Once every so often a DIY project will just take your breath away. You have to admire the sheer imagination, skill and determination needed for these projects, and SLO is definitely one of them:
The Concept
Some people take photos to record moments for the future. Others take photos to enlarge the present.
I’ve always assumed a camera should be impartial. Sharp and bright, lacking consideration or mystery, randomness or error. Lately we’re asked to apply a filter to add a gloss of emotion after the fact.
Analog photography takes the sense of a moment and turns it into a tangible image. My 3D printer turns the content of my thoughts into real shape and form. I wanted to know if there’s a more authentic photograph to be found at the intersection of design and photography – so I set out to make a camera with only a 3D printer.
The result is the SLO, whereby the act of recording a moment expands to include the creation of the recorder. SLO is a single lens objective. SLO is the mechanical shutter. SLO is the speed of good design, and the feeling of capturing life with a camera you made yourself.
The Design
The design of the camera body evolved from a simplified massing of functional elements to refinements based on ergonomics and scale, as I learned more about the strength of the material.
The basic elements of a camera are:
- Film cartridge
- Path of film across the frame
- Film takeup spools on the other side of the frame
- A set of gears to rotate the spools at the right speed
- A shutter
- An aperture plane
- A lens
- A door to access the film
- A lightproof box to hold it all
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