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A few years in the past I’ve been often taking pictures 35mm movies with point-and-shoot nonetheless cameras whereas additionally having the need to shoot movement image movies. Upon reviewing my choices, the easiest way could be to do it with Super8 movie, however after monetary concerns, I concluded that it could be very expensive in the long term since taking pictures only one normal 50ft cartridge wouldn’t be sufficient for me. Buying, creating, and digitalizing prices for only one could be over $110/€100! And to not point out the lengthy turnaround time of some weeks! There needed to be a greater resolution to the issue. After researching, since I had some expertise with 3D designing and printing, digital design, and coding, I got here up with the concept to construct my very own analog movement image movie digital camera. I’ve determined that my digital camera would make the most of the usual 35mm movie cartridges since these are cheaper and are broadly accessible in a lot bigger portions and kind varieties (B&W, Coloration, Reversal, UV, IR, particular varieties …) and will be bulk loaded. The primary objective was to seek out an optimum stability between the variety of frames, fitted on the cartridge and the scale of the body itself. Right here I concluded, that the body dimension ought to be the identical because the Super8 format or bigger. Different targets have been an ergonomic and sensible digital camera design, a very good consumer interface with show, many helpful capabilities, a very computerized movie feed/rewind mechanism, and a few type of developed movie scanning potential. This could lead to far more reasonably priced and sensible movie taking pictures versus the Super8 format. And it’s approach simpler to home-develop 35mm movie than Super8. Inner Design and Building The essential inner digital camera design and its inner workings have been firstly roughly sketched on paper. There I made a decision that the very first thing to create could be some type of intermittent mechanism for advancing the movie in the course of the blanking interval by one perforation gap. Right here I’ve chosen the Geneva mechanism, which is able to reworking a steady rotational motion from a DC motor into an intermittent rotary movement on sprocket gears. A easy 8-position Geneva drive with sprocket gear on a primary platform was modeled on a pc and 3D printed. Utilizing one full motor axis rotation, it strikes the 35mm movie by precisely one sprocket gap. First concepts placed on paper
The primary 3D-printed geneva intermittent mechanism with a DC motor Geneva mechanism in motion Movie advances by one sprocket gap After profitable testing, different elements quickly adopted similar to a information airplane for transporting movie from a motorized 35mm cartridge holder to a take-up drum, a motorized C-mount shifter for choosing movie observe publicity with built-in solenoid gentle shutter, and room for a printed circuit board, a battery, and a show. Most of those elements have been held in place by the principle platform, spacers, and screws. The intent was additionally for the digital camera to have a easy film-loading process, that doesn’t require any pre-slicing/combining or exterior reel movie loading, simply drop/load an ordinary 35mm cartridge and you’re able to go. For the lens I wished help for interchangeable lenses, right here was chosen the C-mount system because of its very huge choice choice (from huge to telephoto), reasonably priced costs and nonetheless being in manufacturing. Nearly all elements have been 3D printed from black PLA plastic with a purpose to block any outdoors gentle supply. Superior development with movie information airplane and lens help Exterior tough design with higher cartridge holder Excessive-speed recording of energetic solenoid shutter gate
Excessive-speed recording of energetic movie information airplane Assembling and wiring numerous elements Assembling the ultimate model type Concerning electronics, the plan was to make a single printed circuit board design containing all elements with extra part growth functionality. An STM32F1 collection microcontroller was chosen because of its massive variety of GPIO pins, an unlimited collection of completely different capabilities, and high-speed operation. The board was fitted with an influence administration system, motor driver chips for movie transport and shutter management, a stepper driver chip for C-mount lens shift for observe publicity choice, and a connection array for exterior sensors similar to a light-weight meter. All elements are powered by an inner LiPo battery with charging functionality. Overview of inner elements The following job was coding. Its challenges have been the creation of a user-friendly GUI with easy menu system navigation utilizing a joystick button, 4 completely different modes of operation: Film, Photograph, TimeLapse, Scanner, and a system, that gathers and processes all knowledge and shows it to the consumer similar to measured publicity values, remaining recording time, present/saved settings, and so on. Nearing the tip of coding, many different helpful options have been added like a timer, recording button modes, and a visible/audible warning system. Programming was executed in C language within the STM32 IDE atmosphere. The final job was selecting a reputation for the digital camera. Amongst huge preselection, the title OKTO35 was chosen. ‘OKTO‘ is equal to the quantity 8 within the Greek language and refers back to the Super8 format. ‘35‘ refers back to the 35mm movie format.
