I bought a Kodak Vest Pocket Series III camera off Ebay for about $35 for a class project on film. I enjoyed the vintage look of the photos this camera turned out as well as the analog aperture sizes, but hated waiting for the film to be developed and printed.
So, I came up with this simple hack to take digital pictures with the lens of my 100 year old kodak vest pocket camera. The whole procedure takes about 5 minutes and cost me under $2.00 (after purchasing the Kodak Vest Pocket and Canon Rebel). All you need is an L-bracket, two wing nuts, two head-less 1/2 inch 1/4-20 screws, and two to five washers.
Begin by taking the lens off your Canon Rebel and the rear cover off the KVP (make sure there isn't any film in there!). Next, screw in the headless screws into the tripod holes on the bottom of the cameras. They have been using the same size tripod holes since tripods were invented!
Next, place washers over the screws. I needed to put three over the screw on the KVP because it has to be a little higher than the base of the Rebel in order to cover the entire lens opening.
Now, place the L-bracket over the holes and screw it down with the wing nuts. I just happened to find this L-bracket and it fit over the holes perfectly! I was planning on cutting off the unused end of the L-bracket but it turns out to be a great stabilizer for the camera.
In order to open the lens of the KVP, turn the diomatic to the letter T and press the shutter button. This should keep the lens open until you press the lens again. When taking pictures, use the aperture slider on the VPK but the change the shutter speed on the Rebel.
Now you're ready to take some awesome pictures! I've posted some that I've taken below.
So, I came up with this simple hack to take digital pictures with the lens of my 100 year old kodak vest pocket camera. The whole procedure takes about 5 minutes and cost me under $2.00 (after purchasing the Kodak Vest Pocket and Canon Rebel). All you need is an L-bracket, two wing nuts, two head-less 1/2 inch 1/4-20 screws, and two to five washers.
Begin by taking the lens off your Canon Rebel and the rear cover off the KVP (make sure there isn't any film in there!). Next, screw in the headless screws into the tripod holes on the bottom of the cameras. They have been using the same size tripod holes since tripods were invented!
Next, place washers over the screws. I needed to put three over the screw on the KVP because it has to be a little higher than the base of the Rebel in order to cover the entire lens opening.
Now, place the L-bracket over the holes and screw it down with the wing nuts. I just happened to find this L-bracket and it fit over the holes perfectly! I was planning on cutting off the unused end of the L-bracket but it turns out to be a great stabilizer for the camera.
In order to open the lens of the KVP, turn the diomatic to the letter T and press the shutter button. This should keep the lens open until you press the lens again. When taking pictures, use the aperture slider on the VPK but the change the shutter speed on the Rebel.
Now you're ready to take some awesome pictures! I've posted some that I've taken below.
Great Idea!
I've inherited a Kodak SIX-16 No. 1 Diodak from my grandfather, (pictured) who used it extensively in the 40's and 50's. I "dry fit" this camera to my Rebel T2i just to see what I could capture...
Unfortunately the focus ring on the Kodak is unable to focus the image sharply on the sensor, since it is calibrated is for where the emulsion film used to be. Now it projects, perhaps, two inches further in to the DSLR sensor. I was able to capture one pic, by partially collapsing the bellows, bringing the lens closer to the DSLR.
In fact, it somewhat appears in your images, that yours might be partially collapsed, too. Is this the case?
Unfortunately for the old Kodak, it is designed to be locked open rigidly. It gets "loose and sloppy" when you try to collapse it.
I'll tinker with it some more. I've always wanted to put the Kodak into use again, and I'm pretty sure that no one makes film for it any more.
But great job, and great photos! I'm astounded that an old lens took such sharp and high-contrast pics!
Thanks for the comment!
I do partially collapse the bellows to focus on anything besides really close up shots because the sensor is further back than the camera is designed for. Unfortunately, this makes all the shots looks a little more zoomed in than they should (but images that are supposed to be close up look great!).
What do you mean when you say your camera gets "loose and sloppy" when you collapse it?
Also, the bellows likes to "pull" everything back in as soon as you start closing it...
I have some Kodak 828 Bantams. 828 film is the exact width of 35mm but only one tiny sprocket hole per frame. So I used to re-roll 35mm with the yellow/black paper strips that 828 film needs.