A Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 600mm f:9 technical lens can now be used in the Cameravan. The lens is mounted to the lens plate from the front of the lens, so it can be handled from the inside of the camera. It can also be mounted on the outside, there are threads both front and back of the lens. A short test showed that a 1:1 photo will fill a 70x100cm film area without problems, and a 2:1 photo will fill even more. That’s some macro lens 🙂

A trailer with a lens. 600mm Apo Ronar seen from the outside of the trailer.

A closer look at the lens:

Almost two kilograms of glass in front of the Cameravan.

Next post will give you a picture of what this lens can give inside the Cameravan.

At last the «lens mount» is in place on the Giant Mobile Camera, and now it is possible to change between different holes, and even lenses, too.

This is where the «lens mount» is supposed to be placed.

This is the lens mount. It has an old lock system from a Graflex Crown Graphic to hold the «lens plates»

«Lens mount» with silicon glue

«Lens mount» from inside. The «lens plates» are mounted from inside the Cameravan. In case of a lens, it can also be mounted and handled inside the camera.

The diameter of the hole is 14 cm, room enough for a rather big lens.

A «lens plate» with variable aperture

An old Compur shutter with all the shutter mechanics removed functions as a variable aperture. Quite nice, I think 🙂

Full opening

The aperture stopped down

Next is to make different shaped holes for demonstration purposes, for this I will be using slide frames with black tape inside. I have a «lens plate» ready for this. I will also make a holder for a 600 mm Apo-Ronar lens.

At last the cameravan came on television:

The Giant Mobile Camera on TV

Here is a photoshopped combination of two pictures + an imaginary screen inside the cameravan:

Just to give you an impression: This is pretty much what it will look like inside the cameravan when it is finished. A little more tidying will probably be done.

In addition I will make a movable screen that is smaller and can be used for other types of photography.

Around year 2000 I found a postcard from my hometown Honningsvåg taken 1951, three years before my birth. How cool wouldn’t it be to take a picture from the same spot, exactly fifty years after. So I did find the spot where the photographer must have stood back in 1951, and in 2001 i took a picture from the same spot:

First the original postcard:

Then my picture from 2001:

I have not published this before, in fact I had forgotten it, but today I came across the old postcard on a facebook link, and then I thought I had to publish it.

Another video from Ian Ruhter : Alchemist on Vimeo:

Madison from Ian Ruhter : Alchemist on Vimeo.

A wonderful video about a fantastic project in the USA:

American Dream from Ian Ruhter : Alchemist on Vimeo.

… and almost ready for painting.

Today I took out the kitchen bench and the other remains of the old camper. Now there is only an empty space left, except for a few sofas and some cupboards on the walls. And a mirror of course, you’ll need one when you’re getting photographed. (In reality I did not manage to get it off the wall, so I just left it)

Towards the rear (driving direction) of the camera

Towards the front (driving direction) of the camera

The image screen, made of paper just for testing and demonstrations.

The «lens» side of the cameravan is on the right side, and the same side as the door. Screen/film side is on the left side. Cameravise that should mean front versus back, but trailervise it is right and left 🙂

The plan now is to do some small work to cover all light leaks. The roller curtains wan’t let any light through, so I just need to make some light traps around them. A little work to lightproof the skylights is also needed. Then there is some painting to be done. The camera has to be black inside, all over.

This is the very first image projection inside the camera (camper). I put up a large paper screen on the wall, and have made a small hole on the opposite wall. The image was captured with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 digital camera, 4 seconds exposure at f.4, iso 6400. Lens Panasonic 7-14mm. Digicam placed a little below the hole inside the pinhole camera.

The aperture opening of the pinhole camera is approx f:200, distance between hole and screen a little more than two meters. It seems to work out pretty well this far. Now I need to clean up a little, cover every small light leak, paint it black inside and make a more permanent image screen inside.

After some years with very low activity from my side with pinhole photography, the last year I have «awakened» and am now posting images at my flickr site (and they do of course appear in the pinhole gallery at this site) as soon as they get developed. Amongst the undeveloped films I found a box containing 10 negatives, that I don’t remember when I took. Exiting stuff. I will develop them very soon, maybe already tonight.

At the same time I am preparing a Pinhole workshop in Tromsø. The workshop will be held at Tromsø Fotoklubb’s (Tromsø Photographic Society) facilities during a weekend in the end of April next year.

I am also working on a really exciting project: converting a camper into a giant pinhole camera. I got this camper a week and a half ago, and have already got out all the stuff I need to get rid of.