Digital Camera Design Expertise

Hello MechGuy

You don't give any indication of the speed/definition/lighting intensity, and other variables, etc. requirements, nor whether you need colour and/or audio.

Purchasing the components you list, and designing a circuit board or several, plus connecting all including the necessary software is going to take much time, trouble and a deep wallet.

The cheapest way is to purchase a ready-made camera, made by the millions, and use that.

The more expensive alternative is a Security type camera if need be, and run that via a "Video Capture card in a PC with Software".

Reply here, with

Kind Regards....

Try Digi Key for CCD's. Otherwise, I like the suggestions that others have posed: Take the cover off one of the cameras on the market that's to your liking -- I'd bet it would be cheaper and easier to get a camera without a case that way than building one from scratch.

If I take a regular camera and take the casing off, it still needs to be programmed to do certain functions. Is there someone who knows how to program the chips that are associated with digital camera technology? The whole purpose of this disassembled digital camera is to be able to locate the components separately and not next to each other or not adjacent. For example, the board can be in a box and the lense assembly module can be on a stand and the storage card can be in another box connected with a cable and so on. How do I achieve those. Do I need someone who specifically has a digitial camera related technology and programming experience or is that a common knowledge for any electronic person. I am a mechanical guy so please help me here. Thanks.

This is a timely inquiry and I'll be interested in seeing how it evolves.

I've a number of telescopes most all of which need to be precisely aimed at that point near Polaris so that the drive motors can keep objects centered in the field of view.

For permanently anchored heavy scopes, this is not an issue as once they are aimed, they stay that way.

However, portable scopes often travel to darker skies and they require that the scope be aimed, a process that often requires getting down on your hands and knees, sighting through the hollow axis and trying to move things about until they are right.

My thought is to buy the most inexpensive digital camera I can find (used is fine) dismantling it so that the lens can be mounted coaxial to the shaft and then placing the back-lit screen elsewhere where it can be viewed while standing. No need to focus. No need to even take pictures. Simply project the image of the North Star in such a way that it can be seen on the "monitor".

L. J.

I think laughing Jaguar got my idea right. I am still looking for a digital camera, and all things together should work like a digital camera. Just I do not want them in the same casing. I want them all apart and located separately and not in the same casing. But when they are connected to gether with cables etc., all things together it still is a digital camera, I should be able to take a picture by pressing a switch which can be located elsewhere, and I can store the image in a disk which can be located somewhere else and I should be able to see on the display screen, just not attached to the casing but may be hooked up to my monitor ..and so on. So, in a sense it is still the same digital camera and with the same theory just not in the same casing, they are all separate items connected to the main board with cables. This means anyone who designs digital camera boards must be able to do this. My question is, is it possible to dismantle an existing camera and then program the chips on the board to recognise the dismantled situation, or do we have to completely redesign the boards. Any expert in the digital camera technology wants to throw some light into this? And if later is the case, is there anyone out there who may be able to help. I am willing to pay for the labor and material.

Opppsss....sorry, the above is my post. I just forgot to login. So, it appeared as guest.

Mech Guy wrote: "I think laughing Jaguar got my idea right."

That's why the call me the Laughing Jaguar!

Nikon used to make digital cameras where the viewing part could swivel around the lens part. You could point the the lens in any direction (elevation) and adjust the screen for comfortable viewing. Moreover, these cameras' lenses do not retract and can therefore be easily mounted on (or replacing) a microscope or telescope eyepiece. The model numbers that I know of are CoolPix 995 and CoolPix 4500. There may be others. These cameras can probably be obtained on eBay and at used camera dealers. The 4500 works very well mounted on a microscope.

A DIY magazine called MAKE had an article some time ago about dismantling a cheap 'internet camera' in order to mount the sensor on a microscope eyepiece so that the image can be wiewed on a computer screen.

Dovy wrote: ". . . . . these cameras' lenses do not retract and can therefore be easily mounted on (or replacing) a microscope or telescope eyepiece. The model numbers that I know of are CoolPix 995 and CoolPix 4500. There may be others. These cameras can probably be obtained on eBay and at used camera dealers. The 4500 works very well mounted on a microscope.

Dovy, I did as you suggested, which is a good one. I found both cameras available. The 995 for under $100.

Because they are older generation cameras, they lack the compact bodies of more recent digitals. However, it appears that neither XXXXXXXXXX nor I need hi resolution images for what it is we wish to accomplish.

One very pleasant surprise of searching at e-Bay was that their search engine came up with a number of shop manuals as well, usually for under $10(S&H Included)

Given the experimental nature of these efforts, the availability of such a document for professional technicians is invaluable. Aside from the time saved, it helps insure that the device is suited to the application BEFORE you buy it.

The only disappointing discovery is that this camera is larger than I expected. While mounting the optical portion on the scope axis is not a knotty problem, the size of the parent body would force a design change of major consequences when mounting the body elsewhere so the screen is visible. Perhaps there is another make or model CCD camera with a similar seperate lens, but which is more compact?

The jury is still out on this. Perhaps I can find a camera store that has one I can take a look at.

Size nothwithstanding, yours is still a very good suggestion. Thanks!

