The project is currently gathering funds on Kickstarter in order to go mainstream

Aug 7, 2014 11:38 GMT  ·  By

We have talked about Raspberry Pi photography not so long ago, when we told you that Adafruit Industries has set up a contest dedicated to photographers who use Raspberry Pi-powered shooting gear.

However, most of the times these cameras tend to be point-and-shoots, so some DIYers might like to have something more sophisticated on their hands. This request has been picked up by SnapPiCam, which has come up with a Raspberry Pi-based system that allows users to change lenses.

The SnapPiCam is based on an open-source prototype that was created by Gregory Holloway, who first thought himself how to build a Raspberry Pi camera with a touchscreen.

Then Holloway wanted to build upon the original design and threw in a few extra options like making the camera compatible with several lenses.

The project is based on the Raspberry Pi Open Hardware and Open Software project, so the blueprints allowing anybody with a passion for building to create their own interchangeable lens camera will be made available soon enough.

However, if you’re not that tech savvy, the good news is that you won’t be left out in the cold. In today’s fashion, Holloway is taking up Kickstarter in order to gather up funding for a SnapPiCam kit that will help users build their camera with the help of tools everyone has laying around.

At the time of writing this, there are 23 days to go before time expires and the overall goal is set for £40,000 / $67,355 / €50,345.

There are four different SnapPiCam kits available for you to choose from. The common ingredients in all of them is a Raspberry Pi Model A mini computer board, a Raspberry Pi-5-megapixel camera module, laser-cut camera body parts, battery, charger and some items that will help users put the device together.

Optional specs include ports for HDMI, analog video and microphone, and there’s also a USB Wi-Fi dongle if you want to be able to share your photographs faster.

All four kits arrive with a 0.67x wide/macro lens or 180-degree fish-eye lens and we should also note the lens mount is compatible with magnetic lenses like those found in smartphones.

The Compact model bundles all of the things we have mentioned above but it does not have an LCD. If you want one, you’ll have to upgrade to the Adventure model which offers a 2.8-inch LCD plus a tripod mount SD card.

Then there’s the MegaZoom kit that brings an extra 4x-12x Variable MegaZoom lens with manual focus, while the MegaZoom Plus kit has a 2x Zoom Magnetic Telephoto Lens and 6x-18x MegaZoom Plus lens with manual focus.

The SnapPiCam basic kit is sold for $167 / €124. Are you ready to build your hackable camera?

SpapPiCam Lets You Change Lenses (9 Images)

SnapPiCam takes Raspberry Pi photography to a new level
SnapPiCam takes Raspberry Pi photography to a new levelSnapPiCam takes Raspberry Pi photography to a new level
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