Jollylook’s journey has been quite interesting. From its initial cardboard origins in 2017, we’ve now arrived at its latest release. This time, it’s a square format pinhole camera DIY kit. It appears to be based on the previous Jollylook Pinhole released last year but utilising the Instax square format instant film.
The company says that the Jollylook Pinhole SQUARE is an innovative, eco-friendly DIY kit that lets photography enthusiasts create their own instant film camera from scratch. As with their past releases, Jollylook has taken to Kickstarter to launch the new Jollylook Pinhole SQUARE.
The camera comes in a kit form that you build yourself. It’s made using high-quality recyclable plywood and plastic components that assemble into a fully functioning pinhole camera. As the name suggests, it’s a pinhole camera, and it shoots square format images onto Fuji Instax Square instant film. It even has a zoom function, letting you go from 50mm up to 110mm in focal length. Not bad for a DIY kit, huh?
The kit is comprised of 65 individual pieces and requires no glue to assemble. The company says that should take about two hours, making for a nice weekend afternoon project. It offers a similar vintage folding camera style design, letting you pack it up quite small when you’re not using it, and to let you adjust the zoom when you are.
This project is not just a DIY kit but an educational journey, a nod to the rich history of photography, and an exploration of the joy of creating something with your own hands. It’s a perfect gift for photographers, hobbyists, students, educators, and anyone who appreciates the intersection of art and science.
As well as building up the DIY kit, Jollylook also encourages its users to customise their cameras. Being made with a mostly wooden exterior, it should be able to take all kinds of paints, stickers or anything else you might choose to decorate your camera with. Of course, you’ll want to be careful not to get the paint on the component faces that are on the camera body’s interior. Otherwise, you might end up with some odd colour casts and reflections.
Price and Availability
The Jollylook Pinhole SQUARE DIY kit is currently running on Kickstarter. Various packages are available based on whether you want to just get one for yourself or buy a whole bunch of them for a classroom or camera club. Pledges start at only $79 for a single camera, $150 for two cameras, $225 for three, $305 for four, $375 for five $720 for 10 or $1,380 for 20.
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