Having been teased and tempted by so many similar gadgets in the past, I can’t quite believe that the DigiPod could ever be real. But the folks at Indiegogo at least seem to have some faith in the new pitch on their site. The DigiPod is a little insert which slips into your film SLR and turns it digital.
The DigiPod is effectively an entire (tiny) camera which fits inside the film chamber of a 35mm camera. Thus you get to use the focus and aperture controls of your classic film camera, but with digital capture. The unit has its own shutter, which is triggered when you fire the shutter release of the host body. The mechanism behind this isn’t revealed on the video or on the site, which are the first signs that got my Spidey-senses tingling.
The other problem is that the sensor is smaller than full-frame. The DigiPod kit will ship with a mask so that your viewfinder matches the sensor area, and the unit will ship with a 8.8 x 6.6 millimeter sensor, roughly a quarter the size of a piece of film. If the project gets 5,000 backers, the budget will allow for a much bigger 18.0 x 13.5 sensor. Thus, you go into the deal now knowing what you’re going to get out of it, if anything.
Still, I’m sure plenty of folks will jump at the chance to use their beautiful old film cameras again. I would, but I’n not willing to put £199 ($311) on an unknown product.
