Robotic View Camera

[max-crow]

Hi all,
Does anyone tried to build a robotic view camera?

A 4x5 device would be bulky and super heavy I guess, but it would nice to have a small digital camera-compatible device.

Given that modern cameras may be controlled by smartphones, an app could make all needed calculations.
Just imagine that you connect a mirrorless camera and a 35mm-format lens to the robot, then take your smartphone, choose points that should be focused (or defocused). Robot makes measures, calculations and needed movements, and you need just to push the button
That wouldn’t allow you to have a 4x5 slide on the light table as a result, but a camera with movements is better than camera without them and a small view camera on hand is better than kardan at home

What do you think?

[Lachlan 717]

Grab some popcorn; this should be fun to watch unfold!!

[Jac@stafford.net]

Would it climb a mountain for me?

Perhaps a Sherpa could release a few hundred of them, each paid by clients and we could have a race to the top in real-time.
.

[metalsmith]

I think the mechanism to pull the dark slide and put it back would OK, but how about flip the film holder for the other side?

[ic-racer]

Already been done as an enlarger. I suspect it could be made much smaller and focused with linear actuators on the 4 corners of the bellows. You'd need some type of reflex view so the user can see the scene without the focus sensor getting in the way.

[Bob Salomon]

It was introduced at Photokina about a dozen years ago and was shown in prototype at that and the next Photokina but didn't end up being produced. Sinar introduced a computer controlled view camera about the same time but it was too expensive to be commercially viable. The one shown in prototype took backs from 69 cm to 11x14".

[Daniel Stone]

Grab some popcorn indeed

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2010/09...ic-view-camera

http://www.capcam.org/capcam-components/camera/

[Daniel Stone]

[B.S.Kumar]

Actual user experience: http://www.getdpi.com/forum/medium-f...ng-capcam.html

Kumar

[stawastawa]

that is a cool tutorial! a bit over kill but cool! and the guess and check is a bit much... now if you could select where the ultrasonic motors would drive your helicoid to align the focal plane with your desired AF focal point... =)