How would I rebuild an ancient film camera into a digital?

I'm not sure if this is possible, but I have an Olympus Trip 35 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Tri... ) Its very nice and old and has an amazing lens, but getting stuff developed is a real drag. So I think it'd be more fun to take it apart, gut a digital camera and stick its peices in the back. I'm willing to put a lot of hours in to get this thing to work. Ideally i'd want a nice viewing window on the back. The thing that I'm guessing will make the whole thing impossible is controlling the shutter, and using the button on the top. What do you think people? is this feasible?

hi...r u kidding??....

Easier to just buy a new digital camera. What you are asking is like asking how to turn a bike into a car.

Or you could juet get a digital SLR camera... might aswell after all the money spent on the rebuild of a film camera...

You seem like a electronics hacker. Instead of posting this question here, I suggest posting this rather ambitious project in a message board on the web dedicated electronics modding, hacking, and reverse engineering.

If you do that, you will be a millionaire.

forget it. the time and money involved would be a waste. just go buy a nice digital, with a large screen, high resolution (10-12mp) and put your old film camera to rest. in a few years, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a film developer that you can afford.
the technology has changed, so get with the times.

GOOD LUCK.

Not really.

You're better off buying any Sony with a Zeiss, Canon, Nikon or Kodak with a Schinder.

Listen, you are a man after my own heart, I would have tried, and my cameras are worth hundred's, literally. It would have been nice for me to do it.. But , reality has to click in. It is not worth it, really. I don't think it can be done. I would have loved to do it myself, but it's not feasable. Better to buy a new digi, as I have just done this year. A fuji s9500. A trickle over three........But that leaves me with a problem, what to do with my old one's. A canon f1. And a hasselblad 500cm. I just love the canon f1, and couldn't part with it, same as the hasselblad. You would have the same prob.
bob upth north.........................

What you are proposing is not practical for at least two reasons:

1. Point and shoot digital cameras usually have shutters which are partially electrical and partially mechanical - The sensor starts to capture the exposure when you click the shutter - but the mechanical shutter is also used to get exact exposure.

2. The sensors in point and shoot digital cameras are very small - about 1/4 inch in diameter - So the lens on your Olympus will produce a strong telephoto effect.

However some digital camera hacking is possible if you are handy with tools.

- I once cut the lens off a cheap digital camera (It did not have a zoom) - I then added a Nikon Lens mount - which enabled me to get really powerful telephoto effects with a telephoto Nikon lens.

-There is information on the web on converting a scanner to a digital camera. See:

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/tech/scan... and

http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/text-better-s...

I think that kind of conversion could be an interesting project - particularly if you can find an old scanner that will not have to be plugged into an AC outlet and can be connected to a laptop computer.

Scanning backs are actually made commercially for large format cameras - They cost thousands of dollars: See

http://www.betterlight.com/