This is a camera that's been a long time coming. As far as I know, there's nothing quite like it out there.
The LRF45 is a mostly 3D-printed camera with a LiDAR-powered digital rangefinder that is electronically coupled to a sensor that reads the lens extension. Which makes this a lens-coupled, hand-held large-format rangefinder. It also has a built-in light meter!
- It is designed for the Fujinon-W 105mm f5.6
- It is compatible with any Graflok film back, even the Lomograflok with some caveats
- The electronics are freely available, affordable, and easy to find
- The viewfinder optics and lens proper are the most expensive parts of this camera, and even those are relatively affordable and easy to procure
- The source code that powers the electronics and rangefinder (as well as light-meter) is open-source and can be found on Github
- There's a detailed build guide in PDF format below
- There's an OrcaSlicer file with all the hard work done for you, but if you want to slice it yourself, all the 3MFs are available as seperate files
- I also provide a STEP file with all the parts if you want to modify or remix the camera to use it with different lenses or formats
I really hope someone out there attempts to build this, and shoot with it. I want to see your makes, as well as your photos! I have a few example photos on Instagram:
- https://www.instagram.com/p/C1C5XITI7D1/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/C1MwscKobC5/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/C1XakoNo_7q/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/C1zOQ6SIrhM/
The light leak in the first three posts has been fixed in the release version.
🍺 Buy me a beer if you'd like to say thank you.