diff --git a/examples/viewer/opengl/main.cpp b/examples/viewer/opengl/main.cpp
index c50366e84..15d98faf0 100644
--- a/examples/viewer/opengl/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/viewer/opengl/main.cpp
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ int main()
                 // If you want to use one of the other modes, you have to do the conversion
                 // yourself.
                 //
-                colorTexture.Update(reinterpret_cast<const BgraPixel *>(colorImage.get_buffer()));
+                colorTexture.Update(colorImage.get_buffer<const BgraPixel>());
             }
 
             // Show the windows
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ void ColorizeDepthImage(const k4a::image &depthImage,
 
     buffer->resize(static_cast<size_t>(width * height));
 
-    const uint16_t *depthData = reinterpret_cast<const uint16_t *>(depthImage.get_buffer());
+    const uint16_t *depthData = depthImage.get_buffer<const uint16_t>();
     for (int h = 0; h < height; ++h)
     {
         for (int w = 0; w < width; ++w)
diff --git a/include/k4a/k4a.hpp b/include/k4a/k4a.hpp
index c86299882..31ff403ab 100644
--- a/include/k4a/k4a.hpp
+++ b/include/k4a/k4a.hpp
@@ -262,18 +262,20 @@ class image
      *
      * \sa k4a_image_get_buffer
      */
-    uint8_t *get_buffer() noexcept
+    template<typename T = uint8_t>
+    T *get_buffer() noexcept
     {
-        return k4a_image_get_buffer(m_handle);
+        return reinterpret_cast<T*>(k4a_image_get_buffer(m_handle));
     }
 
     /** Get the image buffer
      *
      * \sa k4a_image_get_buffer
      */
-    const uint8_t *get_buffer() const noexcept
+    template<typename T = uint8_t>
+    const T *get_buffer() const noexcept
     {
-        return k4a_image_get_buffer(m_handle);
+        return reinterpret_cast<T*>(k4a_image_get_buffer(m_handle));
     }
 
     /** Get the image buffer size in bytes