Some time over a year ago, we told you about a camera. Not just any camera, but a fully-functional 35mm film camera made entirely of LEGO, and with a pleasingly retro design into the bargain. It’s the work of [Zung92], and it can be found on the LEGO Ideas website.
You might now be asking why we’re talking about it again so soon, and the answer comes in its approaching the deadline for being considered by LEGO for a set. Projects on the Ideas website move forward when they achieve 10,000 supporters, and this one’s just shy of 8,000 with a month to go. We like this project and we think it deserves to see the light of day, and perhaps with your help it can.
When we covered this project last time we lamented the lack of technical detail, so we’re pleased to see a glimpse inside it as part of a manual uploaded to the updates page. We’d be the first to remark that with its LEGO part plastic lens and quarter-frame pictures it won’t be the best camera ever, but that’s hardly the point. Cameras like this one are a challenge, and it seems as though this one is perfect for the competition with a difference.
I don’t know if Lego would release it looking like this considering they currently have set 31147 which looks about the same (based on a Canon AE-1 from what I can tell.
Of course, that one doesn’t actually take pictures, but its knobs and buttons move!
This is very cool. Its the opposite direction of my camera hacking. I made one use pinhole cams from a cassette tape, and an altoids tin. The grain quality and focus was wild. This Lego camera is a great idea, is there ajy necessary lightproofing? Using all black pieces would keep unwanted light out.
I’m not sure if the plans are openly available for their digital designer or whatever…. But I would worry more about the gaps between pieces than about the color of them. Lego plastic is pretty thick – you’d just want multiple layers aligned as to minimize spots where the seams overlap.
Come to think of it, lots of official LEGO sets have stickers in them, maybe a “sticker” of foil tape would be a good way to block light
…
Black Kra’y’gl?
B^)
Too bad, the idea was submitted to Legos Ideas page. AFAIK with this the design cannot be realized by any of the alternative brick brands for several years. While the alternative brands lack the reach and marketing power of Lego they seem more friendly towards innovative ideas.
I got some kind of knock off brand made of mini bricks (like half scale LEGO?). The camera kit I got was fun, but I got it for a lot less than the retail price. At full price it’s harder to recommend. But there’s a special place in my heart for twin-lens reflex cameras, so I couldn’t say “No” to this one.
https://mocbrickland.com/product/rulleinvux-316f-up3156-digital-camera-creator-lin-00847-with-622-pieces/
What a sweet looking camera!
One of those annoying sites that start begging for your e-mail before you’ve even seen the website. It’s so despicable that I did not see more then 2s or so of the camera and just closed that site.
“You are supporter number: 9671” :)