Author Topic: I just made/fixed ... (Read 126482 times)

Bryan · « **Reply #300 on:** February 23, 2019, 07:56:43 PM »

Can’t wait to see the Pinkiskop! I’ve painted a few Kodak Hawkeyes bright colors, it’s a lot of fun. I have one I’m going to paint as soon as I have some time. Adding a little contrasting color to a small part can add to the fun. Just like what you mentioned, the masking is the hardest part. I always finish it off with a clear coat, it gives it a nicer and more durable finish. You may want to do that with the pink.

Francois · « **Reply #301 on:** February 23, 2019, 09:05:38 PM »

OK, it's official, I've created a monster!
I had this old Polaroid ColorPack that was gathering dust. It hasn't been loved ever since Fuji stopped making peel apart. Since I have two of them, I decided to take one and do a conversion. I measured once, twice, got my trigonometry references, did a whole bunch of calculations and drawings. I cut the camera apart and managed somehow to make a new back for it. This one takes 4x5 sheet loaders. Somehow, after the project had been plagued by disasters, bad measurements, personal injury, a mess of hot glue and breaking parts, I managed to get the focus right!
So, I present to you, the one, the only Polaroid ColorPack 45. What I think is the first fully automatic large format camera.
I finished it late last night as I wanted to get it done before going to bed. This is many weeks of head scratching and swearing. But in the end I'm super proud of it.
I just did a test on some photo paper and I'm impressed.

cs1 · « **Reply #302 on:** February 24, 2019, 03:21:10 PM »

Wow, what an incredible machine, François!

As promised, I herewith introduce you to the Altissa Pinkiskop:

Altissa Pinkiskop by C S

A matching pink camera strap with white polka dots is on its way. Is this combination over the top? Absolutely, but I have hope that my daughter is going to like it. Apart from that, as Bryan already stated, it's a huge amount of fun to individualise a nice camera.

There's still a lot of room for improvement. I should be more patient when coating the camera and use less paint for each coating and instead add several more coats after letting one coat dry. But this is very likely not the last box that is going to be modified.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #303 on:** February 24, 2019, 04:21:00 PM »

Very, very nice.
Not that I like pink, at all.
But that's very very smart.

cs1 · « **Reply #304 on:** February 24, 2019, 04:39:59 PM »

I don't fancy the colour pink either and it's not like my daughter is an "everything has to be pink" kind of girl but in this case it was her assessment that pink is the most suitable. And I tend to think that she's somehow right.

Francois · « **Reply #305 on:** February 24, 2019, 08:59:09 PM »

One thing's for sure, it looks pretty joyful

Maybe I should have painted my monster pink

Funny thing is, I kinda like pink. It's not a sad color that's for sure. And historically, it hasn't always been girly. In the 1800's pink was worn a lot by young boys. And in the 1700, it was closely associated with aristocracy as the pigment used was very expensive. And now, we have a ton of cool things that are pink, like neon signs, pink cadillacs from the 50's, flamingos...

But back to cameras and spray paint, thin light coats are definitely the way to go. What I like to do is spray a light coat, wait for a bit of the solvent to evaporate (usually a few seconds) and then hit it with another light coat and repeat. Doing so will prevent drips from forming. It's also a good idea to keep the can moving and at a good distance from the object. One of the fun things with spray paint is that if you act fast enough, you can actually blend colors together. That's why when I paint for decorative purposes I have a table with all my cans ready to go.

jharr · « **Reply #306 on:** February 25, 2019, 01:16:45 AM »

It really is a nice blend of "brute force" design and whimsy of the color. I'd throw it over my shoulder and take it out for a day.

Bryan · « **Reply #307 on:** February 25, 2019, 03:35:02 PM »

That looks great cs1, how could she not love it!

Francois · « **Reply #308 on:** April 07, 2019, 07:16:07 PM »

OK!
I just finished working on another project. This time I feel like I was a bit in a mad scientist's lab as this was a bit of a nightmarish build.
It's the Télé-Sténolux, a 384mm monster that has an f/441 aperture and feeds off 120 film.
It's entirely made from recycled parts that I glued and taped together.

cs1 · « **Reply #309 on:** April 08, 2019, 04:59:13 PM »

"It's alive, it's alive!" A true Françoinkenstein...

