DIY 35mm TLR

[Josh66]

I felt the same way about the Konstruktor. The suspense of a) not knowing if I could get it to work and b) waiting to see how the pictures come out can be really exciting!

Oh, and if you have it ready for the 19th, you can take it out for World Toy Camera Day!
Flickr: Discussing WTC day 2013 in ~WORLD TOY CAMERA DAY~

HA! Damn thing hasn't even shipped yet, lol!

I got the free shipping - which for me is almost always the same speed as the standard shipping, but this one order has just been sitting there for almost a week now. Hopefully it ships from Dallas (they must have a warehouse there - I seem to get about half of my amazon orders from there). If it does it should still be here by Friday.

STATUS:	Shipping Now
LATEST EVENT:	Order Received - Oct 11, 2013 5:12:44 AM
DESCRIPTION:	We are processing your shipment now. We'll send you an e-mail when it has shipped. You can still request cancellation if you’ve changed your mind.

 

[limr]

Hope so! I think putting together a toy camera on Toy Camera Day will count

 

[Josh66]

I'm putting it together right now. This thing is cool, lol. A little smaller than I expected, but then it is 35mm.

 

[Josh66]

Disaster averted, lol. One step is just flat out wrong (the directions are obviously translated from Chinese, so I expected them to be a little weird, lol).

I broke a tab off a part, lol. Luckily, it's plastic and I also build plastic models. The glue is drying, and now I intend to glue all seams that don't have to move.

If anyone bought this or is planning to - when it says to assemble the sides onto the front, you only want to put one side on. Put the other side on once the mirror is in place. I'll take some pictures of what I'm talking about...

 

[Josh66]

Fun camera, lol - I already shot one roll.

 

[limr]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing the results. This reminds me that I need to load some film into the Konstruktor for tomorrow.

 

[Josh66]

The aperture is removable. With it installed, it's f/11. Without it, it looks to be about f/5.6.

I'm shooting Fuji Superia 800 in it for now. You have to keep a little pressure on the back while you're advancing the film from the gears on the frame counter to catch.

It took about an hour to assemble, but I was drinking and took a smoke break, lol. You'll need a #0 screwdriver, and I would recommend model glue as well. Small pliers help a lot with the springs.

 

[Josh66]

On the first roll, I think I'll have a lot of blank frames - I didn't notice till half way through that the gear on the counter wasn't catching without a little thumb pressure on the back.

Knowing that, I don't really expect the film to be held down perfectly flat, lol. But hey, that's a lot to ask for in a toy camera.

Shutter speed is fixed, but I don't think it would be too hard to rig a bulb mode into it. I think I'll keep this one "factory", and maybe buy another one later to modify.

 

[Josh66]

I shot 2 rolls with it today, but due to the learning experience on the first roll I'll call it 1 1/3 roll. I'll develop it tomorrow.

It's hard to nail the focus on such a small focusing screen (it's the size of a 35mm frame)... I think I did OK though... I'm just glad that the smallish aperture will be working in my favor on that, lol! Hell - I should be happy that the lens even CAN be focused, lol!!

I can't wait to see what I did.

 

[Josh66]

Well, I developed the film. Not surprisingly, most of the first roll was blank, lol. The second roll was more-or-less properly exposed. I'll post pictures once I scan them.

It's definitely a fun camera. And multiple exposure is as easy as not advancing the film, haha. It's currently empty (I want to wait to see the scans before I decide what film to load it with next).

 

[Josh66]

More to come, this is from my cell phone. Just wanted to post something to show that I built it and it works, lol.

 

[trythis]

Hard to tell, but it looks like you are missing the magnifying glass for focusing.

 

[Josh66]

Hard to tell, but it looks like you are missing the magnifying glass for focusing.

Now that would certainly help! LOL.

It didn't come with one, and I've never used a TLR before, so I didn't think to use one.

Now that you've mentioned it, I'll certainly use one in the future. Not sure how critical the focus really needs to be for a toy camera though. But I will try it.

 

[limr]

The Konstruktor came with a magnifying glass and it does help. Mind you, I didn't say the magnifying glass made it easy! It's still a bit of a guessing game. When I was using it yesterday around town, I decided it was just easier to practice zone focus.

 

[Josh66]

Here are a few shots with it:


2013102002 by J E, on Flickr


2013102003 by J E, on Flickr


2013102001 by J E, on Flickr

I'll get more interesting stuff later, lol. I think I'll remove the aperture - even with 800 ISO film in it, many frames were underexposed.