A Canadian wedding photographer and camera tinkerer has seemingly managed to install DOOM on his Nikon Zf. You heard that right, an Instagram video shows the 1993 first-person shooter video game running on the rear LCD screen of Nikon’s full-frame retro camera in what has to be my favorite unofficial camera enhancement of all time. In the video (below) Taylor Jackson can be seen using the camera’s d-pad to navigate the grisly sci-fi setting and using the playback button to fire ‘Doomguys’’ pistol.
Hilariously, Nikon USA has commented on the video stating: “We have questions 👀”. Now, I’m no hacker, but when I Googled the subject, the search page’s AI Overview seemed to think that loading third-party software onto a modern Nikon was very difficult given the locked-down architecture of the 'Big N's' cameras. The footage does look very convincing but whether it's a genuine port or camera trickery, the practice of loading DOOM onto unconventional devices most certainly does happen.
You see, there’s a bit of an internet tradition to try and get DOOM to run on weird tech. Tech nerds are intent on fighting the demon hordes via pretty much anything imaginable, office printers, calculators, heck, even a pregnancy test! It would seem that almost anything with a visual interface is fair game.
One of the most comprehensive accounts of porting DOOM to a camera can be watched below by YouTube gaming royalty LGR, which managed to get the game running on a Kodak DC260 digital camera and is most definitely real.
In the video below, it’s explained that the 1998 camera features an onboard computer, enabling users to download or even develop third-party apps. In the case of the Kodak DC260, a bespoke version of DOOM is downloaded onto a CompactFlash card, which is then inserted into the camera and run via the camera’s Applications menu. I’ve also seen a video from @knoptop, running the game on a keychain camera!
I’m sure the process was a little different for the Nikon Zf, but essentially, DOOM lends itself to being ported because the original code is now open-sourced and by today’s standards, this once-demanding computer game requires little processing power to run.
I hate to be a killjoy, but it is worth noting that installing third-party software onto a camera could end up voiding the warranty, so I’d be more inclined to mod a cheap used buy as opposed to a $2,000 / £2,000 modern mirrorless camera.
I do love the concept of a ‘90s video game classic running on a retro camera though. The Nikon Zf is based on the Nikon FM2, which was actually released in 1982, the same year that Pac-Man was released. Well, Taylor, if you’re reading this, you know what to port next!
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