Shot on Pi: We Found the Most Gorgeous DIY Camera on the Internet
Over on Reddit, user u/Yutani140x shared SATURNIX, a fully custom, open-source digital camera they designed and built themselves, and it looks like it was pulled straight off the prop table of a late-80s sci-fi film. Chunky. Industrial. Beautiful. But here’s the thing: it’s not just a pretty enclosure. This thing actually works, and works well.
SATURNIX is built around a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W paired with an Arducam IMX519 16MP autofocus sensor, a 2″ IPS LCD viewfinder, and a 3D-printed enclosure. It shoots RAW (DNG) and JPG simultaneously, with full manual controls, shutter speeds from 30s to 1/4000, ISO from 100 to 3200, white balance, EV compensation, and multiple autofocus modes including continuous, single-shot, and manual.
What really sets it apart is the film simulation engine baked right into the camera. Presets like Gold 400, Ektar 100, Fuji 400, TriX 400 (a classic black-and-white with rich grain), and even a lo-fi VHS mode with scanlines and chromatic aberration are all processed on-device, no apps, no cloud, no phone required. The photos coming out of this thing look like they were developed in a darkroom, not spat out by a Pi Zero.
The UI is equally considered. It features a live histogram with an exposure traffic light, composition grids for thirds and golden ratio, an auto-hiding interface that clears the viewfinder after 15 seconds, and a retro terminal-style web gallery accessible over the Pi’s built-in WiFi hotspot for photo transfers. Even the feedback sounds, five mechanical Kailh switches and a passive buzzer, were deliberately chosen to feel tactile and satisfying.
The maker spent a year on this. It shows.
What You'd Need to Built It
The parts list is lean and very Pi-friendly with links of what we have:
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2W – the heart of the build, compact and capable enough to handle the camera pipeline
- Arducam IMX519 16MP Autofocus Camera Module – the workhorse sensor with continuous autofocus support
- Waveshare 2″ IPS LCD (SPI) – small, sharp, and perfect for a viewfinder
- MicroSD Card (32GB+) – for storing RAW+JPG files and the OS
- Passive Buzzer (MH-FMD) – for that deeply satisfying shutter click
- 5× Kailh Low Profile Mechanical Switches – for the physical controls
- 3D Printed Enclosure – STL files are available in the project’s GitHub repo
- USB-C power or a Waveshare UPS HAT if you want to go fully portable and battery-powered
What We'd Add
As polished as SATURNIX already is, the maker’s own roadmap hints at where things could go next, and there’s plenty of room to make it your own:
- A GPS module (like the u-blox NEO-6M) could geotag every photo, useful for travel or wildlife photography
- An e-ink secondary display on the back for reviewing shots without draining the main screen
- A physical mode dial using a rotary encoder for fast switching between film simulations without diving into menus
- IR remote shutter support for long exposures and self-portraits – a natural fit with the Pi’s GPIO
- A larger battery solution using a LiPo with the Pimoroni LiPo SHIM for Zero would give you a full day of shooting
The firmware is still pre-release and the full open-source drop is coming soon, but the GitHub repo is already live with hardware files and sample images. If you’ve ever wanted a camera that feels genuinely yours, this is a rare one.
