Hey folks,
I recently finished another slit-scan slr camera based on a pentax me super - this was was requested by a miami based sports photographer so it was my first 'sale'. Here's a small video which shows the main features how it all goes together.
James.
Last edited by Jimmy G; 02-14-2013 at 10:27 AM.
Website...http://aupremierplan.fr
Very Cool!
Very cool. And nice little film showing how it works. I still can't quite get my head around how they work. I don't quite understand the relationship between the speed the film moves and the speed of the subject and how you get that right. How do you actually set up the shot?
80s cameras with winders are very nice too. I have several for my OM4 and they make a most excellent 80s camera noise. I find it messes up the feel and handling of the camera though so I don't use it much. Makes it very hard to reach the spot metering button!
Simon
Very pofessional work!
I have been running some film through a Minolta Maxxum 7000 prior to putting it up for sale for a friend; it not only makes wonderful 80's winding sounds, it makes wonderful 80's autofocus sounds as well. It still works as well as the day it was made. How many digital cameras of today will be able to say the same thing in 25 years?80s cameras with winders are very nice too. I have several for my OM4 and they make a most excellent 80s camera noise. I find it messes up the feel and handling of the camera though so I don't use it much. Makes it very hard to reach the spot metering button!
Beautiful work, Jimmy. Congratulations.
because:
"a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous, got me?"
-Don Van Vliet
The problem with digital cameras is all the tech is in the body. They get obsolete so fast. I made the conscious decision to go back to film not digital when I wanted to improved my photography (and I want to improve since my pinholes were all rubbish!). The OM4 has the best metering system of any camera I have used. I was taking pics with it at a party I had last weekend with it when my sister wanted to take a picture of me with it. So I showed her how to focus (and set the aperture myself and left the camera on auto exposure) so she could take a picture. Immediately afterwards she asked "so how do I see how the picture came out..."
I like that this Jimmy's slit camera makes use of physical things and movement and not electronic trickery! There is something more real about mechanical things.
Interesting discussion. Yes I agree, all the emphasis is on the electronics and not enough on the mechanics and feel. The cameras of the past are definately nicer "instruments".
Regarding the setting up of a shot with the slit-scan camera it's a case of synchronizing the film speed with the projected image of the subject. The film speed is worked out by the following formular:
film speed = (subject speed) x (focal length) / distance between camera and subject. So the knowns are distance,focal length and subject speed (you have to guess this most times).
A given film speed will have a corresponding effective shutter speed = film speed (mm/sec)/slit width (mm), so the last step is to set the aperature to get an even exposure. The setup is everything - taking a shot is simply turning on the camera a little bit before the subject passes by. Here's an example I shot with this camera, I scanned these people passing while holding the camera at waist level - it was just hanging from my neck and nobody suspected they were having their picture taken (the camera is very quiet at low speed). I was using a 19mm lens so that man in the stripey top was about 1 metre from the camera.
Website...http://aupremierplan.fr
Jimmy, great work. Excellent film of the professional looking camera. The example with the people passing by is very good.
-_- Best wishes from Switzerland, René -_- my photos on flickr
what a cool machine! cant understand for the life of me how it works but it gives really interesting pictures...
That is the kind of work I like to see, and makes me want to own one. I don't know that I can afford your work (or Steve Irvine's), but I really like it. Almost made me peruse eBay for an old Pentax...
Well done, and I like what you've accomplished here. Definitely there's a visceral feeling to the old cameras that the new digital ones just can't meet. I shoot digital, film, pinhole etc., but there's something about the snap of a film camera, and the winding of the film that's just inspiring. Well done, and keep up the good work!
My flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretagentman/
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