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Dora Goodman: Build Your Own 3D Printed SCURA Panoramic Pinhole Camera

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and as someone who takes a lot of photos (on my phone), I definitely agree. But that doesn’t mean your camera needs to cost $1,000, right? Enter Dora Goodman, who makes beautiful handcrafted, open source 3D printed cameras.

“Only you know exactly how you like your own camera, that peculiar way you hold it, or the shape that fits best into your hands,” the website states. “On top of our unique, hand-crafted camera straps that we revamped to be more durable than ever before, we offer something revolutionary: a free, open-source file that you can customize to your heart’s content, and 3D print your own camera.”

Together with Goodman Lab, a community of innovative design and photography enthusiasts, Goodman is part of a movement that is dedicated to making high quality, 3D printable open source projects…like film cameras. The Goodman Lab projects are available through the website to any interested person with access to a 3D printer and a creative spirit. Even better, the 3D printed cameras don’t seem terribly expensive.

Now, Goodman is introducing her newest exciting 3D printable masterpiece. SCURA, which she tells us is a “love project” of hers, is a 35 mm panoramic pinhole camera that shoots 60 x 25 images.

SCURA

“The system is the same as always, we offer the files free of charge for anyone, all of them are open source,” Goodman told 3DPrint.com.

With most pinhole cameras, 3D printed or otherwise, the film lies completely flat inside, which gives the photographs a distorted edge. But the SCURA isn’t most pinhole cameras – it features a special curved design, which allows light to reach all of the film evenly for distortion-free images. The framing was also increased to give the camera a panoramic field of view. Additionally, the most important part of a pinhole camera is the hole, and Goodman “put a lot of effort into finding the technology for the perfect, precisely drilled hole.”

“When working on this camera, we have focused on combining the design and functionality of 3D printing, resulting in a minimalist approach to pinhole photography,” the website states. “Along the laser-drilled pinhole and the curved design, we have managed to achieve a distortion-free, yet amazing picture quality.”

Goodman offers users precise but smooth exposure control with a magnetic shutter, and the SCURA is convenient, as pinhole cameras have only a few simple moving parts. It’s also easy to use, which makes it a good choice for beginner and professional photographers, and because it’s an open source design, the camera is available for anyone to make.

The SCURA is customizable with a self-adhesive stock skin, which comes with the kit, or you can use Goodman’s cut-out sheets and tutorial videos to personalize the camera with your own ideas.

“I always encourage everyone to print their own pinhole camera, to challenge themselves and share their results with us, all our projects are inspired by the different approaches of our community,” Goodman writes.

There are two options to get your own SCURA, and the first is to 3D print your own by signing in on the website to gain free access to all of the camera plans and design files. The accessible open source package includes all of the documentation you need to build the SCURA from scratch, which Goodman notes is a “fun and easy” project. But, while the available online guides make assembly fairly straightforward, the process was “designed to be an intriguing journey on the way.”

If you are 3D printing the SCURA yourself, but need the drilled 0.3 mm pinhole plate, shutter magnets, and the screws and key sets for assembly, you can purchase a hardware kit for just $38, which includes an Allen key set, socket head Allen screws, and a male female thread adapter.

But, if you don’t have easy access to a 3D printer, you can also purchase the DIY kit for the SCURA, which includes all of the elements, equipment, and tools you’ll need without having to purchase additional parts. Every part of the pinhole camera in the kit is pre-printed, and you also get the tools, screws, and hardware to assemble and post-process the camera.

The basic kit also includes:

  • 1 laser drilled pinhole plate
  • 1 set of faux-leather decor foil
  • 1 sanding sponge
  • 1 strap cord
  • zero waste wrapping paper with cut-out samples

There are some additional add-ons you can purchase with the basic $78 DIY kit, such as a viewfinder for $23, a $35 pre-cut wood inlay, and a pro flash mount with bubble level and smartphone holder, also for $35. You can see the exposure information, dimensions, and additional specs for the SCURA on the website, and check out the tutorial video for help building this lightweight yet powerful camera.

Even with all of the optional extras, the SCURA kit costs less than $200, which is a pretty good deal for this attractive, customizable panoramic pinhole camera.

