Building your own SLR camera

There are some of us who think that photographer per se is not challenging enough, and they would like to have total control of their photography. Apparently, shooting in manual mode and taking handheld meter readings is not considered "total control" for such exacting photographers. Neither is processing and printing their own photos. To proclaim "total control of photography", the idealists feel that one should... hang on to your horses - build your own camera!

Check out this French dude (probably a genius mechanical engineer as much as he's a hardcore photographer) as he gets inspired to create his own SLR camera from scratch. Everything is build from raw materials such as chunks of brass or stainless steel, and machined according to the plans that he drew himself. The only parts that he couldn't manufacture, and thus had to salvage from an existing camera, were the shutter curtain, screws and some ball bearings. Every part of the process was meticulously documented and explained, with interesting photos to illustrate the building process.

All photos copyright of the photographer

The end camera is crude and ugly, but it works 100% and delivers the goods! You can't help but be impressed by the determination of this guy to build a camera from ground up. If he runs a watch company, he would have received the much sought-after title of a "manufacture". Check out his creation process here:


http://www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8822&st=0&sk=t&sd=a  (page 1)

http://www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=8822&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=8940afac37e2ea84bd4fd81de0612a0d&start=25   (page 2)