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The cute medium format camera I built combining two cameras into one

There are several attitudes regarding broken cameras. 

Some people would believe that you have a duty to fully restore them to their original appearance, and failing to do so makes you a vandal.

Some people think they become trash and should be discarded. 

And lastly, some people, if the two first options are uncomfortable or impossible, will think you can repurpose their parts to make something else.

Now, I personally don't have a lot of respect for people who turn old cameras into lamp shades or paper weights. 

A camera is a camera, and for as long as some of its parts can function, it should be used as a camera as much as can be, imho. 



I recently came across a Semi-Leotax camera with a totally broken lens (glued focusing ring, moldy lens, completely destroyed shutter with parts jangling inside of it...). And I also had a $2 Holga, which I thought was very bulky and kind of hard to carry around because of that. 

I always thought one of the Holga's weak points was its back and how flimsy it is. You'll be taking a picture with a difficult angle, and the back will pop open and expose all your film. Or you'll have to use strong tape to make sure no light leaks in every time you load a roll - what a drag. Whereas the Semi-Leotax's back is not only much smaller but also very sturdy and closes very tightly.

So it seemed like a fun project to combine a Holga's lens/shutter element with the back of the Semi-Leotax camera. 




In order to do that, I used a rotary tool to single out the front part of the Holga as well as some of the plastic around it, and I removed the Semi-Leotax's lens element and bellows completely.



Holga shutters are pretty awesome in the way that they don't need to be cranked between shots. It's perfect for multiple exposures, and it's also perfect because they are self-contained. The trigger is the only control you interact with. 

It's also an ideal lens for street photography, almost a point-and-shoot. It pretty much doesn't matter how finely you are focusing - the picture will look good. As you can see I've added markings on the barrel of the Holga lens to remind myself what proper distance the obscure pictograms correspond to:

👤 = 1 meter / 3 feet

👥 = 2 meters / 6 feet

👥👥👥 = 6 meters / 18 feet

⛰ = 10 meters / 30 feet and above

All these things make the Holga's lens a perfect lens to repurpose on projects lie this.










The Holga/Semi Leotax compared to the Holga. Much smaller!


It's even smaller than a 35mm Minolta X300.


...and obviously smaller than a Bronica ETRS.


I also really felt like the smaller body of the Semi-Leotax would create a hybrid 6x45 camera body that would easily compete with 35mm SLRs in terms of size and... ease?... fun-of-use.

For anyone wanting a camera that shoots 6x45 without having too much bulkiness to worry about, and who want to be able to do multiple exposures or prefers not having to deal with expanding bellows every time, this camera is really fun to use.

What about the results? Well, they are on par with Holga photography, but somewhat better if you consider the lower risk of ruining pictures and light leaks. 



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