John Robison · « **Reply #310 on:** April 08, 2019, 09:10:56 PM »

I think this forum should establish the “Miroslav Tichy” award. I’m quite sure Francois would be the first recipient of this award.

Francois · « **Reply #311 on:** April 08, 2019, 09:23:34 PM »

I'm slowly going that way

It's actually surprisingly hard to build anything remotely light tight and reliable using materials like that.

Bryan · « **Reply #312 on:** April 19, 2019, 03:05:58 AM »

I just made this to use my Bronica ETRSi with my microscope. I cut a hole in a body cap and mounted a LTM extension tube on it. This allows the Leitz MIKAS adapter to thread onto the cap. Hopefully I'll have some medium format shots with the microscope soon.

hookstrapped · « **Reply #313 on:** April 19, 2019, 04:10:31 AM »

This thread makes me smile

Francois · « **Reply #314 on:** April 19, 2019, 02:25:14 PM »

Just be careful not to drop that thing. Looks flimsy to me, but I must say that I tend to overbuild everything.

Bryan · « **Reply #315 on:** April 19, 2019, 02:47:56 PM »

I used contact cement and gave it a bit of a stress test, it’s surprisingly strong. Luckily everything is balanced pretty good when it’s on the microscope. The one thing I need to watch is the body cap twisting to the position that it releases from the camera. It doesn’t click in like a lens. I’ll use gaffer tape to hold it in position on the camera.

cs1 · « **Reply #316 on:** April 19, 2019, 08:39:12 PM »

Good work, Bryan. I've been enjoying your microscope photos since you started. Looking forward to seeing the first medium format microscope shots.

Francois · « **Reply #317 on:** April 19, 2019, 09:45:30 PM »

I hope you have better luck than I did today with some epoxy that for some reason refused to stick to a metal part on a Kodak Tourist II...
And even after grinding the surface and cleaning the place with some 99% alcohol. $:-\$
Ended up holding the pieces I was adding with a good amount of hot glue...

hookstrapped · « **Reply #318 on:** April 25, 2019, 12:27:44 PM »

I noticed that the vertical alignment on my Konica II rangefinder was off a bit, so I decided to try to fix it -- even though I think if the vertical is off a tad it actually might be helpful in focusing so you don't completely lose the patch, to confirm you're not just going blind if that makes sense.

So I looked for info on the internets and found discussions for other Konica rangefinders, but more helpful was the general tip of looking for false screws (access covers) on the cold shoe or other top panel screw. So I started unscrewing the three cold shoe screws and they were obviously real screws holding the cold shoe on. So I removed the cold shoe and there they were -- two access holes with screw heads below.

Once I adjusted the vertical alignment -- focusing at infinity through my apartment window on the the tall clock tower building a little over a mile away -- I noticed the more important horizontal alignment was ever so slightly off so adjusted that too. I still think I might come back and adjust the vertical to be off a bit... But it's very simple and easy so we'll see.

Francois · « **Reply #319 on:** April 25, 2019, 02:44:56 PM »

At least it was easier than on the FED. Not that it's really hard to adjust, but putting that leaf spring back in place is a bit of an exercise in dexterity.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #320 on:** April 25, 2019, 04:47:12 PM »

Quote from: hookstrapped on April 25, 2019, 12:27:44 PM

Once I adjusted the vertical alignment -- focusing at infinity through my apartment window on the the tall clock tower building a little over a mile away -- I noticed the more important horizontal alignment was ever so slightly off so adjusted that too. I still think I might come back and adjust the vertical to be off a bit... But it's very simple and easy so we'll see.

This may depend on the type of rangefinder mechanism, but I remember a suggestion to always adjust the vertical first and only then the horizontal. But it sounds like you got it right the first time anyway!

hookstrapped · « **Reply #321 on:** April 25, 2019, 05:03:56 PM »

Ahh, so perhaps the vertical adjustment put the horizontal off... Like I always say, it's better to be lucky than to be good.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #322 on:** April 25, 2019, 05:12:27 PM »

Looks like I've been a bit slow with updating here, and François has made more cameras than me over the period. I posted my Superior Cookie tin camera at New Year, but I've done four more since then - all pinhole.

