New LomMod Camera - Liquid Lens!!?

wahiba · Oct 21, 2019

Well I have sent off my order:

The LomoMod No.1 kit is the combination of two incredible innovations: a flat-packed DIY cardboard camera, alongside a lens you can fill with liquids of your choice to create unforeseen effects. The kit comes with a shutter and aperture unit, offering not only the fun and satisfaction of building something from the bottom up, but also the joy of experimenting with photography.

At £50 a good deal so ordered the 120 scanning frame at the same time to get 'free' postage. Saw it used on a YouTube video and realised it was better than I realised, well I hope so. Anyhow a very small lottery win just abouts covers this buy.

Good to see Lomo producing a new 120 camera though.

macfred · Oct 21, 2019

How cute - I just ordered one for my daughter - she will love it !!!

tezzasmall · Oct 23, 2019

Looks like fun!

Terry S

winger · Oct 23, 2019

I'm definitely interested, but I'm not even using all of the cameras I "needed" when I got them. Including a Recesky I haven't even built, yet.

Oren Grad · Oct 23, 2019

Wish they'd sell the shutter unit separately too...

awty · Oct 24, 2019

Very cool, be interested in some impressions when you receive.

AgX · Oct 24, 2019

Is it really a "liquid lens" or just a liquid filter?

awty · Oct 24, 2019

AgX said:
Is it really a "liquid lens" or just a liquid filter?

Loosely based on this http://www.novacon.com.br/odditycameras/sutton.htm
Interesting concept. Dont think the lomo has much optical significance except you can use a colored liquid as a filter.

Ces1um · Oct 24, 2019

awty said:
Loosely based on this http://www.novacon.com.br/odditycameras/sutton.htm
Interesting concept. Dont think the lomo has much optical significance except you can use a colored liquid as a filter.

Looking at their sample photos I find it very difficult to see any perceptible differences. Either the samples are all taken with plain water in them, the colour of the water doesn't affect the final outcome much, or I'm just too stunned to notice a difference. Now if you could inject two different liquids with different specific gravities you might be able to create some kind of graduated filter, which could be useful. I'm not too enthused about this one myself but I'm glad to see they're still making new cameras and not just lenses. What I'd like from Lomography is a half frame 35mm camera with much better build quality than their diana mini. Also, would it kill them to make a camera that wasn't zone focus?

wahiba · Oct 25, 2019

AgX said:
Is it really a "liquid lens" or just a liquid filter?

I think it is a lens filled with liquid. As liquids have their individual refractive indices I am assuming it needs at least water in to work. Not sure how the RI of the container forming the lens shape matters. Assuming it is plastic at the price. Just nice to see a new 120 camera.

wahiba · Oct 25, 2019

Oren Grad said:
Wish they'd sell the shutter unit separately too...

When I saw their first hint of a new product I thought that is what it was. As the body is self assembly card I would think a fair bit of the value is in the lens shutter unit and should easy to use separately. One could always assemble the body with a DIY pinhole.

AgX · Oct 25, 2019

wahiba said:
I think it is a lens filled with liquid. As liquids have their individual refractive indices I am assuming it needs at least water in to work. Not sure how the RI of the container forming the lens shape matters. Assuming it is plastic at the price. Just nice to see a new 120 camera.

Yes, the term liquid lens in engineering means a lens element consisting of a fluid, which shape can be fomed. The nearest in nature would the lens in human eye.
Lomography refer to the Sutton lens, this is a lens consisting of two hollow lens elements from glass with the space between filled not by air, but by water, thus a medium of higher refractive index than air. In general a air-space in a complex lens can be regarded as lens element too, though typically is not named this way. A water-space likely makes one more think of a lens element. The Sutton lens can be seen as a cemented triplet of 2 (or even 3) different refractive indexes.
Another lens that come to my mind are the shoemakers lenses, used for lighting a tiny working area. Basically a huge ball shaped lens. As such would have been tedious and costly to make from solid glass, instead just a spherical glass bulb was blown, thus easy and cheap to make, and then filled with water. Here the glass elements have zero refraction as their surfaces have same radii, think of a zero-diopter meniscus.

wahiba · Oct 29, 2019

Well it has arrived and needs a good session to put together. However some points are clearer. Lens mount, aperture unit and shutter unit are all separate. Aperture is f11 by default but slide in card apertures up to f32 are provided plus a selection of odd shaped apertures. There are also some for DIY aperture.

Shutter unit is 1 speed with flash and cable contacts. There is a B option and a separate T lever. Lens unit is plastic with a warning not to use with strong alcohol, which makes sense. Evidently there might be light leakage due to card construction. Obviously it has been designed to avoid this problem, but you have been warned. Obviously not difficult to solve but obviously worth checking for.

