Universal polaroid 110/900 to 4X5 conversion project

[koh303]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/495636760/rezivot-upgrade-your-antique-camera-into-our-moder?ref=email

Most definitely worth a mention, specially in light of the high price to buy one of the custom made ones...

[Drew Bedo]

Great Googly-Moogly!

You mean that all the drama in the early 2Ks over modifying the 110 Polaroids was just spitting into the wind?

This genius seems to have figured a way to convert the Polaroid bodies to accept several formats of instant pack films and many 4x5 sheet film holders without drastically cutting away large parts of the camera or doing heroic internal machining.

Did I get most of that right from the video?

[Tin Can]

And there are piles of nice donor cameras everywhere. They sell for less. I think we have 10 here.

[koh303]

Great Googly-Moogly!

You mean that all the drama in the early 2Ks over modifying the 110 Polaroids was just spitting into the wind?

This genius seems to have figured a way to convert the Polaroid bodies to accept several formats of instant pack films and many 4x5 sheet film holders without drastically cutting away large parts of the camera or doing heroic internal machining.

Did I get most of that right from the video?

you took the words right out of my mouth.
The most amazing part are the "conversion wars" between the main players. That would have made a real good reality show.

[Fred L]

the issue I have with this conversion back is that your eye is fairly far back from the viewfinder. This is an issue I found with other conversions as well. The Byron seems to solve this issue however one thing the Byron can't use is Polaroid 545 backs and new55 film :(

[Drew Bedo]

I had a hard time working through and reading the graphic explaining the Rewards for supporting this project. Anybody have a clear idea of what gets what?

[Tim Meisburger]

Looks pretty cool. I did a similar conversion myself, but made the new back out of wood. I need that little piece he screwed into the bed in the first shot of the video!

[beemermark]

3-D printers and the associated software are relatively cheap today. For under $20K startup he can be turning out backs lickety split. It's a new world out there.

[koh303]

3-D printers and the associated software are relatively cheap today. For under $20K startup he can be turning out backs lickety split. It's a new world out there.

they are made of metal. Most likely CNC'd from a solid block. Or i got something wrong in the video.

[vinny]

they are made of metal. Most likely CNC'd from a solid block. Or i got something wrong in the video.

"In order to reduce the weight of the new camera back, we trialed 3D printing techniques but the result wasn’t satisfactory due to poor strength and joint connection failure. We then looked into higher strength material like stainless steel, which can be cut with precision and is also good for manufacturing with CNC machining, but it proved too heavy and so we gave up this development. Finally we set our heart on aluminum and engineering plastics and trialed many categories for its strength and maintaining its curves to fit the original camera shape nicely."

[Drew Bedo]

I looked at the KS site aghain and I am still not clear on what level of support gets what level of reward. Do I have to supply my own camera body and lens? Can I get a different focal length besides 127mm?

Depending on the final cost for an all-up camera, I have some doubts about the viability of the project. During the so-called conversion wars of the mid 2000s,threats of legal actions went back and forth, patent infringement, restraint of trade, defamation and so on. None of it ever actually went beyond angry letters. No court settlement or mediation; no resolution. I believe this is because the market for this type of camera is a small nich of an already small market, Large Format Pgotography.

If that is the case, I do not anticipate a smashing success for this KS project in the near term. Abnother KS project in the recent past offered complete cameras at a solid price point. Don't think tha tone went anywhere.

My analysis is open to question of course, and time will tell.

[vinny]

Drew, you get an anodized aluminum back that fits your polaroid camera for $599. If you want another back, pledge for a different back/amount.

[Oren Grad]

I looked at the KS site aghain and I am still not clear on what level of support gets what level of reward. Do I have to supply my own camera body and lens? Can I get a different focal length besides 127mm?

Yes, you have to supply your own camera + lens. For $599 (early bird) or $699, what you get is an adapter frame that you attach to your own Polaroid roll film camera, which will allow you to use the camera with 4x5 holders.

[letchhausen]

I have a Polaroid 600SE that would be interesting to use with roll film but not at those costs. It would be cheaper to get the Mamiya M adapter and a roll film back though the cost of those has always held me back. Well that and the fact that the 600 SE is a pretty limited MF camera. Still that's pretty cool of them to create a broad range of applications like that.

[Drew Bedo]

So the end user disassembles the Polaroid roll film parts from the body and installs the adapter. What adjustment must then be made for the lens? For example; If the body for conversion is say, a 110xxx with a 127mm lens, the adapter will move the film plane back substantially. How does the end user readjust the set up for infinity focus? What changes need to be made to the rangefinder linkage or cam? How are these issues different if an other lens is used?

My recollection, from the discussions here and elsewhere in the precious decade, is that the resolution of these issues is more than half the effort required to turn out a useful conversion.

[koh303]

There is a focus set plate supplied with the conversion, you can see it at the beginning of the video.

[Drew Bedo]

Can you do up a back for other LF cameras? How about a 5x7 extension for a Speed Graphic or Linhoff?

[vinny]

Can you do up a back for other LF cameras? How about a 5x7 extension for a Speed Graphic or Linhoff?
The guy behind this kickstarter project hasn't chimed in and I'm not sure he's part of this forum. Who are you asking?

[koh303]

Can you do up a back for other LF cameras? How about a 5x7 extension for a Speed Graphic or Linhoff?

Even though that does not seem like a complicated add on to this system, i suspect that a 5X7 back will dramatically reduce the ability to look through the rangefinder....