Fabrice on Film

I designed this little adapter for my 126 Fex Indo camera (the infamous   Fex Indo Compact 126 XR ! Because it's a super cute camera, that's why.).   As such, I don't know if all the designs are identical throughout 126 cameras. You'll have to hack off the protruding part of your 35mm film canister with a saw, and then fit this adapter onto it. Oh, and you also have to have an empty 35mm canister and then spool the unexposed film onto this empty spool before loading (in the dark obviously). Also, you might have to wind back into the canister it in the dark. I therefore recommend it for hardcore photograph tweakers rather than for first timer photo gear hackers.   Above tests were done with GP unperforated 135 film, I haven't tried with perf film but wonder if it might tear the film up. But if you want to shoot square format 35mm film with fun results, or just look cute hanging out with a Fex Indo toy, try it out! And let me know how it went. BUY THE 35MM ADAPTER FO...

  I designed some adapters to fit my Schneider Cinelux Anamorphic lens on a Ø49mm thread.   The adapter makes screwing and aligning much faster than other systems like clamps. It places your taking lens very close to your anamophic lens (5mm without a circular rotating filter, 15mm with a rotating filter), which will considerably reduce vignetting. It is also sturdy, made out of aluminium. On top of it, it brings way more precision to your rig than a lot of "homemade" systems, since you don't need to align both lenses on the viewing axis (you do need to rotate it however, to align the distortion). Aligning the verticals can be done either by adding a circular rotating filter (not included) or simply by loosening the screw and spinning the anamorphic lens before shooting. You can buy the first batch here, and I'll make new ones when they're all gone.  

A lot of the cameras I use from the 70s to 90s have fluorescent paint in the number or markings on the lenses. I decided to use neon paints to make numbers easier to read on some old lenses, or simply upgrading their looks. 1- I used Ikea Mala paints because they're cheap and come in 5 colors that will react to black light (pink, orange, purple, green and yellow) for less than $10 and have a needle point bottle. But you can also use any acrylic paints. 2-Daub paint on the numbers or letters you wish to paint after putting some tape to cover other areas, avoid making bubbles 3-Scrape excess paint with a piece of cardboard (like a business card, which is flexible). Wipe the other areas either immediately with fingers or qtip or wait for it to be dried to chip it off   4-The painted glyphs will now be more legible under low light and pop out under black light. Here, the orange paint I used very closely matches the one that was the manufacturer used on the zone focusing markings: Yo...

 Or how I crafted a super fast camera lens from bits and parts... fun! As a photographer, I've had many photographer friends in my life, amongst which fast lenses were often a highly sought after item. The price of such lenses - for example the Leica Noctilux - is usually a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a camera lens, ranging sometimes up to 15,000$. Some of my photographer friends would save up for long periods of time before they could finally buy one, others would simply give up on the idea, bitter or saddened by the unattainable perfection of their dream lens. Among filmmakers and cinematographers, the sequence in Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon", which was lit only by the light of candles and shot using a very fast lens that Kubrick had the Nasa make for him, is also the stuff of dreams. After doing some research, I found that, there were lots of lenses that were built by various manufacturers and for various purposes throughout the history of optical le...

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...

  Browsing the eBay listings, I came upon a medium format foldable camera for which I saw great potential... for being upgraded. Indeed, it seems that every single Medium Format camera of the brand "Zenobia" that I came across have all more or less suffered a similar fate: the leather coverings are chipping and falling off (a similar fate is found on Semi Leotax models and maybe some others).  But what a fantastic opportunity to replace the dying material with brand new clothes! Zenobia before Restoration pt 1 After cleaning the camera, the idea crossed my mind to simply use it as such... but I quickly discarded the idea, as the camera's body was very sharp and very cold... Something strange was discovered when peeling off the old "skin": the makers had used a piece of Japanese newspaper between the leather and the metal of the camera's back. Or maybe this was a way for people during the war to exchange super secret messages? But since the camera was bui...