The WLV-01 brings the feeling of waist-level photography to a camera you can take apart, change and make your own.
A closer look at the WLV-01 behind the scenes, from the person who built it. Press play.
Start with the camera you want today. Change the parts, the look and the way it works as your photography evolves.
Choose IMX294, IMX492 or IMX585 sensor options. Explore colour, monochrome RAW and dedicated monochrome capture, then swap your sensor as your photography evolves. All options are full spectrum.
E-mount, Fuji X and Micro Four Thirds options let you build around your glass. The interchangeable helicoid system adds manual focusing and macro capability. There is no electronic aperture control from the WLV-01.
Make the body your own with printable STL files. Rework a part, build an accessory or replace a component instead of starting over.
Built around Raspberry Pi 5 and Python. Camera purchases include source code for owners to modify and share with the Camera Hacks community. The code is not publicly published.
Manual focus via the helicoid system. No electronic aperture control.
See the mount system ↗Explore IMX294, IMX492 and IMX585 options, from colour and monochrome RAW to a dedicated monochrome sensor.
Micro Four Thirds / Quad Bayer
Full resolution / binned capture
A colour sensor with room to experiment. Shoot at 47MP or in the 11MP binned mode, and explore 11MP monochrome RAW created from the sensor data.
Micro Four Thirds
Detail or binned monochrome capture
Choose a dedicated monochrome sensor for black-and-white photography. The true monochrome option has no colour filter array, with 47MP and 11MP modes to explore.
Swappable sensor module
Black and white at the sensor
The IMX585 also offers a true monochrome option with no colour filter array. A dedicated path into monochrome photography within the same modular system.
Choose full resolution or binned capture. Explore what each mode brings to your photographs.
Full-resolution capture for fine textures and room to crop.
01 / FULL RESOLUTIONBinned capture combines pixels into a lower-resolution image for a different shooting option.
02 / BINNED CAPTUREThe IMX294 can create an 11MP monochrome RAW image from its Quad Bayer sensor data, using its green photosites in the reconstruction. Its colour filter array remains in place.
The true monochrome IMX492 and IMX585 options use sensors without a colour filter array, capturing monochrome at the sensor itself. Choose the approach that suits the way you want to shoot.
Inside the sensor development ↗switch between 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9 with a single tap, so you compose for the frame you actually want.
Focus peaking and magnification help you place focus deliberately, by hand.
Combine frames in-camera and explore multiple exposures as part of the shooting process.
Choose your look in-camera, with film simulations as part of the live shooting experience.
Explore the web interface and exposure tools alongside the camera’s physical shooting controls.
alberto lima · the phoblographer read the full review“the closest thing to a true digital film experience that i've ever had — one of the best cameras we've ever reviewed.”
See the WLV-01 through another photographer’s eyes. Watch Tom Calton’s video review.
Watch on YouTube ↗i assemble, calibrate, and shoot a few test frames with every camera before it ships. you get a working monochrome camera and direct support from the person who built it.
print your own body from the stl files, build up the sensor kit, and make the camera truly yours. stuck? join an online workshop and i'll walk you through it.
hi — i'm malcolm. i didn't set out to start a camera company; i set out to build the camera i couldn't buy off the shelf. then a few other people wanted one too.
my main goal for this camera was to build a camera that was equally advanced, challenging and fun to use. it's geared towards photographers that are tired of cameras that do everything for them automatically.
the secondary goal was to design a camera that could be easily modified and upgraded. since it's based on the raspberry pi 5, new features can be quickly developed and rolled out on regular basis. i'm always taking feedback from users and incorporating it into the design.
Yes. Change sensors without replacing the whole camera.
Yes. Fit an appropriate IR/UV-cut lens filter for visible-light shooting.
The software-only path needs a Raspberry Pi 5, HQ Camera module, power board, display, 18650 cells and printed parts. Check the campaign’s component list and your chosen product’s contents before building.
No. Follow the build guide to source compatible 18650 cells.
Modify freely for your own camera, and share your changes with other owners in the Camera Hacks Discord — every camera purchase includes the full source code, though it isn't publicly published.
Ask Malcolm or the Discord owner community for build help. Follow Substack for software releases and tutorials.
max wendt · voigtländer 40mm
“the immediacy of digital with the look of film. i haven't picked the sony up once since i finished building it.”
max is a software dev who's shot black & white for 25 years. he printed his own body, modded the mount for leica m glass, and edited the firmware for one-second exposures. that mount mod? i adopted it into my own build. this is how the camera grows.
