Champion of non-digital photography Lomography has launched a build-it-yourself kit for a cardboard medium-format camera which comes with a lens that you can fill with colored liquid to create a photographic unique feel.
The cardboard camera comes flat-packed as 11 sheets of cutouts inspired by origami and Sashimono carpentry, an aperture plates set for increased quirkiness, an aperture and shutter module (so you can shoot in normal and bulb modes) and a Sutton lens module. The laser-cut cardboard pieces slot together without needing screws or glue and Lomography says that the use of cardboard allows for "versatility and potential for endless possible modifications."
The Sutton lens is named after Thomas Sutton, an English photographer who created a quirky panoramic camera in 1859 that featured a water-filled lens which focused the image onto a curved plate.
The liquid-filled lens that's assembled as part of the LomoMod No. 1 system has two tubes protruding from the side. These can be separated at the joint and pumped with orange juice, food coloring, cold black coffee or any other colored liquid to "produce a whole variety of effects and deviations" in photographs captured by the DIY camera.
The lens has a focal length of 80 mm, a maximum aperture of f/11 and rocks a manual focus ring. And it could even be adapted to fit other camera bodies.
The LomoMod No. 1 camera kit is up for pre-order now for US$59, with shipping expected to start in early November.
Product page: LomoMod No. 1
