Amazing! This guy turned a Konica S3 into a digital rangefinder.

OliverBaker said:
Hi there, I'm the author of the blog and the creator of the camera, all of your interest is greatly appreciated and I wrote a little update on my blog which may clear up some of these problems, feel free to ask anything else

Ollie
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Ollie,

Congratulations on your project! It was obviously a lot of work as well as a lot of fun. And thanks for the update!

Have a good and successful time at Oxford! I visit a friend in the area there now and then: a beautiful place and a wonderful school. Perhaps I'll run into you at the market center sometime when I'm visiting.

G
 
Merlijn53 said:
1. It's not easy to build a camera like that, it is easy to fool people on the internet.
2 I did not say what was easier
3.I don't care. I just said it is very easy to create a hoax on the internet and that I think it's fun to see people reacting to it and believing your story.
Just throwing it in the discussion 🙂 it may still be true.
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3D printing is incredibly expensive compared to other manufacturing processes. Even in commercial form.


To make that model in solidworks likely cost this kid as much as\ 200-300 bucks for that amount of plastic. Not to mention having to print two of them could have easily cost him 600+ or more.

What he has done is totally do-able. It's not rocket science.


These don't get made commercially because for a huge company there is often not enough market for a large corporation to consider it "commercially viable".
 
Ollie, I'm sure you have the nous to do it yourself, but if you PM me I can put you in touch with a couple of student-orientated photographic groups here in Oxford.

Adrian
 
lukitas said:
Great job, Oliver!

I wonder about using a monochrome sensor for a similar conversion. Without the bayer filter and anti-aliasing, the sensor might be just thin enough to fit the pressure plate of a fed2 - zorki4 type back. If not, a slight sensor-sized bump on the back should not be too intrusive. A screen is helpful, but not really required : just like film, one would check exposure after the fact, and learn to compensate. Also, without the colour, processing would be reduced to a simple dump of light values.

The question is where to source the elements one can't build oneself : a full-frame monochrome sensor, a film can sized battery, a processor and card slot that can be fitted into film-can size shape.
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Thats a really exciting idea, I'd love that! especially as most of these cameras have slightly lacking colour reproduction on a digital sensor. Unfortunately the supply does seem the limiting factor and the lack of customisation ability on the software, which is why i needed to screen, to change the ISO and check the camera was still functioning without error, but a manual ISO dial and a camera error warning light could solve that. Lets hope some bright spark can hack these cameras fully.

Regarding your point about processing speed, to be honest it wasn't too much of a problem given the immense power of modern cameras but i suppose it couldnt hurt.

Thanks,
Ollie
 
Well done Ollie, this is not only a well thought out hack, it's an attractive one too. I loved my R-D1, this is even cooler.
 
OliverBaker said:
raid, you certainly were the reason I came here, thank you for that!
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Hallo Ollie! I am glad that my invitation brought you over here. While logic and reason would suggest that people simply buy a new digital camera, the RFF members often sidestep both logic and reason when it comes to identifying their favorite cameras. I suspect there exist members here who used their shoes to pound on the computer screens when they see any statements that are negative about their favorite cameras! 😀 Now maybe you can better understand how many dreams you have ignited in so many RFF members.

I hope that you will enjoy a lot your Oxford experience. This will be an important part of your life, I hope.
 
CameraQuest said:
I wonder if he could do it for a Leica M2 or Nikon SP.

Stephen
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Doable, but a bit messy if you want to leave the camera body intact and film-capable.

dmm_sensor.jpg


Kudos Oliver, I can appreciate how much work you put in your project!
 
Quite an impressive addition to the youth's CV. He did seem to get lucky with the electronics it was based on being so accommodating.
I'm not sure I would give up advantages of a mirrorless digital camera for the nostalgia of lining up the rangefinder image or fiddling with the shutter dial all the time though.
 
varjag said:
Doable, but a bit messy if you want to leave the camera body intact and film-capable. Kudos Oliver, I can appreciate how much work you put in your project!
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And on a Rolleiflex? The back is removable. Certainly at the moment a sensor of 56x56 mm would be a bit expensive. In the meanwhile who has a Rolleiflex can continue to use film and not sell his camera.
 
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