PDA

View Full Version : 96" x 144" or 8' x 12' !!! Yes folks ! One of the largest cameras ever made !



ederphoto
26-Oct-2015, 20:28
No kidding !!! This camera is worthy of a prize ! What a pleasure to look at that shutter ! That's how you stand out from the crowd specially in the digital era . This is the brainchild of Dennis Manarchy ! Check it out !!!!
http://www.lomography.com/magazine/255802-worlds-largest-film-camera-built-to-document-tales-of-american-culture

Tin Can
26-Oct-2015, 21:08
It is impressive, but I never saw it when it was 3 miles away. My loss.

I like the building of it video, but I am a gear head.

Amedeus
26-Oct-2015, 23:12
Is this camera actually being used on a regular basis or was this a one-time stint ?

Drew Bedo
27-Oct-2015, 05:14
The video was interesting but not very informative, maybe that's because I don't read well or fast, and there was no voice-over. Did they actually fabricate the lens/shutter? Is it actually functional as a mechanical shutter?

I didn't see that the camera was actually used either. What is the sensitive medium. How are negatives and prints processed? and so on . . .

I mean its great to see. Does anyone here have any connection to this project? Can we get this guy toparticipate with our community here on LFP.info? Is this camera available for workshops or rental as the ULF polaroids were?

I'd love to see this assembly backed into a scenic overlook on Trail Ridge Road or the Grand Canyon!

Dan Fromm
27-Oct-2015, 05:55
Not this BS again.

Dan Fromm
27-Oct-2015, 08:01
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum187/141687-massive-project-note.html

goamules
27-Oct-2015, 08:03
I saw mockups of this (or Photoshop graphics, like in the video) a year or so ago. At that time, we determined it wasn't a real camera, or being used. I could be wrong.

UPDATE: I see you posted what I was thinking...at the same time.

Drew Bedo
27-Oct-2015, 10:20
So is it real or what?
Looks like there was a good bit of metal fabrication; bending, welding and machining. Must have cost a fortune. What drives this project?

goamules
27-Oct-2015, 11:48
Suckers giving money?

Dan Fromm
27-Oct-2015, 12:49
So is it real or what?
Looks like there was a good bit of metal fabrication; bending, welding and machining. Must have cost a fortune. What drives this project?

Ego, perhaps. Delusion, possibly. There are many other possible motivations.

So far at least one failed Kickstarter and one failed Indiegogo.

Tin Can
27-Oct-2015, 13:26
I know the damn thing was in Chicago for a week and had outdoor big 'prints'. It was locally documented by TV and print.

Then it left for parts unknown.

I admire the pinhole van cams, built on a shoestring and DIY funds, far more than this fugly box.

ic-racer
27-Oct-2015, 14:31
Is this bigger than his last one (which may or may not have existed)?
141496

Dan Fromm
27-Oct-2015, 15:47
I went to Manarchy's site -- the link in the original post goes to a story with a link to it -- and watched the current video. The original video was an animation of someone's conception of a monster camera. The current video shows a non-functioning physical mockup of a monster camera that has a room cam (think Richard Learoyd) buried inside it. A twenty foot shipping container would have served but would have been a little less flashy.

The begging bowl is still out.

Drew Bedo
27-Oct-2015, 16:30
"Non functioning", as the bellows do not collapse to focus the image. I guess the film plane inside the pleated enclosure is moved to focus the image. I'd like to know if the shutter works at any speed beside Bulb.

What a lot of work all for show.

A couple of years ago there was a video out there (and a thread on here) where a guy in California did make a Mega-Format camera from a shipping container on a trailer. I think it focused withconventional ULF bellows mounted on the front. He did not use film as I recall it . . .paper?

goamules
27-Oct-2015, 16:40
It's the Greatest Show On Earth! PT Barnum said. He also said a few other relevant things.

Dan Fromm
27-Oct-2015, 16:52
Drew, what you see is a shell with the Great Oz inside it. The entire outer housing is a dummy. Mock-up, none of it works.

There's a room cam inside it. Two rooms with a wall between them. A lens in the wall, subject on one side of the wall, sheet of film (4'x6', I believe) on the other. No shutter, he uncaps the lens, pops some flashes (powerful) and recaps the lens. Nothing new but the housing. The two rooms could equally well be in a container.

Now do you get it?

