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Raspberry Pi camera as a tap???


Chris Burke

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I have an XTR plus. I was thinking about adding a tap. It seems to me that the Raspberry Pi camera module might make for decent HD tap. Does anybody have any feelings towards this or against this or may be able to shed some light on the subject, how easy it might be. I want to have the camera overhauled pretty soon anyway, so I was thinking this might be a great time to add such a feature.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey Chris,

 

I had exactly the same idea a few days ago. I also own an Aaton XTR plus, and was thinking about building a small camera inside the viewfinder somewhere.

 

As I am a software developer on Unix based platforms, I could produce the software.

 

I see 2 limitations with this idea:

  1. You can't use the camera on your shoulder as you have no available viewfinder (unless you're talking about a real video tap, not sure how those work).
  2. Focussing the lens would be difficult through the video provided by the raspberry pi.
  3. The raspberry pi will need power.

I have used the official camera module before for a commercial project and I can tell you it is sharp (1080p) and could probably get the viewfinder screen in focus. It has some macro capability, but if it is not enough, you could always hack it.

 

I could code something that uploads the video stream to an external harddrive (or remote FTP) WHILST the camera is in use.

 

Did you ever try this out?

Edited by Sander Ferdinand
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  • 2 weeks later...

My idea is to put a HD camera inside the Aaton, just like a video tap. I suspect if not the Raspberry Pi then another camera could do. You could use a flat panel monitor on top for viewing. On the shoulder, you would use the viewfinder as normal. This would be used just like any other video assist. Is the Raspberry Pi camera that low quality that focusing would not be accurate? I thought that it or another such camera could focus on the ground glass.

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I would love to do this same thing to my CP-16R but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the top plate off which I suspect has just been painted on. The RasPi cameras are pretty small and should work in most situations.

 

Also, I agree - I would not want to pull focus off the monitor with a RasPi camera.

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Perhaps a different camera, but since the days of SD taps costing thousands, hardware has changed a great deal. A 4 or 5 megapixel camera should do it and should not cost that much. The computer and software to make it all work is another hurdle, at least or the programing illiterate like me. Raspberry Pi, with another camera or it's own seems like the obvious choice.

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  • 1 year later...

Perhaps a different camera, but since the days of SD taps costing thousands, hardware has changed a great deal. A 4 or 5 megapixel camera should do it and should not cost that much. The computer and software to make it all work is another hurdle, at least or the programing illiterate like me. Raspberry Pi, with another camera or it's own seems like the obvious choice.

Where were you planning to install this camera? Looking at this thread, you'll have 2 options (if I understand correctly); install it in the handle or at the 'normal' location (the video tap port near the battery).

 

And for both you'll need special optics (again, correct me if I'm wrong).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where were you planning to install this camera? Looking at this thread, you'll have 2 options (if I understand correctly); install it in the handle or at the 'normal' location (the video tap port near the battery).

 

And for both you'll need special optics (again, correct me if I'm wrong).

I would put it in the normal location. The XTR I would do this to is going into Abelcine for a full once over soon, so...... I will ask them what their opinion is about my idea.

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