DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Photography From The Future: Will We Be Printing Our Own Cameras?

Mar 7, 2013 by Udi Tirosh 11 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

3D printing is making huge leaps in the last few years. The idea of 3D printing has changed and evolved from being a (relatively) rapid prototyping tool to being a small home fabrication unit.

Photography From The Future: Will We Be Printing Our Own Cameras?

Operating a 3D printed is easier now than ever, materials are cheaper and even the printers themselves are now around the $1,500 mark (Up, Makergear and the good ol’ Replicator are two good examples).

This got me thinking, will we be printing our own camera and camera accessories in the near future?

This question is already partly answered. The amount of 3D printed accessories DIYP gets is staggering. So the answer to will we be printing accessories, is “no”. We won’t be printing them. We are printing them. But will we be printing our own cameras? This is a good question, and with discussion on printable electronics and printable optics, I will not be surprised if one such camera is closer than we think. In fact, if we consider film pinhole cameras as real cameras (which we should) than those are already available for download.

Here is a compilation of 3D printed photography accessories and cameras (including a non functional Canon 5D body). Click each image to find how to make it.

A Complete Fully Functional Pinhole Camera

A Complete Fully Functional Pinhole Camera

This pinhole camera is 99% 3D printed. If you don’t count the pinhole itself it is 100% printable. So yes, we can print cameras today.

A Non-Functional Canon 5D

A Non-Functinal Canon 5D

Yes, this by reprap camera is not functional yet. And the name Single Lens reflex is a good name, since the lens will not come off. But it is a good proof of concept of how complex 3D printing has gotten and of the fact that camera bodies can be printed. As Reprap states to Fabbaloo:

“It won’t be too long before 3D Printers can prints optics and dial in certain characteristics. The electronics will be 3D printed, so it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility. It’s going to happen, it’s just a case of when. “#

Tilt-Shift Lens Adapter

Tilt-Shift Lens Adapter

Moving on to the realm of lenses and lens adapters, the selection is significantly wider. The tilt shift adapter you see above is a just what you would need to take awesome tilt-shift photos with a micro 43 and a Nikon 35mm lens. BUT, the this instructable also has a video with instructions on adapting the design to any other camera/lens combo.

Pinhole Lenses

3d printed pinhole lens

If printing a full camera is a bit to too much, there are many pinhole lens caps that can be used with a DSLR. Both Nikon and Canon have readymade STL for a compatible mount. Canon even has a full fledged pinhole lens.

3D Printing GoPro Mounts

3D printing of Camera mounts, stands and tripods

The other second (or maybe even first) 3D printed object is mounts. For GoPro mostly. The Mast Mount above is for sails but others can be found. (and it seems that the standard with GoPro mounting is to charge for either the files or the finished product from shapeways. The folks at Deep Orange Design made a fin plug mountable go pro mount, and the pro pole mount is designed for aerial photography at the end of a painters poll.

3D Printing Other Stands

3D printing of photography related stands

But the selection is not limited to Go Pro, there are also strobe stands, swivels and even leg locks for a broken Manfrotto tripod.

The nice thing here that even non orthodox accessories can be printed, like this flashlight holder focus assist.

Other 3D printed Coolness

To wrap it up, here are four 3D projects that did not fit in any of the categories, but we thought they were cool nevertheless.

3D printed flash diffuser

3d printed flash diffuser

3D printed magnetic battery case

3D printed magnetic battery case

3D printed automated panoramic head

3D printed automated panoramic head

3D printed Cokin filter holder

Now go print yourself something.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Is 3D printing the future of photography gear manufacturing? Photography From the Future: Cameras That power off Wifi Photography From The Future: Anti Photography Systems Default ThumbnailPhotography From The Future: Anti Photography Glasses

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: 3D printing, Photography From The Future

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Make A Water Resistant Camo Sleeve For The Canon 100-400L
Amazing Aurora Lights Time-Lapse And Its Mischievous Inspiration »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Sony teases upcoming ZV-E1 full-frame vlogging camera coming on March 29
  • The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 is silent, glare-free retouching tablet
  • Fall in love with astrophotography with these 10 space objects
  • Hipstamatic app relaunches as a social network, but only for iOS
  • Instagram now has ads even in search results. Sigh

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy