A dandelion chip is an electronic device, installed on the
bayonet mount
A bayonet mount (mainly as a method of mechanical attachment, such as fitting a lens to a camera using a matching lens mount) or bayonet connector (for electrical use) is a fastening mechanism consisting of a cylindrical male side with one ...
of a non-electronic
camera lens or adapter, which enables electronic interoperation with certain cameras. The device consists of an
integrated circuit connected to a series of exposed
electrical contacts
An electrical contact is an electrical circuit component found in electrical switches, relays, connectors and circuit breakers. Each contact is a piece of electrically conductive material, typically metal. When a pair of contacts touch, they c ...
, in a curved package which matches the lens mount. It is designed to be affixed in a particular position on the mount, in order to mate with matching contacts on the camera body. The contacts on both sides of the mount are commonly known as ''CPU contacts.''
Camera functions enabled by the chip may include exposure metering,
aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An ...
display and control,
focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
confirmation and fine-tuning, and
Exif
Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other syste ...
metadata recording.
The level of additional functionality enabled by the chip depends on the camera. Some cameras provide certain electronic functions even with a non-electronic lens. For example, professional-level Nikon
DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
s provide metering and focus confirmation, and store lens data programmed into the camera, regardless of whether the mounted lens has electronic contacts. By contrast, many consumer-level Nikon DSLRs require an electronically enabled lens to perform functions as basic as metering.
External links
Filmprocess: Dandelion
Digital photography
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