TeachMe
Member
So essentially, being a broke as hell college student who also loves building things, I've decided to build my own enlarger for bw. I got the inspiration from a YouTube video
( ). I wanted to start with a prototype, a proof of concept, so this is just the beginning. Basically I have a box with a light at one end, some parchment paper (with an S drawn on it) in the middle to diffuse and disperse the light abut and a zoom lense at the end. Initially I tried a macro lense thinking that might work well (I'm new to photography, a more experienced person may not have made my assumption) but I could only get it to focus very close to the projected surface. After playing with some different lenses I found a zoom lense worked best, it had superior focusing capabilites. The next step includes making the thing light proof, making it vertical instead of horizontal, making a sturdier film plane, adding real ground glass as opposed to parchment paper. Finally I would like to see if I could find a broken camera with which to salvage a shutter system from and build into my little Frankenstein. Below are some photos. Please give input on how to improve and what problems I may face.
This is the contraption, very simple
Below is the first projection, it's against a wall, the image may not show but the S is in focus, and the light is a bit brighter
( ). I wanted to start with a prototype, a proof of concept, so this is just the beginning. Basically I have a box with a light at one end, some parchment paper (with an S drawn on it) in the middle to diffuse and disperse the light abut and a zoom lense at the end. Initially I tried a macro lense thinking that might work well (I'm new to photography, a more experienced person may not have made my assumption) but I could only get it to focus very close to the projected surface. After playing with some different lenses I found a zoom lense worked best, it had superior focusing capabilites. The next step includes making the thing light proof, making it vertical instead of horizontal, making a sturdier film plane, adding real ground glass as opposed to parchment paper. Finally I would like to see if I could find a broken camera with which to salvage a shutter system from and build into my little Frankenstein. Below are some photos. Please give input on how to improve and what problems I may face.
This is the contraption, very simple
Below is the first projection, it's against a wall, the image may not show but the S is in focus, and the light is a bit brighter