Recesky DIY TLR Camera

The camera above is a 35mm DIY TLR camera I got a while back and only just recently put together. You buy it as a kit and put it together yourself. I have to admit that even though it was a bit fiddly to put together, I had a lot of fun doing it, kinda brought me back to the days when I used to build things with Lego. I highly recommend giving it a go yourself. 

 

Now there were a few problems during the build in terms of the kit itself, I actually had to buy another kit in the end to make up for defective parts and mistakes made by me when I tried building the first kit. I got both of mine for $20 each (YES, only $20) from Photojojo.com, who had nothing to do with the problems. It's just that there must be multiple versions of this kit floating around. My second kit was different then the first, the instruction manual was better and all the parts worked as they should. The first kit had a completely clear screen board, which  should of been frosted/translucent to help you focus and view your image. And when I tried to use the fixer ring for the viewfinder lens, well it didn't live up to it's name, it didn't fix or secure the lens in any way. Which resulted in me having the stupid idea of using superglue to keep it in there. BAD IDEA !! If anyone has watched cop shows on TV, then they know that superglue vapors tend to stick onto surfaces, especially GLASS. So it turned my lens into a foggy mess which I couldn't clean. But the kits are cheap enough that I just ordered a second and rebuilt it from scratch. It was a great feeling when I finished the kit and took it out for a spin, completely different experience compared to standard 35mm cameras or DSLR's. It has no aperture control except for a reaming/twist disc, which I think is just just like an aperture disc used in my Lensbaby Original, you can choose to remove it to shoot in lower light conditions. I think the shutter speed must be around 1/125, and you focus by twisting the bottom lens until the image is sharp on the screen board. Since there is no shutter or aperture control,  film speed is key when it comes to getting correctly exposed shots. My first test shots were taken with Fuji ISO400 film and all in all it did pretty well in the shade or in partly cloudly situations but when I was in bright open sunlight, the shots came out overexposed. It didn't come with a strap so I ripped one off of an old cheap 35mm camera and just used duct tape to bind them, gotta love the duct tape.

 

Here is a link to Photojojo to get one of your own : http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/diy-tlr-camera-kit/

 

Shots of the camera were taken with : Nikon D7000 & Nikon 35mm f/1.8G

 

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