iPhone DSLR Prototype 1.0

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt: "Here are Photos/Pictures of my iPhone DSLR Prototype 1.0. This is my first attempt at putting together an iPhone DSLR. You might ask 'Why pair an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4 with a DSLR lens?' Why not!" Prototype or not, it's a cool project.

Comments

You have a camera in your ear

[countertrolling]

What? I can't hear you!

I said, you have a camera in your ear!

I can't hear you. I gotta a camera in my ear...

NOT DSLR!!

[LoudMusic]

DSLR does not mean "detachable lens". It means "Digital Single Lens Reflex", or "digital camera that uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dslr

In fact, it has nothing to do with detachable lenses. That is a completely different technology, which just happens to be commonly (but not universally) paired with (D)SLR hardware. Nor is the mechanical mirror or pentaprism contained in the lens. The SLR mechanism(s) are in the camera body, which clearly do not exist in the iPhone nor the mount that the phone and lens(es) are attached to.

What this device provides is simply detachable lenses for the iPhone camera system. Detachable lens camera systems have been available for non-SLR cameras for quite some time.

This horribly wrong use of technical terms really should not be showing up on the site that proclaims itself as "news for nerds, stuff that matters".

Re:NOT DSLR!!

[Mr. Freeman]

"Good point but the terminology is kind of debatable"
No, it's not.

Yes, this camera uses a single lens and yes, it's digital. So does that $20 piece of junk point-and-shoot digital camera that you can buy at walmart. By your logic every single modern day camera is actually a DSLR because they use one lens and are digital.

"A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that uses a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera."
The iphone does not use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism and therefore is not a DSLR, period. There's no debate here. It's simply not a DSLR camera.

From the TFA:
"Now by no means would I consider myself a professional photographer. Heck… I am by would I even consider myself an amateur photographer. The truth is I really know nothing about photography. " Link: http://iphonedslr.com/blog/archives/42fb

By his own admission, he doesn't really know what he's doing or why this is simply a bad idea.

Re:NOT DSLR!!

[Moghedien]

It seems to improve autofocus

Well, maybe improve accuracy in some cases, but the contrast detection AF of non-DSLRs is usually slower than phase detection AF of DSLRs. The very best CDAF is comparable with PDAF of average DSLRs, and then there are the sports cameras...

Have you tried a modern digital viewfinder? For example the VF of the Olympus EP2. I'd say it has enough resolution to not make a significant difference. It has 100% coverage (of course :-) and 1.15x mag. And for those still life photos you can magnify a portion of the view (up to 10x?) to fine-tune the focus. And best of all, the flange focal distance is small enough to use Leica M-lenses at infinity -- but the 2x "crop factor" may be a curse or a blessing...

Many large manufacturers of DSLR's, such as Canon and Sony, have started removing the mirrors from their prosumer-level camera's in exchange for sensors that can work in different modes.

Well, Canon (and Nikon) are still on the fence. Nikon may (or may not) present a mirrorless system camera at Photokina, Sony has their new NEX-system, then there's Olympus and Panasonic (micro four thirds), and yet another system, Samsung NX. Even Ricoh is jumping on the bandwagon, in their own idiosyncratic way.

This is an EVIL camera

[Bryansix]

The lens may be borrowed from a DSLR but what it makes is an EVIL camera. EVIL = Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangable Lens.

Why?

[OverlordQ]

'Why pair an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4 with a DSLR lens?' Why not!"

Because it wouldn't take very good pictures.

Tag Cloud

[lemur3]

Seeing the tag cloud reminded me of those sites from the 90s that would put the whole dictionary into the bottom of their page black text on a black background to garner the most hits.

See for yerself:

This entry was posted in iPhone DSLR Prototypes and tagged Canon EF mount, Digital DSLR, DSLR, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G aluminum housing, iPhone 3G camera, iPhone 3G camera lens, iPhone 3G with DSLR lens, iPhone 3G with SLR lens, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3GS aluminum housing, iPhone 3GS camera, iPhone 3GS camera lens, iPhone 3GS with DSLR lens, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 aluminum housing, iPhone 4 Camera, iPhone 4 camera lens, iPhone 4 with DSLR lens, iPhone aluminum housing, iPhone camera, iPhone camera lens, iPhone Digital DSLR, iPhone DSLR, iPhone DSLR housing, iPhone DSLR Prototype, iPhone Prototype, iPhone with DSLR lens, iPhone with SLR lens.

Desperate for hits much?

Re:uh, samples?

[SETIGuy]

You don't need to be skeptical. This will produce crappy results. You're still pushing the light through a tiny dirty lens and a tiny aperture. The iphone's autofocus will be fighting your attempts to get the focus you want (unless there's a way to turn off autofocus). The iphone 4 may be a nifty point and shoot camera, but it's not SLR quality regardless of the number of pixels.

