The folks at Lighthouse in a Tree have given the Dirkon DIY 35mm paper pinhole camera a facelift! Download their free PDF, print it, cut out the parts, follow their fancy 3D video of how to assemble the parts, and you’re good to go!
Download plans at Lightouse in a Tree
Via PhotographyBLOG
This article on camera basics by Simon Mackie is probably the best I’ve ever seen. It explains shutter speed, aperture, and ISO in easy-to-understand language, has lots of example photos, and is only 5 pages long.
If you’re just starting out with photography or know someone who is, this is the perfect place to start.
Read article at PhotographyJam
The SSO-CLK (for lack of a more poetic term) is designed to give you the most bang for your buck – with a nod toward extreme portability. It will work well with any camera that can be controlled manually and has a PC synch jack. Most SLR’s, digital or film, fit this bill. The flash is a vintage Nikon model, but it will work off-camera with anything that has a PC jack…
Continue reading at Strobist
Via MAKE Blog
Horseman have just introduced their LD bellows system for Canon and Nikon digital SLRs.
"Whether you are using a Canon® or Nikon® digital single lens reflex, Horseman now gives you an opportunity to add full bellows functions—like in a medium or large format view camera. The Horseman LD comes in two models that accept Nikon or Canon DSLR bodies, maintaining all their normal functions. Up front, you can attach any standard medium or large format camera lens…"
This isn’t my ultimate fantasy ideal, which is movements controlled by a thumb pad on the back of the camera with one-touch zeroing of any plane, but still: HELL YEAH!
Coming soon are a conversion kit that will allow you to shoot 4×5 film and a slide adapter for pro digital backs.
It’s available now for about US $2,500.
Check it out at the Horseman product page or read the press release.
Via PhotographyBLOG
Engadget is reporting that Mamiya are bailing on camera manufacturing:
It looks like another venerable Japanese camera company is about to exit the business, just weeks after Konica Minolta produced its last camera. According to reports out of Japan (which we’ve confirmed with our Japanese bureau), Mamiya, best known for its high-end pro equipment, will be selling off its film and digital camera business to focus on other sectors…
Continue reading at Engadget
Northlight Images have posted a comprehensive review of Canon’s 24mm tilt/shift lens, which allows a limited set of view camera-like movements for perspective and focus manipulation:
Keith recently obtained a Canon TS-E 24mm 3.5L lens primarily for interior and exterior photography of buildings. There are quite a few reviews of the TS-E 24mm on the web, but we wanted to give a bit more of a feel for what it is actually like to use a shift lens for real (on a Canon EOS 1Ds). Given the very wide angle pictures you can get with a 16mm lens and the ease of correcting perspective in Photoshop, why bother with this manual focus lens and all the extra effort involved in using it? This review/article is intended to give an overview of some of the effects, and has links to more detailed technical info at the end.
Read review at Northlight Images
Via Photography Blog
Mark O’Brien has written a generic instruction manual for using old folding cameras. Contains heaps of example pictures and should be enough to get you started.
Folding cameras are usually quite reasonably priced, are easy to carry, generally have good optics, and can provide an inexpensive way into medium format. While this PDF tells you how to use them, certo6.com has a good feature/shooting experience overview for many of the more common folders.
"The Fifth Annual Gathering of the Argus Collector’s Group is being held in Martinsville, Virginia May 19–21, 2006. This event which began as a get together for ACG member from the East Central part of the United States has turned into a wonderful gathering of Camera collectors from all over the world…"
More info at the Argus Collector’s Group event site
"A flexible lighting system is something that I have wanted to play with for a while, but like everything else in photography it seems to be a fairly expensive area to get into, at least when you consider the relative simplicity of a light-bulb.
"Thankfully there are a number of cheap and widely-available or easily-made items that can provide most of the same functionality at a small fraction of the price. For under US$75, this article will show you how to put together a flexible and robust lighting system that is both useful and relatively easy on the hip pocket…"
Continue reading at Shuttertalk
This is well worth a read, the author’s got some really good ideas!
Via MAKE Blog
Apparently Zeiss’ Biogon T* 2.8/25 ZM lens for Leica M is ludicrous in at least one department.
From issue 24 of Zeiss Camera Lens News, released today:
"The result was a whopping 400 lp/mm on film, recorded with the Biogon 25 at f/4 in the center of the image. This value, 400 lp/mm, corresponds to the maximum resolution theoretically possible at f/4; in other words it represents the calculated ‘diffraction limited’ performance at this aperture…"
Um, seriously: holy shit.
Of course this is only one specification, and I’d personally be more interested in rectilinearity (the lack of which drives me utterly batshit when I’m after sharp photos) and chromatic aberration, but this is just insanely impressive.
(lp/mm = line pairs per millimeter)