The Drax 4x5, which conveniently takes all manner of film backs as the back was scavenged from an older 4x5 I once made. This has two pinholes, just above the centre for each format. 45mm on 4x5 is fairly wide as it corresponds to 12mm on 135.

IMGP9279a by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

Black Box #7, 120 with a 60x40mm film size. Simply trying to make a 120 as small as is reasonably possible. F/l 25mm. The knob came from a dented Brownie Box camera. It's got some Ektar in it now.

190217_a by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

The Paradox Pinhole 35mm, which is a conversion of an Adox 300 film magazine. Handy and wide, as it's 17mm focal length and sports a film counter of its own, even though it was a full insert module. It needed a brass bar attaching to the bottom to tap a 1/4" tripod thread.

190215_a by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

Hasselblack 3, 6x6, with the obvious Hasselblad A12 or A24 film back on it. This is a further iteration of the 'Blad adaptive design, with a 33mm f/l. About to start a roll of Fomapan 200.

HasselBlack 3 6x6 Pinhole Camera by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

Francois · « **Reply #323 on:** April 25, 2019, 08:46:27 PM »

Looks like you've been busy.

I'm currently working on a second birdhouse camera. I want to try and do some solargraphs, so I thought hiding the cameras as birdhouses could be the best camouflage there is.
I mage one in bright red for the backyard. I'm wondering if I should go full camo for the second one as I want to put it in a public park?

Kai-san · « **Reply #324 on:** April 25, 2019, 09:04:00 PM »

Quote from: Francois on April 25, 2019, 08:46:27 PM

Looks like you've been busy.
I'm currently working on a second birdhouse camera. I want to try and do some solargraphs, so I thought hiding the cameras as birdhouses could be the best camouflage there is.
I mage one in bright red for the backyard. I'm wondering if I should go full camo for the second one as I want to put it in a public park?

The best disguise in a public park is probably to make it look like a surveillance camera.

Francois · « **Reply #325 on:** April 25, 2019, 10:46:56 PM »

Strange thing is security cameras are not very common in parks around here. I must say I tend to hang-out in cities that aren't very criminalized... or mostly have weird non violent crimes comitted in them. Here are a few examples of what I call weird crimes:
-the police apprehended a television thief that went around on bicycle
-the police was looking for airbag thieves
-there was a series of catalytic converter theft at a regional park
-somebody stole the roof of a local church
-somebody stole the plaque on the fallen soldiers of the 1st world war memorial statue and nobody noticed until the 11th of November! Worse yet, nobody remembered the names on it!
-thieves got away with a life sized fiberglass zebra which was never found
-people stole railroad tracks in broad daylight with passers by looking at them work and telling the thieves how happy they were that the railroad company was finally removing them
-a bunch of wanted graffiti artists were squatting the municipal garage for months without anyone noticing.

These are just a few of the neighboring city's local newspaper's crime articles that caught my attention...

So the worst thing that can happen is that somebody steals the birdhouse camera I made...

Bryan · « **Reply #326 on:** April 26, 2019, 12:49:54 AM »

Quote from: Francois on April 25, 2019, 10:46:56 PM

So the worst thing that can happen is that somebody steals the birdhouse camera I made...

Since the thieves would probably be Canadian hopefully they'll be nice enough to develop the film and share the results with us.

Francois · « **Reply #327 on:** April 26, 2019, 02:10:41 PM »

There's always a chance.
But there's a greater chance that they would hang it in their house for A few years, then sell it at a garage sale where I would find it with the paper still in place. I would scan it and find a nice picture of their living room....

Francois · « **Reply #328 on:** May 01, 2019, 10:15:35 PM »

Just hacked something which I hope is worth the effort I put in it.
Years ago I got a Kodak Tourist II folder that was missing both knobs. Since it's a strict 620 camera I just let it gather dust. But last week I decided to modify the interior to take 120 film. A real pain in the *** to do. Kodak really wanted to make sure nobody would do this modification and put in it an insane amount of ribs to prevent it from being done. But they didn't take into account a single guy with a Dremel who wanted to do this really bad!

