Lomography LC-Wide square and half-frame inserts

brbo

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Does anyone:

- have square and half-frame inserts that they don't need and would be willing to sell
- have 3d print files for them
- have closeup pictures and dimensions for those inserts
- knows where to get them


I asked Lomography if they would sell a pair of those to me and they said that they will try to find a pair, but never got back to me, of course. I guess they figured they would be better off if I just bought a whole new camera to get them.

Ah, the delights of new (in production) film cameras with active manufacturer's support...
 

Andrew Keedle

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Sorry can't help but if you ever find file for printing I would love to know. I have an LC-Wide without masks also Thanks
 

xkaes

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In the meanwhile, you can get around the "problem" in a couple of ways -- neither of these are perfect:

For square pictures: Since the camera advances a full-frame, even when set for SQUARE, just crop the shot under the enlarger -- or cut the full-frame print.

For half-frame: The camera only advances 1/2 a frame at a time, so you can:

#1 -- use the approach above, without switching to half-frame, or
#2 -- take a blank exposure in-between each shot -- this wastes film, of course.

Like I said, not perfect, but the masks are not switchable mid-roll anyway, so they are not perfect either.
 

xya

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I posted full resolution pictures, out of the camera, not nice...

Both are 35.0 x 23.5 mm from the outside. Overall height is 10.3 mm.

The openings are 21.8 x 17.3 resp. 21.8 x 24.2 mm.

Thickness of the plastic is 0.9 mm except the longer sides which have a little "profile" visible on the photo, they are 1.1 mm in total.

I you look at the longer sides, the 10.3 mm divide into 2.3 mm incursion from the top, 4.2 mm frame and 3.8mm incursion at the bottom. Top is the film plane. Hope it helps...
 
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brbo

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Thank you!!!!

I'll study the pictures and I hope I'll find the time to learn how to make 3d printer files. Then it will be try - rinse - repeat, I guess...

One question, do you think that the channels on the sides visible in the last picture serve any purpose?
 

xya

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I have looked at it again. I think it's for stability reasons. The channels make a rib at the inside, hardly visible, but you can feel it with your fingers. The rib is round, not as sharp as the channels are. The plastic material on the side is 0.9 mm as the rest, channel and rib make it 1.1 mm when you measure with a caliper.
 

xkaes

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Very interesting. I had not thought about this before. While the full-frame is 24x36mm, neither of the sub-formats have a 24mm dimension -- the "square" being 22x22mm and half-frame being 22x17mm.
 
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brbo

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Sure, they have to slide into the opening, but looking at the masks they don't seem to block any light on the bottom and at the top of the film gate, just left and right.
 

xkaes

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Whatever. My point is, if someone was expecting 24x24mm or 24x18mm, they ain't gonna get it.
 
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brbo

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And my point is... they will. Well, 23,6x24,2mm and 23,6x17,3mm to be exact.

The lens on LC-Wide sits so close to the film plane that the vertical bars in the last picture cant possibly be in the way of the light cone, thus not blocking anything in vertical direction.
 
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brbo

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No. You are probably just missing the fact that the horizontal bars connecting the vertical bars do not extend to the image plane. They are recessed, so not in the way of the light projected on film.
 

xkaes

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So what's he referring to when he says:

The openings are 21.8 x 17.3 resp. 21.8 x 24.2 mm.
 

xya

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xkaes said:
So what's he referring to when he says:

The openings are 21.8 x 17.3 resp. 21.8 x 24.2 mm.
Click to expand...
I was referring to measurements with a caliper, as indicated. You seem to miss a point: the vertical bars do not touch the film plane. they are 2.3mm away from it. The light rays in a camera are a sort of cone, so some may create a wider image, a bit more than 21.8 mm.

I have never used these inserts, so I don't have negatives to find out. Maybe soneone on this forum has and could help. BTW: most negatives are not 24 x 36, most are smaller, just check it...
 
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brbo

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@xya, can I trouble you for just one more thing?

Can you please measure the distance I marked on your image? And are there small feet on the bottom?

Thanks!
 

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xya

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No trouble. The first photo is easy, it's 26.7 mm. The second is difficult to say. At the red circles there are no feet but incursions of about 0.1 mm or a bit less, hardly visible. Outer distance of the 2 incersions is 17.6 mm, inner distance between the two is 12.7 mm. It seems as if they have "rounded" or "broken" the outer edges of the frame except for the incusions.
 

xkaes

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These shots show me what you mean. These inserts really create 24x24mm and 24x17mm images. That's great. But you have to load them BEFORE the film is loaded. They are not simply masks as in other cameras.

Important INFO!!!
 
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xya

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I don't know of 135 film cameras that have masks that can be put after the film has been loaded. Please enlight me about these. There is the Diana Mini that has a switch and there are the so-called panoramic cameras that only hide a part of the 24x36 (idiotic in my eyes).
 

xkaes

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xya said:
I don't know of 135 film cameras that have masks that can be put after the film has been loaded.
Click to expand...

You've already mentioned two. There are several cameras -- Canon & Konica come to mind -- that made DUAL, half-frame and full-frame, cameras. It's not my job to keep track of how they do it. The Holga 135TIM allows you to take one half-frame or one full-frame because it has two lenses that you can leave open or closed.
 

xya

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I was just asking, there is no obligation at all. If you ever visited one of my websites, you have seen why I want to know about these... And no, the Holga TIM can't take a full size image at all https://www.plastikcam.com/holga_135_tim.htm
 
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brbo

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Did a quick print and... it fits.



Will do a more "production" ready print when I have more time...

Thanks again @xya!
 
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