This Awesome DIY Digital Camera Has a Waist-Level Viewfinder

Photographer Malcolm Wilson, who recently converted a broken film camera into an infrared digital point-and-shoot, is back with another awesome camera build. This time, Wilson combined a Mamiya C220 TLR viewfinder, Raspberry Pi, and Sony image sensor to create a waist-level viewfinder digital camera.

“At a high level, it’s a waist-level viewfinder camera built around a Raspberry Pi 5, a Sony IMX283 Type 1 sensor, and a Mamiya C220 TLR viewfinder,” Wilson writes on his Substack, “Camera Hacks by Malcolm-Jay.” But his new DIY camera is much more than that.

Powered by the Raspberry Pi 5, Sony IMX image sensor, and clever coding, the 3D-printed camera offers focus peaking, a live histogram, manual shutter speed control, Wi-Fi image transfer, and automatic ISO. It also sports a large four-inch HDMI display.

The sensor is actually the OneInchEye V2 from Tindie. It costs $179 and pairs the IMX283 sensor with an image processor, CS mount, CS-to-C mount adapter, and IR filter.

For lenses, Wilson opted for C-Mount on this camera project, which enables the use of many excellent Fujinon television lenses. He used the Fujinon 9mm f/1.4 and 25mm f/1.4 primes on prior projects, and gave them new life with his latest camera. He also tinkered with Pentax Takumar lenses.

Once Wilson printed the camera’s case and acquired the sensor board, he had to determine how to power the camera and what type of viewfinder to use. The camera is powered by a Geekworm X1200 battery module, which is wired to a momentary switch mounted in the camera’s case and attached to Raspberry Pi 5.

The “viewfinder” is the aforementioned four-inch HDMI screen placed inside the waist-level finder borrowed from the Mamiya C220 TLR camera. It is really nifty, and a charming blend of old-school analog photography and modern digital technology.

As Wilson demonstrated in a fashion photoshoot in his studio, the camera, despite being powered by a relatively small image sensor, can deliver some truly incredible results, especially when used in good lighting conditions.

Beyond being very good at hacking custom cameras, which Wilson details on his Substack, he is also an excellent photographer. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Image credits: Malcolm Wilson