Drew Bedo
28-Oct-2015, 05:24
Well the concept of a really big camera is a nice thought anyway . . . .

The second cup of coffee just kicked in and I had this transient mental flash of a Wide-Lux typ panoramic camera built into the side of a semi-trailer.

The project would be to go to wherever you could park the 18 wheel rig, and make an image 8' wide and 24' long.

jb7
28-Oct-2015, 06:39
He had a vision, pursued it, and made it happen. I'm sure he is not in the least concerned with the mean spirited comments from this parish. Whether or not it has a working bail back that takes the world's largest film holder is not at all the point; at least the camera doesn't look like it was put together with a blunt hacksaw and a hammer.

This camera, in this day and age, needs to be something other than a phone which magically connects to instagram. It needs to connect to Bart Simpson, not his grandfather.

True, the whole thing could be made to work just as well in an anonymous container on the back of a truck, but people don't have their imaginations captured by journeying to a Travelodge, they go to Vegas for that. The thing is a symbol of what's going on inside, and what's going on inside is photography. I suppose it's bound to attract the jealousy of those who use little cameras, it's only human nature, after all. It's the attitude of those who can't see the point of going larger than medium format, or those who think that their full frame digital is better than 8x10. What gives them the right to put bounds on the imagination of others?

So what if he's a barker. Ignore him, or worse, disparage him with images of begging bowls. This is a project that would never be funded by venture capitalists, so another way is necessary. Throughout history, grand projects have sparked the enthusiasm of those who have the resources to make them happen, and the only thing that makes this project different is that those people are now crowds rather than individuals. Better to have your project funded by a crowd with an imagination, than be kicked by a crowd for deviating from the sacred texts.

I hope someday to be able to see the pictures produced by it, so I can make my own mind up as to whether it was worth it. I wouldn't want to come across as someone so obviously prejudicial...

StoneNYC
28-Oct-2015, 08:41
He had a vision, pursued it, and made it happen. I'm sure he is not in the least concerned with the mean spirited comments from this parish. Whether or not it has a working bail back that takes the world's largest film holder is not at all the point; at least the camera doesn't look like it was put together with a blunt hacksaw and a hammer.

This camera, in this day and age, needs to be something other than a phone which magically connects to instagram. It needs to connect to Bart Simpson, not his grandfather.

True, the whole thing could be made to work just as well in an anonymous container on the back of a truck, but people don't have their imaginations captured by journeying to a Travelodge, they go to Vegas for that. The thing is a symbol of what's going on inside, and what's going on inside is photography. I suppose it's bound to attract the jealousy of those who use little cameras, it's only human nature, after all. It's the attitude of those who can't see the point of going larger than medium format, or those who think that their full frame digital is better than 8x10. What gives them the right to put bounds on the imagination of others?

So what if he's a barker. Ignore him, or worse, disparage him with images of begging bowls. This is a project that would never be funded by venture capitalists, so another way is necessary. Throughout history, grand projects have sparked the enthusiasm of those who have the resources to make them happen, and the only thing that makes this project different is that those people are now crowds rather than individuals. Better to have your project funded by a crowd with an imagination, than be kicked by a crowd for deviating from the sacred texts.

I hope someday to be able to see the pictures produced by it, so I can make my own mind up as to whether it was worth it. I wouldn't want to come across as someone so obviously prejudicial...

+1

Jac@stafford.net
28-Oct-2015, 09:04
I look forward to his portraits of the Amish.
.

Tin Can
28-Oct-2015, 17:32
It was reported he had very large prints displayed outdoors in Chicago.

I have seen a lot of his huge portraits as captured by news media and shown on TV.

I just did not see them in person...and I still think it is ugly, not the portraits, the camera.

analoguey
28-Oct-2015, 21:48
The prints and negatives look humongously big -paper negatives? What paper is made available in the sizes printed there?

Liquid Artist
28-Oct-2015, 23:58
I wonder if he will loan it to me for the iceroad season next year.
Although I don't know if I want to try setting it up and focusing when it's -50 out.

Dan Fromm
29-Oct-2015, 04:20
Liquid, the monster cam doesn't function. It is a dummy that contains a room camera. Watch the video on Manarchy's site and you'll have a better idea of what it is.

If the man had been serious he'd have gone a-shooting with a modest 16 x 20 camera.