Afghan Box camera Build

[pound]

Finally finished up my 2nd Afghanistan Box Camera.
The box was ordered from China and I added the edges, backdoor , brass corners, sleeves and the internal focusing mechanism etc.
Applied 3 layers of shellac.

Here is a video and some photos of the final product.



https://youtu.be/C4BVkiKXguU
Box:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200512/2662fe439207a881fe7f011f6a96b9ec.jpg
The sleeve
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200512/1a7363909c8072b59e0fbf7e5b1fee40.jpg
Fitted with a Fujinon 210 mm lens
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200512/c24b4d001bc058dbf9d3f5c30fcce75c.jpg

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Nice focussing system...but how did you put in the film at the right spot?

[Tin Can]

Nice work!

Both camera and video

Love the simple to make rod focus

I would need 2 sleeves...

Thank you

[Paul Ron]

great project!

love the music too.

[Pops]

Very cool.

[pound]

Nice focussing system...but how did you put in the film at the right spot?Perhaps the photos below will explain better.
After focusing is done, i would place a clip on the focusing rod to mark the position and then pull the rod all the way back.

Then my hand will go through the sleeve and remove a piece of paper from the paper box. On the groundglass frame there is another frame that i can unlatch. Going by feel, i will slot the paper into position and then latch back the paper frame.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200513/6e558c5598edf4b82ab5d258eaacba76.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200513/b1ab6239fbfec1ecbbfec39021279122.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200513/f129380744e90a7adb150308ee778852.jpg

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[dasBlute]

This is just plain awesome! Creative, well built, and looks like fun! I'll bet you could even mount an LED source inside and do contact printing to get a positive ;) [yeahbutcanit...]

[Paul Ron]

oh, about the paper.... i thought agfa stopped making papers a long time ago.

how old is that paper?

[rgeorge911]

That really is brilliant! I wonder if there’s a single-bath (“Monobath”) developer/fixer like you can get away with for film?
https://filmphotographystore.com/products/darkroom-supplies-fpp-super-monobath-bw-developer-1-liter?_pos=5&_sid=ad5362639&_ss=r&variant=7150244069409

[LabRat]

I forgot how, but traveling photographers used to re-expose the negative paper in the sunlight with a flap on the box and get a reversal image... I really have to try to remember...

Steve K

[pound]

oh, about the paper.... i thought agfa stopped making papers a long time ago.

how old is that paper?Oh that an old box. I bought 25sheets ilford RC paper that are packed in soft envelope. So i transferred a few sheets each time to this Agfa box.

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[pound]

That really is brilliant! I wonder if there’s a single-bath (“Monobath”) developer/fixer like you can get away with for film?
https://filmphotographystore.com/products/darkroom-supplies-fpp-super-monobath-bw-developer-1-liter?_pos=5&_sid=ad5362639&_ss=r&variant=7150244069409Not sure will this work for paper. But with RC paper, it a minute for developing and a minute for fixing so it already quite short to process one print.

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[pound]

I forgot how, but traveling photographers used to re-expose the negative paper in the sunlight with a flap on the box and get a reversal image... I really have to try to remember...

Steve KYup that is how it was usually done. I did not build the flap this time. As shown in the video i jusy stick the paper negative up on a wall and use the box camera to take a photo of it to make it a positive.

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[jnantz]

great stuff !
and it is great to see another person as crazy as me
just doing contact prints the sun without chemistry :)

[Tin Can]

Yes! I found the process by accident when I got a box of old paper free that was light-struck. I tossed it aside spilling sheets which sat in light

Later I was amazed how dark it fogged in interesting patterns

Live and learn

Next time I will piss on it to test my personal fixer

[pound]

I have not try enough with lumen printing to see how well it keep. For now i slot the print inside a book to slow further fading.

Also i got a pinkish print as seen in a video. I saw some papers end up with a brownish tone.

Also i found if i go and fix it the print becomes very faint.

Enjoy!

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[Drew Bedo]

I like the simplicity of the concept and the relativ immediacy of the paper neg/pos internal developing. I can imagine this with a brass lens on the front and a Packard Ideal shutter inside.

Because it is still early and the second cup of coffee has kicked in:

To ruin the concept and un-simplify the whole thing .v . .It would not be difficult to use a spring back assembly in there instead of the simple GG with tape. This would allow dry plates in double sided holders and (GASP!) sheet films to be exposed. Given the size of the box formats larger than 4x5 might be possible.

OK, I am now done spoiling what is a really nice project.

Kudos and congratulations on a simple concept that has been well excecated.

[pound]

ITalking about spoiling ..i brought this box camera to a photo event last year to showcase it. Someone suggested should have a mobile phone mount in there so that the phone camera can take a photo of the image formed on the ground glass. but then maybe that is not a bad idea. hahaa

Here is a an article on this kind of camera
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/afghan-box-camera

and I quote this part
"Fascinated by its simplicity and colorful history, vintage-photography fanatics in the U.S. and Europe are able and eager to purchase the materials necessary to operate it—materials that low-income photographers in Kabul can no longer afford or access. Many are now learning how to build and use Afghan box cameras as a hobby.'

[Nigel Smith]

I'll bet you could even mount an LED source inside and do contact printing to get a positive

I made a separate 'darkbox' to do this. I chose a separate box for 2 reasons, firstly to allow me to leave the Afghan camera setup for picture taking and to optimise the interior for doing the contact prints. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the inside (it's packed away in the shed at the moment).

Here's a pic of a friend operating it.
203903

[pound]

I made a separate 'darkbox' to do this. I chose a separate box for 2 reasons, firstly to allow me to leave the Afghan camera setup for picture taking and to optimise the interior for doing the contact prints. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the inside (it's packed away in the shed at the moment).

Here's a pic of a friend operating it.
203903Cool.. How do you transfer the exposed print to the 2nd box? By putting into a dark lightproof envelope?

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[Nigel Smith]

Cool.. How do you transfer the exposed print to the 2nd box? By putting into a dark lightproof envelope?


The print (the negative) is processed in the Afghan as normal, but the contact 'positive' (using paper for both steps) is done in the 2nd box.

[wallpaperviking]

This is awesome! Would love to try it, any chance of sharing the link of where you purchased the box from? Thanks :)

[pound]

This is awesome! Would love to try it, any chance of sharing the link of where you purchased the box from? Thanks :)Oops only see the message now but we have connected up via you tube.

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[Drew Bedo]

I like the camera as built and as presented.

I would suggest that another variation would be to use one of the rack-and-pinion focusing brass lenses. In another thought: The possibility of exposing dry plates and developing them in-camera is intriguing. I think Tintypes were done this way .