frankencam research log

the frankencam project is about investigating the positives and negatives of digital, film, automatic and manual cameras. the aim is to find out how people feel about cameras and what they offer. at the moment my main research method is building prototypes and getting feedback on them. i feel that cameras would be different if digital has made it before automatic. the manual digital market never got a chance. i want to explore that market.

praktica mtl5b. it took about 4 hours to remove all of the mechanisms from inside to make space for the digital workings which i am going to get from some broken cameras. should be cheap enough on ebay.

timer release clockwork. there are so many amazing pieces of metal inside this camera. i really felt sorry to be taking it all apart. hopefully worth it.

the main chassis of the camera is a fantastically complex bit of casting and didn't leave much useable space even after removing all the mechanisms. i had to go a step further and cut out lots of aluminium. thanks to robbie for the mandrel

the front of the chassis after removing the frame to which the mirror and prism was attached to. the frame protruded into the main chassis almost as far back as the shutter so it had to go.

quick test fit of cheap digital camera inside slr  body.  ironically  it  too is a "praktica". it fits in fine although it is such a bad camera that i will need to upgrade it asap. my desk is always that messy.

using macam to see what the sensor sees. this camera uses AAA cells and its quite annoying to keep replacing them. i use macam when im in the house so i can run the camera of the usb cable.

got a new camera to use today. thanks to a.j. johnstone who kindly gave me two older canon powershots. this one is working apart from the lcd backlight. the (sony) lcd is working fine. they have no onboard memory and i have no compact flash so i need to find one about the place or have another look at how to use this camera through the laptop.

trying to separate the sensor from the lens. i have left the focusing lens in front of the sensor for now to protect it and incase in comes in handle when trying to match the sensor with the new lens.