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Daniel Luu Van Lang's homemade camera |
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Saturday, 02 July 2005 |
 A homemade 12x16 camera based around a process camera bellows, with home made
film holders.
Home-built ULF camera
By Daniel Luu Van Lang
 I'll try to start with a little "historical context"...
I don't have a lot of experience in large format and even less in ULF. Like
many amateurs, I started with 24x36 or 35mm like you say on your side of the
Atlantic. I don't know if it's a research of quality or just curiosity that
got me into large format, but sometimes a lack of talent leads to thinking that
changing equipement will lead to better photos ! Once that illusion has cleared
up, one is left with the pleasure of manipulating a LF camera and of taking
your time. At first you fing the 4x5 negative to be huge in comparaison to 35mm
but then you start seeing bigger and move on to 8x10, and soon you start looking
at ULF, just a quick look, just to see... And then you look at the price of those
machines and of course the thought of building your own crosses your mind...
After looking around for the available cameras, I finally was inspired by the Phillips cameras.
The Phillips concept seemed easier to put together as a purely amateur project, without special
tools. I took the concept for the back and for the linking of the front standard and the extension.
In order I considered first construction, then sturdiness, then weight, the first point
being essential for someone like me who has only very basic woodworking skills.
I bought a small drill, a groove-saw, clamps, wood glue and screws. The camera itself is easy to do,
it's just a matter of building the front and back frames to the bellows' size. I used pine pieces (for lightness) of 2 x 3 cm.
The wood pieces are pegged and glued. To reinforce the back frame, thin pieces (3mm) of wood are
then glued on each side to sandwich the perpendicular piece of wood (see figure...) 
Note that the bellows will only be glued on last when the rest of the camera will be done.
Interlocking metal pieces allow the sliding tray to move without friction. Brass pieces are made out of door opening stops.
Rails are simply screwed in. All the hardware was bought in a hobby shop except the rails and pinions.
The loching of the focus rail is acheived by friction with a wooden piece and a screw. The screw holes are put it by hammering then in
after boring a hole in the wood.
The bellows was bought on e-bay for 25$. The wood parts are put together using wood glue, furniture pegs and reinforced by
screws where strain seemed stronger. I already had a vertical drill, which helps with the boring of holes for pegs. The back
of the camera is a plywood piece cut out to the right size. three glued pieces of wood allow the positioning of the film holder.
The springback didn't give me too much of a hard time, contrary to what i had initially tought.
The film holder required more thought. The challenge was to acheive film flatness and light tightness. Building a double holder at that size seemed
too complex. The bottom of the holder is made of a bakelite piece 5mm thick aroung which a wood frame made of already grooved pieces found at
a hobby shop is glued. The film holder is opened using brass hinges. It's the moving part of the holder that holds
the darkslide. The holder is held closed by brass clips salvaged from an old glass plate holder. An internal frame holds the film. On the internal side
of the opening frame, I glued thin wood strips (I think 2mm thick) that rest on the internal frame and serve as light traps when the holder is closed.
The moving frame is made of modelist's wood pieces glued together. alternating a long and a short piece, a wide and a narrow piece creates a groove where the
darkslide is inserted. I hope it's clear... The light tightness is critical when the darkslide is pulled out and that is where it is hard to acheive.
I cut a little depth of wood from the inside of the ouside edge, where i've put a thin copper shim with felt.
It's not perfect but I put my darkcloth over it once the darkslide is pulled out. Of course the availability of modelists wood pieces in various sizes
is very convienent since it allows for very precise positioning of the film plane in relation to the ground glass.
 There you go ! I hope that was clear enough and that hopefully it will help you in your own ULF projects !
I have to say that to my own surprise, everything went well and fitted perfectly the first time around, I didn't have to start again on any parts.
You just have to think ahead and to work with care. I must have spent 500 or 600 Euros on this project, and it took me two weeks in my spare time.
I'va had a lot of fun, and even if it looks funny, it is perfectly usable and stable, fast to set up and take down. It weighs exactly 11 kg and I screwed rings to
attach a transportation straps. I use the well known Nikkor-M 450mm f9 that covers the format very well with good shapness up to the corners. Of course depth
of field is paper thin, but at formats like that, you have to live with that !
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Last Updated ( Friday, 18 November 2005 )
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