Ideal camera material

[cliveh]

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]

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

 

[Steve Smith]

Oak or mahogany and brass.


Steve.

 

[MattKing]

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

 

[jp498]

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.]

Spanish Mahogany, Brass & Glass.

 

[AgX]

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]

note

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

 

[bdial]

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]

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]

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

 

[snapguy]

but then

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

 

[benjiboy]

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


Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

 

[AgX]

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

 

[Gerald C Koch]

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]

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

And no lens mount is brass.

 

[trythis]

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]

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]

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]

Bakelite!



Steve.

 

[AgX]

Bakelite is hard but still quite brittle.

 

[miha]

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]

Bakelite!



Steve.

Yes, like my Argus!

 

[benjiboy]

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]

How about your mouth?

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