I was given a Sony Handycam several months ago and I stashed it away knowing that one day I’d pull it out and hack it in some way, probably multiple ways. I salvaged some pretty nifty bits from this camera but the coolest was the 20x zoom lens. It has focus and zoom controlled by two stepper motors.
When I removed the CDD I realized that the lens could easily be attached to a different CCD from another camera. Well it just so happens that I had an extra Logitech Quickcam someone gave to me and since I had been inside them before, I knew it would be a good candidate for this hack. With just a bit of modification to the mounting holes on the circuit board, I was able to mount the lens with two screws, nice and solid.
I was pleased with the results and I’d like to take the project a step further… pun intended, and connect the stepper motors to a controller so I can get finite adjustment of focus and zoom.
Enjoy the video…
keep on hackin!
Hi! I took great inspiration from this! I sourced a Handycam (faulty) from eBay for a really good bargain, and have the lens mated to a Logitech C120, I even have the stepper motors working from an arduino!
What I don’t understand….is there seems to be two home sensors, one each for the focus and the zoom. They have 4 pins but I have no idea how to utilize them, do you have any insights on how these work?
Look forward to hearing from you, and keep up the good work!
That’s cool that you have the steppes working with an Arduino! Way to go! I have no idea how the stop sensors work, but I’ll check them out. Probably an IR sensor.