Intrepid, the creators of the wooden 4×5 large format camera have now announced their new 4×5 enlarger. It mounts to the top of a tripod and is designed to be used in conjunction with the 4×5 large format camera you already own. This brings the cost down to a ridiculous £119 (~$155). It launched on Kickstarter yesterday and it’s already 300% funded.
The Cameradactyl is a new 4×5 large format 3D printed camera
The other day, I posted on here about The Standard 4×5 large format 3D printed camera. I was a little sceptical about The Standard at first until I saw that the project files would be released into the open source world upon completion of the campaign and deliveries to backers.
Now, another new 3D printed large format camera has popped up on Kickstarter. The Cameradactyl. This one, though, won’t be releasing the files and doesn’t quite leave me with the same warm fuzzies.
The Standard 4×5 is a 3D printed large format camera
I love that large format seems to be coming back in fashion. I really do. In the last couple of years we’ve seen some great new large format cameras come into existence, like the Intrepid, and the Chroma – the latter of which we saw in person at The Photography Show.
Now we have a new one, The Standard 4×5, which is made from 3D printed parts. It’s is being billed as a DIY 4×5 large format camera that you can build yourself – which is a really awesome idea. It’s being funded through Kickstarter, and the prices aren’t that bad, either (even though the early birds have already sold out).
The ultimate portrait bokeh shootout – Crop vs full frame vs large format
When it comes to the discussion fo bokeh, we often hear of the “benefits of full frame”. There are many comparisons out there all over the web, extolling the virtues of a larger sensor, and how a full frame mirrorless or DSLR is the “ultimate”. It’s really not, though, if that’s your goal, which this video from photographer Bill Lawson sets out to prove.
In this side-by-side shootout, he compares a Nikon D7000 DX body, along with a Nikon D700 full frame DSLR and 4×5 large format. He uses 50mm, 85mm and 300mm lenses to achieve a similar field of view with each of the different cameras, and gets to work.
This guy made a whole bunch of 3D printed cameras and put the plans online for free
Regular DIYP readers will know that I’ve been researching 3D printing recently. My goal is to see how one might be able to help me with my photography and video tasks. Primarily to keep things organised. There’s SD card cases, battery covers, lens cap clips, charging station doohickies and all kinds of goodies on sites like Thingiverse. But I also want to have some fun, too.
One photographic collection over on Thingiverse that’s particularly cool belongs to user Schlem. He’s created a whole bunch 3D printed pinhole cameras. Most of them are medium format but there are one or two large format ones, too. One of them is even stereoscopic. He’s put all the models up so you can download and print your own, and the results coming from some of these cameras are just amazing.
Shooting large format on a budget with 4×5 direct positive paper
There’s little question that getting into film photography can still become rather expensive, especially if you’re going large format. But it doesn’t have to be. Sure, you can spend a fortune on a large format view camera and complete darkroom setup, but do you really need it? I’ve been following Joe Van Cleave’s YouTube channel for a while now, and in this recent video he’s going to help answer that question.
Joe regularly posts videos documenting his adventures with film, with some great tips for the rest of us. From compact darkrooms to DIY 35mm film canister pinhole cameras, Joes videos cover a wide range of film related topics. In this video, Joe takes a look at the minimum requirement required for shooting 4×5 large format Harman Direct Positive Paper.
Photographer documents nature vs humanity with a 4×5 large format film camera
Helene Schmitz is one of Sweden’s most successful art photographers. Her work focuses on the complicated and sometimes violent relationship between humans and nature. This idea has led to several award winning books, including her latest book Borderlands.
In this short documentary by photographer and filmmaker Johan Stahlberg, we get an insight into Helene’s thought process. We find out how her life went the way it did, and how it could’ve gone in another direction entirely.
The SP-445 is a 4×5 film developing system that can fit in your backpack
It’s safe now to say that film is anything but dead. More so now than ever, it seems photographers young and old are looking to get back to the days of darkrooms.
Recently, we shared with you the Filmomat, a completely automated film processing machine created from scratch.
Today, we have for you a less automated, but equally as interesting contraption. It’s called the SP–445 and it’s a compact and portable 4×5 film processing system.[Read More…]
