Should Pyra have a Camera?
- Thread starter dgame
- Start date
I'm sure there are plenty of camera applications in the Debian repositories.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 11,411
A quick look and Cheese looks like the only application dedicated camera use... sure mplayer and vlc can handle that feature. But even Cheese is not quite like something as convenient as what can be found on a smartphone.
But since there is no camera I guess it really isn't a big deal.
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, as soon as a 1st party usb camera is confirmed, we can get that. If we do get one, maybe someone can make pressing bith L and R, like the 3ds, the quick camera or put it in the Superkey.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 11,411
You are really assuming a lot.
"If we do get one" Unless you are talking about a proper camera app. Why wouldn't we get one, if we had an official camaera?
Last edited by a moderator:
pmprog
DNF (Did Not Finish)
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2011
- Messages
- 4,150
I think he's implying that an "official 1st party" camera is extremely unlikely. I don't think ED's in the market for cameras. And why bother when there are so many cheap 3rd party ones?
Because 3rd party ones are simply inconvenient (at least so far) and if he can't sell a camera version, it would be better than just ignoring the whole lot of camera people.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 11,411
Better maybe, less headache and cost for EvilDragon if he doesn't.
Lol I admit that is true.
pmprog
DNF (Did Not Finish)
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2011
- Messages
- 4,150
Unless you're expecting it to be built into the case (which will never happen, unless you have deep pockets and want to fund the hardware changes necessary), all it takes is for a few community bods to do what was done with SD cards, and make a wiki page listing compatible cameras.
It's the problem of actual usability than compatability with 3rd party cameras.
Any external camera is going to be clumsy to carry around in your pocket with the Pyra. Also, my goals for a camera is more of "digital camera replacement", not "phone replacement"...
Doesn't have to be "first-party" though - perhaps someone could just throw a USB3 hub + 8 MP camera in a extra case that fits over the back of the Pyra or something... does the case have any way to attach such a thing?
Doesn't have to be "first-party" though - perhaps someone could just throw a USB3 hub + 8 MP camera in a extra case that fits over the back of the Pyra or something... does the case have any way to attach such a thing?
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 11,411
Most likely not, but nothing that a Dremel tool, 3D printer and some super glue couldn't solve.
Last edited by a moderator:
Grench
Forum Addict!
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2008
- Messages
- 6,629
So - you want the equivalent of a $200+ dedicated digital camera to be crammed into this already packed device (there is no 'left over space').
A quality digital camera needs a few things simply due to the physics of light.
1. Good lens diameter. This is the window the light comes through. Early phones had more or less pin-hole lenses. Newer ones have larger primary lenses that jut out a bit from the back of the phone to have room for the focusing optics. This is so that it is physically possible to gather enough light to make a quality image.
2. Quality optics. Once you have the light - how it is focused/distributed between the lens and the CCD makes a difference. Poor optics will result in vignetting, color and focus aberrations.
3. Enough distance between the focusing optics and the CCD for the light to 'spread' over the surface area of the CCD. The larger the CCD, the more light it can 'see', but the more distance required to allow the light to 'spread' out to the size of the CCD.
4. Megapixels. Stated last because it's actually the least important anymore. Phone lens, optics and internal focal length means that anything over about 3 MegaPixels simply doesn't matter - it's all marketing from there on a 5mm primary lens. Where this does come in to play is in the density of the CCD - which is it's ability to collect and differentiate the path of the light coming through the lenses.
What this all comes down to is that there is a lot of science, art and technology that goes into making a decent digital camera. There is a very good reason why pro photographers still use 50mm <=F1.4 lenses on 15+ Megapixel cameras with >=1" CCD and are willing to pay thousands for a solid rig. The simple physics of light come into play and 'bigger is better' does apply when collecting light.
So, no. You're never going to be able to cram a 'quality' camera into a 'thin' phone or the Pyra.
Yeah and take pictures of outings. Idk why people keep assuming like we are trying to make the Pyra a professional camera.We know devices like these are jack of all trades, master of none or few. (Just to be sure, I don't mean that as a negative.)
If it was built in, it would probably bulge out of the Pyra too.
Grench
Forum Addict!
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2008
- Messages
- 6,629
You did when you asked for a digital camera replacement, not a phone replacement. Any modern stand alone digital camera is going to take better pictures than 95% of the phones on the market - simply due to the light gathering capabilities of it's larger primary lens.
If you just want to be able to, "snap pictures of your children randomly", and don't care at all about picture quality or outcome, every pawn shop on the planet has dozens of out-dated digital cameras lying around. Get a few and leave them lying about so you're 'always ready' to snap that picture that they'll hate you later for taking.
Keeping the Pyra camera free is not just a hardware cost and placement issue. It is a valid security concern.
I suggest that everyone who is interested in an "official Pyra camera" tries to find a decent USB camera, decent in terms of image quality, compactness and price, and reports about it in this thread. If we can find a good one, we can suggest to ED to try to buy it in bulk and sell it from his shop as a Pyra accessory.
Grench
Forum Addict!
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2008
- Messages
- 6,629
When you move into small industrial imaging cameras there are some interesting options.
http://www.edmundoptics.com/cameras/usb-cameras/
http://www.ptgrey.com/flea3-usb3-vision-cameras
Not exactly in my budget, but if you want a tiny USB 3 camera with decent quality optics - they do apparently exist.
Similar threads
- Poll
