Hi, I had a similar project in mind and stumbled across this thread while doing research. Did you build the camera ? Can you share some images ? and some of the results ?. Many thanks
Hi, I had a similar project in mind and stumbled across this thread while doing research. Did you build the camera ? Can you share some images ? and some of the results ?. Many thanks
Salomons -- Do some tests with any photo paper you hope to use for negatives to be contact printed. Many paper negatives impart a strong texture on the print. A simple positive meniscus lens similar to today's diopter close-up lens attachments was used in a few of the earliest cameras and more recently in simple box cameras. In this application they were often called landscape lenses. When used at small apertures, they were fairly satisfactory for contact prints. A book on photographic optics should have some information on how best to use them.
There's a book out there called primitive photography, I think, which has quite detailed instructions on making use of simpler lenses incl. meniscus lenses.
See reinvented equipment for a commercial source ready to use for LF cameras. Not v expensive for the coverage.
Once I re-find them (we moved recently) I hope to stick a close up lens on a Sinar lens board and play with some cardboard or plastic apertures to see what the images look like and if I like them well enough. It might be fun to have 1000mm (1 diopter) and 500mm (2 diopter) lenses for the 5x7 and 8x10 on the way to giant cameras.
Thnaks. A year and a half ago I built a box cam to try direct positive paper. Which led me down the slippery slope of buying a Palubel 8x10 on which i shoot Impossible
But, I am still fascinated by life-size 1:1 portraiture. hence the questions. I was thinking to build another boxcam, and if it works, to build a 20x24 that is foldable / transportable. Am therefore interested in the build details of Mustafa's, or anyone other's box cam. Any insights would be appreciated
Umut, this looks like your first attempt at building a camera. You should read some basic optics texbook (negative versus positive lens; basic lens equation 1/f=1/d1+1/d2, etc). Maybe you should start with a smaller format, like 4x5": mistakes are inevitable in the beginning, and with a smaller format they will cost less.
Completely fixed focus is an interesting idea, but... you close the door to making other pictures, landscapes and cityscapes. Such subjects probably have more patience than your family members for repeated tests.
Why do you buy Foma paper from Freestyle (USA?, does your price include shipping?) when it is available in Europe, e.g. from fotoimpex?
Do you have some drawings for your camera? Will you keep us informed of the progress of this project?
Hello
You can use a close up! itīs the best route... you can even combine 2 in a symetrical way and cut off distortion. If you use two +1 you will have a 500mm. Separation between the two should be around one diameter. In between you can use a whaterhouse stop.
Beware the paper, the thicker the negative the grainier the positive... i would bet on a cheap glossy RC paper for negative, contrast could be tweaked by colour temperature or filtering the light. Use a diffuse lamp for contact proofing, it minimizes paper grain, a Talbot hint.
Rui lourosa
I believe that since the OP started the thread, his mother has passed away and he may never have got round to the project.
However, a few people have built inexpensive box or sliding box cameras (I'm one, and some details are here http://www.apug.org/forums/forum147/129594-lf-box.html). I took my cue from a chap called Graham Vasey (a rather good LF photographer) who had done something similar (tho' more sophisticated than mine). He publishes a blog and there are some details there - grahamvasey.wordpress.com I think.
I've also made an LF camera out of a cardboard box, using a lens made from a broken pair of spectacles and half a condenser lens.
A camera, after all, is no more than a black box with a hole to let in light at one end, and some sensitive material at the other.
Also have a look for online articles by a chap called Jon Grepstad.
Wow! You combined two of my favorite things in one post: home built cameras and dairy cows!
I built a similar looking pinhole 8x10 to use some old 8x10 holders. I've never been totally happy with my own pinhole work.
Now you've got me thinking of modifying it to use a simple lens well stopped down, but still faster exposures than a 8x10 with 8" (200cm) focal length. This would not be a sliding box, it'd be a point and shoot fixed focal length.
I sometimes bring home junk lenses from the local camera shop and take them apart to have the elements to play with, I might have something suitable...
Bookmarks