Sony IMX582 RS sensor combined with our f1.8 six element glass lens produces the truest color you can carry in your pocket.

Tadpole Vs. The World

  • Lens To Impress.

    With an f1.8 lens letting in as much light as a professional camera.

  • Tap To Mute™

    tap the capacitive USB-C button at anytime to mute your microphone.

  • What’s inside
    the box.

    Good things come in small packages, and inside of this you will find everything you need to get your video up and running. Both for Macs and PCs, no software needed.

    With every purchase you get access to the Opal Composer app for Mac and a continuous stream of updates.

  • VisiMic.

    The first mic to capture only what the camera can see.

  • Designed for laptops.

    Equipped with a clip that can fit most laptop displays on the market.

  • Case.

    Designed to look like a yo-yo but resistant like a vault.

    sold separately

  • Bead.

    wrap your camera around your wrist as you go from meeting to meeting.

Technical Specifications

The tiny webcam with a clip.

Opal Camera Inc.
Designed in San Francisco, USA. Made in Taipei, Taiwan.

Read first.

The Tadpole is a feat of engineering. This tiny 3.5 by 4.5 cm unit is a powerful self-contained image capture system, equipped with a category first directional mic, and a mount system able to clip on most laptop displays. Our package comes with

a premium woven cable, a wrap-around bead and a capacitive USB-C mute button. This is the most compact, full equipped camera system on the market. And it weights less than 50 grams.

Tadpole specs

Color, Material, Finish.

Tadpole front view

Tadpole back view

Materials

  • Front

    Painted aluminum 6K series

  • Back

    Anodized aluminum 6K series

  • Clip

    Premium silicone rubber

  • Glass

    Chemically-strengthened glass

The Opal Tadpole meets the requirements of the Consumer Electronic and the Federal Communications Commission Certifications.

Tadpole side view

Size & Weight

  • Height

    35mm

  • Width

    45mm

  • Depth

    20mm

  • Device weight

    35gr

  • Cable & connector weight

    10gr

  • Maximum clip opening

    35º

Tactile Capabilities.

Tap To MuteTM

  • Type

    USB-C Connector

  • Built-in capacitive touch with LED

  • Touch surface

    0.7mm thick chemically strengthened

  • Color

    Double back painted glass

  • Material

    Painted aluminum 6K series

  • Extras

    Magnetic system (to store with camera body)

Cable

  • Bandwidth

    USB 2.0 200 MBps

  • Connector

    Gold-plated contacts

  • Material

    Premium woven fabric

  • Length

    55 cm

  • Diameter

    3.7 mm

LEDMagnetTouch Sensing Chip

  • grams

  • Parts

  • Materials

Image & sound.

Lens BarrelLensAuto Focus Barrel VCMIR FilterSensorSubstrate

Lens

  • DFOV

    70º

  • EFL

    4.8 .mm

  • Aperture

    ƒ1.8

  • Focal range

    10 cm → ∞

  • Auto focus type

    Phase detection

  • Lens structure

    6 plastic elements

Sensor

  • Model

    Sony IMX582 Exmor RS

  • Type

    CMOS Rolling Shutter

  • Size

    12.7 mm

  • Pixel size

    0.8 μm

  • Resolution

    48MP binned to 1080P

  • FPS

    30

Powered by premium mobile phone sensor technology for a true-to-life image quality.

Omni Directional MicDirectional Mic

Microphone

Our microphone sensor is a novel design inspired by the physics behind the smallest auditory systems in nature - insects. Tadpole’s directional MEMS transducer in such a way that it can provide a high-performing dipole response in an ultra-compact form factor.

  • Type

    MEMS Directional Mic

  • Directionality

    20 Hz - 20 kHz

  • Diffuse noise rejection

    4.8 dB full-spectrum

  • Noise rejection at the null

    >20 dB

  • SNR

    63.5 dBA

  • THD

    1% at 111 dB SPL

  • Current consumption

    685 µA

  • Output

    PDM