The additional steps and costs involved with shooting on film often put many photographers off. What if you could have the best of both worlds and use digital in your older film cameras?
Digital and analog cameras have for the most part stayed on opposite sides of the track. There have been several attempts in the past to merge these two worlds but nothing concrete has ever taken off. Enter stage left Befinitiv who recently took it upon himself to build a custom film cartridge for his analog camera so it could act as a digital one.
At the heart of this creation is a Raspberry PI Zero W with a camera module and battery. What I love about this particular incarnation of “digital film” is that all of the electronics fit neatly inside the camera body itself. This crucially means that you don’t have to modify your beloved antique cameras in any destructive way which would be a major deal-breaker for many of us.
The video goes on to show the camera in action and we see a few different scenarios of it being used to great effect. Befinitiv talks about the ability to also record video and well as live stream thanks to the particular version of Raspberry PI being utilized. While this creation is not going to replace your regular camera, I can see such a thing being a great addition to your camera bag when you want a certain look to your images or you just want to shoot with one of your older cameras without worrying about buying or developing film. Also worthy of note is that this DIY “digital film” is modeled around the standard 35mm film cartridge which means if you built one of these for yourself it could technically fit in any camera that also accommodates the same size film. If you have some basic electronic skills or know someone who does, you could easily breathe new life into many cameras that haven’t seen action for decades.
What do you think of this hack? Are you tempted to give this one a try? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.