L. J.

In my last post I wrote: "However, it appears that neither XXXXXXXXXX nor I need hi resolution images for what it is we wish to accomplish."

The intention was to make sure I got MechGuy's name right and go back and edit out the XXXXXXXXXX.

Alas, the site only allows you just so much time to edit posts and when I returned it was too late.

L. J.

With many cameras you can plug in an external video display which will show the live image instead of the internal display. I sometimes use a pocket camera for ad-hoc CCTV (usually when I am mixing live sound and my view of the action is blocked). With 7" LCDs intended for car seatback applications it is possible to put together a very light weight system.

This would get around your problem of squinting at the display. Some (but not all) cameras come with control software that operates via USB which enables the user to see the image live on a PC and to take pictures as required.

Chankley wrote: "With many cameras you can plug in an external video display which will show the live image instead of the internal display."

It is common for some amateur telescope makers to grind and polish their own mirrors. Evaluating them requires the use of a Foucault optical tester, a machine that demands that the user bend over in the most awkward, inhuman of positions and squint into a peep hole without jarring the machine with the nose. A machine from Hell designed to punish those with passions.

One creative friend made a Foucault tester using a special lens and CCD plate, It captures the image and shows it on a monitor.

I tried doing that and tested several of the more popular digital still cameras, attempting as you suggested, to project a real-time image on a computer screen. Didn't work, at least not with those I tried.

I found that while I could project images through a TV or computer monitor, I could only send pictures captured earlier and stored on the memory cards in all the cameras. The instant I plugged in the cable, it shut off the camera lens defeating the intent.

In the final analysis, I was able to capture images in real time but to do so, required I use my 8mm digital movie camera and buy an expensive video capture card and software. Then I was forced to upgrade the operating system as it wouldn't work with MS Windows 2000 Pro!

Such a solution proved costly and is only usable on the optical bench in my shop.

To try to use this solution in an open field, at night, with a telescope would be cumbersome at best, assuming I had access to 110 VAC which is unlikely.

I wish your suggestion worked for me. I'd have save a lot of money and would not have tied up an expensive camera.

L. G.

I use the recently discontinued Kodak C743 which does allow a video monitor to be used instead of the internal LCD. Other recent Kodak cameras apparently do this as well although earlier ones did not. I believe some other makes do as well, but as you say some other cameras do not support this.

1. Purchase small, inexpensive digital camera.
2. Purchase box of vinyl gloves to reduce contamination.
3. Purchase small screwdriver and small nut driver set.
4. Have at it!

You need to give more information. What resolution are you looking for, What kind of lenses, wide, tele, zoom or fixed. how far the various components are going to be from one another, are they like only few feet apart or are they going to be in different rooms, locations. Do you have any weight or size or image quality restrictions / requirements. This is a do-able project however the cost will depend on design parameters like the ones above and more.

Thank you techno for asking very pertinent questions. I think I was not even thinking of getting sophisticated at this point. My idea was just to make it work with any resolution, with standard lenses that comes with a standard digital camera in the market, fixed focus for now is fine. The components are going to be a few feet away for now, not in other rooms. At this point, I do not care about the weight or size. I assume whatever the standard digital cameras weigh in the market it is going to be a little more than that because of sum of all disassembled components, but that's fine. For now I am not worried about resolution either. Even a low resolution is fine if we can make the concept work. Once I can make the "concept" of the dismantled digital camera work, then I can gradually get into more features and sophistications in the future.

I am not sure if this is what I am looking for. But at least on the face of it, it seems like a costly proposition.

They are, but a good resource if you need the high end equipment. I have never used their products but was looking at very high end cameras and found them.

Brad

Hi Mechguy!

A Nikon Coolpix 4500 with a whole bag of accessories, just sold for $110 plus $10 S&H at E-Bay.

If you add the cost of a factory repair manual, which I highly endorse, you'll spend another $10. $130 sounds like a good deal to me.

I chose to pass on this. I declined an invitation to bid as I have put out the word out to friends who are photography enthusiasts or professionals, to keep a look out for any "swivel lens" equipped digital camera.

My imaging requirements are very simple, much more so than yours and I suspect I can get into the game for less.

L.J.

Thanks for the info LJ. I have not looked into ebay yet. I was just looking into the local hobby stores. But most fo them don't carry what I am looking for. But if it is in that price range, sure it is a good deal on ebay. Thanks again.

The earlier Nikon Cool Pix cameras sell for between $80 and $125 depending on equipment. The later models, like the 4500 fetch about $25 to $50 more, again depending on condition and the amount of supplemental equipment.

I purchased one on at auction at e-bay that was inoperative and sold :As Is" and only "for parts" for less than $30 delivered. A PDF copy of the original repair manual was less than $7 and was downloaded from the web site of another e-bay vendor.

The manual is invaluable and I was soon able to learn that the two bodies of this camera can be separated "at their "umbilical chords" in less than five minutes.

The compactness of the two modules lend themselves perfectly to permanent mounting in a telescope mount.

Repairing the old Cool Pix is not advisable as for the price of a few more dollars, I can purchase one that is working and, using modified (extended) cables and connectors from the donor machine, mount the two parts in different locations in the fork.

My objectives have been met. Thank you to all who supported this string and assisted me and Mech Guy in this inquiry.

L.J.