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

(Images provided by Dora Goodman)

The post Dora Goodman: Build Your Own 3D Printed SCURA Panoramic Pinhole Camera appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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How 3D Printing Can Help Bring Photography Full Circle

[Image: Alexander Gee]

Photography is an art form that has gone through a lot of changes in a few years. First there were digital cameras, which pushed aside traditional film and darkroom development, and then cameras on phones became so advanced that they began to supplant even digital cameras. But cameras haven’t become obsolete, as some people fear – there are plenty of purists who still use both digital and film varieties, and create amazing art with them.

Many of the people who still use cameras are makers and tinkerers, as well, and 3D printing is playing a role these days in both building and modifying cameras. Just a few months ago, maker Alexander Gee 3D printed what may be the first Sony E-Mount 35mm film camera, and another maker named Clint O’Connor even 3D printed a classic pinhole camera.

The Standard Camera. [Image: Kickstarter]

Photographer Drew Nikonowicz recently concluded a successful Kickstarter campaign in which he raised well over twice his funding goal for the Standard Camera, a 4×5 3D printed view camera that you can build yourself.

“The 4×5 was born out of a genuine excitement of photography and making things,” said Nikonowicz. “But I was also thinking ahead to when I graduated and I wouldn’t have access to the school’s equipment anymore.”

The level of enthusiasm shown for Nikonowicz’s Kickstarter campaign shows that there is quite a large base of people out there who want old-fashioned cameras, and are excited about the idea of creating them through 3D printing.

Another Kickstarter campaign is offering the Cameradactyl, another 3D printed 4×5 camera that was created by Evan Moses. For $225, backers can get a camera with custom colors. Moses has also raised well over twice his funding goal with almost two weeks left in the campaign, and the camera’s fun colors started out as just a way to save money.

The Cameradactyl. [Image: Kickstarter]

“I wanted to make the cheapest 4×5 and in keeping with that theme I just started buying the cheapest filament that I could find on Amazon,” said Moses. “It started out looking like a Barbie dream cam, then it got more green, then there was some yellow. I loved how wacky it was. I thought it was fun. It’s like a toy, but it’s a toy that you can take professional pictures with that are indistinguishable from pictures taken on a $2000 4×5, because ultimately, it looks like whatever lens you put on it.”

Speaking of lenses, 3D printing is also being used to develop much more advanced lenses, for cameras and for other optical purposes. Using stereolithography, you can 3D print a perfectly clear camera lens, meaning that it’s now possible for a camera to be 100% 3D printed. Clear resins have been developed with incredible optical properties, making 3D printed lenses more than just a novelty – they can actually be better, in some cases, than lenses created with conventional means. It’s even possible to create micro-lenses using 3D printing for purposes such as imaging the inside of the body.

[Image: Amos Dudley]

For all the high-tech micro-cameras out there, though, there are at least dozens of plain old 3D printed point-and-shoot cameras like those made by Moses and Nikonowicz.

“It is really amazing that I can make a camera for myself and there are a couple hundred people all over the world who are also interested in it,” said Moses. “It’s maybe not a good business decision to be making cameras that were designed in the 1800s on a 3D printer, but it’s so fun.”

Considering how well his Kickstarter campaign has done, it’s certainly not the worst business decision in the world. Many people want to own old technology as much as, or even more than, they want new technology – and new tech, like 3D printing, enables the creation of old tech. Call it technology coming full-circle, if you will.

This doesn’t mean that 3D printing is relegated to simply bringing back older photographic technology – it’s also being used to enhance some of the most newfangled cameras. There is a plethora of 3D printed GoPro mounts out there, as people use 3D printing technology to do what it does best – customize. 3D printing can also be used to make ordinary cameras perform better, often just for a few cents, by creating things like follow focus rigs, tripods, gear rings, and more. It has even been used to create assistive devices so that disabled people can pursue professional photography.

3D printed follow focus. [Image: Tony Boerner]

As an art form, photography is still new, compared to ancient techniques like drawing, painting and sculpting. But it has evolved perhaps more dramatically than any other art form in terms of the equipment used and the quality of the images. While the majority of people may be content to take photographs using their phones, there are still plenty of people out there who love cameras for their own sake – and 3D printing is allowing those people to bring even early camera models back, making the old new again.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

[Source: Popular Photography]