So I re-made the buttons, modified the drive, hogged-out most of the interior, cleaned the viewfinder and fixed the weird shutter behavior while still maintaining the original aesthetics.

hookstrapped · « **Reply #329 on:** May 12, 2019, 12:57:01 PM »

I've been on the lookout for a 50s / 60s fixed lens rangefinder for my grandson's second camera -- his first camera will be an Olympus Trip. He's only 10 months old but I'm going to be prepared! And my daughter wants to have a couple more kids, so no pressure on him if he's not interested... For one's photographic growth, I think it's ideal to move from the basically automatic Trip where all you have to worry about is composition to a camera where you can learn about exposure and the relationship between shutter speed and aperture, and where you can choose what in the frame to focus on when working with shallow DOF.

Besides the typical Minoltas, Konicas, Olympuses (Olympi?), and even Yashicas, Petri rangefinders appeared on my radar. Specifically, the Petri Racer. I'm a sucker for pretty cameras and I think it's quite charming. It has a match-needle cds meter coupled to the shutter and aperture, but fully manual in that it doesn't automatically set one when you set the other.

One showed up on Etsy at a good price, especially considering the seller had tested it with film -- frozen shutters are a reported problem with these cameras. He reported everything worked fine except the rangefinder, which he said worked intermittently and when it did, the double-image lagged. Hmm... sounded fixable so I bought it and it arrived yesterday.

With the top off, featuring its Green-o-matic (TM) rangefinder

Overview of the rangefinder

The rangefinder double-image projector on its swingarm. This is what was not moving freely.

The grayed-out screw around which the swingarm pivoted. It was a bit mucked up from dirt and age so I loosened it a tad and moved the focus lever on the lens back and forth a bit and it now works fine. Fixed!

Cleaned and fully functional Petri Racer

Now, another issue. This camera, like every 60's / 70s fixed-lens Japanese rangefinder I've handled, has a slightly wobbly lens barrel. This example is a lot less wobbly than the Canonet I used to have, which took extremely sharp pictures. So I probably shouldn't worry about it. But I'm in a tinkering state of mind...

There are three concentric rings that seem could be tightened here. My guess is the outer one might have something to do with the lens wobble. From what I've read on other forum threads, mostly about the Canonet and Hi-Matic, this could be the issue or four screws under the front leatherette could be the issue. I'd rather not try to pull up the leatherette since it doesn't just meet flush with the lens barrel but goes underneath the lens barrel.

I don't have a lens spanner so my question is, is it worth getting one and seeing if I can tighten that outer ring?

Francois · « **Reply #330 on:** May 12, 2019, 02:43:26 PM »

Well, there are two ways of looking at this.
If you don't mind the wobble, might as well leave it like that.
But on the other hand, I have a spanner wrench and it's one of the most useful tools in my camera and lens repair arsenal. I got mine from China years ago and it's more than paid for itself in lens repair and other jobs.

hookstrapped · « **Reply #331 on:** May 12, 2019, 02:58:56 PM »

Sounds like a gateway to buying more cheap lenses...

John Robison · « **Reply #332 on:** May 12, 2019, 03:51:55 PM »

Quote from: Francois on May 01, 2019, 10:15:35 PM

Just hacked something which I hope is worth the effort I put in it.
Years ago I got a Kodak Tourist II folder that was missing both knobs. Since it's a strict 620 camera I just let it gather dust. But last week I decided to modify the interior to take 120 film. A real pain in the *** to do. Kodak really wanted to make sure nobody would do this modification and put in it an insane amount of ribs to prevent it from being done. But they didn't take into account a single guy with a Dremel who wanted to do this really bad!

So I re-made the buttons, modified the drive, hogged-out most of the interior, cleaned the viewfinder and fixed the weird shutter behavior while still maintaining the original aesthetics.

If you can obtain some 620 spools then you only need to modify the feed side of the Tourist cameras. I also spent much time grinding down the ribs in this camera before it dawned on me I only had to do one side. I develop my own film so spools are just reused.

cs1 · « **Reply #333 on:** May 12, 2019, 05:08:08 PM »

Quote from: hookstrapped on May 12, 2019, 12:57:01 PM

I've been on the lookout for a 50s / 60s fixed lens rangefinder for my grandson's second camera -- his first camera will be an Olympus Trip. He's only 10 months old but I'm going to be prepared!

