Run a camera without a lens assembly - Creative Uses of CHDK - CHDK Forum
« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Run a camera without a lens assembly

  • 4 Replies
  • 3822 Views
*

Offline barraketh

  • *
  • 3
Run a camera without a lens assembly
« on: 08 / December / 2014, 14:53:49 »
Advertisements
Hello everyone! I'm trying to do a thingie, and I thought that if anyone would have an idea of how to proceed, it would be you guys.

So here's the deal. I work in the IT department of a construction company. The field guys have cameras, and those cameras break periodically- I would say I get one broken camera in a month on average. This particular one is a Canon PowerShot A490.

Now, the lens assembly is broken (shattered gears, smashed glass, etc) on this camera, but there is nothing wrong with the sensor/lcd/the rest of it. I want to turn it on with the lens assembly disconnected and fool around with it. It would make an interesting little pinhole camera, I think.

The thing is, the camera will not turn on with a lens error. It just powers itself off after displaying the, 'OH SNAP, SOMETHING IS WRONG IN THE CORE OF MY BEING! I'M RESTARTING ASAP!' message. That's a paraphrase, of course, but you get the idea. I realize that not having a lens would wreak havoc with the little guy's metering, so I would need the manual controls that CHDK offers- so yeah.

What do you think? Has anyone done anything like this? Is this dream within the realm of possibility, or should I consign A490 to the parts bin?

Thank you!
Logged
*

Offline ahull

  • *****
  • 634
Re: Run a camera without a lens assembly
« Reply #1 on: 08 / December / 2014, 15:07:59 »
Its is possible, but expect a lot of pain on the way.. http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=8801.0
... by the same token, replacing the lens is also possible.. It all depends on your motivation I suspect.
Logged
*

Offline barraketh

  • *
  • 3
Re: Run a camera without a lens assembly
« Reply #2 on: 08 / December / 2014, 16:09:04 »
From reading that thread over, the short answer is: Nope! My motivation is lacking. Thank you for your reply- and the link to a really, really interesting thread. That might be next year's project. =]
Logged
*

Offline ahull

  • *****
  • 634
Re: Run a camera without a lens assembly
« Reply #3 on: 08 / December / 2014, 17:20:25 »
Replacing the lens unit however is much easier. Ebay > find a suitable replacement > find a suitable screwdriver > avoid zapping yourself with the flash capacitor > camera fixed ... chance of success around 90%
Logged
*

Offline barraketh

  • *
  • 3
Re: Run a camera without a lens assembly
« Reply #4 on: 08 / December / 2014, 18:05:34 »
Yeah, I forgot to mention that replacing the lens assembly is how I came up with this- we had two of these, one with a cracked battery door and one with a smashed lens assembly. I merged the two cameras and this is camera is built out of the leftover parts.

I figured that if I was going to make a pinhole camera or something, a cracked battery door wouldn't matter. I could tape it closed, no problem.

So, yeah, I did that.

Hah, I wish I'd had the 'avoid zapping yourself with the flash capacitor' advice, though. Those things will make you swear.

Thank you again for your help!
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »
 

Related Topics


SimplePortal © 2008-2014, SimplePortal