Chroma - Lasercut Acrylic 4x5 Field Camera

No laughing Steve, I thought you acquitted yourself very well!
 
stevelmx5 said:
John Aldred from DIYPhotography.net has just published the video we recorded at the NEC Photography Show last month along with a short article. I hope I look like I know what I'm doing (no laughing at the back...)
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I don't know why, but I thought you were older. :eek: :LOL:

Seriously though, very good video. Got all the info out in a nice relaxed way. :)
 
I thought that interview went very well and both you and the camera looked great.(y)
 
Hi Steve,

I have a question regarding lens boards.
The spec for the Chroma says it uses traditional Linhof/Wista boards.
Are these different to Toyo boards, or are they also compatible?

It's not a massive problem either way, it's just that the first lens I've bought in preparation for the arrival of a Chroma happens to come with a Compur shutter and a Toyo board, and I was wondering whether it will fit, or I'll just have to move the lens to the board supplied with the camera?
 
C&C said:
Hi Steve,

I have a question regarding lens boards.
The spec for the Chroma says it uses traditional Linhof/Wista boards.
Are these different to Toyo boards, or are they also compatible?

It's not a massive problem either way, it's just that the first lens I've bought in preparation for the arrival of a Chroma happens to come with a Compur shutter and a Toyo board, and I was wondering whether it will fit, or I'll just have to move the lens to the board supplied with the camera?
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The main difference between lens boards are their external dimensions. As far as I know, Toyo boards are 110x110mm, whereas Linhof/Wista boards are 99x93mm. The cutout for the shutter is the same regardless of the board standard as that's determined by the shutter itself. You will simply need to detach the lens from the Toyo board (there's a simple threaded ring mounted from the back of a shutter to secure it through the board) then mount it to the Chroma board.
 
stevelmx5 said:
...You will simply need to detach the lens from the Toyo board (there's a simple threaded ring mounted from the back of a shutter to secure it through the board) then mount it to the Chroma board.
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Does this need a special tool, a "lens wrench"?
 
stevelmx5 said:
Ideally yes, but it’s also possible to loosen/refit the ring with a carefully held screwdriver (I’m not recommending it in case someone loses a finger [emoji23]). For the low cost of them, I think it’s worth picking up a proper tool.
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Thanks Steve.

I think the last thing I'd want to do is try to bodge it with a screwdriver, so would look for a proper tool.

Looking up lens wrenches/spanners, it seems there are a range of different ones available at very different prices.

Does anyone have any comments/experience of specific ones such as those below:

Neewer at £14

Newport SW-OM £38

Edmunds at £68

Thorlabs SPW801 for £88 (inc VAT) - scroll down page to find it

S K Grimes at $122 with pointed and flat tips
 
No problem. For me personally, I think $122 is a bit steep so maybe go for the Neewer/Newport. I haven’t used either but for something you’re going to use very rarely to tighten up a nut on a thread I think they’d be fine.
 
I wanted to make sure my front standard can accommodate recessed lens boards ok and didn’t want to spend at least £60 on one so I drew one up last night and printed it today.

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It’s still got some adhesive on the face from the bed so needs to be cleaned up properly but it will do the job nicely. I can now use it as a template to open up the front standard cutout and make sure it fits ok.

I’ll also add a trigger for the shutter now that I know it works ok.
 
Great interview, great camera. I missed the kickstarter, but I'll definitely be putting an order in when they're on sale.

I think the wet plate back should be high up on the list of next steps. There seems to be a huge amount of interest in collodion at the moment, so I'm sure you would be able to sell a lot to non-Chroma users (assuming they fit).
 
FujiLove said:
Great interview, great camera. I missed the kickstarter, but I'll definitely be putting an order in when they're on sale.

I think the wet plate back should be high up on the list of next steps. There seems to be a huge amount of interest in collodion at the moment, so I'm sure you would be able to sell a lot to non-Chroma users (assuming they fit).
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Thanks a lot for the positive feedback, glad you liked the interview [emoji1303]

I agree that wet plate is growing in interest so I’m definitely going to be developing that as soon as I’ve got the camera builds in full swing. The Chroma back is designed around the Graflok standard so any backs I build will fit other Graflok standard cameras as well.

Cheers
 
stevelmx5 said:
No problem. For me personally, I think $122 is a bit steep so maybe go for the Neewer/Newport. I haven’t used either but for something you’re going to use very rarely to tighten up a nut on a thread I think they’d be fine.
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Thanks Steve, I agree certainly that the S K Grimes one is a bit over the top for what is essentially a spanner.