Exterior Design The objective of the exterior design was to be made easy and ergonomic. The partitions have been to be constructed from a minimum of 2 mm thickness to make sure gentle tightness and structural stability. The entrance face encompasses a sizzling shoe mount for a removable optical viewfinder, a built-in scene gentle meter for lens f-stop adjustment, a C-mount lens thread, and a tactile recording button. With the again facet, the consumer makes use of the viewfinder for scene preview, operates with OLED show GUI through the thumb joystick button, and has the entry to movie cowl for movie cartridge loading. The main focus port is used for focus examine and the DSLR connector is for sync scanning connection cable. On the backside, we discover a buzzer gap for audible timer/warning sounds, an ordinary 1/4” tripod mounting screw, and a micro USB port for charging. Back and front view of the digital camera Backside view of the digital camera Movie Loading The movie loading consists of a easy drop&load process. No pre-slicing, movie combining, or any exterior reel loading is required. The movie cartridge is positioned between the motorized rewind shaft and the holding block. The movie is extracted from the cartridge, positioned down the movie information airplane, previous the publicity gate and the principle drive, and connected to a motorized take-up drum. The movie cowl acts as a movie stress plate and sledge information. It’s held down by sturdy neodymium magnets and the double wall seal design offers good gentle tightness. After loading, the movie ISO and dimension settings are entered through GUI and movie recording can start. Opened again view with a movie cowl Loaded again view with a movie cowl GUI The chosen show GUI construction concept was a easy 3-page system: Dashboard – Settings – Normal. Switching between principal pages is completed by the left/proper joystick button motion and web page choice choice with up/down motion. OLED show know-how was chosen because of its good distinction and sun-readable functionality.
Switching between a 3-page GUI system The content material of each the Dashboard and Settings pages adjustments relying on the set Digicam Mode choice, which is the principle characteristic of the digital camera. It allows a change of 4 completely different modes of operation: Film, Photograph, TimeLapse, and Scanner. Content material of the dashboard web page adjustments relying on which of 4 completely different digital camera modes is ready Film mode allows the digital camera to be a traditional recording digital camera with a principal frames-per-second setting. Photograph mode makes a nonetheless digital camera with a shutter pace setting, additionally helpful for cease animation. TimeLapse mode is used for lengthy interval exposures with the principle interval setting. These three modes can be utilized interchangeably on the identical movie cartridge. The final mode is Scanner mode which adjustments the digital camera right into a film-scanning gadget. Movie cartridge, that was beforehand uncovered and developed can now be reloaded again and scanned within the frame-by-frame technique by entrance lens swap and utilizing a DSLR or a mirrorless digital digital camera linked to a DSLR connector port. All consumer settings and present movie standing are saved on built-in inner reminiscence, which retains it saved even in a battery under-voltage incidence (flat battery). The battery share standing, calculated f-stop, and remaining movie recording time or body info are at all times current on the dashboard web page. The digital camera additionally has different built-in capabilities similar to a timer, recording button sort, and so on. GUI additionally options a sophisticated message system. It responds visually and audibly with warning or recommendation messages similar to the tip of the movie, invalid setting, low battery, and so on. Digicam Operation The present digital camera design makes use of an ordinary 8 mm lens with guide f-stop and focus. The 8 mm approximates a 50 mm lens on a full-frame 35mm digital camera (near human imaginative and prescient). The digital camera utilization was made to be as user-friendly as attainable. The intent was additionally to behave like some extent&shoot digital camera with extra consumer settings. This was achieved in addition to the 2 guide settings: f-stop and focus, that are often wanted.
The guide focus is ready as soon as and doesn’t have to be set once more until a extra close-up scene recording is required. Beneath regular operation, the present 8mm lens presents a centered vary from about 1.2 m to infinity. If re-focusing is required, the consumer goes to the Normal web page and allows the choice “Test focus”. The lens shift motor units the lens to the center of the movie and opens the shutter. The consumer then opens the viewport on the movie cowl and screws in a 25 mm lens. As a result of movie’s partial transparency, the main focus is checked on the movie itself (because the focusing airplane). When completed, the consumer closes the viewport and disables the choice, ensuing within the lens shift motor returning the lens to the earlier observe place. Appropriate f-stop worth is calculated by taking into consideration measuring present scene illuminance through a built-in scene gentle meter and setting movie settings similar to movie ISO, fps, shutter pace, and so on. The consumer factors the digital camera to the specified scene through the optical viewfinder and presses the enter button, calculated lens f-stop is then refreshed immediately on the dashboard. The consumer then units the lens f-stop in keeping with the displayed worth. If the scene illuminance doesn’t change a lot, the identical lens f-stop setting can be utilized a number of instances because of the movie’s huge dynamic vary. When a brand new recent movie is loaded and the movie specs (ISO, dimension) are entered, the consumer has the choice of three completely different modes of operation: Film, Photograph, and Timelapse. All three can be utilized interchangeably on the identical movie cartridge. If the consumer selects Film mode, an fps setting is taken into consideration and movement recording can start. A time counter is displayed on the backside displaying the remaining observe and complete recording time in minutes and seconds. Photograph mode transforms the digital camera right into a nonetheless digital camera, taking pictures frame-by-frame through presses of the recording button and with the shutter pace setting taken into consideration. This mode is beneficial for cease animation or simply nonetheless pictures. A body counter is displayed on the backside displaying the remaining complete variety of frames.
