Making Improvements to a 3D Printed Canon P Digital Rangefinder Camera

[@morottaja123]

Damn you go hard with the fusion 360. Really neat project!

[@itslucasyap]

Came back to check on the status of this project.

[@thenickdude]

If you use more sketches instead of direct modelling inside Fusion, you can have Fusion automatically maintain constraints for you like spacing of screwholes and such (and have them remain consistent when one parameter is edited)

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Oh yeah, I know I can do better. I went from making L brackets from tutorials to this so a bit of learning was skipped.

[@Flying4Film]

Very cool project. My Canon P is one of my favorite cameras.

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Thank you!

[@jlwilliams]

Mine too, and in a way it's kind of a shame that so much of the P gets thrown away during this process. Then again, there are probably quite a few dead, non-repairable Ps that could enjoy a second life thanks to this kind of project!

[@SteyrM1912]

This project is super cool. Been thinking about a project like this using a Pentacon Six as a base, the biggest issue would be... affording something like a GFX50R for the guts of the thing

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Wouldn’t that be awesome!

[@Ildskalli]

You could try with a Leaf/Mamiya back, those aren’t that expensive now (although a lot of them have problems, so you need to choose well). Still, I think that one should begin with a cheaper project, like Ernestas, and then move on to such a serious endeavor… the one good thing is that you’ll have *tons* of space inside the Pentacon Six body 😬

[@TheCyberSpidey]

I'd been eagerly waiting for this, thanks for the update!

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Thank you so much for waiting and watching. I'm getting better and quicker with putting out videos so next one might even be finished in less than a month!

[@TheCyberSpidey]

@@ErnestasMontvidas it's cool, it's been nice to see the actual assembly. However I'm still half clueless as to how the rangefinder is paired with the Sony lens. On vanilla Canon P, the lens mount flanges pull a spring, don't they? I've been reading up Frankencamera documentation, but obviously can't afford to mod a Leica M3 lol. He did manage to salvage some physical controls but it seems a bit convoluted (on the mechanical bits side of M3, not the Sony Nex aspect). I've been also looking harder at adapting a Pi HQ sensor because it's the best option in terms of physical controls. The challenge is to pack that up with a DOF adapter inside the camera body, I'm clueless about optics but trying to utilize my high school physics knowledge now. Another thing I stumbled across is building a Fuji XPro/X100 styled hybrid viewfinder - by inserting a splitting prism inside the OVF (from Volzo on YT). Also, I was keen on reusing an existing body like your project and M3 conversion but I went through Panomicron's* Oxygen design - files for which are on GitHub and designing a camera body from scratch doesn't seem as daunting now because of the flexibility it'll provide. I'm really excited to see how you take this forward, please document your process even if you don't feel like sharing CAD files (paid or not).

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

So the lens is a Canon lens using the original mount then the rangefinder mechanism is moved from the original so it all works the same after alignment. And yeah the swappable back isn’t as easy to put on as it seems to suggest, I guess there aren’t many ways to interact with an analogue camera. Thanks for sharing the Oxygen camera that is interesting to see. Using the Pi HQ sensor is interesting but tough because the focal length difference will be massive. Using optics is an idea I’ve had too and I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone doing it. Thanks and good luck with your project.

[@TheCyberSpidey]

@@ErnestasMontvidas Right, so the best approach is to keep the native Canon L mount lenses for the rangefinder to work post mutilation. Thanks, makes perfect sense (now that I looked closely and see that you didn't change the mount). As for the camera back thing, I don't really care for it to be swappable - although that is a popular theme with medium format cameras given their modularity - again, out of the scope. However what Frankencamera's Ollie has achieved is really impressive, their M3 -> Nex mod is completely reversible. Oxygen is again very impressive, I was blown away by it and Panomicron's other designs too. They have an automatic 35mm camera too, with an electric shutter and display oled, really cool stuff. Just not very well documented :') Yeah using a Pi HQ sensor comes with a massive crop if you use an adapter, and no speedbooster exist for 35mm to C mount (afaik), but I really need full customizability to utilize the hardware controls working (mainly shutter speed dial and exposure comp), and perhaps even add a small OLED panel to show basic controls (iso, SS, battery). The best candidate would be gutting a Fuji camera but apparently it doesn't play very nice (according to a Reddit post, it freaks out and reboots with the screen missing and such). My approach, atleast in this planning/theorizing stage is: to use a DOF adapter. For example, Goodman AA is a DIY Depth of Field adapter or Ulanzi/Beastgrip made some for phones. You take a full frame lens, and project its captured image on a screen, placed where the sensor should be. That projected image will have the characteristics of the lens used, and therefore you just take a picture of that image with another camera, say a Pi HQ sensor with a macro lens - and you get a full frame image on a Pi sensor, with obviously a noticeable drop in quality. However, that final image recorded by the sensor wouldn't have a crop, and it will have a nice bokeh too. My challenge right now is to figure out how to tightly package the entire thing. I want to to the math on paper before I go buying any lenses or focusing screens ;) Thanks again for the response, I hope to see your iterations on the Canon P along the way!

[@fatwoul]

Same. I've been waiting keenly. Glad to see the progress.

[@jjaylad]

It is a great project and I totally admire your patience and perseverance. The biggest problem, as I see it, is that the design is 'one-off' and applicable to only 1 camera. I'm looking forward to when someone actually invents a system where the whole thing will be like a film canister and film strip that lays in the existing film canister cavities and film track, and can be width adjusted for any 35mm camera in which it is installed. To me, the camera could still handle the shutter and aperture and the digital 'film' system would need a sensitivity adjustment method (perhaps running off the film take up spool). I could see micro sd card being housed in the film canister along with whatever other electronics are required. The sensor would be the big challenge since it would likely need to be a full 35mm for all the enthusiasts to be happy, although DX or m4/3 I guess could work but not please the 'pro-minded'. I know there are supposed developments in this already ...like "I'm Back" but just get the uneasy feeling that they are more of a grift to separate enthusiasts from their money, but perhaps I'm just too paranoid. Hopefully somebody will make something that works and make a fortune marketing it through legitimate sales channels, while those of us with old film gear still have an interest. I'm sure if something that works is developed, it will sell, because the cost of film and developing is absolutely prohibitive, so shooting with old film gear is reserved for very special occasions. I'm sure if a few engineers put their minds to it a 'Digital Film Insert' could be manufactured which could be installed and removed, thereby offering the user the opportunity of shooting film or shooting digital.

[@Lorenzoq56]

This is so cool! I was wondering, why did you choose the APS-C format? My guess is for space/size reasons. Do you think you'd be able to fit an A7 sensor in there as well?

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

I went with APS-C format because the NEX 5 was about £30. I use an A7 for videos and once I’ve got the money to do it I would love to. I’ve got ideas for it but I don’t want to burn £600 just yet.

[@thecanadianlanboy8132]

I would make the power switch the original lever. Like how Nikon cameras work, when it's stowed it's off, but you flick the lever out to turn the camera on! Otherwise it looks amazing!

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Yeah I thought of that, I should try it and see how well it would work

[@Moonrakerd]

an amazing piece of work ;]

[@ErnestasMontvidas]

Thank you!

[@Moonrakerd]

@@ErnestasMontvidas somehow there isnt a lot of good engineers in camera modding so good to see one :) waiting for more ;)

[@torokun]

I think you just need a higher resolution printer.