I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it • Hacker News Board

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#11

Post by Zak » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:38 PM UTC

ayoubd wrote: post #4

This is awesome! Great work. The "do first, ask questions later" mindset is inspiring as it's so easy (for me at least) to get stuck forever in a preparation / ideas phase. I would also love to see some photos taken with it.

Unless something went terribly wrong, they'll look just like photos taken with a Panasonic G9 II. Samples from that camera are readily available online.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#12

Post by SilentM68 » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:39 PM UTC

Wow, that's cool.

If there is anything that can be patented, I'd make sure to patent it.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#13

Post by s1mon » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:42 PM UTC

As someone who's been doing mechanical product engineering for 30+ years, doing this as a first project is way more than jumping off the deep end. Impressive.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#14

Post by Zak » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:44 PM UTC

SilentM68 wrote: post #12

Wow, that's cool. If there is anything that can be patented, I'd make sure to patent it.

Something is terribly wrong with the patent system if anything about sticking the innards of a commercially-produced camera into a different-shaped metal case is patentable.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#15

Post by Zak » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:47 PM UTC

The Panasonic GX series of cameras was very similar to what we see here, and prices for them remain elevated years past their discontinuation. I'm a little surprised they haven't introduced a new model in that lineup.

The Fuji X-E5 also seems similar to this, though obviously with a different lens mount.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#16

Post by blindstitch » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:48 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #3

> the lens should be as centered as possible. I wanted to avoid that horrendous look of cameras with the lens as close to the left edge as possible (Sony a6000, I’m looking at you here). Funny, the things some people obsess about :)

Practically and ergonomically I prefer a centered lens. Your hand has to reach less far to reach the focus ring and aperture control. Most slr cameras have buttons on both sides of the lens, so developing muscle memory is easier when those actions are split between each hand. Rotation of the camera is also much more natural. It also centers the lens' pov between your eyes, matching their parallax, which is really important for composing the photograph outside of the viewfinder.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#17

Post by _aavaa_ » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:48 PM UTC

srean wrote: post #7

Any chemists or crystallographers out here? I recently got curious about whether nature solves the Bayer pattern problem and if so, how. Are there any 3 element crystalline compounds with the formula A_2BC with roughly same sized atoms for A, B and C ? If they have a 2D tiling that would nature's Bayer pattern.

Natured solved it in our eyes by doing non-uniform placements of rods and cones (rather than uniform fixed pattern) and then fixing it in “software”.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#18

Post by _aavaa_ » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC

Zak wrote: post #14

SilentM68 wrote: post #12

Wow, that's cool. If there is anything that can be patented, I'd make sure to patent it.

Something is terribly wrong with the patent system if anything about sticking the innards of a commercially-produced camera into a different-shaped metal case is patentable.

If Nintendo can patent game mechanics despite prior art, anything’s possible.

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#19

Post by Zak » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:53 PM UTC

_aavaa_ wrote: post #18

Zak wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something is terribly wrong with the patent system if anything about sticking the innards of a commercially-produced camera into a different-shaped metal case is patentable.

If Nintendo can patent game mechanics despite prior art, anything’s possible.

I'm sure a number of things are terribly wrong with the patent system. Amazon's one-click patent is another that comes to mind. Patents are for how, and the how there is "store the default payment and shipping info in a database".

Re: I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it

#20

Post by _0xdd » Tue, Jan 06, 2026, 5:53 PM UTC

This is amazing. It's such a shame that Olympus and Panasonic have largely abandoned the small camera market within the M43 system. I really wish another manufacturer would step up and build something similar to the GX85, which is still one of my favorite walkaround cameras.