Instructions for hacking a couple of $11 Dakota digital cameras into a stereo digital camera rig. You’ll need a couple of Dakotas, two male USB ports (salvaged from mice) and some Lego. Apparently you can get these “disposable” cameras from Wolf and Ritz Camera stores, though I haven’t tried.
This site will be handy for figuring out the USB pinouts.
Eddie Codel is a live video streaming consultant, producer and videographer based in San Francisco. I make pictures move across the tubes. I am for hire.
John
November 30th, 2005 at 1:02 am
Yep, it works and as far as I know you can still get the cameras at Wolf/Ritz. I haven’t used it in a while because I gave one of the cameras to my oldest kid. I noticed that the quality of the cameras were a little unpredictable (color was off, focus was not flat, center of the picture was different on each camera…) so I didn’t spend a whule bunch of time on making a better mount than the LEGO one I started with. I have been working on a better DIY FAQ. I hope to have it posted in a few days. BTW, thanks for liking the project!
John
November 29th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Yep, it works and as far as I know you can still get the cameras at Wolf/Ritz. I haven’t used it in a while because I gave one of the cameras to my oldest kid. I noticed that the quality of the cameras were a little unpredictable (color was off, focus was not flat, center of the picture was different on each camera…) so I didn’t spend a whule bunch of time on making a better mount than the LEGO one I started with. I have been working on a better DIY FAQ. I hope to have it posted in a few days. BTW, thanks for liking the project!
akay
December 4th, 2005 at 5:14 am
ahhh… yes. the famous ritz-special dakota! they’ve been making them for years. the dakota point-and-shoot doesn’t even make it into the “happy-snappy” category. instead, my friend rick, whom i worked with at ritz camera when i was in high school, give it its own special category and dubbed it the “crappy-snappy”.
akay
December 3rd, 2005 at 9:14 pm
ahhh… yes. the famous ritz-special dakota! they’ve been making them for years. the dakota point-and-shoot doesn’t even make it into the “happy-snappy” category. instead, my friend rick, whom i worked with at ritz camera when i was in high school, give it its own special category and dubbed it the “crappy-snappy”.