Check out this sweet half-frame camera modification by bricolage.108!
If I understand the annotated version on Flickr correctly, he’s put in a sliding mask that blocks off half the frame at a time and a cord that you pull to re-cock the shutter without advancing the frame. So the sequence is: make an exposure, move the sliding mask to the other half of the frame with the paper clip, re-cock the shutter by pulling the dental floss, make another exposure, advance the film, re-set the mask, and start over again. Excellent!
In addition to the obvious benefit of getting twice as many exposures per roll, there’s an artistic benefit as well: since it doubles the enlargement factor over a normal frame of 35mm, you can get the grain to fall apart at smaller print sizes. Granted, most people seem to want to go in the other direction, but I really like that look for certain types of images.
UPDATE: Mr. 108 has added more notes on the photo and an excellent description of how he did it as well as some photos he made with this camera. I can’t wait to try this!
I also forgot to mention that he’s the same guy who came up with the inspired double-sided lens/pinhole bi-cam hack. Way to go, bricolage.108!
2 thoughts to “DIY half-frame camera mod”