Raspberry Pi Crammed Into Old Film Camera

If you wanted an expensive film camera when you were a kid, you are in luck. Used film SLRs are super cheap now that everyone wants digital cameras. Of course, in reality, you want a digital camera, too. So do what [befinitiv] did. Make a film cartridge out of a Raspberry Pi that can convert your camera to digital. (Video, embedded below.)

In theory, this sounds like a genius idea. The practical aspect isn't perfect, though. For one thing, the small image sensor used means that the camera is zoomed in quite a bit. Also, the shutter button isn't integrated, so the shutter is open all the time. You may think that doesn't matter, but don't forget that the way an SLR works means if the shutter is open, there's no viewfinder.

Still, the packaging is neat and we wondered if it might spur someone to take it a little further. You can find the design files in OnShape.

It seems clear you really need a larger image sensor, although we suppose you could mount a wide angle lens or adapter to help some. You could also put some optics inside the camera but that would be more packaging problems. We don't know if the resulting image would be any better or worse than what you got on a film negative, either.

We think of digital cameras as relatively new technology, but they have quite a history. Or hack a camera for full spectrum.

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