Yeah, I have seen an article (BJP?) in which they used a scanner and built the camera around it (no glass in scanner, portable AC power inverter) the thing that made it neat was that the background that didn't move was rather sharp, but people or objects could move, and as they did so, they became oddly stretched and distorted. Main problem was large file sizes on portable computer of those times (4-5 years ago?). With used page sized scanners running $25 and up in surplus, this could be an easy way to go digital as well. The nice thing about view cameras is you can offset the ground glass etc. as needed so the "scanner back" is in exact focus (a problem with thick CCD/CMOS sensors and 35mm and MF cameras). This might be a good project for a TLR style camera- LF scanner and second viewing and focusing section, simply use two lenses? Gowlandflex style? re: Box camera many box cameras use a meniscus lens (( - few cheapys had multiple elements, most only worked decently due to small aperture (f/11 typical) and limited degrees of enlargement used. Popular Photography had an article comparing old box camera with new points and shoots, which had better lenses but smaller formats etc. RE: double box camera personally, I would suggest building a lens test "Double Box Camera" ;-) I use a real box in which the rear has been cutout and replaced by a spare 4x5" ground glass taped in place, inside blackened with black paint and the front has a hole and you mount test lens on a rigid cardboard and vary the spacing by moving the box pieces up and down to focus and to test the lens coverage. This is handy in lens hacking, and yields some surprising discoveries (like the cheapy panoramic camera 24mm or so lenses in the $12.95 throwaways will cover more than 35mm ;-) You can use a 4x5 or other bellows mount camera if you prefer, but many view camera bellows won't let you get close to the narrow widths needed to test 35mm and similar lenses for coverage. Since coverage is never spec'd on 35mm lenses (or med fmt), you may discover that some lenses such as the Koni Omega 58mm not only cover 6x7 but up to 6x9cm, making them a super cheap very wide angle lens for lens hacking etc. Some cheapy Tmount lenses set at 55mm lens registration distances (rather than 40-45mm of most 35mm SLRs) also have suprisingly good coverage, esp. the long telephotos etc. naturally, substituting a film holder or film version instead of the ground glass would be a neat way to test out lens coverage on film ;-) * Robert Monaghan POB752182 Dallas Tx 75275-2182 [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Third Party 35mm Lenses: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/third/index.html * * Medium Format Cameras: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/index.html megasite* _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
