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October 02, 2005
Medium Format Pinhole Lego Camera
After making the Lego conversion of my old Polaroid 95a, I decided to tackle another Lego challenge: a medium format Pinhole Lego Camera. I had several goals for the lego camera:
1. First, I wanted to make sure that the film advance knob only turned one direction.
2. Secondly, I wanted to have a film counter in addition to the red window.
3. And last but not least, it would be nice to have some sort of viewfinder.
Originally, I was going to build the camera in Lego Digital Designer, so I could share better instructions with the blogosphere. I still might do that, but until I get a computer that can run that software better, you will have to survive with just my photos. Let's get started...
Here is the main Lego Camera assembly:
There are a couple things to notice. First, notice that the top of this part is covered by the smooth sided Legos. This is done so that the lid of our camera doesn't stick to the "lid" we make later. Second, note the spring "shock absorber" at the top center. This piece pushes a block into the gear to keep it from turning backwards. There is only one piece that will have to be fabricated. There isn't a Lego piece that will fit perfectly in a 120 spool so we will have to fabricate our own. A Dremmel and some sand paper should do the trick. Here is the before and after photo:
This is the part that will be turning the spool.
Next, attach the following piece to the bottom of the assembly:
The two pieces at the bottom pivot to hold the medium format spools. The circle hole in the center is where our pinhole will be located.
Turning this piece over gives you a look at our shutter system. By moving the slider back and forth, we open and close the shutter. The animation below shows what I mean:
Here is what it looks like put together:
You can see that I lightproofed the inside, and added the pinhole.
Now it is time to build the lid of our lego camera. Nothing to fancy here:
You can see the red window as well as the top of the lid that has been light-proofed with tape. Here is the top view:
Now all that is left is to add some Lego Type to decorate it a bit:
This view gives you a better idea of how the film counter works. Basically, when you advance the film, this knob turns about an eighth of an inch. To make it accurate, I loaded the camera with film, and used the red window to see what frame I was on. As I got to a new frame, I marked the paper. It isn't completely accurate, but it is pretty close. There is always the red window if I want to double check. I also count the number of clicks from turning the knob. It takes about 23 clicks to advance one frame. You can see my viewfinder also from the last picture. Pretty basic: you just look through the hole and the square masks off an estimate of what you will be shooting towards.
I am hoping to post some photos from my first roll of film later on this week. Please let me know if you decide to build your own camera out of Legos, or if you have any questions about my design.
Posted by Adrian at October 2, 2005 11:00 AM
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Comments
beautiful !
Posted by: temps variable at October 9, 2005 06:10 AM
Fantastic design!!!
Posted by: rodperez at October 9, 2005 08:35 AM
Please post some photos! This looks awesome! I still remember when I was a kid 30 years ago, I made a pinhole camera out of a milk carton. Way cool!
Posted by: Mr. Meof at October 9, 2005 02:41 PM
What an awesome idea! I’m all for some photos as well :)
Posted by: foosel at October 9, 2005 03:00 PM
Cool Beans!!!
Posted by: brine at October 9, 2005 04:27 PM
Coolies! Will definately check back for posted pics. :)
Posted by: spoon at October 9, 2005 06:36 PM
great!!!
Posted by: danslarue at October 10, 2005 01:35 AM
very nice indeed.. i’ll be interested in the pics.
i’ve begun to make a pinhole camera from hardening plasticine (polymer ‘clay’), but lego is cooler.
Posted by: rg at October 10, 2005 07:42 AM
SSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: The world at October 10, 2005 07:46 AM
Very, very cool. So what if some people think it’s a waste of time? They probably spend their free time watching network television…
I built, demonstrated, and wrote up the principals behind a pinhole camera for my 8th grade science fair (about 30 years ago now). To my utter surprise, that simple project won third prize, and my little booth had three times as many visitors as I expected. I suspect that today (as 30 years ago) a lot of people treat cameras as “magic”; pinhole cameras are a terrific way to demystify photography and teach some elementary physics.
Plus, dammit, they’re fun.
Bravo.
Posted by: bmc at October 10, 2005 08:46 AM
Excellent hack! Pinhole cameras are still useful. A good pinhole camera can capture wide short focus shots that are not possible with a lens camera and the ghostly effect is an added bonus.
Posted by: buzzd at October 10, 2005 09:18 AM
Thanks everybody for the positive feedback! I posted some photos from the first roll of film. Here are some links:
Posted by: Adrian at October 10, 2005 09:45 AM
Wow, can I get a Leitz pinhole (20mm/1.0 Blummilux) lens to adapt onto one of these?
Fantastic job! Love the photos.
Posted by: popeye at October 10, 2005 10:00 AM
Awesome! I think I need one of these.
Posted by: Cornelius Crab at October 10, 2005 10:03 AM
Very awesome. What a great use for legos. They’re not just toys anymore!
Posted by: Andrew at October 10, 2005 10:41 AM
very nice. propose this design/idea to lego!
Posted by: mary at October 10, 2005 11:02 AM
will you marry me?
Posted by: yi at October 10, 2005 11:48 AM
This is wonderful. I am blown away by your creativity and inventiveness. Thanks so much for sharing this creation. This is fantastic.
