[HN Gopher] A Tiny Digital Camera Stripped Down to the Bare Esse...
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A Tiny Digital Camera Stripped Down to the Bare Essentials (2017)
Author : bobbiechen
Score : 37 points
Date : 2021-12-25 23:12 UTC (23 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (petapixel.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (petapixel.com)
| RodgerTheGreat wrote:
| Stripped down in every way but the price tag, apparently.
| Minimalism is remarkably expensive.
| trompetenaccoun wrote:
| Not everyone can afford to be a digital hipster.
| janci wrote:
| I'm considering this as first digital camera for kids, with
| custom 3D printed case. But I'm thinking of other alternatives -
| would a RaspberryPi Zero with pi cam work?
| bobbiechen wrote:
| Hey, I posted this since my sister got one recently and I
| thought it was neat.
|
| I'm not a photography person, but I also don't think it would
| be a good first camera for kids. I would think of it as a more
| reusable version of those disposable film cameras - something
| to play around and snap quick photos with. In particular, there
| is no screen to instantly review your photos with, so it's
| delayed feedback (no way to see your last photo sucked and to
| try again) and delayed gratification as well. That might be a
| desired feature for adults, but I'm not sure if kids would
| appreciate it.
| blagie wrote:
| It seems like a bad choice.
|
| * For very little kids, the best camera is the Nikon S30 series
| (last I looked, they were up to the S33). It's cheap,
| waterproof, and tough. Kids can take it places, and you don't
| need to worry (and they don't need to worry either).
|
| * For older kids, crazy as it sounds, the best camera is
| something that does full manual well. Kids can learn aperture,
| shutter speed, focus, zoom, and ISO. An older DSLR can be had
| for around $100-$200.
|
| * One step up for there -- once kids care about photo quality
| -- is a compact mirrorless. I'm a big fan of the Olympus OM-D
| series (and older, used models are fine), but it doesn't matter
| too much. Sony is the big fish in the pond here, and you can't
| go wrong. Mirrorless is nice since it mounts easily to
| microscopes, telescopes, and other _scopes.
|
| _ If that 's too big, the Sony RX100 series is surprisingly
| excellent. Pick your price too, since you can buy a I or a VII,
| with successively higher prices.
|
| * Connected to a computer, a USB CS-mount camera is nice for
| learning computer vision programming. ELP makes decent ones.
| You can pick high frame rate, or high resolution, or USB3, or
| buy one of each. M-mount is fine too, and a bit cheaper.
|
| PiCAM is fine too, as you were considering, but it will be a
| lot more work to do a project. Better for older kids.
|
| This camera automates/gives what shouldn't be automated
| (filters), doesn't give controls over what's meaningful (ISO,
| white balance, shutter speed, aperture), won't give great photo
| quality, and doesn't look overly sturdy.
| digitallyfree wrote:
| If the kids are serious about photography and are willing to
| put the effort into it, then yes an old DSLR is an excellent
| choice. The older models are also rather unforgiving and
| require you to master manual control, a proper grip, etc.
| Plus they will be able to shoot in RAW and learn how to
| develop and process their images.
|
| I learned on an old Olympus DSLR that had poor metering and
| slow AF and thus trained me to judge exposure and focus by
| eye. The poor dynamic range also forced me to sometimes shoot
| (manual) HDR and properly develop the RAW images to get the
| detail out of the highlights and shadows. A lower resolution
| sensor meant that I had to get the framing correct as opposed
| to cropping later in post.
|
| However a kid might also find the DSLR difficult to use
| without the gratification of instant results (the cheap
| point-and-shoots have suprisingly good auto modes). They also
| might find the size and weight annoying to bring along - and
| choose to leave the camera at home. Honestly even as someone
| who likes photography there are many times when I choose not
| to bring the DSLR for that reason.
|
| I think it really depends on whether they want a camera to
| take snapshots, or want to get into the finer technical and
| artistic aspects of photography.
| adolph wrote:
| There is a large set of child cameras at about $50. Doing a
| tear-down/remix might has as much utility as building up from a
| pi zero and adding camera, battery, charge circuit, screen,
| buttons, output SD and case.
| utopcell wrote:
| You might want to search for "esp32 cam" on Amazon. For ~$10
| you can get BT/WiFi, 2x 240MHz 32-bit CPUs and a 2MP camera.
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| Buy them a ten year old "outdoor" camera and get a new battery
| for it.
|
| Olympus, Nikon, and a couple of other companies have made
| numerous models of dust/water/drop proof cameras and even a ten
| year old digital camera is going to have pretty decent picture
| quality.
| ggm wrote:
| Still available in 2021!
| https://www.kuuau.com.au/collections/paper-shoot-camera
| Jonovono wrote:
| I did this, but for a Camera app ;p
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zero-ui-gesture-only-camera/id...
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(page generated 2021-12-26 23:01 UTC)