Drop-in 12-megapixel sensor for any 35 mm camera | Hacker News Reader

Drop-in 12-megapixel sensor for any 35 mm camera

re35.net

38 pointsteaspoon16 comments

Totally an April fools! These guys to produced it...

http://www.roggeundpott.de/projekte_de/alle-projekte_de/re-3...

http://www.roggeundpott.de/input-output_de/#1652

Why does this have to be an April Fools joke?! I'd buy one of these in a heartbeat.

I'm sure this would be do-able at a lower resolution... You'd have to be careful with cameras trying to auto-wind your "film" though.

Back in 1999, and before there were so many cheap DSLR options on the market, there was a product that sounded so great, but just never materialized. It was going to be called "(e)film" or "silicon film," and would fit inside your SLR in place of a cartridge of film. They never produced anything as far as I can tell though:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0109/01091702siliconfilmvaporiz...

It seemed like such a killer idea, and would have snapped one up at the time. But now, yeah, these things aren't worth it if it was to come out.

Do you mean this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_camera_back ?

No, but it's very similar. The silicon film, didn't replace the back of the camera. Instead, it looked like a canister of film with the leader pulled out a little. You wouldn't have to change the camera back, just pop in the silicon film thing and start shooting.

Unfortunately there's not too much of a market for this sort of thing. It exists, but is called a scan-back, and is damn expensive, due to the sensor approximating the size of the film that goes in.

Besides, the camera really has nothing to do with the film's feel: It's all process and lens. Half of that has to be replicated with photoshop, meaning that any lens that needs to be used, can be taken to a professional to be attached to a mount for any camera. There's a considerable homebrew scene for retrofitting lenses to cameras: bellows are very in right now.

April Fools "Vaporware" or not, this makes me wonder if I could convert the CCD and related architecture from my second (and heavilly battered) digital camera into a drop-in film replacement. It would make for a great weekend project... if only I hadn't sold/traded off all my 35mm camera bodies!

I'd this is for real it would be so awesome. The optics on lot of the old cameras are really great.

April Fools’?

No reason for this to be a joke. I saw this product in Popular Science about 8-10 years ago, when I had a subscription. Seems like there's a pretty narrow market for something like this- lots of higher-end 35mm cameras are already compatible with newer digital bodies, and people shooting with new-but-vintage 35mm cameras (like the ones that http://usa.shop.lomography.com/cameras Lomography sells) want film as just one component of the overall aesthetic of shooting those types of cameras.

Still, though, I wouldn't mind playing with one of these. It would cut down significantly on my film processing costs!

I guess I fell for it, AND herf'd a link. Oops!

Yup.

http://www.zdnet.com/photos/top-5-april-fools-day-photo-pran...

Seems a bit pre-announced. No specs, samples, or pricing.

Is this an April Fool's joke by chance?

Sounds too good to be true.

Pure vaporware.

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