Urban requested I do a piece on my DIY 6x17 camera.
I had long been looking to make one. At first I thought of getting hold of two old Moskvas and chopping them up, and fusing the two longer halves together, rather like the Roger Hicks Longfellow. But I have an aversion for ruining old cameras, working ones at least - and one of them had to be if I were to have a lens and shutter. I then got sidetracked and built a 4x5 P+S out of a plant pot, with a Fuji 90mm on a helicoid. I used it for 6x12 mostly. The lens is stellar.
After a year or so the itch grew again. I like the idea of using an existing box of some sort as a starting point (ref the 4x5 P+S). After a glass of expensive Cognac I looked at the case it came in. Ran off and found a 120 spool and checked the inside dimensions. Yes, there would be room for spool holders top and bottom. Yes the case was long enough to give a 6x17 frame. This looked promising.
Problem is of course the sliding lid. This was in clear plastic. Wait a minute, I had another bottle of Cognac, and it had wooden lid. The logo was stamped in gold lettering on the lid: A E Dor. Hence the name of the camera.
Now how to build it? What lens to use? Well I could reuse the 90mm Fuji, I knew it was good, it had a helicoid, I had a finder for it, and most importantly it would cover 6x17. Building it posed quite an ordeal. The sliding lid would have to function as the back. This meant the pressure plate could not be fixed to the back. Also, even if there would be room for spool holders there was practically no room left either side. I could not get film in or out, my fingers were not small enough. This meant I had to make a chambre noir with film gate and rollers in one piece, and it had to come out when loading and unloading film.
The Cognac case was of pressed cellulose. Not very sturdy. So this needed to be clad for protection and to stiffen the camera. I found a piece of oak floorboard for the job. Stained in mahogany.
The parts
Side view of the lid protruding through the side wall/handle
Camera front/side
To say I was anxious of light leaks would be an understatement. But there were, and still are none. It works a treat. 400 speed film, f8 to f16, scale focusing, and it is super sharp. Not much distortion either. No need for a centre filter, vignetting is next to nothing. Very happy.
Pictures all handheld.
HP5+ in Caffenol:
Tri-X in Caffenol:
