[HalfDeadTree]

Alright boys and girls, I need your help.

My k10d took a hefty foot to the face a few years ago and completely cracked the body. The camera was pretty much unfunctional... So, i just jammed it away in a closet with the old film cameras and point and shoots i never use anymore.

Anyways, I was cleaning up a few weeks ago and came across it, and decided to take a look at it. Turns out, the sensor was fine, the electronics still worked, and even the mirror would still click up and down.. Just there was one problem, the mount was dead and wouldn't AF a lens, or better yet...won't even mount a lens. So...i was thinking the other day and was like "what if I could put the electronics in my 1 of 4 k1000 bodies i have sitting around". So i've been thinking about it, and decided to come to my buddies over at the forums to ask you guys.

Any suggestions as to going about doing this? Where should i put all the buttons and screens, etc.

Thanks for any help you can give, Jon.

[jeztastic]

It's a beautiful idea, I love it, but is it possible? Where will you put the battery for starters...

[interested_observer]

How about looking for a dead K10 with a good body, Combine the good guts with the good body....

[Aristophanes]

Why ruin a film camera?

[sjwaldron]

I've had an interest in trying that as well. The K10D guts might be too large though...

I'd say just disassemble the K10D and gut the film camera to see if everything will fit. You will probably have to take a dremmel to the insides of the film camera to empty it out and cut a hole for the LCD or whatever. Buttons could be the most challenging aspect though.

[HalfDeadTree]

It's a beautiful idea, I love it, but is it possible? Where will you put the battery for starters...

Well, right where the roll of film tends to go was looking like a nifty place to put those batteries. And i figured if i could wire it right the sd card slot could fit up in there too.

How about looking for a dead K10 with a good body, Combine the good guts with the good body....

Psh....That's not new and fun.

Why ruin a film camera?

I think the better question, is why not ruin a film camera?

I'd say just disassemble the K10D and gut the film camera to see if everything will fit. You will probably have to take a dremmel to the insides of the film camera to empty it out and cut a hole for the LCD or whatever. Buttons could be the most challenging aspect though.

Oh trust me, the camera's been close to dissembled for years after it took the foot to the lens and front of the body, but anyways, i was pondering putting the bottons like on the side, and the mode wheel somehow in the bottom left corner kinda tucked in there, and then the same with the settings wheels put one on the bottom, left and one on the top lefft area....but who knows..

[builttospill]

Take pictures throughout the process and post them here!

[HalfDeadTree]

Take pictures throughout the process and post them here!

Haha will do! Just don't plan on this process starting soon...schools about to get in the way...oh how i love it..

[Blue]

Maybe put a lens mount onto the K10d from a film body with the same registration distance as Pentax such as the Mamiya Z type mount.

[HalfDeadTree]

Maybe put a lens mount onto the K10d from a film body with the same registration distance as Pentax such as the Mamiya Z type mount.

Psh! No way, that's way to simple. xD

[Blue]

Psh! No way, that's way to simple. xD

How cool would it be to have the first dSLR Mamiya. As hard as it is for some people to believe, the Mamiya-Sekor 50/1.7 S is smaller and lighter than the M 50/1.7. Plus with the P adapter it can handle m42 lenses including the automatic diaphragm lenses lacking the A-M switch.

[adr1an]

I'll stick my hand up and say if you dont get anywhere with this - I'll take the body off you!
I'm after the Flash Board and the left mode-dial Flex-PCB....

Refer https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/wanted-items/152312-wanted-dead-damaged-k10d-body.html

[TomB_tx]

Looked for a while 10 years ago like this could be easy:
Silicon Film demos EFS-1: Digital Photography Review
The last prototypes looked promising, but the market window was judged too narrow, and it folded.

More to the story, and how close it came to production, towards the bottom of this page:
http://leica.nemeng.com/004fa.shtml

[HalfDeadTree]

Dang, that honestly looks like it would've gone over incredibly well...even if that digital roll was like 100 bucks, you'd get unlimited uses from what it sounds like...
But i'm still convinced i can get this to work with the k10's sensor...so who needs silicon film anyways?

[asaru]

I have long thought about doing something like this, but have never progressed beyond thought experiments. Here's the basics as I see them, for the 1.5 cents they're worth:

1. There are two kinds of image sensors: CCD and CMOS. Basically the CMOS type seems to be the easier to integrate, since they output the image in raw format directly rather than as a set of analog charges that have to be converted to bits through custom circuitry or software. Is that what you have?

2. The main idea for the analog-image interface probably runs something like this:

a. As long as the digifilm module is "on", the sensor should be ready to capture an image.

b. When the shutter is tripped, light collection starts; when it closes, light collection stops.

(Note: the FP flash sync can be used to mark (a) and (b); it closes a circuit if and only if the shutter is open. A little wire can stretch from the female FP plug at the front of the camera through the back to the digifim, much in the way of some late-70s data backs.)

c. When the film-advance lever is wound, the image is either (1) copied into storage as a new file if the film rewind button is NOT depressed, or (2) overlaid onto the previous "active" file in storage if the film rewind button IS depressed. This is the analog of multiple-exposure modes.

Note. Thus the shutter speed and the aperture are set "manually" only.

d. The sensor has to be given a light-sensitivity setting that corrsponds to the film ASA. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to latch onto the existing metering ciruits inside the camera (they're the only component to make use of the ASA setting on top of the shutter dial). Therefore, a second ASA/ISO speed control is required, likely accessible through the back.

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Here are some (not all) of the design considerations:

1. The sensor can fit where the metal film back is on the camera. Unfortunately the existing sensors in Pentax DSLRs such as the one you're thinking of cannibalizing are not full-frame (35x24mm) and so the image will be cropped. Otherwise, a custom -- probably very expensive -- full-frame sensor can be obtained.

2. The sensor also requires a battery.

3. The sensor requires a bit of control as per the above. You can use either analong circuitry or a digital controller.

4. The digifilm needs a persistent storage medium. A flash card is an obvious choice.

NOTE. If you go the analog route you can design the circuits using any one of several free circuit design apps (search the web) and build it with very cheap basic components, but you will need more skills than to go with an embedded software controller chip (here a "PC on a chip" is the simplest but most expensive solution.) Also you need to transfer the image back onto the flash card. If building the digifilm module from nothing this probably makes the PC-on-a-chip controller the most effective way to go. However, since you are cannibalizing pieces from an existing DSLR none of this is probably a consideration, sice you can use the existing electronics. Yo then just need to do a bit of custom analog circuitry.

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In general, I think digifilm should be as close to real film as possible, to make the maximum use of the existing mechanics inside the camera. In particular, chimping should probably not be an option if building from scratch. But since you are cannibalizing, you may find it easire to cannibalize the whole back structure with its previews and so on.

If you can, I would make use of an actual "film" that threads onto the takeup reels and by moving or not, depending on whether the film-rewing putton is pushed in or not, sets the image-storage option to new-file or overlay. I suppose it could be made to go behind the actual image sensor.

The whole digilm module would consist of a back, with an external power switch and an ASA setter, and internally an image sensor, built-in film reel (think something like "gluing" a film cartridge to the camera back! , battery holder, controller+circuitry, and pc card slotted in.

I apologize for the lack of precision in the above thoughts.