What do you use to model beasts? A Beastcam, of course. With multiple flexible arms and wires snaking over them like veins, the Beastcam looks like an ancient ancestor of the Mimics from Edge of Tomorrow. Created by University of Massachusetts Amherst biologist Duncan J. Irschick, with help from undergrads Dylan Briggs and Kasey Smart and others, the Beastcam is a new and economical take on traditional modeling devices.
The aforementioned flexible, adjustable arms bring together multiple cameras (Canon PowerShots, as seen in the image below) and integrate them with a computer system. The cameras take between two and four photos per second, which are then used to create the models. The Beastcam packs into a carrying case, weighs less than 10 pounds, and includes a tablet and battery to make the system fully portable. Images upload to Autodesk 123D Catch and other 3D modeling programs.
“The technique of creating 3D models from multiple photographic stills, known as photogrammetry, is not new, but is rapidly emerging as a low-cost and accurate way to create 3D models.” Irschick explained to UMass News. Three-dimensional models allow testing without involving the actual physical object — models can be used for experiments, or sent to a 3D printer to make a hard copy, so to speak.
“Current scanning systems, such as laser scanners or CT scanners, are typically slow, and often require bulky and expensive machinery,” Irschick said. “Faster and less expensive alternatives typically are not of a sufficiently high resolution to create detailed models, especially over a short time span. So we created the Beastcam using off-the-shelf materials to provide a portable, fast, easy-to-use, high quality, and low-cost system.”
And it’s not just for small creatures. The system can capture much larger objects easily with a few adjustments. Smart said, “One of the advantages to our system is that cameras and mounting arms can easily be added and subtracted to customize it for many different uses and at different scales.”
Further, the low-cost system doesn’t take an age to create a model. “We have been able to create accurate models of a range of objects,” Briggs noted, “including human-sized objects in less than 30 seconds, and car-sized objects in about 45 seconds.”
Irschick sought a portable 3D-modeling solution after struggling to create 3D models of live sharks on a trip to Florida last year. Now he’s back in his lab using the Beastcam on the geckos he studied previously — he is also the creator of Geckskin, an “adhesive” material with incredible hold that leaves no residue.
Full-frame cameras tend to be chunky beasts, but Sigma wants to prove that big imaging doesn't need a big body. Enter the Sigma FP2, the successor to its tiny, boxy fp mirrorless camera. It keeps the same modular design but packs in some serious upgrades, including a 24.5-megapixel partially stacked full-frame sensor, improved autofocus, 6K video recording, and 70GB of built-in storage. Sigma calls it the world's smallest full-frame camera, and while it might be tiny, the same cannot be said for its price tag.
Sigma FP2 brings faster shooting and 6K video
A phone thermal camera is one of those tools you don’t think you need until the first time it saves you from an expensive problem, and the Thermal Master P3 just got easier to try. For Halloween, it’s discounted with the code THERMCAM10, a 10% cut that works out to $107 off the total. It’s also fresh off a win at the 2026 Tom’s Guide AI Awards for best phone thermal camera, which is the kind of third-party nod that separates a serious tool from the cheap clip-on sensors that flood this category.
We are nearing Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, which officially run October 6 and 7. But there is no need to wait until the sale begins to start looking. Early offers are already live, and camera gear is one category where I found enough worthwhile discounts to put together a proper creator-focused list.
I’ve deliberately gone wider than interchangeable-lens cameras here. There are pocket and action cameras, a 360 camera, an instant camera, two wireless microphone systems, and a pair of webcams covering very different budgets. Prices were checked on October 2, and as always with Amazon, they can move quickly.