Pix of your home-built cams here please

[barryjyoung]

Nice work erie:

for no more time than you put in, what you have there is outstanding.

[epatsellis]

Nick,
(not so) funny thing is, I've now ground 2 pieces of ground glass for it, the first cracked when I cut it to size after grinding it, so logic says cut it first. Second glass came out great, even ruled some pencil lines on it, got up this morning and moved the camera, forgetting the glass was on the base and managed to drop the glass a few inches, just enough for it to break in 3 pieces. Between that, the woodworking store I've been buying all my clamping knobs from closing and still trying to figure out a quick and easy spring for the back, it's been a trying experience.

erie

p.s. Barry, I've got a ton of suggestions for little bits and parts that should take no time to make, but could potentially save anyone else building a lot of time.

[barryjyoung]

Please insert in an electronic envelope and e-mail them, any ideas you have will be looked at very closely. Or,,,,tell us here. I am sure the Seattle Camera Makers are not the only ones who could benefit from your wisdom. Thanks!

p.s. Barry, I've got a ton of suggestions for little bits and parts that should take no time to make, but could potentially save anyone else building a lot of time.[/quote]

[AZLF]

Wow. What an amazing array of beautifully crafted hand made cameras. My own foray into making a camera was less ambitious than most I see here. At the time I made my unit I owned two Omega 4x5 view cameras. An E and a D model. I had built cases for both of them and joyfully carted them to Gate's Pass and other notable sites here in the southwest (around Tucson,Az.) trying to catch some of the stunning vistas that I had seen (when I did not have a camera with me of course). This worked out well enough for a while but soon I started wanting a 4x5 camera that I could take with me on my motorcycle. Both of the Omegas were too bulky when in their cases to take with me along with the Bogen tripod, and film,and dark cloth,and...I'm sure yoyu all know the story. What I needed was a field camera but I had pretty much spent what I could afford at the time on completing my existing 4x5 system.
I decided to build a fixed focus 4x5 wide angle camera using parts from my Omega E and my Schneider Super Angulon 90mm f-8 lens. The only thing I really needed from the E model was the ground glass/film back which easily detatched from the main body and could just as easily be returned. I used African Imbuya for the frame and lens board with Oak corner accents to cover the dowels firming up the outer frame. The lens board slides tightly into the outer frame and when the back had been milled to recieve the ground glass/film back I assembled the pieces and set the focus for the lens and the position of the lens board. It all worked out very well and I shot a few test shots with it.

However that's about all I ever did with the camera. Shortly after I finished it I chanced upon a deal for a Crown Graffic with lens which packed up even smaller than the one I had built.

Anyway here are some pics of my camera. I thought it turned out pretty well.

[Ray Heath]

g'day
i'm also new here and thought you might be interested in my home made camera
my own design after seeing images of a simple box camera
i have never seen a LF camera up close and to say i designed this is actually a stretch, i made it up as i went along

i am now building a fixed focus extreme wide angle model, i have a question

how do i calculate the focus distance for hyperfocal focusing
my lens is a simple magnying glass of 110mm focal length which i calculate is roughly equivalent to a 17mm fisheye on 35mil

so, hyperfocal focusing distance for 110mm at say f64?

[Frank R]

Ray, I solved the focal length problem by building a telescoping box. I then focused on infinity and marked the inner box with a pencil so i could return it to that position later. If I wanted to, I could focus on different objects at known distances and mark the box for each one.

If you just need the dimension for a fixed focus camera, you may try the same thing by using a cardboard box with nesting lid. Mount the ground glass and lens on the box and move them in and out until focused on infinity. Then measure the box and use the dimensions for your camera.

Shown below is the one I made last summer. The lens is a 127 Raptar salvaged from a Polaroid 110. I added the viewfinder and the tailboard later.

The tailboard makes it too awkward. If I built another one I would use a different system to keep the inner box parallel with the outer box.

[paul ewins]

Hi all,
since it came up in another thread I've got organised enough to document a couple of my projects.

As mentioned in the 6x12 thread, this one is a Kodak 3A folder modified into a 6x14 panoramic:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~paul..._panoramic.htm

This one is little less obvious. I bought a Speed Graphic to get a few spare parts and found myself with most of the body left over. The broken shutter was removed, the leather replaced and I'm in the process of building a spring back specifically for grafmatics. Oh,and it has been modified so that it is portrait format, not landscape.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~paul...ow_graphic.htm

There are a few other projects to be added at some stage; another 6x14 panoramic (not finished) built around a Mamiya RB 67 magazine, half plate to 4x5 adapters and some darkroom stuff.

[argus]

Hi all,

I modified the springback system for the Cambara II (homebuilt).

The 5x7 (13x18) back got springs made out of hard welding rod. The rod can be bent in shape and gives enough tension to firmly hold the filmholder in place.

The 4x5 reducing back has a more conventional spring system, with springs cut out of (I can't find the English word) a tool used to apply glue on walls.

[Colin Graham]

I finally finished the bellows. Thanks to barryjyoung for resource for bellows material!
The hard part was the back, figuring out how to hide the torsion springs in the woodwork. Works great.

[argus]

wow Colin,

that looks great!
Is it 4x5? I bet you can add a 5x7 back on the camera.

G