Good thinking! People laughed when I bought my daughter her first bike when she was 6 months old because I came across a very good bike for a fraction of the normal cost for a pre-owned version. Now she's grown out of it and passed it on to her brother and it's still in use. So I solute your preparedness, sir!

Spanner wrenches are so cheap, it's well worth getting one. I've used mine many times. Not only for lenses, it's also used for tightening the screws of many advance levers.

Bryan · « **Reply #334 on:** May 12, 2019, 05:29:12 PM »

Don’t get the cheapest spanner wrench you can find, you get what you pay for. I did that and ended up getting a better out of frustration.

Francois · « **Reply #335 on:** May 12, 2019, 09:10:04 PM »

Quote from: John Robison on May 12, 2019, 03:51:55 PM

If you can obtain some 620 spools then you only need to modify the feed side of the Tourist cameras. I also spent much time grinding down the ribs in this camera before it dawned on me I only had to do one side. I develop my own film so spools are just reused.

I would have loved to do that but it was missing so many parts I just figured a full conversion was in order. The winding knob came from an old Polaroid oscilloscope camera and the other knob is actually made from some lamp parts and JB Weld

Francois · « **Reply #336 on:** June 09, 2019, 10:04:27 PM »

Here's another contraption.
It's a shift lens made from an enlarger lens. 75mm f/4.5 with a weird square aperture. It's held with magnets on the special mount I made. It's just too bad it doesn't exactly focus far enough for my taste. But with a small aperture it does reach infinity.

Late Developer · « **Reply #337 on:** June 10, 2019, 12:52:34 PM »

Quote from: Francois on June 09, 2019, 10:04:27 PM

Here's another contraption.
It's a shift lens made from an enlarger lens. 75mm f/4.5 with a weird square aperture. It's held with magnets on the special mount I made. It's just too bad it doesn't exactly focus far enough for my taste. But with a small aperture it does reach infinity.

Ye gods, Francois, that's a strange looking beastie! Well done for building it. Can't wait to see some shots from it.

Francois · « **Reply #338 on:** June 10, 2019, 02:42:00 PM »

I can't wait to try it out too.
I still have to calculate the hyperfocal distances. I'm going to put them on the rear lens cap so I don't loose them.

Bryan · « **Reply #339 on:** June 17, 2019, 02:45:31 AM »

I adapted a 4X5 camera to my microscope. I attached a Leitz MIKAS camera adapter to a lens board. It needs to be supported with a tripod, too much weight to just have it rest on top of the microscope. It takes a bit of maneuvering to get everything lined up and square. Now I need to see if I can make some decent printable negatives with it.

Francois · « **Reply #340 on:** June 17, 2019, 02:48:15 PM »

Holy cow. That's a real monster!
Maybe you should make a baseboard and put a vertical piece of lumber on it using some heavy duty angle brackets.you could attach the camera on this quite securely and have something that's easier to setup.

Bryan · « **Reply #341 on:** June 24, 2019, 04:21:06 AM »

I’m going to be spooling some 127 film soon so I decided to trim 120 backing paper down. In the past I did this with a ruler and a razor knife. It’s really hard to get the width just right and you have to setup for each roll. I found this ribbon cutter at my fathers house, it belonged to my mother, she did a lot of sewing. The ribbon cutter does not have a very good guide so I clamped a scrap of metal to it and after wasting a few rolls of backing paper I got it cut just right. Since I was able to get good consistent cuts I just kept going until I had 24 rolls. I rolled each one onto a 127 spool to quality control my work as I went.

I’m also working on a device to make it easier to roll film and backing paper onto a spool. If I get it working I’ll post it here. I have a few bulk rolls of 127 film, Ilford HP5+ and Konica 160 color, so I want to get to shooting it with my Baby Rolleiflex. I don’t need the numbers printed on the paper for the Baby so that makes it a little easier.

Francois · « **Reply #342 on:** June 24, 2019, 03:30:55 PM »

Pretty ingenious.
About 10 years ago I made a cutter for 127. It used an old electric screwdriver and a razor blade to cut both the backing paper and the film at the same time directly on the 120 spool.
I sadly never got around to use it as I still need to make a jig to cut both the backing paper and the film to length.

Bryan · « **Reply #343 on:** June 28, 2019, 04:50:56 PM »

This is my 127 spooling contraption, not to be confused with Terry's 127 spooling contraption http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=8268.msg110178#msg110178.

