Keith (M) Posted January 21, 2016 Share #1 Posted January 21, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Not something I'll be copying anytime soon... But bravo to the writer! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Hi Keith (M), Take a look here I Built Myself a 16×20-Inch Camera in 10 Hours. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
chrism Posted January 21, 2016 Share #2 Posted January 21, 2016 You know, you really shouldn't show me links like that..... I shall, manfully, try to resist temptation. C. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambro51 Posted January 21, 2016 Share #3 Posted January 21, 2016 ......ah, yeah. It's a camera. A cardboard box can be a camera. A tent can be a camera. A van can be a camera. A hotel room can be a camera. Soooooo.....coming from the viewpoint of the Worlds most experienced wet plate camera builder, the thing is a flimsy ugly mockup. His working technique is crude and dangerous. And dare I say.....amateurish subject matter. "putting my friends in front of a lens. This is ART? Forgive me for not being impressed in the least. Eventually this guy will come to me for a "real" camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Vandalay Posted January 21, 2016 Share #4 Posted January 21, 2016 ......ah, yeah. It's a camera. A cardboard box can be a camera. A tent can be a camera. A van can be a camera. A hotel room can be a camera. Soooooo.....coming from the viewpoint of the Worlds most experienced wet plate camera builder, the thing is a flimsy ugly mockup. His working technique is crude and dangerous. And dare I say.....amateurish subject matter. "putting my friends in front of a lens. This is ART? Forgive me for not being impressed in the least. Eventually this guy will come to me for a "real" camera. Who stole the jelly out of your donut? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manolo Laguillo Posted January 21, 2016 Share #5 Posted January 21, 2016 Very interesting. Thank you! NB But we shall not be fooled by his casual way of explaining things... He knows perfectly what he is doing, and there is not a bit of improvisation in all this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted January 21, 2016 Share #6 Posted January 21, 2016 Making a big view camera is not more difficult than building an expandable pet crate, or putting up a tent. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manoleica Posted January 21, 2016 Share #7 Posted January 21, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) Making a big view camera is not more difficult than building an expandable pet crate, or putting up a tent. . Killjoy --- Kudos to the guy.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted January 22, 2016 Share #8 Posted January 22, 2016 Making a big view camera is not more difficult than building an expandable pet crate, or putting up a tent. . Why does photography have to be difficult? In any case, it is the result that matters and I think they are excellent images. As for the camera, it would only be a cultural philistine that would judge a painting by the quality of the artists brushes, so why does this camera get judged so harshly? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 22, 2016 Share #9 Posted January 22, 2016 Why does photography have to be difficult? In any case, it is the result that matters and I think they are excellent images. As for the camera, it would only be a cultural philistine that would judge a painting by the quality of the artists brushes, so why does this camera get judged so harshly? Stating that something is not very difficult is not very harsh judment IMO. Stating that someone failed at something which was not very hard might be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted January 22, 2016 Share #10 Posted January 22, 2016 In the same vein, watch an Afghan box camera being made: There's bound to be someone here who will criticise even these guys, who built their cameras and earned their bread as portrait photographers even when the Taliban had made it illegal. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted January 23, 2016 Share #11 Posted January 23, 2016 Stating that something is not very difficult is not very harsh judment IMO. Stating that someone failed at something which was not very hard might be. Well in the context of the thread you'll see there is a subtext where Pico had 'liked' a previous post that was extremely judgemental, scathing, and nose in the air about the photographer and his photographs. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted January 23, 2016 Share #12 Posted January 23, 2016 I think it is great that he built that camera, coats his own, plates, etc. I think the idea of doing it all yourself is the accomplishment, regardless of the craftsmanship exhibited in the camera construction. What really matters are two different things... the personal enjoyment one gets from the project, and the end result. Of course this is mostly done for the enjoyment and he is not selling cameras. But there is nothing stopping a good creative photographer from taking such a crude camera and getting very good and interesting photos from it. (Not to imply that this person is not creative.) Personally, I think with the popularity and ease of digital photography, these kinds of approaches may be a significant viable alternative for the "craft" of photography in the future for more and more people. Shooting film with a store bought camera and having a lab process and print it is pretty easy too and is not much a of a departure philosophically from using digital photography as a capture method. My first year in college we had to make our own cameras (there were quite a few creative ones,) make liquid emulsions, developers from scratch, etc. I did dye transfer my 2nd year so I can see the appeal of the process to some. You certainly should know about the chemicals you are using and handle them properly. The entire history of photography has been a movement to make it easier, faster, more versatile, and less expensive to use. And along the way it got more and more accessible to a wider user base. To the point that today one can film high quality aerial videos with a $500 machine. As for photography as art, if you can get the results you want through a simpler process whether digital or film, that is fine. But a few seem to want to challenge themselves as part of their creative vision. This is the same reason someone chooses to use oil paint rather than take a photo of a scene. Of course there are a lot of paintings that are less than inspiring too and I guess some are even made by artists who make their own paint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted January 23, 2016 Share #13 Posted January 23, 2016 In the same vein, watch an Afghan box camera being made: There's bound to be someone here who will criticise even these guys, who built their cameras and earned their bread as portrait photographers even when the Taliban had made it illegal. Chris This wouldn't be complete without a video showing how it is used....as a camera and a darkroom and a printer! Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EoinC Posted February 9, 2016 Share #14 Posted February 9, 2016 ......ah, yeah. It's a camera. A cardboard box can be a camera. A tent can be a camera. A van can be a camera. A hotel room can be a camera. Soooooo.....coming from the viewpoint of the Worlds most experienced wet plate camera builder, the thing is a flimsy ugly mockup. His working technique is crude and dangerous. And dare I say.....amateurish subject matter. "putting my friends in front of a lens. This is ART? Forgive me for not being impressed in the least. Eventually this guy will come to me for a "real" camera. Isn't it a good thing that not everyone in the World thinks the way you do? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted February 9, 2016 Share #15 Posted February 9, 2016 Someday people will look back to our period by making their own digital sensors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 9, 2016 Share #16 Posted February 9, 2016 In the more distant future maybe. Turing "boxes" on fora long before. Human posters will be as scarse as women on AshleyMadison. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted February 10, 2016 Share #17 Posted February 10, 2016 .... Turing "boxes" on fora long before. .... They're here. My son wrote one about ten years ago. It was one of the attraction of the chatting system he ran at the time. The term was "chatbot", I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted February 10, 2016 Share #18 Posted February 10, 2016 In the past people often had to build things and did so for the joy and interest in doing so. There was often a pride in building high quality stuff from scratch - model engineering produced some extraordinarily well-built equipment for example, which we don't value as much as we should (I know of one collection of superb models which went abroad after their creator died simply because no museum in the UK actually wanted them which I find extraordinary). And often people built things because they could not afford the 'real' thing (I had a lens which someone had built a Leica LTM mount for from discarded bits and adjusted by hand for example). So I have no problem with people building stuff at all. However, in the past the camera produced in the link would probably have been regarded as a 'bodge' due to its poor and crude construction and its creator might well have used it but would probably not have broadcast the fact as is done today because he would have been regarded as a 'bodged' (and not in the traditional meaning). Its not a 'needs must' camera unlike some after all, and 'needs must' gear is somewhat different. So I have a foot in both camps - its great to see creativity being used but there is little pride and finesse in the item and I'd guess its a throw away piece which will rapidly wear out. And as for the results, well surely they are as expected and whilst interesting they are really no more. Have we lost or ability to differentiate style over content (and old style at that) I wonder? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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