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!

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