Posted by: David at October 10, 2005 01:45 PM
this is great. can you add length to the “lens”/bellows to play with zoom and focal length by adding legos to make a longer zoom lens?
this is a great project. drawings please…
Posted by: monty at October 10, 2005 03:42 PM
hey that’s awesome i’m a photography student and have made different types of pinhole cameras and that has to be the ultimate one !!i’m sure to share what you have done with my classmates. i would defiently like to see some pics.
Posted by: karen casey at October 10, 2005 03:50 PM
cool!
Posted by: kokopelli at October 10, 2005 04:02 PM
hi! my boys and i love your camera and would like to try to build one, too. (my boys are 6 & 9 years old.) could you send a bit more detailed instructions about how you built the main assembly? (the boys are great at building bionicles & other legos and are awed by the idea of building a device like a camera.) thanks!
b& the boys
Posted by: betsy, matt & peter at October 10, 2005 08:42 PM
very cool. you should post this at http://www.instructables.com
Posted by: Jeff Fassnacht at October 10, 2005 09:07 PM
Betsy, I would love to help you out, but it will be a little while before I have more detailed instructions. If I knew this post would be getting the traffic it has, I would have made better instructions before I posted it. Anyway, tell your boys, that instructions are in the works. I bought my Lego collection at a garage sale for my son. He is only 2 now, but he will grow into them! In the meantime, I feel like a nine-old-again…
Posted by: Adrian at October 10, 2005 11:01 PM
What an innovative idea! Does it really work? Would love to see some pix!
Posted by: ginger at October 11, 2005 06:01 AM
Hi, great stuff!! I have a photography class and our teacher said that we will later build a pinhole camera, so it will be a great time to put this in practice!
Oh, could you please put a isometric view of the fabricated piece, to make it easier to understand.
Posted by: g at October 11, 2005 10:23 AM
my wife finds the colors intimidating?
Posted by: ootlo at October 11, 2005 12:36 PM
Cool! How many MegaPixels is it? j.k.
Posted by: danasaki at October 11, 2005 02:27 PM
I have read some of the conversations going on about this camera on other sites and have one point to make. It doesn’t really matter if the Lego people don’t want us to say Legos. The consumer decides the brand, not the company. Ask the experts. It is one of the first rules of branding. A company can do their best to influence the consumers perspective of the company, but in the end it is the public that makes the final decision. FedEx along with the brand guru’s at Landor realized this, and took advantage of it. It would have been silly for FedEx to try and insist that everyone call them Federal Express. Sorry if this is getting us off topic.
Now more on topic.
danaskai, Megapixels don’t really come into play here since this is film (medium format) and not digital. However … you should check out Adrian’s equally cool digital pinhole camera. As far as I know, it is the world’s first.
Posted by: Bennett at October 11, 2005 05:05 PM
I posted a couple new photos worth showing from the second roll of film taken with the Lego camera. Here are the links: Hose and Faucet Chair Flare
Posted by: Adrian at October 17, 2005 10:57 PM
Next project for you - build a digital SLR camera out of LEGO. I doulbe dare you…moahahaha
Posted by: Gnobb Plukwaz at October 18, 2005 03:33 AM
i’m speechless! great work!
Posted by: Francesco at October 21, 2005 12:46 PM
i think i should use the lego designer and try to make out that can use 35mm (thats all ic an get from my school for free :-D
Posted by: Drew at October 22, 2005 11:37 PM
THIS CAMERA IS SOOOO FREAKEN COMPLICATED WAT THE HECK U EXPECT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WAT EVER YOUR WRITING…..BAD BAD BAD U DON’T KNO HOW TO EXPLAIN PLEASE??????????
Posted by: CRISTAL at October 24, 2005 12:20 PM
A quien le sobra tanto tiempo como para hacer estas cosas?? que me de un poco
Posted by: diseño paginas web at October 26, 2005 10:15 AM
I think that is Spanish for “Who has that much free time?” I get that a lot.
Cristal, Better instructions are on the way, but that isn’t going to make it much less complex. If you decide to tackle the project, I will try and help you as much as I can!
Francesco, I have thought about a 35mm version, but haven’t thought of a way to make it work yet. One of the challenges is the smaller size, because Legos are kind of clunky if you try to make something very small. I think it could be done, though.
Thanks everybody for your support and comments! I love hearing from you!
Posted by: Adrian Hanft at October 29, 2005 04:37 PM
Another fantastic design! You’re creativity is inspirational to us all and your thinking is way out of the “box”. I referred several friends here and they are all captivated by your work and ideas. Keep on inspiring us!
Posted by: Mike at November 19, 2005 10:18 AM
ha ………… it is a wonderful toy! if u want to make it for sale in China,please contract me by the email. :)
Posted by: eric at November 27, 2005 10:57 PM
This is so cool! I’m going to have a go myself. Thanks for sharing this brilliant idea!
Posted by: Luica at December 5, 2005 02:22 PM
Wow! You rock. I need more time in my life to build one of these!
Sean
http://www.blueoverblue.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/
Posted by: Sean at December 16, 2005 12:43 AM
Can you make a “stereoscopic LEGO camera”? Stereoscopic photography is very cool. I would love to see your handiwork at tackling one! :-) Thanks!
Posted by: Maddy at January 18, 2006 11:51 PM