Mods, DIY & Lens Adapting

Image of a 3d printed leaf shutter on a tower press camera with a 240mm dagor lens

Developing and Shooting a 3D Printed Large Format Leaf Shutter

I have been a reader of this blog for quite a few years. I must have stumbled upon it around the time I was getting into film photography and was working through decades of photographic gear to determine what my starting point would be. Since then I have discovered that what attracts me to film …

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Investigating a 110 cartridge and film for possible re-use.

The 110 format has really grabbed my interest despite an initial cool reaction. I now find myself with two more of these cameras thanks to an auction job lot, only one in full working order (GAS strikes again). The precision of manufacture and materials, and the complexity involved in order to achieve such simple operation …

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Rescue and Modification of a Ricoh Auto Half

I’ve restored this cute little Japanese half-frame 35mm camera with a metering conversion from selenium to CdS, and the addition of adjustable focus. Here’s the story. My collection includes different cameras for different purposes or moods. Sometimes it’s great to slow the process down, and agonise over the precise technical details of every shot. Other …

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Never Say Never – My Approach to Spiral Modification for 110 Film

After my first, recent experience of the 110 format I concluded that I wasn’t won over to the it despite the camera being so good to use. In fact, it made me more interested than I expected after subsequently reading and re-reading various articles on the subject here and elsewhere. Bob Janes’ posts (such as …

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5 Frames with a Helios 44-2 with the front element reversed

A couple of years ago I happened to see an image on Twitter that completely stopped me in my tracks. It was a very fortunate sighting as I’m not a big fan of twitter, I am however a big fan of serendipity.

I asked the person who posted this image how it was achieved, and I had a reply immediately. I was told about reversing the front element of a Helios 44-2, and pointing the lens in the right direction. 

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