One of the most ridiculous camera markups ever

lxdude · Jun 10, 2012

^^I must admit, I laughed out loud.^^

Newt_on_Swings · Jun 12, 2012

https://www.inventables.com/categories/laser-cutting/wood

Haha I found a source of wood veneers, in various types and styles. For around $5 you can have a one that is paper backed with glue, and you can cut peel and stick on.

For $25 you can get a roll that is thin and flexible enough to be printed through a inkjet printer.

Also: bonus

https://www.inventables.com/categories/laser-cutting/cuttable-sheets/natural-materials

Cork material looks really nice, I might do a cork refinishing soon. I had an iphone case in real cork and had lots of compliments on it.

Steven L · Jun 25, 2012

Yesterday I made a mock-up from paper to see how dificult it would be to make a veneer finish on my SLR camera. It seems to be dead easy. Later today I'm going to get some veneer and give it a try.
Pics later.

Steven L · Jun 25, 2012

Forgot to mention: I've got a couple of screw-on filters, I bought at a flea market. They are 55 and 52mm, but the lens I've got is 49mm. With that same flea market find I've got a slide-in filter holder with three sizes of screw-on rings. 49, 52 and 55mm. I've made a jig to hold several rings with filter onto the lens. It's basically a couple of plywood hexagons with holes to fit the rings with lenses, held together with screws. With that DIY plywood holder, it would look nice to have a matching camera. Again, pics later.

Steven L · Jun 29, 2012

Some pictures:

It's a 49mm UV filter, a 52mm Polariser and a 55mm Polariser.
I got to cut of the ends of the screws. They are not in the way of the image, but they don't have to be that long.

Newt_on_Swings · Jun 29, 2012

Cool is that for variable nd? I've played with a similar stacked setup with a linear and circular polarizer. Do you get a vignette?

Steven L · Jun 30, 2012

They are both linear. When you turn one polarizer, the filters turn graduatly darker. No vingette.

Steven L · Jul 1, 2012

Yesterday I cut wood veneer into shape and stained it the same colour as the filter holder I just made. Maybe this evening I might glue the veneer on the camera. Pics later.

Discoman · Jul 1, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
Hmmm. Veneered cameras. Pretty, but my Deardorff is solid mahogany, of a grade no longer available....anywhere, at any price.

And I was about to say someone should make a camera entirely out of wood.
How did I forget about any of the wooden LF behemoths?

Still, time to make a wooden pinhole camera that takes 35mm on all wooden parts. if just veneer is worth a few grand, one camera and I should be set for life

graywolf · Jul 1, 2012

You, know what? Those would not sell for $200, a fair price. But put a premium price on them and, Hot Cakes!

They are for sale to those who understand that you get what you pay for. A little bit of product and a lot of Blarney!

Just what the people who pay several bucks for a bottle of tap water from Mexico City, deserve. Something else to one up their friends and neighbors with.

It's "Art!" (Note quotes, caps, and exclamation point. Far more valuable than just... It's art).

Steven L · Jul 1, 2012

Darn, the stain has hardened the veneer. I've got to steam the veneer untill it gets soft enough to bend. Then I'm going to let the wood dry in the right shape. After that, gluing. If that works...

jayvo86 · Jul 1, 2012

The store front is likely located in a very boutique location with a lot of tourists.

There target customer is obviously someone with no experience in photography.

Sad...

Steven L · Jul 2, 2012

I don't want to be the devil's advocate, but someone is making a profit in re-using/abusing vintage camera's, in a financianally bad time. Aparantly there are enough buyers who like to pay big bucks for such an item. You can't make him stop doing this. The only thing you can do to get in his way is by making a better product that sells better than his.
No matter how you cut it, tourist trap items are everywhere (even on the internet). From crappy toys to cheap knock-off's. The camera would probably be used as a paperweight or a dust gatherer, but if there's a market for it, why not use it? I bet some of us have a surplus of broken camera's and lenses. Why not use them to create an object of "art"?

Newt_on_Swings · Jul 2, 2012

Such is the world, there is always someone willing to make a cheap buck at the expense of others' foolishness. Then again money comes easy to certain people, and they have much more to play with, and may care little about price.

How did the steaming go? Maybe staining would have been better after it was adhered to the camera and slowly buffed in with a small rag, though I would imagine getting into the smaller corners would be much harder this way. Also I posted a link to some sources of very flexible real wood veneer a little while back. That could be a fall back option.

Also I had an idea for your filter setup though may not apply, some o-rings/rubber spacers would work well between the plates to stabilize the whole setup as I only see nuts at the ends. They sell them in assorted sizes all in a box. (also great for other things such a replacing enlarger base feet)

Steven L · Jul 2, 2012

Newt_on_Swings, I haven't tried the steaming yet. If it doesn't work, I'm going to have to do it all over again, first glueing than staining, as you suggested. The veneer I used is actually a single sheet from a 3mm plywood sheet. Problem is, the sheet is to thick to be bent into shape, unless it's soaked. I can't glue before the wood is dry. If I have to do it over, it's going to be: cut in shape, soak wood, bending into shape, drying, glueing and finally staining. I have the option of leaving the wood just stained or covering the wood with a coat of clear laquer.

Steven L · Jul 3, 2012

The back is done. A few details to work on, but overall a decent job if I may say so myself.

This is the bare front:

and the front glued and held into place with rubber bands and pencils:

GRHazelton · Jul 3, 2012

Love your clamping job! Looks like some of the jerry-rigs I've done. If it does the job, who cares how it looks, right?

Steven L · Jul 3, 2012

I better take them off before our daughter sees it in the morning.

lxdude · Jul 3, 2012

Steven L said:
and the front glued and held into place with rubber bands and pencils:

You sir, have created Art and should sell it just the way it is, pencils, rubber bands, Legos and all, to an art collector for ohhh, say $85,000.

Terry Christian · Jul 3, 2012

I just got in from the auction site an Argus 21 that really needs a re-covering. The existing leatherette is peeling badly, but in unbroken pieces, so cutting templates shouldn't be too difficult. I just might redo it in veneer just for the heck of it.

Newt_on_Swings · Jul 3, 2012

Haha that is awesome. Hands down best use of color pencils when not drawing with em! It's looking good!

Moopheus · Jul 3, 2012

Steven L said:
You can't make him stop doing this. The only thing you can do to get in his way is by making a better product that sells better than his.

Trying to stop him would be bad, but making fun of him is fair game. Sure, he's within his rights to do this, and people are within their rights to pay if they want. However, it remains pretentious twaddle to pretend that cheap camera + CLA + a bit of veneer = precious object. And we are within our rights to say so.

Steven L · Jul 4, 2012

Terry Christian said:
I just got in from the auction site an Argus 21 that really needs a re-covering. The existing leatherette is peeling badly, but in unbroken pieces, so cutting templates shouldn't be too difficult. I just might redo it in veneer just for the heck of it.

I suggest leaving about 1mm on all sides of the teplates. Leather is a bit stretchable and wood isn't. After the slightly larger veneer is cut, you can test fit it on the camera and cut off the rest. Good luck and have fun with the redo.

The pencil-rubberband glueing technique is not pattented. You're alowed to use it if you want.

Ulrich Drolshagen · Jul 4, 2012

Anyone noticed their ratings? According to their condition guide either the shutter isn't 100% accurate or the light meter isn't working. So what does cla mean to them?

Steven L · Jul 11, 2012

Finished the camera body! I have removed the lettering on the camera with nail remover. Bad choise, the plastic is damaged. I'm going to cover it up with custom lettering. Have to think of a name.

One of the most ridiculous camera markups ever

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