Afghan Box Camera, Part 3

Joe shows updates to the project that promise to speed up the processing.

[@christopherrasmussen8718]

This series blew my mind. I have been to Afghanistan. I don’t recall ever seeing one, but then I was in a war zone. The video before this of the young Afghan carpenter making these the photographer who used it stuck me how precious photos must be to them. Agreed they have cell phones too. Thing is, as we know; true analog photography will stand the test of time better then most digital. Even if you have the ‘cloud’ you have to pay to keep them up there. For years I worked as an IT and I cannot tell you how many times I had an elderly person come in with a beat up old laptop begging me to recover their photos. I felt so bad so many times. Some would cry. I’m going back to analog now. Been taking some pics with 35mm again and I just picked up a hybrid medium format camera and an old press camera that my grandad had (same kind). It was he who taught me how to use it. I’m looking forward to working with glass negatives too. Thanks for letting me rave. Your channel has ignited something in me that’s been sitting for 45 years. Now I wish I could type in regards to your type in coming up.

[@Subfuture]

This project is inspirational. Really impressive to see a handmade camera with the thought behind the design iterations.

[@Raychristofer]

Great job on this experiment my man. Respect

[@gsympathetic9686]

The Afghan box camera is amizing . best video

[@ClydeHoadley]

Your selfie turned out really well.

[@ezekielkokspeaks]

100th like sir! Love your work

[@pepeg.luthier566]

Joe, when drying in that plastic container, if you put the lid on, the water will evaporate but it will condensate inside the box. Don't you have to build couple of holes on the top for the water vapor to exit?

[@tonyrobinson3309]

You can get direct positive black and white resin coated from Maco Direct of Germany, its called Imago DP paper, its a bit expensive at nearly 50 euro,s for 10 8 x 10, plus postage, i think its rated at 3 or 4 iso

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Thanks for reminding me, I do need to try it for myself.

[@marshallphotoarts8380]

Joe, So glad that you are sharing your process. I have have been through much of the same problems with my camera build. I love your drying plate. Once the plate is hot it seems like the print would dry faster out in the air instead of back in the box. I am thinking that a candle powered heat source for the plate might work faster. How can I show you my camera design? I think you might find it interesting. Marshall

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Sounds interesting. Email me at jvcabacus at yahoo.

[@Spindoggie]

Love the idea of taking one-of-a-kind portraits. Have you considered typing one-of-a-kind poems to give in tandem with the portraits?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

That's a great idea.

[@ManWatcharapol]

May i know box dimensions , i would like to make afghan box like this

[@jaumetormo9107]

First of all thank you for sharing. Don't you have problems of condensation on the lens when doing the wet process inside the box? You should make some holes in the drying box to allow humidity go out of the box.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

No problems with condensation in the camera box. Developer and fixer are mostly water, and at normal processing temperatures it doesn't evaporate like that. You're right about needing some ventilation in the drying box. And also maybe something that absorbs moisture, like desiccant. It's a work in progress.

[@EverythingInterestingg]

i use paint for boats its perfect but expensive anti osmosis paint :)

[@hiltsyartnstuff1142]

I might have missed it, but what do you use to speed up your rinse time? Ilfotol Wetting Agent?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I probably didn't mention it, but yes, I use a wetting agent, either Ilfotol or Heico Permawash.

[@hiltsyartnstuff1142]

@@Joe_VanCleave - Thank you! I just got an old Estmen Kodak View No.2 5x7 camera (family heirloom) and I'm in the prosses of fixing it up and I want to do the paper thing over film or wet plate. Might have to build my own box camera as well, I at least want to build a darkbox though like they use for wet plate but use paper photos, for a mobile setup.

[@aquilegia9156]

wich chemicals and papers should i use? i'm a begginer

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I recommend liquid concentrated paper developer, like Ilford multigrade or universal paper developer, that you dilute with water to make a working solution. For stop bath, just use white vinegar. For fixer, use non-hardening fixer, mixed as per instructions with water for use with paper. The paper developer solution you can reuse until it oxidizes and loses strength, or gets exhausted. The vinegar you can reuse until it begins to lose its odor. The fixer you reuse until it's exhausted, which you can tell by buying a little squeeze bottle of test solution, one drop in the fixer and if it turns milky white, the fixer is exhausted. For disposing of fixer, save it in old milk jugs and turn it in to your local hazardous waste disposal, as it'll have silver in solution. The exhausted developer you can flush down the toilet, as long as you aren't on a septic system. Same with the vinegar. Good luck with your journey into silver printing, please share with us your success.

