The newest camera module for the Raspberry Pi has caused quite the stir. It’s fairly respectable 12.3-megapixels, it offers access to interchangeable C Mount lenses (or just about anything with lens adapters) and you finally get full manual exposure control. Well, Becca Farsace over at The Verge decided she wanted to put one inside an old 35mm toy camera to turn it into a Linux powered digital camera. So, she got a Raspberry Pi 4, the new HQ Camera Mod, a 10,000mAh power bank, 3.5″ touchscreen LCD and a few other bits and attempted to stuff them inside her Ninoka NK-700 35mm camera.
The process of seeing somebody who’s never used the Raspberry Pi camera before, or coded anything in Python, attempt to assemble this is both interesting and amusing. It’s a reminder to those of us who have experience with Linux and Python of the knowledge we sometimes take for granted. But it also serves to help remind other new users that it’s ok to screw up and get frustrated. The help is out there if you need it and you’ll figure it out.
Overall, it actually looks like it produces some pretty impressive results once completed. I might have to look into picking one of these up to play with myself. Given the quality of past Raspberry Pi cameras, I didn’t give this one much thought beyond the initial uniqueness of it. Now, though, I think it could actually be quite useful for a couple of ideas I have. You can see some samples shot by Becca’s camera and find out more about the build over on The Verge. [via The Verge]
