This is my new camera, the “Cameo 625.” I have just posted the first photos from this camera over on the black and white forum... here:

http://www.f295.org/Pinholeforum/forum/Blah.pl?b-cc/m-1172343712/

I have a bunch of images showing construction and finish details. Tom, sorry if I'm chewing up too much disk storage... let me know if it's a problem.

In designing this camera I wanted to achieve portability and durability – to get close to a point-and-shoot pinhole camera. I wanted a shutter lock to prevent misfires while carrying it around in a backpack. I also wanted to get more frames from a single roll of film, hence the 6cm x 2.5cm format. I like the 625 format as it is moderately wide angle, can give 18 to 20 frames on a 120 roll, and yields a fairly large negative so it can be printed pretty large.

The overall dimensions of the camera are:
5-1/4 inches high (13.5 cm)
5-3/8 inches wide (11 cm) excluding the film wind knob which sticks out 5/8”
2-1/8 inches deep (5.3 cm) excluding the shutter which sticks up about 1/2” from the front

The Cameo is a bit too big to fit into a pocket (well, it fits in a very large pocket). But if I were to make more of them I could reduce the dimensions by about 1 inch (shorter) and 1/2 inch (narrower).

The pinhole-to-film distance is about 1-3/8 inches (3.5cm). With a .24mm pinhole it is about f128.

Left: The back and side of the finished camera with the sliding latch.

Right: The top of the camera showing the framing lines and the spirit level. Note that the framing lines are not symmetrical because I made a mistake when I drilled the hole in the front of the camera (slightly off-center in relation to the film).

Left: Here’s the wooden “blank.” Made from oak top and bottom, and birch ply on the sides. There is enough material here for about 4 or 5 more cameras. This shows that I routed a rabbet into which the front of the camera will be fitted, made from 1/4” masonite board.

Right: The body of one camera has been cut off of the blank. This is the bottom of the camera showing the tripod mount.

Left: The front of the camera has been cut and glued into the rabbet. There’s a hole where the pinhole will be mounted. The back is attached and the winding knob is in place.

Right: This shows the inside (back open). I used small pieces of wood to make baffles that define the “image box” -- the frame where the film will be exposed (6cm x 2.5cm). A roller made of aluminum tube has been installed on each side of the image box. I’m not sure the rollers are very useful.

Left: Shows the latching plate and screws that holds the back closed. I cut the latch out of a small piece of aluminum. The latch slides left and right, trapped by the 2 lower screws. Below the latch on the left you can see the head of a screw that goes through the side, protruding into the inside where it provides a stud to locate the film takeup spool. There are 2 similar screws on this side that hold the ends of the rollers, but they are hidden by the sliding latch. You can see there is a sheet of black hobby foam between the body and the back to keep light out.

Right: The back is unlatched. The sliding plate will be fitted later with a wooden button.

Left: The knob for winding the film. I made the dial on the computer and printed it on regular paper. It is glued to the body with 50/50 glue/water mix, then the varnish goes over it.

Right: The business end of the winder. The shaft started life as a 1/4-20 bolt. I wanted the main shaft of the winder (under the spring) to be smooth so it would slide easily through the hole in the side of the camera. You could use a piece of 1/4-20 threaded rod but it would not be as smooth. And why not use a piece of 1/4-inch plain rod? Because I need a threaded end for the nut that holds the spring in place. The end for the film reel is flattened with a file so it fits into the end of the spool.

Right: This is the main part of the shutter. I cut it out of a piece of aluminum angle (1” x 1” in section). In the picture I put it back together with the scraps to illustrate. The “shutter lock” piece – the smaller part that locks the shutter open and closed -- was cut out of the larger off-cut (top right piece).

Left: Here’s the whole shutter assembled. The shutter pivots on a screw, and there’s a thick nylon washer between the shutter and the camera front to keep the shutter level. Under the right end of the shutter (in front of pinhole), there is an adhesive-backed felt circle stuck on the end of the shutter. There is a small washer under the shutter lock to raise it above the camera front. The screw holding the shutter lock is tight enough so that it pivots but not without a deliberate push. The spring pulls the shutter back down when you let go. The action is very light.

Left: Here’s a view of the shutter on the finished camera. The black patch is a piece of wide electrical tape with a hole punched in it. The 0.24mm pinhole, made from brass shim stock, is stuck to the back of the tape and then the whole thing is stuck onto the camera front. The pattern on the front is from a piece of paper I found. Glued to the front and varnished over.

Right: The logo, created on computer, glued to camera back, varnished over.

Left: Shows the shutter in action.

Right: Shows how the shutter lock mechanism also serves to lock the shutter open for long exposures.

Here are some other ideas for cosmetic treatments of the front of the camera. These are just created in photoshop.

That's a  beautiful piece of engineering, Mark.  Thanks for the detailed photos.

This is a fantastic camera. Thank you for the detailed information - I had a number of questions but you have pre-empted them all! Look forward to seeing some more results.

All the best.

Mark

A wonderful camera!!!! excellent desgn,construction and finishing. and the pictures are great too.I like the pictures on the camera idea, the second one is my favorite it looks like Long John Silver "Ar Jim Lad"

You have combined craftsmanship and some ingenious designs to create a wondrful camera to behold that makes good pictures too boot.

Thanks for sharing the design insights and pictures (it's a lot easier to steal your ideas that way)..

Beautiful piece of work, with several unique ideas. Thanks for the detailed info - lots of good stuff to shamelessly copy!