Aug 6, 2015 | By Simon

While we’ve seen a number of interesting 3D printing projects over the years, it appears that as of late, a growing number of the project creators have been getting more serious about shifting their projects from ‘shared experiments with 3D printing’ to actual open source product designs.  

Among other well-executed open source 3D printable designs that we’ve seen range from the Open Space Agency’s Ultrascope 3D printed telescope to the hydroponics gardening system from 3Dponics.  Now, those who like to create their own products at home using their 3D printer have one more product to add to that list: a pinhole camera.

Created by technologist and inventor Clint O’Connor - who happens to have over three-dozen patents under his belt - the Easy 35 3D printed pinhole camera is quite possibly one of the most efficient and usable 3D printed cameras ever created.  Previously, Clint found success on Kickstarter with another 3D printed camera - the Flyer 6×6.

  

“I have been taking pinhole photographs for many years, almost always with cameras I have made myself from cardboard or wood or metal cans, or from existing camera bodies that were radically modified to take various film backs,” O’Conner tells us.    

“In other words, they were difficult to reproduce and not easily shared.  Each offered a different perspective and world view, some better than others.  I have taken pinhole pictures as far north as Labrador in Canada, and as far south as Antarctica.”

For the Easy 35 camera, which is free to download and is printed as one piece, O’Conner incorporated the film chambers, rails, internal light baffles and pinhole mount all in the single printed body while a rubber band secures the top and black tape is used as the shutter.  This remarkable, seamless design is a great example of how powerful additive manufacturing can be in reducing or completely eliminating the need for multiple parts and assemblies.  

“I wanted to create a new 3D printed pinhole camera that anyone with access to a 3D printer can make,” adds O’Conner.   

According to O'Conner, "the Easy 35 pinhole camera can be printed in about 3.5 hours using black ABS or PLA, and needs only a pinhole (at a bare minimum) to complete and use as a 35mm camera."

“The Easy 35 camera satisfies my goals of fast to print, cheap, and easy to make. Such a camera will appeal both to photographers and to educators wanting to teach principles of photography to youths.”

One of the best things about pinhole photography is that it is not only a cheap way of taking pictures, but because of the quality of the prints, it is a technique that is used by both beginners and professionals alike.  

“With 3D printing, my horizons have expanded, since 3D printing makes it possible to design and build an incredible variety of things,” added O’Conner.

 

Currently, O’Connor has released the open source Easy 35 camera under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, which gives anybody the ability to make them and even sell them, as long as attribution is given to the designer and any remixes or derivations are shared alike.

 The Easy 35 camera is currently available on Thingiverse.  To find out more about O'Conner and the development behind his other 3D printed pinhole camera designs, head over to PinholePrinted.    

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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mrs. de kluyver wrote at 11/30/2015 7:18:45 PM:

thx alot i was doing sky science and we had to write down the steps of making it so yea thx by Awesome girl or mrs.de klyuver



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