This series focuses on those who take the making of pictures a step or two further, creating their own photographic tools.
Percy. Digital camera made with Lego.
Albertino, Hong Kong, China
Wanting to be a photographer like his dad, Albertino’s five-year-old son built a camera out of Lego. Albertino (previously featured) was impressed by his son’s remarkably good Lego reproduction of his vintage camera was inspired to build a real camera with the same toy. He wanted the camera to be easy to use for his son—something that didn’t require knowledge of aperture and shutter speeds.
Albertino extracted the lens from an old, non-functioning Pentax point-and-shoot and a digital back from an Olympus Mirrorless EPL3. He spent about half a day cobbling the parts together and building a simple focus system with Lego technic bricks.
Two eyes affixed to the camera plate add a touch of whimsy. The anthropomorphic camera is named Percy and his Albertino’s loves it. After snapping dozens of pictures, Percy was accidently dropped on the floor and the Lego scattered all over the place. In about 45 minutes, Albertino reconstructed the camera with a light seal. The seal was a challenge, requiring one to two hours to perfect due to the tight space and the need to maintain a flexible focus system. The camera is manual focus, adjusted by the grey gear on the left side. The image comes into focus on the preview screen, making it easy for his son to use. Although the camera is digital, the resulting photographs have a slight soft, dreamy quality due to the old Pentax lens. While both father and son enjoy using the camera, it is perhaps most interesting to see the world through a child’s eye, photographing his toys with a camera made from other toys.
View more of Albertino’s work on his website.
Have you made or modified your own photographic equipment? Let us know at info@donttakepictures.com