Help with DIY 35mm camera

knminhaz · Oct 25, 2015

Hello, I'm new to APUG and also new to the world of DIY camera's.

I built a 35mm pinhole camera out of foamcord and it worked out beautifully. Now I want to make a lens based 35mm camera out of plywood/wood. I have some m42 lenses which I would like to use. How would I go about it?

Thanks.

ic-racer · Oct 25, 2015

Last year I got a perfectly good like-new working Nikon N55 from KEH for seven dollars. It seems as if one could obtain a M42 thread 35mm camera for less than the cost of the wood you intend to use.

Chan Tran · Oct 25, 2015

knminhaz said:
Hello, I'm new to APUG and also new to the world of DIY camera's.

I built a 35mm pinhole camera out of foamcord and it worked out beautifully. Now I want to make a lens based 35mm camera out of plywood/wood. I have some m42 lenses which I would like to use. How would I go about it?

Thanks.

I think you should try large format camera first before trying to make a 35mm. For DIY the large format is much easier.

knminhaz · Oct 25, 2015

ic-racer said:
Last year I got a perfectly good like-new working Nikon N55 from KEH for seven dollars. It seems as if one could obtain a M42 thread 35mm camera for less than the cost of the wood you intend to use.

Thanks for the heads up. But the whole process of making
a camera would be expensive. I still want to do it as something of a challenge. Btw how was the Nikon?

knminhaz · Oct 25, 2015

Chan Tran said:
I think you should try large format camera first before trying to make a 35mm. For DIY the large format is much easier.

I would love to make a LF camera but he cost of LF lens and unavailability of Photo paper in my country(Bangladesh) is going to be a problem.

Dan Fromm · Oct 25, 2015

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=9185&start=100&hilit=den

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6946

In few words, dream on.

jeffreythree · Oct 25, 2015

I would think the toughest part will be making a shutter, especially one that will work with your M42 lenses. I have a couple of camera projects in the works, and they use various leaf shutter/lens combos I have accumulated from MF parts cameras or loose. The body can just be a wooden version of your pinhole camera with the lens attached at the appropriate point to get proper focus.

Dan Fromm · Oct 25, 2015

j3, most lenses for 35 mm SLRs -- this includes lenses in M42 mount -- are in focusing helicals. M42 flange-to-film distance is 45.46 mm. This leaves a little room for a behind the lens shutter. In particular, the Ilex #3 shutter's front tubes ID is 45 mm. This may (great stress may) be large enough to hold an adapter that will screw into the shutter and accept a lens in M42. Whether it can be done is best answered by a machinist.

If the OP gets the flange (front of adapter) to film distance right, this approach will give him a 35 mm camera in M42 mount with guess focus.

Help with DIY 35mm camera

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