VWFNDR™ — 010
KEIRIN prototypes 001 & 002 serve as experimental canvases, exploring interaction patterns and real-world form factor testing. These prototypes also allow us to enjoy experimenting and have fun while learning and iterating.
Early prototypes deviate significantly from the intended final product. However, this phase is crucial for the team to discern effective elements in design, shape, and interface.
Lucas, our newest team member, introduced in our last newsletter, sheds light on the journey that led him to develop the foundation for our upcoming prototypes.
“BUILDING A CAMERA IN YOUR BEDROOM”
Cameras are incredible pieces of technology that require a combination of many different complex elements to produce a single image. If we were to separate these elements into simple categories we’d get:
Control: Setting of capture options such as exposure speed, aperture, etc.
Capture: Collect rays of light onto a single area, for a specific time.
Store: Save the image to reproduce it in the future
View: Some way of seeing the photograph.
We wanted to build our prototype as quickly as possible and started by looking at what kind of off-the-shelf components existed that could be used to put something together.
Control: Raspberry Pi + Rotary Encoder
Capture: Pi Camera
Store: SD Memory Card
View: Hyperpixel Screen
MINIMUM FUNCTIONAL PROTOTYPE
Putting all these elements together we get something that starts to slowly resemble a functional camera. To hold it all in place, we 3D printed a basic mounting place.
THE ROTARY ENCODER → DIAL
The next step is to add the functionality to use the dial on the side of the camera. Since the Hyperpixel display uses all of the Pi’s GPIO pins, we need to use an MCP23008 port expander to capture signals from the rotary encoder and shutter button and send them to the Pi.
Up until now, we were using Processing to quickly test interface designs and interactions, but it was time to ditch all of that in favour of using Python with PyQT for the GUI. Using Python gives us a better performance on the Pi and access to many lower-level libraries. Lucky for us, there’s also a Python library for PiCamera so we can render a live preview of the camera feed without much additional work.
PCB TIME
To avoid a bunch of messy soldering I used this opportunity to design a printed circuit board (PCB) that would help connect the rotary encoder and buttons to the Raspberry Pi with an I2C port expander.
This PCB is designed to hold the rotary encoder in place and can connect up to 4 additional buttons which we could use for the shutter and other functions.
THE CURVED SCREEN
While we managed to create a camera that has the same physical form factor as the initial CAD designs, there’s one key thing that’s missing: the curved screen. And this one was proving especially difficult to source.
We managed to find a beautiful, extremely thin, and high-resolution device. However, we soon realised that it was much too delicate for our clumsy hands…
And so the curved screen would not be part of this prototype, but the battle is not over yet, and we are continuing to explore ways to make it work.
BRINGING EVERYTHING TOGETHER
Alongside all of the electronics work, we were working hard to design a 3D printable enclosure that matched the original designs and could work with the electronics we put together for the prototype.
Collaborating on this between London and Tokyo was not easy, but after sending every measurement that could be measured back and forth we arrived at a product that had the same form factor as the original idea but contained the prototype components.
NEXT STEPS
Of course, a prototype is only the beginning. We wanted to see how far we can get using off-the-shelf components. While it’s incredible to be able to put something like this together with minimal costs, there are also some very obvious limitations.
We’re currently working hard on the next iteration which will get us closer to the final camera design.
Stay tuned to see it and feel it in our upcoming event!
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VWFNDR ™ — KEIRIN SHOWCASE
We´re very happy to announce we will be hosting our very first exhibition in our home city of Tokyo, this April.
The exhibition celebrates one year of launching both VWFNDR as a platform and KEIRIN as our inaugural project. VWFNDR aims to be a space to discuss, conceptualise and celebrate photography in its contemporary and near-future state.
Join us to celebrate this milestone. We'll bring digital and physical design processes in conversation with a showcase of contemporary panoramic photography. With this event and your assistance, we aim to answer the question: “Why yet another physical camera?”.
CONTRAST gallery Tokyo → April 20 + 21
For those outside Japan or unable to attend the event IRL, we will release an online showcase available in our next issue:
011 - KEIRIN SHOWCASE → April 2024
Stay tuned & keep shooting 💥
VWFNDR™ is an open project for like-minded creators passionate about photography, please get in touch below with feedback or to get involved!
VIEWFINDER - A project by Nuevo.Tokyo and Mireia.Studio
UX/UI/Ideation → Alvaro Arregui Falcon
Industrial Design/Ideation → Mireia Gordi i Vila
This is all very interesting, but you are still in competition with other full-frame 61MP cameras, whose images can easily be cropped at will into a panoramic ratio; if you were to design a camera with a higher pixel count, which would require a "medium format" sensor with a 21 up to 24mm equivalent lens, now that would be something, provided the final price would be extremely competitive against Fujifilm or Hasselblad or others. And also have a compact form factor. Having been panoramic shooter for decades, this is my take on your development. A very intriguing concept and project, but truly sufficiently competitive against Sony 61MP cameras (A7R Iv and V, A7CR), Sigma FP L, Fujifilm GFX 50MP and 100MP, and Hasselblad 50MP and 100MP cameras? Leica has a 61MP too, but's very expnesive. It could be a winner perhaps, if the purchase price is really competitive. Remember, you are a newcomer, so the trust level among potential consumers may not be that high, and you would need to prove yourself with superior images, great battery life, knock-out color science, sharpness of a really fantastic lens without distortion, and get great reviews and recommendations by the major photography websites and magazines. It has to be a knockout standout product. Good luck! Would love to test a pre-production unit!
Coooooooool!!!!