Hacking a digital camera - any takers?

[davek57]

One of the do-it-yourself magazines is trying to put together an article on

hacking a digital camera. The editor's asking if it's safe to disassemble a

digicam after leaving out the batteries for a day or two, on the assumption that

the high-voltage charge in the flash capacitor will dissipate.

 

I don't know the answer, but I don't think it's safe at all.

 

Has anyone in this community taken apart a digital camera (non-DSLR) to modify

it? I've seen instructions for removing the IR filter, but I'm wondering if

anyone's taken on other modifications -- and what results you've found?

 

-Dave

[mars c]

Question, Why do you want to hack your own digicam? What are you trying to achieve with it?

[alan_chan4]

You might try to fire the flash at max output (but every camera is different) then immediately pop out the battery w/o trying to turn off the camera first. This should pretty much drain almost all the power out of the capactor.

[wigwam jones]

"The editor's asking if it's safe to disassemble a digicam after leaving out the batteries for a day or two, on the assumption that the high-voltage charge in the flash capacitor will dissipate."

 

Yes, the charge will dissipate. Through your body when you touch it and complete a path to ground.

 

In normal circumstances, the charge will not dissipate for a very long time indeed. Capacitors are quite good at holding charge.

[keith_van_hulle1]

<i>"Why do you want to hack your own digicam? "</i>

<p><p>

If you have to ask why, you'll never understand. Does there have to be a reason or purpose?

[davek57]

I don't intend to hack my own camera. It's a dumb idea to modify a digital camera, period. But this editor had it in his head that it would be "neat" to modify a camera for astrophotography.

 

Never mind that you can get far better star photographs with a $50 SLR, $5 worth of film, and a tripod.

 

But I was curious to see if anyone's gone down the "hack your camera" road. So far, it seems not.

 

-Dave

[kelly_flanigan1]

For many folks modifing ones tools is not in their ability. Buying store bought solutions is the only way for them. Some folks like to experiment, build and modify tools.<BR><BR> In past eras this was more of the norm, when folks had less spendable cash; and building ones own gear was done to save money, actually learn by doing, or to build a tool that is not available.<BR><BR> Many folks today are actually afraid to experiment. A cornerstone is being lost. The store bought bubble pack solution is what most folks do; with some attacking of those who experiment with photo tools as being wrong.<BR><BR><BR><BR> Using digital sensors in astro work goes back decades before photoshop. Making sub freezing cooled enclosures to reduce the sensor's noise is a decade old trick. Some folks are still going to experiment; often with the bubble pack folks old camera that doesnt work, because they cannot load the batteries. :)<BR><BR>

[wisp]

There was in article in Make magazine last year that modified a 'disposable' digital - you mail it in and they send you a CD of photos - they basically hacked this $20 camera and added a USB interface to it to allow for downloads. Then they used the camera in a rocket :P

 

The size of capacitor that will be in a digital camera for the built-in flash is not going to kill you or evn hurt you. If it is fully charged, it might make you curse. The capacitors in your microwave are ones to watch out for - you can arc-weld with those (I have... accidently). If you are really worried about the cap, when you find it, attach a big resistor across the leads - it will drain slowly.

 

I always amazed by how reluctant people are to open things up and screw with them - if this guy is thinking about donating it to astrophotography, he prob isn't using it that much anyway in its current incarnation. Why not try to mod it? What is the worst that could happen (see note about how weak the capacitor is likely to be above). Warranties exist to be voided.

 

(standard disclaimer: YMMV, AYDYDAYOR, IANAL, etc etc etc)

[michaelging]

Most capacitors have a bleed circuit that drains the power from a capacitor if there is no power going to it. Have you not noticed that if you leave your flash off for a few minutes that you to wait for it to fully charge again. It does not hold a charge for any long period of time.As said above, it's not going to kill you anyway.I collect and work on old Tube radios and TVs and have even been zapped by a TV annode and I am OK, well I think I am OK.

[jcuknz]

I was zapped by one of the early Mecablitz flash units about fourty years ago ... I wouldn't recommend it but I'm here to write this, because I was careful not to repeat the exercise :-)

[sam_thompson2]

You can see people hacking their digital cameras here.

 

http://www.google.com/custom?domains=www.makezine.com%3Bwww.craftzine.com&q=digital+camera+hacking&sitesearch=www.makezine.com&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&client=pub-1711976718738240&forid=1&channel=8892213924&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&flav=0000&sig=pKjZzpenr7cuklTR&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23FFFFFF%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A50%3BLW%3A125%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.makezine.com%2Fimages%2Flogos%2Fmake.gif%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.makezine.com%2F%3BFORID%3A1&hl=en

[tom_jenner1]

Most caps have bleeder resistors across their terminals however I wouldn't count on that. If one has the ability to hack a digicam then they should have the ability to safely discharge a photoflash capacitor using an appropriate resistor. Most smaller caps only hold about 8 Joules of energy (if you discharge a photoflash cap into a 1/4 watt 1 ohm resistor, the resistor will explode like a gunshot. If you plug a phoptoflash cap into a 120 volt AC wall outlet BTW, the cap will explode much louder than that!).

 

I've hacked a cheap non-flash camera a few years ago to be controlled by a Pic 16F84 microcontroller.

 

-Tom

[sfh]

You could always take a pair of wire cutters and cut the capacitor out, do whatever it is you

are trying to accomplish, then soder it back in.

[rainer_t]

-- " The editor's asking if it's safe to disassemble a digicam after leaving out the batteries for a day or two, on the assumption that the high-voltage charge in the flash capacitor will dissipate"

 

It is very unlikely, that the capacitor of a built-in flash unit (even fully charged) will do you much harm. It's much more likely, that the person disassembling the camera will severly damage the camera with static electricity.

 

Rainer