{"id":481108,"date":"2026-02-17T17:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/481108\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T17:17:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:17:29","slug":"a-computer-that-fits-inside-a-camera-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/481108\/","title":{"rendered":"A Computer That Fits Inside A Camera Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a long while, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras were the king of the castle for professional and amateur photography. They brought large sensors, interchangeable lenses, and professional-level viewfinders to the digital world at approachable prices, and then cemented their lead when they started being used to create video as well. They\u2019re experiencing a bit of a decline now, though, as mirrorless cameras start to dominate, and with that comes some unique opportunities. To attach a lens meant for a DSLR to a mirrorless camera, an adapter housing must be used, and [Ancient] found a way to squeeze a computer and a programmable aperture into this tiny space<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The programmable aperture is based on an LCD screen from an old cell phone. LCD screens are generally transparent until their pixels are switched, and in most uses as displays a backer is put in place so someone can make out what is on the screen. [Ancient] is removing this backer, though, allowing the LCD to be completely transparent when switched off. The screen is placed inside this lens adapter housing in the middle of a PCB where a small computer is also placed. The computer controls the LCD via a set of buttons on the outside of the housing, allowing the photographer to use this screen as a programmable aperture.<\/p>\n

The LCD-as-aperture has a number of interesting uses that would be impossible with a standard iris aperture. Not only can it function as a standard iris aperture, but it can do things like cycle through different areas of the image in sequence, open up arbitrary parts or close off others, and a number of other unique options. It\u2019s worth checking out the video below, as [Ancient] demonstrates many of these effects towards the end. We\u2019ve seen some of these effects before, although those were in lenses that were mechanically controlled instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thanks to [kemfic] for the tip!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a long while, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras were the king of the castle for professional and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-481108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}