5x7-Build This Camera
With all those Kodak folders that are available on Ebay, the common denominator is very porous bellows. On many, the lenses are still very capable of capturing great images. The solution (at least for me) was to build a box around the lens. The design is copied from the daguerreotype cameras of the mid-1800s. The outer casing is matboard taped together, and to make it light-tight foamboard of equal size is glued to the inside. I spray painted the outside so that it wasn't all package tape brown, but it's just as functional without it. The focus screen is a 5x7 piece of regular glass covered with cellophane tape, and taped to strips of foam core to match the depth of the film back. A groove was created with the same strips of foam board to hold the back tightly against the camera body, and the closed depth was what infinity focus was from the lens that I used. If the photos aren't explanatory message me for further instructions.
5x7-Build This Camera
With all those Kodak folders that are available on Ebay, the common denominator is very porous bellows. On many, the lenses are still very capable of capturing great images. The solution (at least for me) was to build a box around the lens. The design is copied from the daguerreotype cameras of the mid-1800s. The outer casing is matboard taped together, and to make it light-tight foamboard of equal size is glued to the inside. I spray painted the outside so that it wasn't all package tape brown, but it's just as functional without it. The focus screen is a 5x7 piece of regular glass covered with cellophane tape, and taped to strips of foam core to match the depth of the film back. A groove was created with the same strips of foam board to hold the back tightly against the camera body, and the closed depth was what infinity focus was from the lens that I used. If the photos aren't explanatory message me for further instructions.