Small lens for DIY 35mm Camera

<p>Hi,<br>

I'm thinking of making a 35mm camera. I want to buy a lens and build the body, and ideally I want it to be as small as possible.<br>

I'd really like some recommendations of small lenses that are mountable, something in the range of 35 to 50mm equivalent prime lens. I'm not too bothered about spec at the moment, but it would be awesome if you guys could point me in the direction of some physically small lenses!</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>At one time the Surplus Shed had a couple of lens/shutter combinations that were made for rangefinder cameras: a Wollensak 44mm f2.8 with shutter going from B to 1/200 second. They also had a mounted pair of lens/shutters (don't remember brand) made for stereo cameras. As long as you're not building an SLR either one of them might work. </p>

<p>Difficult without more info regarding the depth of the body you are envisaging, and whether the lens has to include the shutter or not, however one option might be a collapsible lens like an Elmar or Industar<br>

If a shutter is needed then the entire lens/shutter assembly from a bellows retina or retinette may be an option, as might the lens assembly from an Argus Model A.<br>

Nick</p>

 

<p>If you want something really compact and don't worry so much about quality, I'd look for those really cheap film cameras such as the ones Time magazine and the like used to hand out, basically focus free 35 mm. cameras with a simple lens and a leaf shutter. A lot of cameras show up at thrift stores and the like with compact lenses in the right range, for a buck or less. I don't know just how the lenses would mount, and it might be nasty, but it would certainly be very cheap to find one and experiment. </p>

<p>If you want better quality and a better shutter, I'd consider something like a Kodak Pony or a Retinette. The lenses are less compact but still pretty small, don't need a bellows, and look fairly easy to mount. </p>

<p>Also for simplicity you might want a lens/shutter that has the cocking mechanism built into the lens rather than trying to make the shutter be cocked automatically as you advance the film. The lens I mentioned, I think was used on the Bolsey Jubilee back in the 1950's. But any lens with a shutter cocking lever should work. Some shutters, like single speed ones on the Time Magazine freebie might be self-cocking. Good luck with your project.</p>

<p>"I'm thinking of making a 35mm camera. I want to buy a lens and build the body, and ideally I want it to be as small as possible."<br /><br />See the thread posted by Oskar Barnack on this around 1920 or so. Might have come up with his own lens insead of buying it, but he did some nice work along these lines and might provide you with some good ideas.</p>

<p>If you want a lens and shutter unit then how about a lens in a Compur or Prontor shutter from a camera from the 1930 - 50s? The lenses were often good quality, post war examples are usually coated and the shutters often give speeds from 1 second to 1/500th.<br /> Here is an example of the sort of thing I mean on a 127 film half-frame camera. This example is an 1938 uncoated Voigtlander 4 element 5.5cm f3.5 lens in a Compur shutter 1-300 , T, B. Post war ones can be a bit complicated with integrated wind-on and cocking mechanisms so unless you can see exactly what you are getting I would stick to lens/shutter assemblies. <br /><br /> If you go this route can I just put in a plea that you don't cannibalise a good working example. A lot of people like using them as they are. A broken one where the lens / shutter is OK would be ideal. I had an example with totalled bellows, bent body and dodgy focussing that would have been an ideal candidate for you.</p><div></div>

<p>Try one of the older collapsing screw mount Leica lenses in 35 to 50mm. I would shop by price, not specification.</p>

<p>Maybe a better lens type would be one of the 90mm/6.8 press camera lenses.</p>

<p>Schneider and others made these lenses in the Speed Graphic era.</p>

<p>Maybe a 127,, from a Polaroid 110 A or 110B.</p>

<p>These are smallish leaf shutter lenses that are more affordable than the Leica lenses.</p>