The Merlin Camera Packs a Raspberry Pi to Build a Python-Powered Custom Handheld Camera

Maker Varahamihir Gupta has shown off a device he calls the Merlin Camera, a Raspberry Pi-powered digital camera with a custom user interface written in Python.

"[The Merlin Camera] has an in-built 18650 battery and 3.5in touch screen," Gupta explains of his boxy camera build. "The GUI [Graphical User Interface] is made with [the] guizero Python library. Its running Raspbian OS desktop, with the code written in Python 3 and made to auto run the script on boot."

Driven by its internal Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless, with an original-model Raspberry Pi Camera Module as its sensor, the camera is housed in a case made of custom-cut acrylic. The camera lens, meanwhile, is protected by its own sheet of clear acrylic — giving it a little more robustness than a stock model.

"It takes photos, videos, along with GIFs made from a time lapse sequence," Gupta explains. "It has a really good night mode which takes like 30 secs to capture but delivers really good pictures in low light."

"It has a Polaroid mode that makes the picture have white bars around it which you can printout and it'd feel like a actual Polaroid picture. There's a 5-sec timer and some other modes (9 in total). All files are stored on its SD Card and it connects to the users' mobile hotspot or home Wi-Fi. Then you can use the FTP network with a password and view, share, download the files as per your liking."

Gupta has indicated he will be sharing the code in the near future, but warns "it's dirty code — [I] need to delete a few comments and add some." More details are available in the project's Reddit thread.