One bit of news I should say. I was talking to a gent on CN thru PM and he didn't have experience nor links to files....(like many others) but wanted to see if he can get a camera like cam86.
He had gone to PCBWay and they said they can produce the PCBs and populate them cheaply..here is an extract (no names given):
"I wanna built my own ccd camera, and already looking for a defect or second hand nikon. But I could't find the schematics or files related with the cam86 project hence I'm contacting you. I can also join google/yahoo groups if there are any. I'm not so handy with smd soldering but I think I can get it done in a company like PCBway. On their web site it says 10 boards costs 10USD and PCB assembly is 20USD so I think I can get it done under 100USD including shipping."
Which I found very interesting. He wasn't looking for a freebie build but at getting the PCBs made and populated. Indeed this looks cheap. Yeah I know...pay cheap end up with cheap! Maybe we should investigate this. Also saw this similar discussion in a French forum but I think the costs they were looking at was quite a lot more. Obviously they cannot populate the PCBs with sensors.
Anyway...worth a mention.
Brendan