Bulldog camera kit

[Zach In Israel]

http://shop.lomography.com/bulldog/about/

Has anyone built or used one of these? I found it online and I will admit to being a bit interested, I would like something a bit lighter than my Sinar to take pictures of flowers etc. Plus it looks to be a fun project for cold rainy winter days (which are still many months off to be sure)

[Zach In Israel]

Just to clarify they don't make it, its made by a company in the UK, they just have it for sale on their web page, the company that makes it is here: http://www.camerabellows.com/Bulldog.html

You can also buy one from B&H. And from what I can tell its made from MDF.

[Ash]

As Zach says, it's a UK-based firm.

Please don't be put off by rivermandan. In fact I nearly got one myself, but from the proper website not from Lomo. I don't agree with Lomo's policies and price hiking. I do agree with building your own camera, and buying a UK product :)

[rivermandan]

Hey now, I support making your own camera, I just don't understand why that luxury should cost $300. I thought at first that was just the lomographic society doing what they do best, but even straight from the company it costs that much. seems to take the soul out of DIY. If you do end up buying it, write us all a review!

[Ash]

Some people, like me for example, cannot easily source the important parts;

the bellows,
the spring back,
focusing mech,
time to plan and prototype.

That's basically what you're paying for. And to be fair you're looking at a week or two, full time, to sort the planning and prototyping and to source the bits and pieces. Even the bellows are very expensive, trust me - camerabellows are not cheapskates. Considering the time someone in full time employment would need to take off of work to sort all that out, it would be cheaper to buy a kit, and have fun with the last stage of the project, putting all the bits together.

Of course some people don't even have the tools or the space necessary to do all the hard work.

[Zach In Israel]

I have been thinking about building a field camera to go along with my Sinar F. And since I want to take pictures of landscapes and flowers it seems to make more sense than the monorail. (The sinar was given to me) However building from scratch has a few issues.

1) My woodworking skills are not all that great
2) getting a lot of the various parts will probably cost me a bit.

It may well be cheaper to buy the kit than to run around finding all the various things I need and having them shipped to Israel.

BTW If you go to the camera bellows website they have a PDF of the assembly instructions you can download.

[Donald Qualls]

The main thing you're paying for with the Bulldog is the precision laser cut MDF frame -- it's a tab-and-slot build that any ten year old who's build a model airplane or plastic model car ought to be able to handle. You also get all the hardware in one place, with assurances it'll all fit, and you don't have to have any shop tools (table saw, bandsaw, drill press, etc.) to build the camera.

OTOH, it costs about as much as a used field camera on eBay, so I'm not entirely sure it's that big an improvement (especially as I doubt MDF will last the way mahogany, cherry, and maple would). Still, if they'd sell the same thing with a real wood body for, say, $20 more (given the laser cutter doesn't care if it's MDF, red oak, or sugar maple under the lens), they'd probably sell more of 'em. Just my opinion...

Oh, and the bellows probably isn't cardboard -- Camera Bellows makes bellows for a living, and they make *good* ones, from all I've heard. I wouldn't doubt the Bulldog has a bottom-end bellows, but it still ought to be a real one and is likely to last decades...

[rivermandan]

I guess that does make sense. Let me state for the books that I am poor, cheap and love building things.

[Zach In Israel]

I figure if you are building any of the camera kits (Bulldog, bender etc) its at least in part because you want to build a camera, not just to *HAVE* a camera. I mean if I wanted to get something cheep I saw some speed graphics with lens on ebay for less than $100USD the other day. Cheap enough that it might well be worth buying just for the lens.

In terms of building from scratch I would need a table saw, which would probably cost more than $300 to buy, and I have no where to put the thing anyway.

[Donald Qualls]

You won't get field camera movements from a Speed Graphic, though it's pretty nice having the focal plane shutter (especially the 24-speed version in Anniversary and older models) -- I have *much* finer shutter speed control with the focal plane shutter than with any leaf shutter I've seen, not to mention I can actually use my Skopar with its empty shutter shell. OTOH, the Bulldog has only a little more movement capability than a Pacemaker Speed -- no swings at all, as far as I can see, and no back tilt (can't tell for certain on front tilt by looking, but they say it has it).

For less money than that, you can get a Graphic View in usable condition, and get full monorail movements (though a good bit less portability than a field camera), and for just a little more, you can get a used wood field camera that'll be lighter and have more movements than the Bulldog, and fold compactly for carrying. So, I agree -- the Bulldog is for folks who want to *build* a camera, not just *have* one. Looks a little more solid than a Bender, to my eye, though (I had an Aletta, which is a knockoff copy of a Bender -- I wasn't impressed, though I haven't handled an actual Bender).

[Zach In Israel]

Looking at the pictures in the instruction manual it appears that the front standard has shifts and swings. What I wonder about is how much extention it has. It looks like you would want a somewhat wide angle lens (say a 135 on it)

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

This has already been discussed here (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=23149).

[Zach In Israel]

I am thinking that I may buy a kit next winter and build one. I am thinking of painting it fire engine red.