Pix of your home-built cams here please

[ragc]

OK, my current (ongoing) project: a quick 8x10 monorail design (I find I never fold my cameras after setting up, I just pick the tripod up and carry the camera on it) No back movements, only front rise/fall, swing and tilt. Focusing is by coarse thread rod, and it is a rear standard focus. I will be folding a bellows this week and hope to be using it next week. It will use 150mm to 305mm lenses (150mm is going on a recessed board). The back is used both vertically and horizontally. No re-used parts: all is home built.






I have yet to add the two stab bars to lock down the front standard securely after focus, to this design:

[Andrew Moxom]

Here's a new camera I knocked up over the last couple of days during the evenings. It's about 99% complete and just needs final sanding, flat black paint on the insde, and some knobs to hold the film holders in, and some tung oil for a finish.

It's a 4x5 pinhole camera made fom Bolivian Rosewood and some left over Gabon Ebony pieces from another project. The joints are 1/4" box joints made on the router table. The pinhole 'pancake' on the front and the tripod bushing are made by 'skink' on E'Bay. It came with a .3mm laser cut pinhole which is perfect for the 45mm focal length.

I apologize for the chintzy phone camera pics!!

[ragc]

So I'm not very good at folding bellows...but they work!

[seananton]

My first camera is a half plate (US size) sliding box with an anonymous
19th.century petzval portrait lens. Mahogany with rise and fall front.


My second is a 12x10 cherry wood with tilting back and rise and fall front,
this camera is based on an 1870s Anthony camera, the lens a Dallmeyer 3A
patent portrait. Home made bellows in black cotton.


Both the above cameras are designed for wet collodion process.

Seán

[Andrew Moxom]

Okay more pictures of the latest 4x5 pinhole I made. The one in the previous post met an unfortunate demise when I Was drilling the last hole to put in the cable release adaptor. The drill grabbed the camera out of the clamp, threw it against the wall and broke it into 5 pieces!!! Luckily I kept all my fingers, eyesight etc. This one is made from Bolivian Rosewood with 1/8" finger joints. It is based around a 'skink' .3mm pinhole pancake that can also house other pinhole sizes and also zone plates. I designed an internal shutter mechanism to give it clean lines on the outside. Skink also provided the tripod bushing adaptor. All told, the 'skink' parts were around $50and the wood was also around $20. Then some small parts from 'hobbytown' for RC linkages for the shutter for around $15. Then just my time. The Skink parts were readily available from Feebay. I have since added in some black paper over the stainless pancake to cut down on reflections. So far so good. A neg test this morning showed no light leaks. Yay!

[Colin Graham]

Wow, that's a beauty! What a great solution for the shutter.

[Christopher Walrath]

I wrote an article on this camera in the April issue but here is a photograph of it.

[ragc]

New bellows on my 8x10

(the previous two posts were failed attempts to link the photo from Flickr)

[Colin Graham]

New 5x12, WA style. A svelte 6.5 lbs, down from the 11lbs of my first homebuilt 5x12 (13lbs including the vertical mounting bracket).The back switches to vertical, and the front standard telescopes enough to get well past center of the vertical orientation.

There's a shorthand log about the build here, including some ravings on bellows. (I haven't had a chance to write up building filmholders yet, sorry.)

[Erik L]

New 5x12, WA style. A svelte 6.5 lbs, down from the 11lbs of my first homebuilt 5x12 (13lbs including the vertical mounting bracket).The back switches to vertical, and the front standard telescopes enough to get well past center of the vertical orientation.

There's a shorthand log about the build here, including some ravings on bellows. (I haven't had a chance to write up building filmholders yet, sorry.)

Colin, that has got to be the most beautifully done "home made camera" I've seen. Truly well thought out and your workmanship is fantastic. Really enjoyed your log about it. Well done!
erik