Stanford group release Open Source Camera - Frankencamera

I'm glad to see any type of open hardware; however, there is nothing intrinsically new about this hardware device. Essentially it is a commercial CCD or CMOS imager hooked up to an embedded Linux machine (such as a Beagle Board).

Something that would be much more exciting would be an open hardware initiative to build "computational cameras" -- such as ones that employ assorted pixel masks for high dynamic range or actuated imaging elements to produce flexible depth of field.

If you're into the idea of "computational cameras", there was a really cool plenary talk at a conference earlier this year -- check out some coverage at Hizook.com

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/06/26/computational-cameras-...

For those who don't know, Marc also did the Digital Michelangelo Project.

http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/ http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps290b/Fall05/readings/dmi...

Some hackers are also producing open source alternative firmware for commercial cameras:

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/ http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

As an amateur photographer who would love to do real in camera HDR photography this strikes me as being a really interesting development; I hope it marks the beginning of the end of the DSLR as _the_ professional choice, since they are often limited in bizarre ways because they are trying to conform to a mechanical model that does not map to what they are.