Introduction

[Steve Smith]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to introduce myself but since I can't find a 'proper' place for introduction, here it is.
I am Steve Smith from the Isle of Wight, England and I have just found the site, liked the look of it and joined up immediately.
I usually have far too many odd projects on the go at once (both photographic and musical). Some of which are (nearly) finished and include a home made 5x4" camera using Zeiss Tessar 135mm lens, a Polaroid (model 360 I think) pack film camera with the lens assembly removed and replaced with a Tessar 105mm from an old Zeiss Ikon folder and an older Polaroid folder (roll film model) converted to take 6 x 12cm images on 120 film - currently with its original lens assembly but this may be modified soon.
I am currently sketching out ideas to re-build the 5x4 to make it a bit more portable (and foldable) and I am also trying to find a cheap and/or broken Nimslo camera which I can remove the multiple lens assembly from and replace with a single lens to make a cheap 35mm panoramic camera.

I will post some pictures soon.

Regards,

Steve Smith

[Steve Smith]

Pictures as promised: The 5x4" camera

Attached files http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0292_7888.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0292_7888.jpg)

[Steve Smith]

The modified polaroid pack film camera

Attached files http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0293_7577.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0293_7577.jpg)

[Steve Smith]

And the Poloroid rollfilm 6 x 12cm conversion to 120 film

Attached files http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0294_5579.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0294_5579.jpg)

[scheimfluger_77]

Welcome!

And may I say your craftsmanship appears to be exquisite, looking forward to pics.

[stormy]

Nice work!

[Marv]

Nice work, welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing some images!

[moot]

Very nice work, Steve! In particular I really like that 4x5 (sorry, us yanks say it backwards).

Welcome aboard!

[murrayatuptowngallery]

They probably do more landscapes there.

I would like to know more about the Polarollaconvertoid - I have a batch of the lesser ones (95b, 150, 160, 800, 900).

6x12 is about 6x10.5 on that isn't it?

Nice lens board on the Zeiss-aroid

[Steve Smith]

Thanks for all of your comments.

The 'Polarollaconvertoid' as it now seems to be called is quite an easy conversion. You just need to remove the roller assembly (which almost halves its weight) and put in something to hold the film spools.
On mine, the full spool holder was taken from a defunct Agfa Isolette with an additional spring added to keep it closed. The take up spool and winder was made from various bits such as a knurled knob with an M6 thread with a flat plate soldered into the end to locate in and turn the spool. This part is also spring loaded so that it can be pulled out to give room to get the spool in and out. The other end is just a suitable sized bolt in a bracket hot melt glued into the correct place. I will post some detailed pictures later.
To reduce the image width, I have added some strips of card with some old film backing paper on to give a fairly friction free path for when the back is closed and the pressure plate is in place. I need to replace this with something a bit more permanent as this is only a temporary measure ( for the next five or six years).
With this in place, the infinity stop off the front standard needs to be adjusted. I do this by placing a frosted material in place of the film and focussing on a distant object. Probably the same way most people set their lenses up.
Once it is all closed up, the only thing that looks different to a standard camera is the film winder hanging out of the bottom.
The camera takes 6 images of approximately 6x12cm. As there is no window to line up with frame numbers, I have a label stuck underneath showing the number of turns between the start, frame one and successive frames.

Steve.

[staft]

welcome. steve- beautiful cameras, and an evocative avatar!

[Steve Smith]

Attached are some pictures showing: 1. The full spool holder from an Agfa Isolette with additional spring at the rear, 2. The take up spool with fixed pin held in place with hot melt glue, 3. The take up winder as seen from the outside with its label showing number of turns between frames - these two items are the only things visible on the outside that appear other than standard.

The actual frame length is about 105mm as you suggest so it is not quite 6 x 12cm. I can scan the negatives with an Epson Photo 2400 at work This has the standard light lid designed for scanning 35mm only - however, it actually scans a 48mm wide strip so with the help of a film holder made from cardboard, I get 105 x 48mm images which are practically a 2:1 ratio at 2400 dpi which gives quite a big file.

I have not masked off the viewfinder yet so I have to guess what is outside of the film area.

I would like to get another one of these and fit it with a 5 x 4" back. This is just a cheap model (160) with the integral lens with single shutter speed/aperture dial marked in EV numbers. I would prefer to get one of the 100 series models with the Ysarex lens but these are getting a bit expensive now.

The lens board on the pack film model was cut from grey nylon at work with our CNC drill/router. We bought this years ago when we made our own PCBs. We don't make PCBs any more but we kept the router as it is very useful for making assembly jigs and other odd parts which would otherwise take hours of work by hand. I learnt how to program and run the machine to make these jigs knowing that I could find other (more interesting) uses for it!! We also have a flat bed laser cutter which seems to find many non-work uses.


Steve. Attached files http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0296_8050.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0296_8050.jpg) http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0297_6535.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0297_6535.jpg) http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0298_5909.jpg (http://f295.f295.org/uploads/dscf0298_5909.jpg)

[moot]

The lens board on the pack film model was cut from grey nylon at work with our CNC drill/router. We bought this years ago when we made our own PCBs. We don't make PCBs any more but we kept the router as it is very useful for making assembly jigs and other odd parts which would otherwise take hours of work by hand. I learnt how to program and run the machine to make these jigs knowing that I could find other (more interesting) uses for it!! We also have a flat bed laser cutter which seems to find many non-work uses.

I am soooo jealous!

[Steve Smith]

Some pictures taken with the Polaroid 160 converted to panoramic(ish) 120 roll film have been uploaded to: http://www.f295.org/DIYforum/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl/Blah.pl?m-1147097093/

[Steve Smith]

And a couple taken with my 5x4" camera: http://www.f295.org/DIYforum/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl/Blah.pl?b-bw/m-1147097466/