Super Cool Handmade Polaroid TLR
Source: http://petapixel.com/2012/10/31/beautiful-handmade-polaroid-twin-lens-reflex-camera/
London-based photographer Kelly Angood has had quite a tumultuous year so far in 2013. Last month she announced that she would be turning her popular cardboard medium format camera design into a proper do-it-yourself kit. After launching a Kickstarter campaign to take preorders, she quickly raised over £23,000 (~$34,000) from over 600 supporters.
However, the fact that her camera was based on Hasselblad’s famous design turned out to be a dealbreaker. After being informed that she was putting herself at risk of a lawsuit, Angood decided to cancel the project and turn her back on the money. Now, one month later, she’s at it again with a different (original) camera design and a new camera kit Kickstarter campaign.
The new camera is Videre and is a medium format pinhole camera designed to look like a twin-lens reflex camera. It’ll come as a flat pack kit, and will be a camera you assemble yourself. Think model making, except what you get is a working camera.
Materials-wise, the camera is assembled from pieces printed onto thick recycle card. Inside the kit will be easy-to-follow instructions and an extra medium format spool.
Angood hopes to have these new cameras shipped to customers by November, so it could make for a fun Christmas present this holiday season.
The new Kickstarter campaign has already raised over £10,000 at the time of this writing, and there are 44 more days for Angood to raise the £15,000 she needs. A £30 (~$45) contribution will preorder you a kit come November, while a £150 donation will secure you a preassembled camera that’s shipped to your doorstep.
You can also follow along with this project’s progress on its official Tumblr page.
Modern Rolleiflex
Did you know that Rolleiflex is still producing its high-end analog twin-lens reflex cameras? Apparently there’s enough photographers out there buying them for there to be a small, niche market, because Rollei is planning to show off a new model at Photokina 2012 next week.
The FX-N is a 6×6 medium format TLR camera that is an updated version of the Rolleiflex FX, a camera that costs over $5,000. The only difference it has with its predecessor (or sibling) is that it features a new Heidosmat 80mm f/2.8 viewfinder lens and a Rollei S-Apogon 80mm f/2.8 main lens that offer a shorter minimum focusing distance of 55 centimeters.
There’s also an updated version of the Rolleiflex Hy6, a $7,900 medium format camera that can be used with both film and digital backs:
The difference between this latest refresh and the original version is that that the new camera features a new grip, updated firmware, a reinforced tripod platen, and redesigned mechanics inside the camera that reduce mirror movement.
To be clear, Rolleiflex is simply a brand that was originally used by the German company Franke & Heidecke. The original Rolleiflex hit the market in 1929. After the company became insolvent in the late 2000s, employees left to create a new company called DHW Fototechnik GmbH, which revived a number of Rollei lines… including the two cameras discussed here.
I’m guessing PetaPixel readers aren’t the types of photographers who would even consider dropping a fat chunk of dough on these two cameras, but it’s interesting seeing that cameras like the FX-N are still being made.
TLRgraphy 