Analogue Adventurer Kit & the Pinbox Camera Obscura – Makers made photography stuff for makers

I’ve just had two cool little photography products appear under my nose, both made with the intention of encouraging people to learn about photography, both really accessibly priced, and both made by folks I know in the film photography community… The first is an ‘Analogue Adventurer Kit’ by Rachel of ‘Little Vintage Photography‘ and the ‘Sunny 16 Podcast‘, and the second ‘PinBox Camera Obscura‘ by Robert Hamm of ‘Hamm Camera Company‘.

PinBox Camera Obscura

After the successful Kickstarter of “Nubox1” earlier this year, Robert Hamm has taken to Kickstarter for a second time to launch a new product the PinBox Camera Obscura.  A do-it-yourself pinhole camera, it’s essentially cut-cardboard template that you fold together to make a camera. It comes with a metal disk with an acid etched pinhole and takes 120 film.

Robert claims his intent is to “inspire the maker community with a new concept in cardboard cameras”. He was previously inspired by early cameras to bring the box camera back in his previous Kickstarter, so I can believe his motives  – he’s clearly an inventive chap with a desire to introduce film photography to a broader audience!

Kickstarter here – it’s only $20 whilst the Earlybirds are still available

Analogue Adventurer Kit – Make-your-own pinhole viewer & sunprint card

Rachel’s little kit is arguably a little more unusual, but that’s definitely in a good way! I’m going to have to copy and paste what some of Rachel has written about this thing because – despite it’s target audience being 7 and up – I clearly need some education myself! So, Rachel says:

Know a child or teenager interested in STEM and Art? Or want an unusual gift for a Photographer? With this kit you can make-your-own unique sunprint ‘photograph’ using the magical power of the sun and build-your-own pinhole viewer to look through and see the world upside down! (guide age 7+ to adult)

This kit uses simple but effective processes to help everyone discover the fascinating art & science of analogue photography. It uses chemistry and engineering skills to demonstrate the physics of and chemical reactions created by light and learn more about alternative ways of creating photographs and seeing the world. (Please note: This kit builds a pinhole VIEWER to demonstrate the physics of light, not a pinhole camera to take photographs).

This is just cool… and it’s so Rachel! She’s really passionate about this sort of thing, and has been talking about this behind the scenes for as long as I’ve known her, and I guess much longer still. She does workshops with kids and adults teaching this sort of stuff, so really knows her stuff. It’s great to see her trying to find ways to share her knowledge with a wider audience.

You can buy one of her kits via Etsy here

Personally, I like the look of both of these, and can’t wait to share them with my little ones!

Cheers,

Hamish

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