Pictures by Cat

February 5, 2008 3:00 PM

Fritz Cam [german homepage] is a collection of pictures taken by a cat during his daily walkabout using an interval camera attached to his collar.
posted by Mitheral (27 comments total)

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing.
posted by andretheus at 3:04 PM on February 5, 2008

He's clearly an outdoor cat, which is probably for the best. Otherwise the pictures would be nothing but shots of his claws digging into a couch or uncomfortably close looks at his groin.
posted by shmegegge at 3:08 PM on February 5, 2008

Cool, but the cam looks a little large. My cats would go apeshit schizo if I tried to attach that to their collar.
posted by afx237vi at 3:11 PM on February 5, 2008

This is great! I'd try it, but I have indoor cats -- their photos would most likely consist primarily of embarrassing shots of dust rhinos and unmentionables under the bed. As well as the aforementioned anatomical close-ups.
posted by kebnabi at 3:12 PM on February 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

GUTN TAG

ICH KANN KAMERA HAT?
posted by fandango_matt at 3:17 PM on February 5, 2008 [15 favorites]

Previously.

I'd be afraid to know what my cats do when I'm not around. I suspect the worship of the dark lord that is Satan is probably involved.

They just have that kind of personality.
posted by quin at 3:21 PM on February 5, 2008

Adorable.

I know I saw an earlier version of this, but did not know Fritz had continued documenting his outdoor excursions. Thanks!
posted by onlyconnect at 3:26 PM on February 5, 2008

Some other Germans tried this with their philosopher, but it just came back with the same pictures every day.
posted by spiderwire at 3:41 PM on February 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

Also, GIBT MIR MA BUCKET!
posted by onlyconnect at 3:41 PM on February 5, 2008

Okay, dumb, just realized I can't link to particular photos. Sorry. Well, trust me that somewhere on the site there is an adorable picture of the sky as taken from behind Fritz's whiskers, and also a picture of a bucket.
posted by onlyconnect at 3:43 PM on February 5, 2008

I'm still waiting for jessamyn-cam.
posted by Memo at 3:44 PM on February 5, 2008

This is unbelievably cool. I always wonder what a cat gets up to when out on the prowl.

I've only just started digging through the photos, and am hoping to find a way to arrange them chronologically. It'd be cool to see a map of his route, too, if there were enough detail in the photos to build one from.

Thanks for the really neat page, Mitheral.
posted by EatTheWeak at 3:45 PM on February 5, 2008

ah, there's the gallery dates i failed to read ...
posted by EatTheWeak at 3:47 PM on February 5, 2008

I know I saw an earlier version of this...

You did. It was 'Mr. Lee' and his CatCam capturing his feline excursions (to which quin's 'previously' hyperlinks).
posted by ericb at 3:50 PM on February 5, 2008

Fritz is one of the proud owners of a CatCam. Other kitty-cats who have one (and their galleries) are featured at Mr. Lee's website.

Attila | Aeneas | Binky | Jacquie | Robocat.

Hey! IF KATZ CANS HALF CAMERAS, SO CAN EYEZ.

Update from 'Mr Lee's' owner:

"After the amazing response to the CatCam, I was asked by many people to work on a live camera for the collar. Some approaches have already been done by other people/cats (e.g. Smaka). The struggling stones for a mobile miniature wireless camera system are plenty. Two main constraints are: operation range and operation duration ...more..."

BTW -- Mr. Lee now has a CatCam Newsfeed.
posted by ericb at 3:59 PM on February 5, 2008 [2 favorites]

Proper Smaka link.
posted by ericb at 4:03 PM on February 5, 2008

Hey, so that's what became of... FRITZ THE CAT!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:05 PM on February 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

GUTN TAG

ICH KANN KAMERA HAT?

You win the thread!
posted by Talez at 4:12 PM on February 5, 2008

IM IN UR EFF STOPS, STEALIN UR SOLZ
posted by flotson at 4:38 PM on February 5, 2008

i missed the earlier post, so thanks for this one. finally! a peek at what goes on in the mysterious world of cats!
posted by msconduct at 4:45 PM on February 5, 2008

May I ask, isn't it a fact that a cat sees in black and white, and otherwise recieves light wavelengths beyond our own? And wouldn't a true cat's eye view photograph, be some weird, black and white, ultaviolet sort of thing, with only the only the outlines of things being recognizable to us? Just asking.
posted by Faze at 5:02 PM on February 5, 2008

I also understand that cats see most of their world blurry, except for things that move. Like mice, bugs, and your feet.
posted by lleachie at 7:31 PM on February 5, 2008

I'm still waiting for jessamyn-cam.

Oh, didn't you know about the $5/mth premium access membership?
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:31 PM on February 5, 2008

Oh, didn't you know about the $5/mth premium access membership?
I missed the eponysterical memo, UbuRoivas.
posted by Memo at 7:50 PM on February 5, 2008

May I ask, isn't it a fact that a cat sees in black and white, and otherwise recieves light wavelengths beyond our own? And wouldn't a true cat's eye view photograph, be some weird, black and white, ultaviolet sort of thing, with only the only the outlines of things being recognizable to us? Just asking.

According to wikipeida, "Cats can see some colors, and can tell the difference between red, blue and yellow lights, as well as between red and green lights.[3]"

[3] - The Spectral Sensitivity of Dark- and Light- Adapted Cat Retinal Ganglion Cells, E. Guenther et. al.

I've read that while they can tell colors a bit, it's hard to determine with a simple experiment, since the cat is a bit lazy and will also use its nose and other senses to suss out what's going on.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:10 PM on February 5, 2008

UNSICHTBAREZ FRAUCHEN
posted by chillmost at 12:43 AM on February 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

JA! ICH KANN KAMERA HAT!

Ausgezeichnete post. Vielen Dank' ...

(Glad I wasn't drinking anything when I found this ... )
posted by aldus_manutius at 8:43 AM on February 6, 2008