I went for the £14 Neewer option in the end, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised as it seems to be pretty solid and arrived very quickly, so I can't see what extra the more expensive options have to offer.

As you say, it's not like I'm going to be using it on a daily basis.
 
It’s Chroma Pin Day!

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My box of 100 limited edition pins finally arrived today from California (after I paid the extortionate import/vat to ParcelForce!). I’ll be getting them packed/shipped to backers next week.

I’ve also got a big pile of acrylic at the workshop, ready to start cutting.

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This is only the matte black, purple and half the green [emoji15]. The rest should be here by the middle of next week so production can really start ramping up.
 
Couldn't you laser cut a new rung for that ladders, Steve? Looks right dodgy, mate! :D
 
It’s getting very very close to production time! I cut out a camera for myself today and went through all the components earlier as a last check before I start the full cutting process [emoji15]. Apart from a few alignment changes it’s looking good to go so here a few pics/updates;

Did someone (@mothdust) mention PINK!!!

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This is certainly going to be one eye catching Chroma!
 
I’m also really happy with the final front standard and being able to fit recessed lens boards comfortably;

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I haven’t had chance to develop the remote shutter mechanism for my printed lens board yet (I know, slacker!) but I’ve been using it as a template for the front standard and it’s spot on. I’ve made my printed board a little oversized so an off the shelf recessed board should fit with no issues.

The last major component I’m waiting to arrive now is my ground glass and pinhole plates but they should be here in the next few days. Other than those, and a few magnets, I’m ready to go so the laser cutting should start next week with the first 11 cameras (10xEarlybird and Chroma Zero) then I’ll work through the rest in the order they were backed.
 
Oooh...... excited now, cant wait. :banana::D
 
I have to admit to being really close to ordering the Ribena coloured one.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Come on Andy, it will go lovely with your hipster tweed ;0)
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The only thing that goes with tweed is more tweed, so a tweed chroma would probably sell in the millions. :D
 
While I missed the Kickstarter (only found out about it the other week). I'm very much looking forward to the Chroma going on public sale later in the year. I have a Wista 6x7 roll film back and a polaroid 545i (for Instax) I'd like to put to good use.

As for colour, purple is tempting but a monochrome look (white with black bellows) appeals too. This is all assuming no issues with any internal light reflections (soviet cameras I'm looking at you) - I imagine it's all fine though (else I can see why matte black is the most popular).

Keep up the good work!
 
BTW Steve, your Kickstarter video is great. You come across as a very genuine and competent person who I'd be very happy to give my money to.
 
PoC4x5 said:
BTW Steve, your Kickstarter video is great. You come across as a very genuine and competent person who I'd be very happy to give my money to.
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Amazing what you can do in the editing suite...... :D
 
PoC4x5 said:
While I missed the Kickstarter (only found out about it the other week). I'm very much looking forward to the Chroma going on public sale later in the year. I have a Wista 6x7 roll film back and a polaroid 545i (for Instax) I'd like to put to good use.

As for colour, purple is tempting but a monochrome look (white with black bellows) appeals too. This is all assuming no issues with any internal light reflections (soviet cameras I'm looking at you) - I imagine it's all fine though (else I can see why matte black is the most popular).

Keep up the good work!
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Sorry you missed the campaign. Once I've got a good number of KS cameras built and out I'll start taking advertising the Chroma for sale direct. Funnily enough, I've also got a Wista 6x7 roll film back here (thanks @StephenM) and a Polaroid 545 back and they both fit perfectly. I've been trying out Instax in the 545 back to see how well it can be developed by the built in rollers but I haven't nailed down the best card thickness yes.

There are definitely no issues with internal reflections, I'm not building a Holga ;0) The entire light path is fully sealed end to end so the external colour of the camera can be anything (out of the 9 available options!)

PoC4x5 said:
BTW Steve, your Kickstarter video is great. You come across as a very genuine and competent person who I'd be very happy to give my money to.
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Thank you, I'm glad I came across well. I'm much more comfortable on the other side of the camera so I'm glad it still worked as I'd hoped.

Andysnap said:
Amazing what you can do in the editing suite...... :D
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Oi!
 
How's the training of the kids workforce going? I've heard that if you buy them a new phone and subscription to some trendy music service they might be happy to do mindless assembly for hours! Small hands should work well with the bellows, too...:D
 
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