In our modern society, we have started to take the humble camera for granted. Perhaps because of this, trendy standalone cameras have started to take off. Unfortunately, most of the time these cameras are expensive and not any better than those in our everyday smartphones. If only there were some open-source solution where you could build and customize your own standalone device? [Yutani] has done just that with the SATURNIX.
Simple microcontrollers and cameras meant for Raspberry Pis are a dime a dozen these days. Because of this, it’s no surprise to hear that the SATURNIX is based on recognizable hardware, a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and an Arducam 16MP sensor. The Pi Zero powers both the sensors’ capture abilities and the interactive LCD display.
With a simple visual design, the device could certainly fit into the same market we see so many other standalone cameras. Pictures from the camera look great without or with the included filter options if you want a more retro look. While currently there do appear to be some speed improvements needed, the best part of open source is that you yourself can help out!
We always love ambitious open source projects that look to build a true base for others to work on, and this seems like no exception! If you want similarly impressive feats of optical trickery, look no further than using scotch tape as a camera lens!
Does it count as open source yet if none of the software nor hardware source has actually been released yet?
Yes this seems a bit premature.
And commercial use is restricted. So basically, “here is an idea I have been working on for over a year that I won’t share the files on, and once I do release them, their use is restricted…”
The current license file on GitHub is just a placeholder on release, everything will most likely be fully MIT, including the case files.
As for the “premature” concern honestly, I never expected this project to get this kind of attention. When I first shared it, the code and case design weren’t fully polished yet because it was just a personal passion project. The response caught me off guard, and now I’m working hard to get everything release-ready
There are plenty of real vintage digital cameras on ebay for a buck…. Sorry, I am just not sure this is needed since settings can be altered at any point in digital photography lol.
i guess i haven’t surveyed the market recently but i don’t think it’s true that stand alone cameras aren’t any better than cellphone cameras. with precious few exceptions, smartphone cameras have tiny pixels and crap optics…uh, how do you say it? you can lead a smartphone camera to photons but you can’t make it drink them. ?? as someone with essential tremor, the modern smartphone camera is really extremely palpably substandard, and much worse than 2010-era stand alone cameras i have used.
but standalone cameras almost always have much better optics and also a much better sensor, with larger pixels and a better ratio of pixels to dead space.
smartphone cameras are amazing given their limitations, but their limitations are really severe. the only thing comparable between most smartphone cameras and even a cheap standalone camera is the number of pixels.
that said, the standalone camera market has really bifurcated, presumably due to low sales volumes. there’s expensive cameras now and absolute garbage made for you to give to toddlers for christmas, and not as much in between. in 2010, for about $150 you could get a very nice canon ‘digital ixus’ elph but i don’t know if there’s anything remotely like that anymore.
Indeed. My last digital camera purchase (other than a phone) was a Canon Powershot G7x Mk. II in like 2017 and it’s still sought after today for the same crowd that isn’t interested in using phones as cameras. Dynamic range is better than almost all phone sensors, pixels are much larger on the sensor (lower noise), and it has a 4.2x optical zoom.