DIY "classic" 8x10 field camera

[elgatosuizo]

So beautiful and well executed! So refreshingly classic - with a couple of nice personal touches (like the ground glass frame lifting plate) which do not detract from this in the least. But as a guitar maker...was it tempting to add a flourish - like a mother of pearl inlay? (glad you did not...but I just had to ask!)

I thank you (and everyone else) for the compliments. This not only helps my ego, but it is always a confirmation that I am on the right track. Well, yes: mother of pearl would be a bit too much of a good thing, but almost all wood screws are from guitar building (pickguard and backplate screws) and the handle is from a guitar tube amp (I build those too, see it at www.strange-guitars.com).

[Steven Tribe]

Nothing but praise from me!

I recall the problem of having a good source of prime Wood, but baulking at the problem of excessive waste!

[John Layton]

I cannot stand to keep this transgression to myself any longer...that years ago - I was gifted a plank (appx. 4 feet X 1 foot X 3 inches) of instrument-grade Brazilian rosewood, which had been sitting in a shop for over half a century (so was "pre-embargo") and it was perfect! So...what did I do with this? I proceeded to have it resawn, after which I used it to build a rather crude 2 1/4 X 3 1/4 "miniature" view camera (ouch!).

Furthermore, I then used this small camera as the basis for an article on view camera design and construction (published by View Camera magazine back in the early aughts) and pretended that it was a 4x5 - after my brilliant then young son cleverly suggested that he use his then-small hands to make the camera look bigger!

Shortly after this...Steve Simmons asked me to make a presentation, based on my article, at the first View Camera conference in Albuquerque in 2002 - which went OK, until I suddenly blurted out my transgression...at which point Steve became mildly (but visibly) pissed!

And now I feel terrible all over again...to know that the OP, who obviously knows his wood, chose wisely by avoiding wood which would be better suited to fine stringed instruments - while still creating a camera which is, far and above, superior in every way to my own, rather crude creation!

[elgatosuizo]

I cannot stand to keep this transgression to myself any longer...that years ago - I was gifted a plank (appx. 4 feet X 1 foot X 3 inches) of instrument-grade Brazilian rosewood, which had been sitting in a shop for over half a century (so was "pre-embargo") and it was perfect! So...what did I do with this? I proceeded to have it resawn, after which I used it to build a rather crude 2 1/4 X 3 1/4 "miniature" view camera (ouch!).

Furthermore, I then used this small camera as the basis for an article on view camera design and construction (published by View Camera magazine back in the early aughts) and pretended that it was a 4x5 - after my brilliant then young son cleverly suggested that he use his then-small hands to make the camera look bigger!

Shortly after this...Steve Simmons asked me to make a presentation, based on my article, at the first View Camera conference in Albuquerque in 2002 - which went OK, until I suddenly blurted out my transgression...at which point Steve became mildly (but visibly) pissed!

And now I feel terrible all over again...to know that the OP, who obviously knows his wood, chose wisely by avoiding wood which would be better suited to fine stringed instruments - while still creating a camera which is, far and above, superior in every way to my own, rather crude creation!

Hard tropical wood can make sense. It is less prone to scratches and dents. I used spruce for the body and beech or birch would have been better. Beech is not really available in large planks because of its tendency to "work" further. Even among electric guitar builders there are pointless discussions about wood properties. Personally, I think it is more of an aesthetic matter here as well.


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[elgatosuizo]

Now I have finally finished my 8x10 enlarger. I used 12mm steel rods and a trapezoid thread for focusing. The bellows is the failed construction I had planned for the camera (it was too stiff). As lens I took a Schneider 240mm G-Claron. The column can seem quite unstable and is quite insensitive to vibrations, but I had no other choice. The reason for this is that the enlarger has to be taken down and stowed away within minutes. So I had to make compromises in the construction. I just wait a little with every touch.

As a light source I use the WS2812b LED, which is well known to me by now. 384 LED are on 3 modules and a 20A 5V power supply provides the power supply. This results in a precise light control. As control unit I use an intermediate model of my LED color and multi contrast control. This has also proved to be good and I use it in different enlargers. I said goodbye to Tungsten & Co. completely. And also to multi contrast or color heads. I don't need all of them anymore, because my LED controls are much more powerful and have a wider range of functions.

I have developed a third version of the controller, but it is in evaluation for possible commercialization. Eventually I will use this new controller also here, because it is compatible with the LEDs. Since the prototypes of the new ones are trickier to build (more complicated membrane keyboards) and both already built ones are externally tested, I first built this simpler one quickly.

[Ethan]

I had been going through your enlarger thread thinking "this is kinda cool," without realizing you had also built this beautiful camera, seriously, that camera is gorgeous! Is there anything you can't build?!

[elgatosuizo]

I had been going through your enlarger thread thinking "this is kinda cool," without realizing you had also built this beautiful camera, seriously, that camera is gorgeous! Is there anything you can't build?!

Oh, well. Better don't ask my wife what I have already promised to build or repair.


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