The Cycloptic Mustard Monster | A Student-Made 3D Printed Camera


Here’s an interesting story. A student from Richmond, Paul Kohlhausse wanted to own a high-quality professional camera but couldn’t afford it. Instead, he 3d printed it with virtually no prior knowledge of the technology. The result – a fully functional camera that can shoot 6 x 14 negatives on 120 film.

What he wanted to do in the first place was to create negatives larger than standard ones but the only way he could achieve his passion was to get an expensive camera. Instead, he chose a different path and made himself a modular eight-piece design. In order to do so, Paul went the extra mile and had to learn CAD designing from scratch.

The Cycloptic Mustard Monster is an eight piece modular 3D printed camera.

The features of The Cycloptic Mustard Monster use a mixture of three different professional cameras – Mamiya 7, Hasselblad XPan and Leica M series. He needed to copy features from all of them, from medium format photography to panoramic frame size.

An image that was taken with it.

Since this camera is modular, it can be used in combination with other camera gear and can be mounted on a tripod. After giving it a lot of thoughts, Paul decided to make it from SLS nylon because it comes with a clean surface finish and is easy to set up. Not to forget he made it with a viewfinder and a removable top plate for inserting film. In the future, he seeks to create more affordable cameras for other photography lovers as well. [via]


Daily Newsletter

Subscribe to Jebiga for a dose of the best in gear, design, rides, tech and adventure.