In the vast majority of the cameras we own, or at least use on a daily basis, we have an image sensor. It’s either a CCD or a CMOS. A single, static non-moving chip (IBIS notwithstanding) that captures your whole scene at once (or as close to it as you can get if you have a rolling shutter CMOS sensor). But there is another technique for capturing images, and that’s by scanning.
Scanning cameras are not a new idea. In fact, they’ve been pretty much the only way you can shoot with large format cameras digitally. But this DIY solution from Yunus Zenichowski turns the idea into at truly portable camera which uses a projector lens and creates beautifully detailed photos. And best of all, it cost him less than $150.
Yunus’ camera is based around the insides of an Epson v37 flatbed scanner released in 2012. It got decent reviews back in its day, but it wasn’t anything exceptional, sitting at the lower end of the price range. Even the current model version of that scanner, the Epson Perfection V39, only costs $109 on Amazon. But this quiet, unassuming desktop scanner holds a secret. If you build a custom housing and stick a lens in front of it, it can shoot excellent photos!
In this case, those photos come out to a total of 489 megapixels. This is more than even medium-format digital cameras today. But the very nature of scanning backs does have its drawbacks. The biggest among them is that each photo you shoot takes a lot more time to create. The scanner has to move across the film plane, capturing slices of the image as it goes. It’s a bit like that rolling shutter CMOS sensor I mentioned earlier. Only much slower.
This means your scene needs to be static, and so does your camera. So, you’re pretty much limited to only using it on a tripod. No handheld shots here. It also means that you’re not going to be out shooting it on a windy day – unless weird rolling shutter artifacts are your thing. The other bit drawback is that you can’t actually see your composition before you hit the button to tell it to scan, so there may be some trial and error to get your shot just right.
For things like still life, product photography or even landscapes on a super calm day, though, this could be an excellent option. Yunus used a projector lens in his particular setup to keep the costs down, which totalled around $150. But you could, as many have, use a large format lens instead. This allows you to get a lot more control over your focus distance and depth of field in order to provide a little more creative control.
But as a lo-fi digital scanning back that looks to be physically bigger than any medium format sensor on the market today, it’s pretty cool!
The design isn’t completely finished. Yunus has been working on it for a while already but still has more to do. But you can download the 3D files from Grabcad to see them in their current state. Keep an eye on his YouTube channel for future updates.
[via FStoppers]
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