Fancy getting ridiculous resolution for an even more ridiculous price? A 489MP camera can be yours for the price of a good memory card, if you put it together yourself.
There is a lot of competition out there for the highest resolution cameras, with some of the best medium format camera giants like Hasselblad, Phase One and Fujifilm waging a constant battle for megapixel supremacy.
If you thought that recent medium format cameras like the Fujifilm GFX 50S II and Fujifilm GFX 100S offer a lot of megapixels for a competitive price, then think again: there is a new DIY camera from YouTuber, photographer, and inventor Yunus Zenichowski that can be made for just AU$460 (US$150).
You can check out Yunus' video for his DIY camera above
Okay, before you rush off to grab your tools, there are a lot of caveats that will stop this creation from being a true competitor to real cameras – with the first being that you will need your own 3D printer, so if you don't already own one it blows the budget out of the water.
The DIY camera also doesn't use any sort of traditional camera sensor, and is instead made using a sensor from an Epson V35 flatbed document scanner – and this has some pretty significant drawbacks in terms of exposure time. For those who are familiar with document scanning, it is not a quick process. So when using it for imaging, any slight movements in the scene will cause blurring, distortion and ghosting – potentially spoiling the resulting image.
The camera is built with a projector lens, rather than a traditional camera lens, which keeps the costs to a minimum (with Yunus picking up his projector lenses for around $40 apiece) – though the creator does claim that the build could be completed with other lenses with a bit of modification.
The resulting images that can be seen in the video are very interesting, but they are not going to rival any of the best mirrorless cameras for image quality. Most likely due to the projector lens used, the images have a very vintage look to them – which might suit artists looking for that particular style for creative work, but won't cut it for modern photographers looking for sharp and accurate shots.
For those keen engineers (with a 3D printer) that want to try out making this megapixel monster, you can find the CAD designs that Yunus has generously provided.
Has this got you feeling creative? Check out some more great DIY ideas like how to turn a cardboard box into a speedlight softbox, or how to turn a tiny glint of light into an abstract masterpiece.