[@BobSmith-dx9bj]

Would 8x10 be to much to handle? Don't they make larger paper now.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Yes, in theory it would work, all depending on how big of a box you want to lug around. I'm thinking of converting my portable, two-sleeve darkroom box to a 5x7 version.

Greetings from Cali (Colombia) My name is Carlos Fernando Loaiza Arteaga, I am a professional photographer and I decided to build my own Afghan camera; In my country it is called "Foto Agüita" For the construction of my camera I made an alliance with a carpenter who would take care of the whole handcrafted part of the project. I have several questions about the construction and I would like to be in continuous contact with you to give a solution to the questions. It is my intention to document the whole process to share it in my city with other photographers and help preserve this legacy over time. My first question is the following: I have a Vivitar lens 28mm f2,8 analog. ¿Is this lens useful for the construction of my camera? ¿What photo format do I achieve with this? I appreciate your information.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Greetings, Carlos. If you hold the lens up to a bright scene and project an image upon a white sheet of paper, you'll see how big of an image it makes. Lenses designed for 35mm film camera don't project images much larger than the 24mm by 36mm frame size. So it would make tiny, slide sized images. With the 28mm focal length, it would also be wide angle and hence not well suited for portraits. I would recommend starting with what size print you want to make, then find a lens suitable. For a print around 100mm by 125mm in size, you need a lens used in a 4 by 5 view camera, with an integral leaf shutter. These are very expensive if purchased new, but used ones can be found on eBay and in used camera shops. The lens needs to project an image large enough to cover your required print size. For portraits, I'd recommend around 150mm to 200mm focal length, which is equivalent to 50-85mm angle of view for a 35mm camera format. Good luck with your project. I will attempt to answer any further questions.

Joe Van Cleave thank you very much ... I will be informing you of my progress.

Hello ... I have several questions: 1. Could you recommend me some type of lens that I can use for my camera? 2. a solution to the problem of the lens, it may be to leave the hole only to uncover and cover when taking the photo note: excuse me for my English, since I use the google translator. =)

[@Joe_VanCleave]

As I indicated in my previous reply, you first have to decide the size of the prints. That will determine the focal length of the lens and the format it will cover. If you want print sizes around 4" x 5", a lens of 135-180mm focal length would work. Note that I'm not referring to lenses intended for 35mm cameras; these only cover a small size image area of 24mm x 36mm. I'm referring to large format camera lenses, or lenses for larger box cameras of the "Brownie" type or folding medium format bellows cameras. If the lens already has a leaf shutter, fine. But if not, you'll have to use shutter speeds slow enough to accurately time the exposure by uncovering and covering the lens by hand. If the intended shutter speeds are too fast, like 1 second or faster, you won't be able to accurately time those exposure repeatably and accurately by simply uncovering the lens by hand, but instead would need a real shutter. So you should look for lenses for 4"x5" large format cameras, like a Speed Graphic or Graflex camera; or a larger medium format folder camera, or the large sized Brownie-style box cameras. I've also been able to use the front elements from a 7x50 binocular, but it has to be the kind that simply unscrews from the body of the binocular. The one I use has lenses 50mm in diameter and a focal length of 150mm. Wide open, it's an aperture of f/3, but very soft and blurry around the edges. It works better to stop the lens down with a diaphragm made from black paper. Because these lenses don't have shutters, you'll have to stop the lens down small enough so your shutter speeds are in the range of about 2 seconds or so. Any faster and you'll have a problem accurately and repeatably timing the shutter by hand; while any slower and the person seated in front of the camera might move and make a blurry image. You'll have to experiment with the intensity of light and size of the aperture to get the correct exposures onto whatever paper you will be using.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Another type of simple lens you could try are magnifying glasses. These come in various focal lengths and cover various angles of view. They all operate as single-element meniscus lenses, and as such have a relatively sharp central image with softness or blurriness around the edges, depending on how far down you stop them with a diaphragm. As indicated above, you can make simple "Waterhouse stops" from discs of opaque black paper with various size holes in them.