About
The 24×96 panoramic DIY camera, created by the talented craftsman Matt Bechberger, is a remarkable piece of craftsmanship. The camera body is meticulously constructed using two pieces of maple, sandwiching all the components, and featuring a hinged door at the back. Apart from the wooden parts, aluminum is used for the remaining elements, ensuring durability and stability.
One interesting feature is the incorporation of a recycled sprocket gear from a dead Zenit camera. This gear, along with plastic RC car gears, serves as a basic frame advance indicator, providing a visual cue for film advancement. Frame counting is done manually, utilizing a wheel located at the back of the camera. Additionally, a clutch bearing can be rewound by loosening a screw, allowing for film rewind.
The camera includes an aluminum sheet as a pressure plate, mounted on soft open-cell foam with double-sided tape. This arrangement ensures proper film flatness and reduces the risk of scratches or damage during exposure. For framing purposes, a modern 21mm finder, acquired from eBay, is employed. An aluminum sleeve is precisely machined to fit over the finder, providing an approximate framing view.
To accurately measure light, the camera is equipped with a Reveni Labs light meter, enabling the photographer to make informed exposure decisions. The lens used in this camera is a 47mm f/5.6 Schneider Super Angulon, capable of covering a diameter of 110mm, making it suitable for capturing a panoramic ratio of 4:1 on 35mm film. The lens is mounted on a thin steel disk, which is then secured into an M42x1mm threaded ring. This ring is held in place by the standard lens mounting nut. While the camera currently lacks focusing scale markings, fully retracting the helical mechanism sets the focus to infinity. The flange focal distance can be adjusted using jack screws located at the four corners of the film guide, with additional screws ensuring everything remains firmly in place.
Overall, this 24×96 panoramic DIY camera showcases the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Matt Bechberger. It combines woodworking skills, recycling of camera parts, and careful selection of components to create a unique and functional camera that captures stunning panoramic images on 35mm film.
Note: This post was made researching information based on different websites like camerapedia, wikipedia, camera-wiki, emulsive, lomography, xataka, pintandoconluz, camaras sin fronteras and many more. On the other hand, all the photographers allowed us to post their photos on Instagram. All the illustrations are made by us and we don’t allow the use of any illustrations without permission. Finally, if you have more information or you think we made a mistake, please send us a mail.
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