Ideal camera material

cliveh · Jun 17, 2014

What would be the ideal material you would like your camera to be made from? I note my Leica II is made from Nickel, which I like, but I understand some people are allergic to this material. If you could have a camera made from a material of your choice, what would it be?

Rick A · Jun 17, 2014

Rosewood, Cuban mahogany, or purpleheart, something of that ilk. Sturdy but supple red leather bellows, and brass.

Steve Smith · Jun 17, 2014

Oak or mahogany and brass.

Steve.

MattKing · Jun 17, 2014

We don't see much of Ole here on the forums anymore, but if we did, he might vote for carbon fibre .

jp498 · Jun 17, 2014

I've got a lensboard made of carbon fiber. It'd make a nice camera material. I've heard it's quite brittle for cars, so perhaps a few strands of something else could be mixed with it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/13759696@N02/8669974874/in/photolist-ed8Ttq-ediNNw

A TLR or Graflex 4x5 RB SLR of carbon fiber and magnesium or titanium would be quite light and stylish.

DannL. · Jun 17, 2014

Spanish Mahogany, Brass & Glass.

AgX · Jun 17, 2014

cliveh said:
I note my Leica II is made from Nickel, which I like, but I understand some people are allergic to this material.

I don't know of any camera made from Nickel. Anyway, your Leica is made from brass that has been Nickel coated/plated.

Never thought about your issue (sometimes the construction dictates the material). I shall think of all the materials my cameras are made from. At least those materials I typically touch at them.

snapguy · Jun 17, 2014

note

Clarinet reeds and Scotch tape. Cool, man, cool.

bdial · Jun 17, 2014

Carbon fiber or titanium come to mind.
But in reality, "best" would likely be an array of materials, there aren't very many choices which would be ideal for all parts of just about any camera.

Bill Burk · Jun 17, 2014

I won't vote on the camera body material, Titanium is a bit difficult to machine so Aluminum is fine, and the outer body should be black with perhaps some leather exterior trim such as found on Contax (but without the bumps)...

But I will offer what I would like the interior lens and camera chamber surfaces should be coated with something perfectly black like this...

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dosilverhalide · Jun 17, 2014

Re-cycled peanut shells and pine tar (Florida here y all)

snapguy · Jun 17, 2014

but then

On the other hand -- whatever my Rolleiflex is made out of. It is 60 years old, looks fantastic and works great.

benjiboy · Jun 17, 2014

Titanium because it's as light as Aluminium. and as strong as steel.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

AgX · Jun 17, 2014

Ben, Titanium is much heavier than Aluminiun and difficult to work on.

Gerald C Koch · Jun 17, 2014

The Leicas are made from brass and were nickel plated. Brass is used because it is easy to machine. The nickel plating allows the cameras to take paint easily. Brass has an added advantage in that it is self lubricating preventing the lenses from binding to the lens mount.

While aluminum is light it has the disadvantage in that it tends to bind with other metals. So even though a camera body may be made from aluminum the lens mount is usually made of brass. The binding problem also explains why cheap filters using aluminum tend to bind to lenses. Aluminum also corrodes easily.

Metals parts that are intended for chromium plating are first plated with nickel. Failure to do so causes the chromium plating to eventually develop pits.

An alloy called german silver composed of 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc is also useful for camera parts and was widely used in the early 20th century. It has a silvery appearance, takes a nice polish and does not tarnish.

NB23 · Jun 17, 2014

No... Paint goes over brass directly.
It is Chrome that goes over Nickel. Not paint.

And no lens mount is brass.

trythis · Jun 18, 2014

Soap.

I like brass because it absorbs shock on impact and can be hammered back easy several times. It also patinas beautifully. Aluminum is light but cracks easy and is harder to stretch. Verry thin stainless is appealing too, easier to tig weld than brass or aluminum.

sent from phone. excuse my typing.

Gerald C Koch · Jun 18, 2014

NB23 said:
No... Paint goes over brass directly.
It is Chrome that goes over Nickel. Not paint.

And no lens mount is brass.

You're right about paint going directly over brass. I should have proof read my post better. I was thinking chrome and wrote paint. I did get it right in the 3rd paragraph.

Your probably right about the lens mount metal in that brass may be too soft. However one of my cameras does have a plated brass lens munt because the threads are worn and the brass shows thru. However one mount is not really a good statistical sample.

I stand corrected.

Jerry

Newt_on_Swings · Jun 18, 2014

Vulcanized rubber with some simple internal frame structure. It could seal right up nicely, take a pounding, and would be cheap to mold, it would have a good weight, be super grippy from any holding position, and It could probably float too!

Steve Smith · Jun 18, 2014

Bakelite!

Steve.

AgX · Jun 18, 2014

Bakelite is hard but still quite brittle.

miha · Jun 18, 2014

Clive, plastic is my choice. Really. I use to love heavy cameras but prefer feather light instruments now. I'm glad my Linhof sits on a tripod - I don't know how Munich manages to make them so heavy?! (I should dig out my Yashica mg-1).

bsdunek · Jun 18, 2014

Steve Smith said:
Bakelite!

Steve.

Yes, like my Argus!

benjiboy · Jun 18, 2014

AgX said:
Ben, Titanium is much heavier than Aluminiun and difficult to work on.

I used to work as an engineer in the aerospace industry at a company that made turbine blades for Rolls Royce jet engine out of Titanium, and I know it has the lightest weight and highest tensile strength of any metal on the planet, and how difficult it is to work with I'm wearing a signet ring I made by hand out of it from solid many years ago. One of the other drawbacks of Titanium is how difficult it is to produce and how expensive, I know at the time I worked with it weight for weight it cost about the same as Silver.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 18, 2014

How about your mouth?

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Ideal camera material

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