Building lomo camera, any tips on shutter designs or anything else?

brent.bousquet · Apr 20, 2017

sorry for the long post.

Im about to embark on building a high quality lomo camera. I know that sounds strange but I find the dianas and holgas a bit too crappy. Im milling an aluminum body also making my own lens. I was thinking just a simple two element made from casting resin. I have been trying to do research on building a simple shutter mechanism or finding one to steal maybe ill have to cannibalize a holga for it but any literature would be helpful. Also any ideas on literature for lenses as far as shape and thickness and how to calculate what elements I need to make. Last I know theres a way to tell what will be in focus based on distance and aperture but How can I figure that out for my lens so I can know whats in focus without being able to see through the lens and without just having a pinhole so everythings in focus which it will have but it would be nice to be able to open it up a bit if its darker. Also what shutter speed is the shutter on.

I have been trying to find this stuff out for a while but I just havent found anything yet so I just thought Id ask. Im still relatively new to photography and im hoping building this will help me understand the more basic principles that I just dont think about shooting digital or even my 35mm.

AgX · Apr 21, 2017

A high quality Lomo camera? Isn't that a contradiction?

A milled aluminium body will be heavier than anything on the market.
Self casted resin lenses wil be worse than anything on the market.

I do not get the point of your idea.
Or is it that the endeavour of building is the idea?

brent.bousquet · Apr 21, 2017

I own a Diana but It's the whole experience. Im also a YouTuber and want to make a video series out of it. Like I said I'm hoping in doing this it helps me understand some of the basic principals at work.

Also I pretty much only shoot medium format so compared to my mamiya rz it won't be that heavy haha.

ChuckP · Apr 21, 2017

Maybe use a leaf shutter off an old medium format folder lens. Or even a large format lens. Just build your lens to screw into the shutter.

4season · Apr 21, 2017

A surprising amount of effort goes into producing even a relatively simple camera, and there's no better way to appreciate this than to fix them! Since you want to work in medium format, a good place to start might be something like an inexpensive Soviet TLR.

Optics: Perhaps Edmund Optics has stuff you can use.

This doesn't specifically address your questions, but how often do camera designers give presentations?

https://www.olympus-global.com/brand/museum/lecture/vol1/

brent.bousquet · Apr 21, 2017

I work in the classic car restoration industry and so naturally being a photographer I also have restored many a camera. Recently with help from a guy on NY I finished a Hasselblad 1000f. I just think it will be fun and cool to have e a camera I can say I made from scratch. Also this body I'm hoping to adapt into an SLR but that's way far down the road.

AgX · Apr 21, 2017

Making a lens from "scratch":

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

winger · Apr 21, 2017

This book has good info on lens making - https://www.amazon.com/Primitive-Photography-Cameras-Calotypes-Alternative/dp/0240804619 I took a class from Alan Greene at an f295 symposium and it was great.

Peter Schrager · Apr 22, 2017

winger said:
This book has good info on lens making - https://www.amazon.com/Primitive-Photography-Cameras-Calotypes-Alternative/dp/0240804619 I took a class from Alan Greene at an f295 symposium and it was great.

Great book!..i second that emotion!

John Koehrer · Apr 23, 2017

To make a lens.
Get some nice sand and:
Melt
Grind
Polish
Mount
Shoot
Appreciate

But seriously, a milled aluminum body shouldn't be too heavy; Weren't the older Alpa's
cast & milled?

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 24, 2017

Lomo at one time made sharp lenses and decent cameras! I have a Lomo 135M which is a spring driven zone focus camera, its lens is quite sharp, and can take number of successive shots without winding up again, 6-8 maybe?

For your focusing, once you have your lens made, and it on a focusing helical or sliding tubes (think pirate telescope), and mounted to your camera body, you can place a piece of ground glass or scotch tape (the frosty type) across your film plane and using a tape measure at various distances to start focusing your lens until you get a clear picture on your focusing screen with a loupe. You can start at its minimum focusing distance and move outward, marking spots on the lens barrel finishing at infinity. then you can somehow put some stops at either end.

AgX · Apr 24, 2017

Newt_on_Swings said:
Lomo at one time made sharp lenses and decent cameras! I have a Lomo 135M which is a spring driven zone focus camera, its lens is quite sharp, and can take number of successive shots without winding up again, 6-8 maybe?

We are mixing up cameras here, there are "Lomo"

-) cameras manufactured by Lomo in Leningrad

-) cameras made by Lomography, to serve the Lomography style of photography

brent.bousquet · May 8, 2017

Its a little confusing as lomo is both a style and a brand. My intentions are to make a camera that is extremely simple but still able to get a decent shot. I wont be using flash as there wont be any electronics and I certainly dont want any light leaks. As far as weight goes I sometimes drag around my mamiya rz67 so im not all that worried as my design is basically the size of the diana so its already much more portable and lighter. I have read the Primitive Photography book and found the sections on lenses to be very helpful. It also made me realize that I should probably just make the lenses changeable so I can start with a nice one pre made to make sure the rest of the camera works properly then make a lens after that. I think a wider lens would be better suited to my use of the camera, any suggestions?

michr · May 9, 2017

brent.bousquet said:
sorry for the long post.
Last I know theres a way to tell what will be in focus based on distance and aperture but How can I figure that out for my lens so I can know whats in focus without being able to see through the lens and without just having a pinhole so everythings in focus which it will have but it would be nice to be able to open it up a bit if its darker. Also what shutter speed is the shutter on.

Use a bit of scotch tape across the focus plan to show what's in focus. Set up some targets at fixed distances, like 3ft, 6ft, 15ft, etc. Mark the positions on the lens where each target is in focus at the widest aperture. Then I'd recommend you obtain an accessory rangefinder. You can use this to determine how far away the subject is, and dial in the approximation on the lens using the markings.

OptiKen · May 9, 2017

I thought the term for high quality lomo cameras was "Brownie"

Building lomo camera, any tips on shutter designs or anything else?

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