DIY Open Source Field Camera Design

[jbenedict]

Thank you, but I am well aware of that website, and have searched it several times for good plans without finding any. What I'm most interested in is a professional quality design. The Raymond Kirby link, now dead, showed the quality of camera I'm interested in building, but he never included any detailed plans or sources for parts.

This one looks a lot like a Deardorrf-derived design and has detailed diagrams and instructions.

http://web.archive.org/web/200409140...ail/camera.htm

[Oren Grad]

Asking as someone who is all thumbs, and was a total klutz in machine shop as an undergraduate many moons ago: is there a systematic difference in likely ease of construction between, say, a classic flip-down focusing rail design like an Eastman No. 2, a design with collapsing front standard like the Ikeda or Nagaoka, or a Phillips-style design with detachable front standard? Which parts might be useful across different design types?

[Tim Meisburger]

This one looks a lot like a Deardorrf-derived design and has detailed diagrams and instructions.

http://web.archive.org/web/200409140...ail/camera.htm

Yes, that one looks better.

[Tim Meisburger]

Asking as someone who is all thumbs, and was a total klutz in machine shop as an undergraduate many moons ago: is there a systematic difference in likely ease of construction between, say, a classic flip-down focusing rail design like an Eastman No. 2, a design with collapsing front standard like the Ikeda or Nagaoka, or a Phillips-style design with detachable front standard? Which parts might be useful across different design types?

Simplest, I think, would be a flip down like the Eastman, or maybe a straight copy of the Burke and James (which is a remarkably capable design, and relatively light). I am most interested in a lightweight design like the Nagaoka, but either style could probably be built with the same racks and gears.

[brandon allen]

FWIW, I have been making tentative plans to start an 8x10 folder and was going to more or less copy the rear focus B&J design - for lightness, simplicity, and ability to focus short lenses without having to tilt the bed down and angle the front standard struts backward or some other silliness.

[Tim Meisburger]

FWIW, I have been making tentative plans to start an 8x10 folder and was going to more or less copy the rear focus B&J design - for lightness, simplicity, and ability to focus short lenses without having to tilt the bed down and angle the front standard struts backward or some other silliness.

Its a good design, and it might make sense to start off with a model that more people could reasonably expect to be able to make with the tools they have available. If we get enough people interested we can do a poll and see what style most prefer and start with that. Once that is done, there is no reason we cannot add additional styles.

[brandon allen]

Its a good design, and it might make sense to start off with a model that more people could reasonably expect to be able to make with the tools they have available. If we get enough people interested we can do a poll and see what style most prefer and start with that. Once that is done, there is no reason we cannot add additional styles.

I agree.

The B&J is not the "prettiest" of LF camera designs, but it seems that if you are looking at "bang for your buck" it is pretty hard to beat.

I envision something along the lines of this design, maybe slimmed down a bit here and there: http://www.largeformatphotography.in...7-Field-Camera

For ultimate simplicity, could even be done with friction-focusing of the rear standard. I've never tried it but I'm told that it actually works quite well.

[brandon allen]

A poll to see what others actually want to build is an excellent idea btw

[Jim Jones]

The rack and pinion are perhaps the most difficult items to improvise in a DIY camera. However, there are alternates for fine focusing. Lead screw focusing is used on well-regarded new and less regarded older cameras. The Noba camera used a V-belt, although fine braided wire under tension might be more practical. Some early Polaroids used a lever to provide precision focusing over a small range.

[jbenedict]

Yes, that one looks better.

That design was listed on the Norwegian LF Builder's site.