Box Camera (Take II.5)

The box camera is coming along a lot faster than I thought, and probably far better than I deserve. I do have one major light leak: the front of the camera is see-through! But fixing this is just a matter of repeated painting of the inside of the box, so it's not a show-stopper.

The Super 77 let me finish the back end of the camera, which turned out really really well. I had one scare where I hadn't checked the fit of a part before gluing it into place. It was too wide, and the film holder wouldn't sit flush. This meant light leaks and a non-planar film holder. DOH! Some quick work with an X-Acto knife and sandpaper, and everything was back in order.

I'm on my third coat of tung oil. I should be able to get one more coat in today. If I can get another two tomorrow, I'll probably call it quits. My Bender 4x5 has seven coats, but it's made out of cherry. This is made out of, "Hey, look, I got this box at Ace Hardware in the crafts section!" I know it'll never look as good. six coats should be plenty.

I chickened out on the suspension bracket. I was going to do it as a multi-piece assembly with lots of screws and glue, so I could maintain the whole wood camera look. But visions of having a screw fail or a glue joint fall apart with the camera four hundred feet in the air disabused me of that notion. I don't have a lot invested in the camera, but the Fujinon 150mm lens is another story. That's the best 4x5 lens I've got!

In any case the camera body itself should be ready to use some time in the middle of the week. I need to make a servo-driven cable release so the thing can actually be triggered remotely, but that's a normal machining problem. I'm not worried.

I can't wait to fly this thing. I took four more 4x5 pictures this weekend: hibiscus, praying mantis, a false sandalwood leaf, and a tree growing out of a rotting log. I'll see how they come out tonight when I can get the bathroom dark enough to develop. But I really can't wait to see what an aerial looks like!

Tom