I wrote a long year in review article over on EMULSIVE about how I came to this project, how and why it came to be. This article is just going to stick mostly to the technicals of my newest product, the BoopBoop Trigger, what it does, how it works, and how to use it in a larger setup to scan a mountain of mounted slides in a minute amount of time.
I’m Ethan, I make cameras at Cameradactyl.com. A few months back I finished the initial prototypes for a new camera, the Brancopan, which is a 35mm panoramic camera that takes Mamiya press lenses. For this article, I wanted to put together a bit of a preview, as well as showing some pictures I’ve taken with the camera. I’ve had a working version of the Brancopan since this summer, and I’ve beat it around quite a bit, shot about a hundred rolls over three countries. I only have about 40 rolls scanned so far.
I love cameras, big and small. I build a bunch of pretty large ones at cameradactyl.com. But when I go out lugging a 4×5 or 8×10 I also like to take along a tiny camera in my bag. One of my favorites is the Balda Baldsssa 1b. I think it is one of the most underrated cameras ever. I bought it years ago as part of a lot, not knowing what it was, not really interested in it, I probably paid around $5 for it. It surprised me, and I love it, although it is not without its quirks.
I have been filling my kickstarter orders for the last month for the CAMERADACTYL 4×5 Field Camera, which has imprisoned me in my own house, a victim of my own mild success, babysitter to a small print farm. I’ve used that time to do some prototyping on some other cameras that I am working on, some upgrades to the first camera, and some general tinkering… and of course bringing Butter Grip into the world…
I am a fan of quirky old soviet cameras. I have had, loved, and broken a few Zorki 4 cameras over the years, and I love their lenses. I own Jupiter 8, 9 and 12 lenses (50mm f2, 85mm f2, and 35mm f2.8). I use the 35mm for more than 80% of what I shoot, but the Zorki viewfinder only really covers 50mm. I am not down with a separate rangefinder and viewfinder window, it kind of defeats the purpose for me. My friend (and former Soviet himself) Denis recommended a Canon P, which is infinitely more modern, and has 35mm frame lines and is still pretty cheap on ebay. I think I bought mine for only two or three times the price of my Zorki, something like $125 with shipping from Japan.
