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Black Betty 2K camera has built-in Mac mini

Black Betty 2K Digital Video Camera

We've heard of Apple's headless Mac mini being used for a lot of different things. It's a common small business server; it makes a great media server; cats seem to love them as butt warmers; and TUAW has even published a head-to-head smackdown pitching the mini against a Honey Baked Ham. Now there's a cinema digital video camera called Black Betty featuring a built-in Mac mini.

Black Betty is a brilliant mashup of a Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini Camera Head, a Mac mini, a PS Technic IMS interchangeable lens mount and a 7-inch Xenarc 720P HDMI touchscreen. Unfortunately, the Mac mini is only there for the great hardware and ability to run on unregulated 12V power -- the mini actually runs Windows to handle the Silicon DVR software interface.

The initial working mockups were quite ugly (below), but the final product ended up being what you see at the top of this post -- a digital cinema camera with looks that harken back to the days of film cameras.

Prototype Black Betty Digital Cinema Camera

You can't buy a Black Betty, but aspiring filmmakers can contact Rule Boston Camera to inquire about renting the amazing little 2K camera.