A Brand New Film Camera -- What would you build?

I don't need another camera.
I would build Leica film M spare parts stock. With available documentation for replenishing manufacturing. Something like 3D printing files.

Although it seems like most folks are content with the existing universe of film cameras, for me it's been interesting to contemplate a new design. I've been trying to figure out how to design a multi-speed shutter without the extensive use of tiny gears and must admit that the options are few. Aside from something like the bulky rotary shutter of the Universal Mercury, it's clear that the most obvious course would be an electronically-timed device. That means batteries... then why not metered auto-exposure... and then...? It's a slippery slope into a Leica M7 or Bessa R.

Lee Rust said:

Although it seems like most folks are content with the existing universe of film cameras, for me it's been interesting to contemplate a new design. I've been trying to figure out how to design a multi-speed shutter without the extensive use of tiny gears and must admit that the options are few. Aside from something like the bulky rotary shutter of the Universal Mercury, it's clear that the most obvious course would be an electronically-timed device. That means batteries... then why not metered auto-exposure... and then...? It's a slippery slope into a Leica M7 or Bessa R.

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Yes, it would appear to be reinventing the wheel.

When I start thinking of the things I like, even in my purely mechanical cameras, it gets into complicated territory very quickly.

It just might not be possible...

For the shutter, I would rebuild a proven design, eg. the Compur Rapid.

An inexpensive 645 camera with a simple frame advance like the Fujica Super 6. No red window. Scale focus, fixed lens, focal length ideal for portraiture. Present it to the world as the Kodak Brownie Portrait. Annual competition for portraits taken with it. Good prizes.

something like a 4x5 or 5x7 camera that you load sheets of paper on a conveyor so it shoots like roll film but doens't get bound up like a hand rolled spool. the paper falls into a box or pouch inside the camera. the camera comes with 3 meniscus barrel lenses a normal, wide and tele and zone focuses and choked to f10. there is a pictorial option that comes with a golf distance scope and marks on the barrel, and washers for f-stops so you can shoot wide open or stopped down to f6.8. for the shutter, well there is a lens cap and a chart for sunny11 and a link to the galli shutter video

As for reinventing the wheel, it just might be that the Universal Mercury II is the simplest and most reliable high-quality 35mm film camera design that has ever been put into production.

Originally priced at $25 in 1939 to match the price of the Argus C3 (about $500 today), the camera was re-designed after WWII to accommodate standard film cassettes and marketed as the Mercury II between 1945 and 1952. The Mercury II emulates the body shape and size of contemporary Leicas but is otherwise entirely different, with a fixed, scale focus lens and a twin-disc rotary focal-plane shutter with exposures of 1/20 to 1/1000 sec. The 3" shutter diameter restricts the frame size to slightly larger than standard 35mm half-frame, or 65 images on a nominal 36 exposure roll.

The variable-sector shutter is derived from cine cameras and gives a consistently accurate exposure with each relatively slow and quiet rotation. Spring tension is relaxed and the parts count is low. The entire shutter assembly can be removed for service in a few minutes and the technical skills needed to clean, lubricate and adjust are elementary. I know this because I easily repaired my own Mercury when I first got it, using simple tools and basic instructions found on rangefinderforum.com.

Most of the 150,000 Mercury II's produced were fitted with a three-element coated f3.5 lens, with an optional f2.7 or even f2.0. Compared to conventional designs, the camera is quite odd-looking and slightly awkward to operate, but the picture quality is very good and the mechanicals give the impression that they are capable of a giving at least a hundred years of service with very little maintenance. The majority of the surviving Mercurys are now over 70 years old and if not still in nominal picture-taking condition, a few hours of cleaning, oiling and tinkering will likely get them going. The biggest cosmetic problem is that the aluminum alloy bodies have been prone to corrosion over the years, but even in the most extreme cases, photographic performance is unaffected.

If someone were to attempt to build such a camera today, they would be hard-pressed to duplicate the effectiveness and durability of this design. Flash forward to 2119. If 35mm photographic film is still being manufactured in the next century, there will still be fully functional Mercury II cameras to load it into.

Here's a good overview of the Mercury II: https://www.mikeeckman.com/2014/12/universal-mercury-ii-1945-52/

It should be big, like a medium format Fuji, and look like tarnished brass and be covered with dials and levers and buttons, steam punk style. But it would actually be made from plastic and sold in pieces so the buyers can snap it together and say they "made" it. Any old kind of lens will do, and if it vignettes and and has lots of flair, so much the better, because the suspender-wearing, bushy-bearded buyers crave authentic old-time film style above all else. For film, be sure it can take whatever pre-ruined product Lomography is currently selling.

I always though about why Leica didn't do a medium format rangefinder. I think something in the likes of a Mamiya 6, with collapsible lens, modern RF styling but Leica build quality without electronics (or very simple such as meter) or transport system issues. I have a GW690 which feels quite solid, but 6x9 seems less of a sweet spot format for handheld RF.

Kino said:

Yes, it would appear to be reinventing the wheel.

When I start thinking of the things I like, even in my purely mechanical cameras, it gets into complicated territory very quickly.

It just might not be possible...

Click to expand...

The Kickstarter REFLEX project is an attempt to design a new film camera. They encountered shutter issues: their supplier couldn't provide the limited quantity at a low enough price. They are now designing their own shutter. Personally, I always thought they should have designed a very simple fully mechanical camera.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflexcamera/reflex-bringing-back-the-analogue-slr-camera

I'd heard about the crowdfunded rangefinder projects, but not the Reflex. It's very ambitious. Assuming the use of third-party lenses, the shutter will always be the hardest part to realize, especially with a reflex mirror.

I'd build a Pentax 67III with an interchangeable back for film and a 200MP digital sensor.



Mike

Ko.Fe. said:

I don't need another camera.
I would build Leica film M spare parts stock. With available documentation for replenishing manufacturing. Something like 3D printing files.

Click to expand...

This. I would add Mamiya 6 & 7 parts into the mix as well, in fact I would probably concentrate on those cameras first.

I'd build a Hasselblad 501cm with front tilt and shift, and of course improve the image circle of the lenses to cover the movements.

Mike

Prest_400 said:

I always though about why Leica didn't do a medium format rangefinder. I think something in the likes of a Mamiya 6, with collapsible lens, modern RF styling but Leica build quality without electronics (or very simple such as meter) or transport system issues. I have a GW690 which feels quite solid, but 6x9 seems less of a sweet spot format for handheld RF.

Click to expand...

I also wondered why Leica never introduced a medium format film camera. They made a 6*6 projector, the Prado Universal. And they went the opposite direction with a 110 camera and a 110 projector. The Aristophot could accept a 4*5 head, but no med. format camera.

Simply adding strap lugs to an old design like a 6x4.5 Zeiss Ikonta folder might be pretty awesome. I love how some of those cameras are about as miniaturized as the roll of 120 film would allow.