Timelapse is used for lengthy interval exposures with interval setting taken into consideration. Consumer can choose the timelapse length and interval time and begins the recording course of. A timer is displayed on the backside displaying the remaining time till the method is completed. Body Publicity Technique After some body dimension and place math consideration I got here up with the concept of shifting movie vertically by way of the digital camera and putting 1 body per sprocket gap and 4 frames per helpful width of the movie edge to edge, successfully yielding 4 very lengthy tracks in complete of 1152 frames, which was later optimized to 1200 frames per one 36-exposure dimension 35mm cartridge. This technique resulted in virtually similar body dimension in comparison with the Super8 format apart from elevated body dimension. In comparison with Super8 at 5.8×4.01 [mm], the brand new body dimension is 6.3×4.73 [mm], successfully making the floor space elevated by roughly +30% and diagonal dimension by +12%, which delivers smaller movie grain and larger/extra detailed frames in conventional 1.33:1 side ratio. Closeup of developed black & white 35mm damaging movie (Fomapan 100) Black & white film body (Fomapan 100) One other black & white film body (Fomapan 100) Coloration film body (Kodak Gold 200)
One other coloration film body (Kodak Gold 200) Capturing Value Utilizing one normal 36-exposure dimension cartridge and taking pictures @18fps, we are able to receive the recording time of 1 minute and seven seconds. Evaluating that to the Super8 normal 50ft cartridge’s recording time of three minutes and 20 seconds @18fps, three 36-exposure dimension cartridges are equal to 1 Super8 50ft cartridge in recording time. One normal Super8 50ft cartridge has the identical recording size as three 36-exposure cartridges (@18fps) The whole value for taking pictures 10 minutes of black-and-white footage at 18fps on Super8 is about $370/€330, and the full value of doing the identical on 35mm movie (processed at house) is about $57/€51. So utilizing black-and-white 35mm movie as an alternative of Super8 reduces the full value by about 85%. The whole value for taking pictures 10 minutes of coloration footage at 18fps on Super8 is about $370/€330, and the full value of doing the identical on 35mm movie is about $108/€96. So utilizing coloration 35mm movie as an alternative of Super8 reduces the full value by about 70%. Bulk loading makes these cartridges, much more, cheaper: with a black-and-white value of about $2.90/€2.60 per 35mm cartridge the full value is about $34/€30 for a taking pictures time of 10 minutes @18fps. This brings the value down by about 91%. Scanning Process Most, if not all movement image cameras solely have a recording operate. After publicity and growth, a special and specialised machine is required or a lab service for scanning functions.
This digital camera is designed in such a approach, that additionally serves as a developed movie scanner with a number of extra components. The scanning process begins with loading the developed movie cartridge again into the digital camera, changing the entrance C-mount 8 mm lens with a 25 mm lens with a purpose to appropriate the field-of-view, and opening the Viewport. A change of digital camera mode is carried out through GUI into the Scanner mode. Right here the consumer can set the scanning interval size. This places the digital camera into scanner prepared state. The consumer then makes use of a DSLR or mirrorless digital camera for lens-to-lens picture switch (utilization of a smartphone digital camera with a wi-fi connection technique shall be attainable within the subsequent digital camera model MK III). For movie backlight sources by way of Viewport, a standard LED desk lamp will suffice. The lens focus, zoom, and F-stop changes are made with a purpose to receive one of the best picture high quality. The final job is to attach the DSLR or mirrorless to the digital camera utilizing a standard DSLR 2.5mm connector cable. Utilization of cease movement animation mode within the DSLR or mirrorless digital camera produces video, made up from all scanned frames. Scanning is began and carried out routinely one observe at a time utilizing the frame-by-frame technique with a purpose to receive one of the best flicker-free picture high quality. In the meantime, the show Dashboard web page offers helpful info relating to observe quantity, remaining frames, and scanning time (it takes about 25 minutes per 35mm 36-exp cartridge). When the scanning is accomplished, the consumer is notified and a brand new movie will be scanned. Digicam Options C-mount lens help 4 operate modes: Film, Photograph, Timelapse, and Scanning Totally motorized and automatic movie wind/rewind and movie publicity observe shift Constructed-in scene gentle meter for F-stop publicity calculation Vivid and solar readable 128×64 1-inch OLED show with user-friendly GUI Easy and ergonomic thumb joystick button GUI management Constructed-in massive capability LiPo battery with charging functionality Constructed-in buzzer for audible timer and warning sounds Removable and adaptable optical viewfinder The film body fee will be set from 10 to 24 frames/second with a standard 180° shutter pace Photograph shutter pace ranges from bulb mode to 1/100s with a settable timer Timelapse interval ranges from 1 to six seconds with a standard 180° shutter pace Helps huge movie ISO vary from 50 to 3200 The digital camera can use a number of normal 35mm cartridge sizes of 12, 24, and 36 exposures Helps damaging and reversal black&white, coloration, UV, and IR movies Ergonomic and intuitive exterior design Responsive system because of the quick STM32F1 collection processor Magnetically sealed movie cowl for simple cartridge loading and good light-tightness Self-cleaning movie cartridge design for mud discount throughout recording and scanning Movie cowl sledge information design for scratch discount throughout movie transport Thanks for trying out the venture! Concerning the writer: Blaž Semprimožnik is an electronics engineer and beginner coder based mostly in Slovenia. You could find extra of his work on his web site. This text was additionally revealed right here.
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