I'd title this one "I don't know anything about optics or photography, but I can machine a bracket out of aluminum."

Timothy, you're an idiot.

[BitZtream]

Moron, SLR requires that it has a few mirrors and some moving parts.

Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera

And read it, not just look at the pictures. Nothing external to the camera that you can see has anything to do with SLR, its all internal mechanics and not the fact that you can screw on a different lens.

This isn't slashdot: News for idiots by idiots

Its Slashdot: news for nerds.

Timothy, you have never been a nerd for a split second of your life.

Re:you were slashdotted

[morgan_greywolf]

So I take it the iPhone DSLR was actually hosting TFA? Because it's still down 1.5 hours later. It's in the Google Cache, though.

Pro-tip: before posting your iPhone-hosted website on Slashdot, take your finger off the antenna.

Re:Good for gps tagging

[jd2112]

Cheap solution if it works . The canon one is over $700.

The Canon one doesn't require a 2 year AT&T contract + expensive data plan.

Re:uh, samples?

[StarDrifter]

There is another post with the result: http://iphonedslr.com/blog/archives/62fb
It is somewhat disappointing, to say the least. I do give some credit for posting it though. Even though things didn't work out as planned it is nice to see what happened.

Re:Is a SLR, yes it is.

[sjwt]

Wrong, wrong, wrong, and very wrong.

That is what is called an 'Lens'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_lens

And he has attached the 'Lens' to a 'camera phone'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_phone

an SLR is a camera that has various mechanical moving parts, that allow you to split the same light that will be hitting the film or sensor, so that you can see this with your own eye, and then the millisecond you hit the shutter button, the Reflex mirror, jumps out of the way, and the shot is taken with almost the exact same light you where seeing that was sent to your eyes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-lens_reflex_camera

This is just a phone that might as well be taped to a large magnifying glass, there are no SLR parts in the lens of a SLR camera.

Re:uh, samples?

[Doctor O]

If he had actually THOUGHT about what he's going to do, he might have discovered this strange concept of "focal length" and how it might affect lens placement.

This must be among the most stupid "efforts" I've seen on Slashdot.

Machine a bracket? HAH!

[denzacar]

He just bought the ready-made parts and put them together.

http://iphonedslr.com/blog/archives/14fb

DSLR Lens Mount
Posted on June 28, 2010 by Jeremy Salvador

Canon Extension Tube
        Canon Extension Tube

I have Canon EF lenses and have been looking for a mount so the iPhone DSLR can easily interchange the lenses. So far all the products I've looked at are fairly expensive (in the $100-$200) range.
  Then I stumbled upon the Canon Extension Tube. ($8.78) from SunTek.

This tube ring mount is generally used for macro shots and can fit all Canon EOS DSLR / SLR Camera EF lenses.

The Package Includes:

Canon Lens Mount Adapter Ring
        Canon Lens Mount Adapter Ring

  (1) Camera body mount adapter
  (1) 9mm tube (Tube 1)
  (1) 16mm tube (Tube 2)
  (1) 30mm tube (Tube 3)
  and most importantly! (1) Lens mount adapter

The Canon EF Lens Mount Adapter will allow lenses to be easily interchanged from the iPhone DSLR.
Now to figure out how to attach this thing to the iPhone.

And here is how - you buy an Owle:

http://iphonedslr.com/blog/archives/33fb

Owle Bubo
Posted on July 6, 2010 by Jeremy Salvador
The Owle Bubo is one of the most impressive iPhone accessories I've ever seen and I think it's going to be perfect as a housing for my iPhone DSLR. It's a camera mount that brings the best features of a camcorder to the iPhone 3GS: stability, optics, microphones and tripods!

The Owle Bubo is made of a solid piece of anodized billet aluminum making it extremely durable and virtually indestructible. This full aluminum frame gives the housing a good 1.1 lbs in weight giving the housing just enough weight to make keep the device steady. The two handle grips make it a real breeze to carry. Also the Owle provides 4 x 1/4-20 female threaded mounting holes so you can actually screw this thing into a standard tripod.

The Owle Bubo comes standard with 37mm lens threading, as well as a 0.45x wide angle/ macro lens combination. This is a real piece of optics, delivering stunning images with better color saturation, contrast and sharpness than is possible with the iPhone's camera alone. The wide angle lens accepts 49mm screw in filters. So with a 49mm-58mm step up ring, I'll be able to attach the Canon Lens Mount Adapter Ring to this housing.

Hopefully, Jeremy is something like 9 or 10.
Cause, a "grown person" doing something like this and calling it a "prototype" is like "creating" a portable laser printer by getting a really long power cord and some straps on ebay.