[Curious Scientist] has been working with some image sensors. The latest project around it is a 6K camera. Of course, the sensor gives you a lot of it, but it also requires some off-the-shelf parts and, of course, some 3D printed components.
An off-the-shelf part of a case provides a reliable C mount. There’s also an IR filter in a 3D-printed bracket.
The processor gets hot, so he used different heat sinks and a fan, too. Overall, this isn’t much custom electronics, but this is an excellent example of assembling existing parts with high-quality 3D printed components.
Heat-set inserts provide a tripod mount. There’s also a custom HDMI monitor mount if you don’t want to use your phone as a viewfinder. One neat oddity that helps is a USB-A cable that splits into three USB-C connectors. Of course, only one of them has data lines. The other two feed power to different parts of the camera.
A good-looking build. At a glance, you could easily think this was a commercial product. We do like these digital camera builds, but we also find 3D printed film cameras fascinating. If 6K is too much for you, you can always downsize.
It’s a cool project and all, but I have a pet peve about titles like this. It’s like saying: “I built a 6k camera using only a 3D printer and a 6k camera”
I’m just happy i’m not the only one who has become jaded on posts like this here on HAD. In other words if someone wants to submit my latest build i put gas in my car so i guess i built my car.
+1
Still I don’t mind most of these because they usually improve the ergonomics and design of the existing product a bit. A good enclosure can make all the difference between a good and great device
So, if you build a house, you need to cut down trees yourself and burn the bricks in your own kiln, right?! :)
I still had to measure all the components so I can design the 3d-printable files, I had to solder, I had to research and source parts….etc.
What title would you suggest then? I am asking this purely with good intentions because I want to improve my content. Part of the reasons why I gave this title to the video is because it makes it more clickable. But if there are better suggestions, I am very happy to consider them. Thanks!
I think the other comments are a bit too nit-picky (I mean, building your own 6K sensor from scratch would have been an exceptional feat) but, as a suggestion: “I assembled my own, 6K-capable cinematic camera” would have been less… uhmmm… controversial but still be catchy enough for a youtube video.
Unfortunately, that’s the HaD commenter section for you. They get a hit of dopamine if they think they’ve found a way to take a creator down a peg, because they’re not making anything interesting themselves.
Gotta learn to ignore anything that’s not constructive, because a lot of people don’t know how to do anything beyond increase entropy in the world. (and I gotta learn to ignore them because I keep feeding the trolls)
if i build a house, i just built a house. i tell my family, i tell the county building department. my new neighbors sit at their windows and watch my house take form. it’s not a hack, because i just went to the regular building supply store and built a regular house the way everyone else does.
it’s only a hack if i do something remarkable.
i don’t know one way or the other if this project rises to the level of ‘remarkability’. fundamentally it seems to me like “yet another after market 3d printed case”, and really from the article, i can’t even understand the motivation. did they want to use different lenses, i guess?
just saying, the fact that people do unremarkable things every day doesn’t really have any bearing on that question of whether this thing is remarkable or not.
And who designed your house? Who made sure that the plumbing, the drainage, the electricity and everything else are built according to the code? Who did the calculations to make sure that the house won’t collapse under its own weight? These are all things that you cannot just buy in the department store.
Similarly, my build also needed a lot of planning, design, labor and so on. The original camera kit is basically a small metal shell with the processor unit and the sensor unit wired to it. It is an FPV camera, so it is designed to be hacked into some other systems. Usually, it is an FPV drone, but since it has excellent video capabilities, I figured it is better to build a camera system around it with proper, standard attachments and considerations that could benefit people who want to do a similar transformation. As I explained in the article and video, the camera will be attached to my metallurgical microscope and it will also be used as a standalone “macro camera” with appropriate lens attached to it. So, that’s the motivation.
Sorry, we can’t award you any points because you did not first invent the universe.
(darn, that makes 7,689 hackless days in a row)
For those who wish to read rather than complain, the linked article lists the motivation as breaking the cheap plastic lens threads that came on the original camera.
The original video puts emphasis on the interchangeable lens and cinema quality parts of the build. It’s not so much “I put gas in my car” as it is “I took the engine out of a sleeper and into this chassis I customized”.
I get your sentiment, but there’s something to be said for having a vision for a finished project and executing on it. Most of the code in most of my projects was written by someone else. I can deliver projects with minimal effort and that’s my value proposition. We all stand on the shoulders of GPL giants
I’m not sure “tripon” is a typo or rigger slang for tripod, but I love it :D
I wish I could claim I was trying to launch a new slang word, but, alas, my spellchecker knows the word because it is a type of agave they make mezcal from. Fixed.
Your spellchecker might have a drinking problem. ;)
Blue webber?
That would be the good mezcal anyhow.
Best bet is Tequila anyhow.
There is a reason it’s a regional name.
I like the thing and the build! It looks neat and everything is well contained and integrated.
But why do they wear gloves? They managed to damage a camera thread and a button. That’s all fine, but those gloves didn’t seem to stop that, haha.
Ik it “looks good on camera” (TM) and all the big fishes do it…