Once upon a time…in 2011 to be exactly, there was this guy called Ryan Kojima who build a DIY medium format camera by using the CCD sensor from an Epson flatbed scanner. The camera was able to capture 514-megapixel photo’s.
Ryan Kojima was the first person ever who was able to convert an Epson CCD scanner into a digital camera that basically works as a normal scanner. You probably wonder how does a 514-megapixel photo looks like, and how did he do this? You can see it all in the video below.
Kojima never revealed how much his camera had cost to build, but says that making the camera was a lot of trial and error.
This inspired Yunus Zenichowski, who also build a scanner camera of his own. Zenichowski’s camera captures ‘only’ 489-megapixels, but he calls his camera a SCSC or Super Cheap Scanner Camera, because it only costs around $160 to build it, on condition the builder has access to a 3D printer. The SCSC uses the image sensor from an Epson V37 flatbed scanner. More info in the video below.
Wanna try it yourself? Zenichowski’s CAD files are open source and available on GrabCad.
https://grabcad.com/library/489-megapixel-diy-scanner-camera-1
