Homemade 6x17 Panoramic Camera using Fujinon 210 mm Lens

I made a panoramic 6x17 120 film camera from black conservation board from Hobby Lobby. It uses a Fujinon 210 mm Lens/shutter. Here are some photos.

Film Advance Details for Homemade Camera

Here are some details for the film advance for a 6x17 film camera I made. Thought this might give camera builders some ideas. Works pretty good for me.

The length of the tube can be determined from the rest of the camera design. The advance is pulled up by the knob to remove the roller. I use a bit of dowel for the bottom roller guide. Questions and comments are welcome.

Making Images - Thoughts and Ideas

I love digital cameras. I'm ok with a lot of post processing. It's the final image that matters to me. However I achieve that is ok. I love experimenting with different techniques - both digital and analog. I have made cyanotypes and gum prints. My next adventure will involve Liquid Light photo emulsion. My plan is to use the emulsion on watercolor paper and expose using inkjet on transparency negatives and my enlarger. Liquid Light is developed using paper developer and fixer. I have never developed anything in my life, so this will be an exiting adventure.

I have purchased a Burke and James 4x5 Orbit on ebay. I hope to one day develop b&w film sheets from this camera. In the mean time, I have thought of using Liquid Light coated paper positives in the camera. We shall see said the blind man. Note: The B&J All Metal Orbit is very similar to the Calumet All metal 4x5. A manual is available for the Calumet All Metal 4x5 from Mike Butkus.

Yesterday I found that there is a positive paper available from Ilford called Harmon Direct Positive Paper. This provides several more interesting opportunities including pinhole camera photography, photograms, and paper positives in the B&J 4x5. I have to get some of this paper to try.

So much to do and explore.

Quick Tip: Use Camera Equipment Inventory as Pack Checklist

I have an inventory of all my camera equipment in an Excel spreadsheet. I have models numbers and serial numbers, descriptions, etc. Keeps me from buying the same stuff twice (most of the time). I added two columns to the table, called "Things to Pack For Trip" and "Packed". Now when I am going on a phototrip, I print out the inventory, check the items I want to take in the "Things to Pack For Trip" column and when they are packed I check off the "Packed" column. Keeps me from having to create a checklist specific to each trip.

Olympus E-PL2

I recently received a an Oly E-PL2 camera. This is one of Oly’s PEN series camera, featuring a mirrorless body and micro-four thirds lenses. The camera does not come with a view finder. The 3 inch screen is used to compose the photo. My camera came with the 14-42mm zoom lens. I got the red colored body.

This is a beautiful camera. It is compact and fits my hand. The 14-42mm lens will contract and lock to a small size. When using the lens, it unlocks and extends. I also purchase a micro-four thirds to four thirds adapter to be able to use the camera with my other lenses. More about that later.

The biggest challenge for me is to learn how to take photo’s using the screen for composition and focus. Previous point and shoot cameras which I owned still had a view finder (Fuji S3000 and S5000). The biggest issue so far using the screen is the inability to see the screen in sunlight. I don’t mean direct sunlight, I mean sunlight. And forget the sunglasses. Oly does offer an evf for the camera for around $250.

To make up for my deficiencies, I set the camera to ISO 500 to be sure I have a fast shutter speed. This doesn't help verify the focus, but hopefully the autofocus will do it’s job. And it does reasonably well with the kit lens.

As I said earlier, I bought the adapter for micro-four thirds to four thirds lenses. The four thirds lens I have tried is the 70-300mm f3.5-f5.6 lens. This lens will sometimes focus but it is incredibly slow. I use the S-AF-M mode with this lens. Sometimes I think manual focusing would be faster.

The camera feels solid. The kit lens less so. Very lightweight and has a plastic feel. The lens adapter is also very lightweight and seems to be made of plastic. They both function very well.

I like this camera. The size is perfect. It will take some effort for me to get used to using it.

Home made L Bracket for Olympus E Series

I wanted an L bracket for my camera to use on my Giottos ball head. This makes it easier to change from landscape to portrait and does not limit the mobility of the ball head in either position. I have a Giottos MH-1000 Large Ball Head with Independent Panning Lock with Built-in MH652 Quick Release. I bought several MH652 Quick Release spare plates and made an L bracket as shown.


I began by cutting off about two inches of one side of the L bracket. I used a grinder to dress up the edges. On the plate for the landscape position, I drilled one hole for a screw to attach the plate. I also used some clear epoxy on this plate. On the portrait side, I drilled one hole also, but used 2 screws to attach the plate. I covered the long edge of the L bracket with cork. I had to enlarge the hole in the plate for a 1/4" screw which attaches to the camera. See the pictures for details. I took it out in the field the other day. It works very well.

















February 11, 2010 Update:

I have used the "L" bracket for over a month now for portraits and landscapes. I am really happy with it. The ability to switch from portrait to landscape to portrait easily and quickly cannot be underestimated. I often leave the bracket attached even when the camera is off the tripod.