Inspired by some conversations on the photo.net forums, I decided to try to hack together a handheld 4x5 large format camera using parts from various old Polaroid Land cameras from the 1960s. Polaroid long ago discontinued the film for these cameras, so they're available really cheap on eBay. To most people, they're pretty much worthless except as a collectors' item, but with a little fearless application of a Dremel tool, they should quickly find themselves back in useful service. The resulting camera will not be a beauty queen — the main ingredient will be glue — but it should result in something only slightly less portable than the Holga, but with much higher quality results, and for roughly the same total investment (about $20).

Yesterday the first donor camera arrived: a Polaroid Land 250 automatic camera, purchased for $0.99 on eBay.

It actually had a pack of 40-year-old film still inside. Sadly, unlike conventional negative film, Polaroid film goes bad very quickly after its expiration date. I tried shooting a few frames just out of curiosity, but they politely informed me that they were having none of it.

Although this camera looks similar to what my Frankenstein camera will end up looking like, this one will only be contributing its nice Zeiss rangefinder to the project, and maybe a few other miscellaneous parts like the shutter firing mechanism.

But at least I can start to get a feel for the size of these cameras. When I first handled it in person, I was surprised to find that it's bigger than it looked in pictures. But it's still much smaller than a view camera, and considering how compactly it folds up, I think it'll be a perfectly suitable alternative for carrying around. (Hehe, when you consider that the film for this camera will be about the size of the camera itself, 35mm film looks so tiny in comparison.)

I hadn't even heard of rangefinders until recently, so in case others haven't either, I'll describe them briefly. They're kind of an intermediate step between the fixed viewfinder of a cheap point-and-shoot and the full-on through-the-lens focusing of an SLR or view camera. A rangefinder works like a viewfinder (in that what you see is not exactly what the lens sees) but it uses a clever split mirror/prism design to let you focus quickly and accurately.

When you look through the rangefinder, you see the subject, along with another faint image of the subject superimposed on the first and slightly offset horizontally. You adjust the focus until the two images line up, and then the camera is focused on that point. Here's a view through the rangefinder of this Polaroid 250:

Rangefinders are rare these days. They're most commonly found in those $6000 Leicas that artistes love so much. Granted, they do allow the camera to be compact, lightweight, and quiet (no mirror to slap out of the way). And that's exactly what it'll contribute to this camera. Having a rangefinder will let me get the shot quickly without having to stop and put the camera on a tripod and focus carefully with a ground glass (which this camera won't have at all).

I've got two more old Polaroid cameras on the way. Once they arrive, the destruction can begin. Obviously, I'll continue to post photos throughout the process.