Initial Random Thoughts

I've decided no to give up on this project, but to change it up instead. I still have my camera module and lens, but need a Pi to use with it. I do have the new Pi Zero 2 W, but want more power. I plan to use a Pi CM4 with all the options in the official carrier board. It has dual camera interfaces, which could be really nice. I can't seem to find a CM4 for sale right now, so I will have to wait on the hardware.

The end goal is to have some sort of self contained video creation device I can take with me. Looks like a camera, edits and uploads videos on the side. I found the Pi 400 plenty powerful enough for video editing. I have an entire project for using the Pi 400 as a daily driver where I do my video editing tests as well. It's called Raspberry Pi 400 Daily Driver. I am too lazy to add a link right now, sorry. It's Thanksgiving Day here in the US and I am celebrating alone by working on my projects and cooking myself a nice dinner.

I suspect the most difficult aspects of this project are going to be software and the case. I want something that looks like a professional camera, but also actually works. I want it to be very reliable, so I may use a separate Pi to run the camera module and just dump the files onto a shared storage device that the CM4 could access. This way I could let a video render on the CM4 and still shoot footage using a Pi Zero 2 W. Getting the Pi hardware, massive battery, charging circuitry, data storage, lighting, and audio equipment into a nice looking case is going to be a challenge. I also want a nice touchscreen display on it and will likely go with the 7" display I've used before. The software shouldn't be too difficult, and I now have some experience with basic GUI design and programming. My first version of the camera software was command line and accepted keyboard input. I want keyboard input and touchscreen input on the final device.

Displays

The CM4 would open up dual DPI ports and allow me to use 2 of the official 7" touchscreens, if I am understanding this correctly. This would be perfect as one could be used as a viewfinder and the other as a teleprompter, which I use. If the HDMI ports are still accessible on top of this, I would have 2 more display options. his thing could end up being an incredibly versatile and useful general purpose computer. Getting all the displays to work in software might be a challenge.

Cameras

I plan to use the standard HQ camera modules for this project in the hopes that a 4K version will be released with the same form factor in the future. If so, I could upgrade to 4K and keep using this camera for many years to come. Right now I only have the one camera, but can get a second in he future.

Final Thoughts

I have many projects going on right now, but they are teaching me the skills needed to finish others, such as this one. I'd love to have this completed before I start my next round of travels and use it to record my journey. I will try to get it working before then, but won't stress if I don't manage it. Either way, I will still be using a Pi to edit my adventure videos. I really don't like most commercial camera offerings, so Pi it is.