I built this to solve a few of the problems I had with spooling 127 film by hand or at least to make it a little easier.
These problems included the following:
- Getting the film started perfectly strait with the backing paper.
- Cutting the film to the proper length.
- Finding the proper location to start spooling the film.
- Taping the film.

The rails are aluminum with two slots, they're left over from a project, I made some sliding storage doors for my wife. The rails are cut to the required length of the 127 film. The first thing I do, in the light, is run the backing paper from the spool down to the end of the board in the bottom part of the rail. the distance from where the rails end to the end of the board is the proper distance for the leader. I could do this in the dark but it's easier in the light, need to be careful about damaging the backing paper. You can see in the photos below how the paper can get buggered up after being handled a lot. That was some old ReraPan paper I was using to get my measurements.

In the dark I run the film down the top part of the rail until I get to the end. Since there is separation from the paper it's easy to cut the film square by squaring the scissors with the end of the rails. I then put a pre-cut piece of tape on the film using the rails as a guide to help center it. I never put tape all the way to either side of the film, this helps trigger the mechanism that detects the start of the film in the Baby Rolleiflex. It's a small hook that is tripped when it catches on the start of the film. At this point the tape is only attached to the film, not the backing paper.

The next step is to crank the film onto the spool. I first feed the film up to the spool then put some pressure on the paper with my fingers to pinch the film between the backing paper. Then all I have to do is crank it on, when it gets to the end of the film the tape sticks itself to the paper in the correct location. I cranked out 3 rolls of HP5+ last night, now I need to start shooting some for the final test of my system.

Francois · « **Reply #344 on:** June 28, 2019, 09:52:10 PM »

Pretty impressive. Can't wait to see if it works well.

Sandeha Lynch · « **Reply #345 on:** August 10, 2019, 09:49:43 PM »

Figured I should say something about this one now that I've started a 7th pinhole camera. This 'Froglet' is a Clanger-Blad, a reference that will likely resonate only with a certain generation of British folk. Apols for the flash positioning - it really is a lime green to contrast the orange.

It's pretty much as short as can be without vignetting on 6x6 at 27mm pinhole to film distance. I got an 0.2mm pinhole from Reality So Subtle as they really do make the finest pins.

These were shot with my final roll of four year-old Acros, some of which was shared with another camera since it is a 'Blad back ... The A24 back is currently currently loaded with extra fresh 35mm Superia 400, while the A12 has some venerable 120 Pan F. The bubble level on the side and the second tripod socket are for shooting 35mm in landscape.

IMGP9554a by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

IMGP9560a by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

190726_acr_07 by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

190726_acr_03 by Sandeha Lynch, on Flickr

The next pin cam is an 8x10 paper shooter, but I'm trying not to rush.

ManuelL · « **Reply #346 on:** August 11, 2019, 07:20:55 AM »

Looks fantastic Sandeha! Really love your designs.

Francois · « **Reply #347 on:** August 11, 2019, 02:29:05 PM »

Yep, it's pretty clean looking.

Francois · « **Reply #348 on:** August 14, 2019, 09:12:40 PM »

Just spent half the afternoon (well, maybe more than half) fining a badly calibrated Kalart rangefinder on my Crown Graphic. I had been putting it off for over 5 years since it's quite a chore but I'm pretty happy I did it. Not as hard as it seems from the instructions but just a definite pain to do. You just gotta love instructions that require a rubberband to keep the focusing lever on the cam follower

Bryan · « **Reply #349 on:** August 14, 2019, 11:18:43 PM »

Quote from: Francois on August 14, 2019, 09:12:40 PM

Just spent half the afternoon (well, maybe more than half) fining a badly calibrated Kalart rangefinder on my Crown Graphic. I had been putting it off for over 5 years since it's quite a chore but I'm pretty happy I did it. Not as hard as it seems from the instructions but just a definite pain to do. You just gotta love instructions that require a rubberband to keep the focusing lever on the cam follower

Is this to calibrate it to a different lens focal length or to re-calibrate it back to where it was supposed to be? I don't use the rangefinder on mine but I always understood that it's calibrated to a lens and would need to be adjusted if the lens is changed.