F STOP

Calculating the effective f stop for the 'up-cycled' lens rated at 150mm focal length at an opening of 19mm which is almost f/8. Used the aperture leaf mechanism from a good prime lens as the aperture setter. It fits snuggly at the front. Sometimes everything just falls in place.

VIEWING HOLE

to inspect the development process, bore a hole through the top to install a viewing hole over the developer tray. in case of an over-exposed image, could stop development before it gets too dark. using parts salvaged from old lenses, film canisters and 3mm plywood. will need a red filter to make it photo paper safe.

PHOTO BOARD

the wooden plank that holds up the photo negative, on the reproduction arm, is wet most of the time in use. To increase the adhesive quality, have applied layers of shellac and a thin varnish to make it waterproof and not as porous. This will also prevent this pinewood from rotting at the joints

FIRST FIELD TEST

although still in a controlled environment. this is the best print of today (digitally inverted), shot outdoors with daylight. for reference, 210mm meoptar barrel lens, EV8 rated at ASA 3 exposure of 4 seconds at f22

 

 

 

 

LENS CAP / SHUTTER

an important element to all kamras, this will act as the shutter. manually opened and closed by hand. has to be light proof and secured. made from parts of old lenses and kitchen ware. trying to add in a red filter as a safelight, will develop that next.

LIGHT-SAFE BOX

designed and developed a light-safe box to store photo paper. it had to be light, easily accessible with one hand, and efficient enough to fit within a Kamra. Made from recycled packaging materials, boxboard, old film light-shield paper, experimented with using garbage bags as light shield. Made 4 boxes, stores about 24pc 3R photo paper comfortably, which makes a max of 12 positive exposure per pack.

 

 

SAFELIGHT KIT

Making a little safelight kit, powered by batts. made from salvaged electronic parts etc. as an alternative to the red filter on the lens. Used an old flash as the cover

 

 

 

FIELD KIT

all the basic printing utensils i'll need for bringing the kamra out into the field. trying to keep it light by fitting all on this small stool.

from top left;
green bottle top 500ml— clear water for chemicals & wash/ wastage water with silver
glass bottles 130-170ml & blue 10ml graduate— chemical stock (developer/fixer)
plastic take away container— water washing container
ilford 3R box— photo paper
210mm barrel lense
150mm lens/ lens board Ø 26mm

pinhole lens board

spirit level
red filter
swiss army tool
wiping cloth
reproduction arm
chemical trays
funnel

MATERIALS; Bicycle tubes

thanks to Bike Pro, for the tubes, making the light shield lip for Kanta #4

GLUING

velcro strip on box opening kanta #1. the 'take on, take off' mechanism with the jacket as a light shield. its staying on quite well

LIGHT SHIELD; in the making

Exploring some upcycled materials to make a lightguard lip that'll hang out of the kamra. so far the bicycle rubber tube looks most promising, the lightest, most durable and lightproof. its fairing better than the other recycled materials. namely plastic bags, jute gunny sack. thanks to shao lyn for helping in sewing.

 

SOURCING; Velcro

from local sources, unfortunately some materials have to be sourced new through local independent sources. It's a challenge to explain what 5 meters of velcro was for too. Will be back to photograph the local tailors here

 

 

NEW LENSE

Meopta Meopar 210mm / f4.5 -32. this is going to be a super lens. thanks to the support & advice from KoonYik Chin of @bang bang geng, publika

REPRODUCTION ARM

one size almost fits all. mountable reproduction arm to fit all kamras. the build is getting very complex. although, reproduction will only be possible on #1 & #4. here's a teaser to what they might look like in the field. Next up light proofing.

 

 

SEARCH; Light Shield

went in search for some jackets, north west side. found the same old lady, por por, driving a hard bargain. sweetest old lady, reminds me of my grandma smile emoticon found a couple to use as light shield and sleeves for the kamras! no idea where they came from, but they're vintage alright!

 

 

 

 

SQUAT Woodworkshop

Reproduction arm made from salvaged tropical hardwood. Chengal as the baseboard, really hard wood to shape. thanks chitoo's squat woodwork studio

REPRODUCTION ARM

trying to design an attachment arm for one size fits all (different lenses) different focus plane

 

 

 

PROCESSING TRAYS

been looking through thrash to find some suitable ones. take away just abit too wide and to short. Finally found a great solution, drink packs made from tetra packs, light weight, waterproof, highly reusable and widely found. Perfect size too!

 

 

FIELD TEST 1

took out #1 for a field test in a controlled environment, managed to take 7 shots and process at site. quite a few issues were ironed out. next step, making the box lightproof with sleeve, and the reproduction arm.

pics courtesy of Lainie

 

 

Kamra #4; woodie / first print

Kanta #4; projection of left & right brain

last night's test prints with prototype kamra 4 the wooden box, yielded some interesting images. getting the lighting right in a controlled environment. here playing around doing some digital conversions. reference setting, 48" distance square from 500W strobe at 3.0 output, barndoor