Focal Camera have begun bringing their open source modular camera prototyping system to the consumer, allowing any budding designers to try their hand at creating their very own SLRS, stereo and panoramic cameras with a system that while a little daunting, allows users to get to grips with the technology behind their photographs and create a functioning device that is entirely of their own device.
The company have been holding workshops as they bring their project to a wider audience, holding users’ hands through the process of taking what is ostensibly a few cubes of wood, and transforming them into cameras suitable for everyday use. The most interesting part of this open source system is that users can therefore create whatever design they wish, stepping out of the boundaries imposed upon the camera by major corporations, and creating their very own device that is tailored to their needs.
Take a look through the step-by-step process behind the creation of these cameras below, and be sure to check out how to participate in this project over on their official website right here.
Open Source Camera Helps Users Design Their Own SLR, Stereo and Panoramic Cameras
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Each open source camera is essentially a series of interconnected squares, which combine to make cubes that each serve a purpose in the design of the camera. This is what the squares look like rendered on a computer...
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...and this is them after having been printed off, before Focal Camera cuts them out in order to distribute them.
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Creators can slot the cubes together like pieces of a puzzle, with this particular cube forming the basis of an early SLR prototype that utilized a pinhole.
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Focal Camera have also held lens workshops in order to help users create their own lenses, as evidenced in this image. Multiple lenses can be mounted using pins and rings, which essentially allows users to create lenses out of anything, be it a magnifying glass or another broken lens.
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The finished product, inspired by the 6x6 Hasselblad.
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The camera's viewfinder.
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You can request to be a participant in Focal Camera's trials of the open source camera on their website, with this particular group getting to dip their toes into the project early.
Photo: Michaela Lakova
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A plate of hand-ground acrylic highlights what the image will look like before the camera takes the shot, similar to what can be seen on a digital camera. Only, y'know, without the digital part.
Photo: Michaela Lakova
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Here's the result of a two-day workshop - a camera boasting a wide-angle lens.
Photo: Cihad Caner
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A pinhole camera with a shutter.
Photo: Cihad Caner
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A camera featuring a guillotine shutter and its own nifty little stand.
Photo: Cihad Caner
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A camera with a wireframe viewfinder, utilizing a lens taken from a folding medium format camera.
Photo: Cihad Caner
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An advanced trichrome camera that splits the light into a red, green and blue channel, allowing these to be combined after the image is taken in order to take a color photograph.
Photo: Cihad Caner
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The negatives from a session of taking photographs. They were developed using instant coffee and vitamin C.
Photo: Qianwei Tong
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A wide angle lens shot.
Photo: Mikhail Bakalov
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A double exposure shot.
Photo: Qianwei Tong
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A photo taken with a camera using a rotary shutter.
Photo: Mathijs van Oosterhoudt
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And finally, an impressive color photograph taken by a camera that used a pre-existing lens.
Photo: Mathijs van Oosterhoudt
