Ireland-based photographer David Hunt came up with an ingenious idea to bring the computer to his camera by making a Raspberry Pi-enhanced DSLR battery grip. Hunt's custom grip, called the Camera Pi, houses a fully functioning Linux computer (running Raspbian) with two USB ports, an Ethernet adapter, a video port, an HDMI connector, and GPIO.
The modded battery grip still clips onto the bottom of Hunt's Canon 5D Mark II, despite all the extra parts. The on-board computer doesn't do anything to improve his images, but it does let him wirelessly tether his camera to a PC via a Wi-Fi dongle.
While the camera is connected to a Wi-Fi dongle, Hunt can remotely control his camera using a networked PC or a smartphone, and he can even wake it using the remote trigger. The Camera Pi also allows the camera to directly back up its images to a USB flash drive, as well as set up a custom intervalometer with programmable camera settings.
Hunt wants to further modify his battery grip by adding a small screen and an internal power supply for his Raspberry Pi board. Seeing as he's already accomplished so much, these additions probably will be no problem for him.
[David Hunt Photography via DIY Photography Flickr Pool and Make]
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This story, "This Raspberry Pi Camera Grip Turns Your DSLR Into a Smart Camera" was originally published by PCWorld.