Flickr member Dark Orange says:
Can’t buy the film you want any more? Just make the stuff!
In this set you will find random photos and information on a project a friend has undertaken – a machine to make his own camera film.
Plastic and goop go in one end, and camera film comes out the other end. This is not a trivial undertaking.
*update*
This bit of hardware seems to have created a bit of a stir…
Via MAKE Blog
Check out this how-to on using 120 film in a 616 camera from Gayla
Six-16 film is pretty near impossible to find and when you do the developing cost is high and probably not worth the expense. Here’s how I modified 120 film spools to fit inside a 616 camera. Keep in mind that 616 film is much taller than 120 film. As a result you will end up with images that are shorter, but long, not unlike panoramic shots…
Continue reading at Making Happy
Francesco Capponi made this pinhole camera out of a pine nut! It shoots 18×7mm frames. Check out the rather awesome portraits he made with it here.
Thanks to Decepticrat for the heads-up; via MAKE Blog
Check out these how-to videos by Luke Healey on loading 120 film onto reels for at-home DIY film processing.
Loading metal reels:
Loading Paterson plastic reels:
I just modified a friend’s Polaroid Automatic 100 Land camera to take normal AAA batteries. I followed the battery conversion instructions from option-8’s excellent Converting Vintage Polaroids, and it went really smoothly.
I did end up having to shave a few mm off of the two plastic supports that held up the original battery holder to get the battery compartment door to close, but a Dremel made quick work of that.
It’s shooting dark, but apparently that’s pretty common with these.
Normal (exposure dial set to middle)
+1 stop (exposure dial at plus 1 full notch toward Lighter)
+2 stops (exposure dial all the way toward Lighter)
It’s still a bit dark at maximum brightness, but that’s kind of where I like it.
Note: despite the mind-bendingly tragic demise of Polaroid, Fuji makes a nice pack film. I like the FP-100C better than Polaroid’s 690 (yuck) and 669, anyway.
Check out this two-part video tutorial by Michael C. Pastur on converting a Polaroid Super Shooter camera (tied with the SLR680 as my new favorites) into a pinhole camera. Thanks to Captoe for the heads-up!
Check out Rob‘s DIY 555-based remote timer for Canon SLRs! He says:
Canon makes a SLR camera remote timer that sells for a couple hundred dollars. Using inspiration from various web sites I built one for myself using about $15 worth of parts from RadioShack.
First, it is a simple wired camera remote control. Just plug the cable into the remote jack on the Canon SLR camera and the black button on top will trigger the camera auto focus, while the red button will focus then take a picture.
Second, it is a timer than can be used for time lapse photography…
Continue reading the plans at his blog, My Name Is Rob.
Via MAKE Blog
Brass lens madman enthusiast Jim Galli offered this incredibly useful piece of advice on the Large Format Photography Forum:
Since I almost never use my antiques [lenses] at infinity, (they are usually approaching 1:1 for a portrait) I make my waterhouse stops to “known’s” like 1 inch or 30mm. Then I measure the distance from stop to ground glass and divide a whole number. ie. a stop is a 1 inch hole. I measure the bellows at 22″, I’m at f22. The bellows is stretched out to 32 inches, same lens same stop, f32. No other calcs needed. Reciprocity still needed sometimes of course, but none of the bellows factor gymnastics.
Very smart!
You can see Galli’s work at his Web site, tonopahpictures.0catch.com.
Dealing with Polaroid peel-apart film in the field is a bit of a pain, because once you peel it, you need to think of something to do with the print, and protect it from dust, bugs, and dirt, whilst it dries. Some of them are pretty fast, but some, like 669, seem to take ages. This is why I seldom shoot pack film out and about, it’s just too cumbersome.
As you can see above, David D solved this problem elegantly and cheaply. Sweet, I can’t wait to try this!
Shikihan made this insane 6×17 "Limousine" pinhole camera out of a Holga! You can see two test shots made with it in Tokyo here and here on Flickr.
She’s made a bunch of other cool pinhole cameras (and makes great photos with them), check them out!