Focusing is 2.5m to infinity, or with a spacer ring fitted 1m to 6m but whichever setting will be fo whole film.

The modular approach with the lens and shutter suggests it could be used on other projects. I think the shutter unit is held with M39x1 thread, Leica..?

An interesting product and looking forward to trying it out.

awty · Oct 29, 2019

Sounds great so far keep us posted.

foc · Oct 29, 2019

I think Lomography is great. They never make photography look boring.

AgX · Oct 30, 2019

AgX said:
Yes, the term liquid lens in engineering means a lens element consisting of a fluid, which shape can be fomed. The nearest in nature would the lens in human eye.
Lomography refer to the Sutton lens, this is a lens consisting of two hollow lens elements from glass with the space between filled not by air, but by water, thus a medium of higher refractive index than air. In general a air-space in a complex lens can be regarded as lens element too, though typically is not named this way. A water-space likely makes one more think of a lens element. The Sutton lens can be seen as a cemented triplet of 2 (or even 3) different refractive indexes.
Another lens that come to my mind are the shoemakers lenses, used for lighting a tiny working area. Basically a huge ball shaped lens. As such would have been tedious and costly to make from solid glass, instead just a spherical glass bulb was blown, thus easy and cheap to make, and then filled with water. Here the glass elements have zero refraction as their surfaces have same radii, think of a zero-diopter meniscus.

Lenses using the basic idea of the Sutton have been used at projection-TV sets. I got such lenses myself. The liquid is used for coupling the lens to the cathade-ray tube.

Nodda Duma · Oct 30, 2019

Index of refraction of water is 1.333
Plastic lenses are 1.45 ish. Index of typical crowns like BK-7 are 1.54.

This link has index of refraction values for different liquids. Changing the liquid and thus index of refraction will change the focal length as well as magnitude of aberrations (Abbe number i.e. color correction changes too). Have fun.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.engineeringtoolbox.com/amp/refractive-index-d_1264.html

AgX · Oct 30, 2019

But not only water is used. The lenses I have, got some oil-like liquid.

wahiba · Oct 30, 2019

I have 'assembled' the cardboard camera. I have not a particularly good job of it, but I think with a few mods. I will get it working.

First of all the method of assembly is based evidently on a Japanese furniture method. It is a system that works well with wood, there are some complex wooden models now available due to wide adoption of lazer cutting. Transferring to card loks straight forward, except that card pushed through a tight slot can seperate and fray at the edges. A particular problem I found is the tolerance is too tight. Even a little bit of effort with card causes all sorts of problems. If you make a mistake pulling bits apart does not help. Now for some smaller parts there are duplicates, but obviusly not for the bigger bits.

It would certainly be easier to assemble a wooden body and considering the number of models around It possibly difficulties in light tightness that pushed them down the card route.

The lens shutter aperture unit goes together with no problem. I suspect i will get the cardboard version to work, making sure it is pretty light tight first. Practically though a DIY body, possibly with an element of built in focussing will be a likely project. Obviously most of the value is in the lens, shutter aperture unit so it probably worth it for that unit alone.

The instructions also seem to be a bit of work in progress. I would suggest that all slots are opened out slightly to aid assembly though. I still think it a worthwhile effort on Lomos part and suspect that this camera will not be the last using this lens unit. A mini plate style camera with a 120 film unit would be a good use of the lens arrangement.

David

ciniframe · Nov 4, 2019

Ces1um said:
Looking at their sample photos I find it very difficult to see any perceptible differences. Either the samples are all taken with plain water in them, the colour of the water doesn't affect the final outcome much, or I'm just too stunned to notice a difference. Now if you could inject two different liquids with different specific gravities you might be able to create some kind of graduated filter, which could be useful. I'm not too enthused about this one myself but I'm glad to see they're still making new cameras and not just lenses. What I'd like from Lomography is a half frame 35mm camera with much better build quality than their diana mini. Also, would it kill them to make a camera that wasn't zone focus?

I’m sure they could build that. They would charge $350 for it.....with a straight face no less.
Just look for a nice clean Olympus Pen VF type. The early ones with the two blade 5 speed Copal shutter and 28mm f3.5 scale focused lens are usually more reliable than the Pen S with the 5 blade Copal shutters. A 28mm lens has enough DoF that focusing by scale is feasible. Do not get a Pen EE, they are way too limited. Great little half frame, and can be found for well under a C note.

John Koehrer · Nov 10, 2019

You might try using clear nail polish on the edges of the cardboard to cut down on the fraying.

New LomMod Camera - Liquid Lens!!?

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