Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the backers and followers that made this happen! When I launch this Kickstarter campaign one month ago, I had no idea how it would be received. Was it a crazy idea that only I thought was cool? Would people understand it? Was there a place for such a camera in a world of Mamiya 7’s, Fuji G617’s, Leicas, and other high end cameras? I would’ve been happy if just 15 of you backed the project to reach my funding goal with enough to make the build worth it. But look at where we are now!
Massive thanks to my wife, family, and friends as well for believing in me and my idea, even though they’re not all into film photography or really understand this 😂
I’m excited to get started building (actually, I’m already well into building!). Please keep following along and share as I continue to give more behind the scenes looks at the process, along with future designs and prototypes.
Exposing Engineering is not just about building and selling cameras. I wanted it to be an outlet to show how things are made, built, designed, and prototyped.
(and for those that missed the deadline, Late Pledges are enabled. There are 5 more rewards left, and I may post some more quantities depending on how the build progresses)
#analogphotography #filmphotography #mediumformat #prototyping #3dprinting
Meet the VZ-6617 by @exposingengineering
The VZ-6617 is a new panoramic medium format camera being funded on Kickstarter. It utilizes what @exposingengineering calls a “Variable Zone Film Gate™️” that allows you to switch from 6x6 all the way to 6x17 on 120 film.
Their Kickstarter campaign ends tomorrow so head to their page and check it out. It looks like there are very limited quantities still available! 👀👀👀
Photographers tagged in images!📸🎞️🎞️
(Except for Nick who is not on ig)
Dev and Scan by us! @thefindlab 🧪🎞️🎞️🎞️
Part 1: Today we are checking out a new camera, very innovative because it not only shoots 6X17, but the variable film gate allows you to shoot any format down to 6X6 on the same roll of film. It is the @exposingengineering VZ-6617. It takes all of the ways 3D printing can help the price point for end users, without going cheap on parts that matter for usability and long term life like a metal helicoid and ball bearings for the advance. It is so much fun to shoot, the results speak for themself, and I am so excited and appreciative to be able to share it with all of you. I know that users will have a lot of good input, and I’m excited to see where this goes and what versions are yet to come. There’s so much that could be said about it, this is my first 4 part series, except YouTube where I released a long form video. If you all want to see more I can definitely do another video of using it in the field, or just answering more questions that come up, just let me know in the comments.
#exposingengineering #vz6617 #exposingengineeringvz6617 #analog
Finally got a chance this weekend to get a short demo of the Ground Glass Body workflow. This is a more traditional approach vs the Ground Glass Back, allowing you to use the camera body like a film-holding back with its dark slide. A secondary tripod mount is now standard on all lens cones for this purpose.
Only 2 days left before the Kickstarter campaign closes, and only 12 cameras remaining!
Kickstarter link in bio.
It took a lot of test shots to arrive at the final design of the VZ-6617. This often meant quickly burning through rolls with the latest prototype on my daily bike commute. Not always super interesting subject matter or compositions, but tried to make the most of it with what was around me and try to find beauty and opportunity in the day-to-day routine. Here are a few of my favorites from across the different prototype versions.
📷 VZ-6617 Mk1 prototype to production model
🧪 @bellowsfilmlab
#filmphotography #analogphotography #shootmorefilm #kodak #ilford
Proving out the concept of a “ground glass body” and planning to make it available as an add-on before the end of the Kickstarter. The idea is that by leveraging the dark slide used for changing lenses, the camera body can essentially be a film-holding back. Adding a secondary tripod mount to the lens cone allows the lens to stay in place for focusing/composition with a ground glass attached to it in place of the body.
This was always in the plan as I suspected not everyone would want to use the rewind/wind workflow of the ground glass back over a traditional ground glass workflow. Now that all the parts for the Early Release Bundle are printed and I’ve got a good head start on producing the parts for the Starter Bundle/Essentials Bundle tiers, I’ve got some time to get this across the finish line. Focusing now on getting it more compact (maybe collapsible?) and adding some quality-of-life features.
#filmphotography #analogphotography #mediumformat #prototyping #3dprinting
I walked into @wingscamera 6 months ago after testing my second prototype during a vacation in Europe. This was before I had any plans to bring anything to market, and just as I was starting to develop the variable film gate. Their excitement and encouragement were a big part of where I am today with the VZ-6617. This was always going to be a camera that could get people excited about shooting film, experimenting, and evolving. Congrats on the fantastic new shop and thanks for letting me take the group photo in front of the old space ❤️
📷 VZ-6617 set to 6x17
🔍 Fujinon-SW 90mm f/8
🎞️ @kodak Portra 800
🧪 @bellowsfilmlab
#filmphotography #analogphotography #shootmorefilm #mediumformat #kodak
Demonstrating the ground glass workflow of the VZ-6617. Unlike the Fuji GX617, the unrestricted wind knobs allow you to fully advance and rewind film as needed, allowing the ground glass to be used for every shot. This makes for a more compact system than if it had a removable film-holding back.
📷 VZ-6617
🎞️ Opticolour 200
🧪 @bellowsfilmlab
#analogphotography #filmphotography #mediumformat #shootmorefilm 3dprinting
Still learning black and white and loving @kodak T-max 400 (Ektapan now?). I came across this immaculate Corvette and thought it was a bummer that I already had B&W loaded in the VZ-6617 and couldn’t capture the awesome shade of blue on the paint job. After getting the results from @bellowsfilmlab though, I think I prefer the B&W better! It really lets you focus on the juxtaposition of the organic form of the car against the brutalist geometry of the parking deck and retaining wall behind it without getting distracted by color.
📷 VZ-6617 with frame set to 6x7 and 6x9
🔍 Fujinon-SW 90mm f/8
📱 Second View beta by @benoitlinard
🎞️ @kodak T-max 400
🧪 @bellowsfilmlab
#analogphotography #filmphotography #mediumformat #shootmorefilm #kodak
Part 4: Today we are checking out a new camera, very innovative because it not only shoots 6X17, but the variable film gate allows you to shoot any format down to 6X6 on the same roll of film. It is the @exposingengineering VZ-6617. It takes all of the ways 3D printing can help the price point for end users, without going cheap on parts that matter for usability and long term life like a metal helicoid and ball bearings for the advance. It is so much fun to shoot, the results speak for themself, and I am so excited and appreciative to be able to share it with all of you. I know that users will have a lot of good input, and I’m excited to see where this goes and what versions are yet to come. There’s so much that could be said about it, this is my first 4 part series, except YouTube where I released a long form video. If you all want to see more I can definitely do another video of using it in the field, or just answering more questions that come up, just let me know in the comments.
#exposingengineering #vz6617 #exposingengineeringvz6617 #analog
Part 3: Today we are checking out a new camera, very innovative because it not only shoots 6X17, but the variable film gate allows you to shoot any format down to 6X6 on the same roll of film. It is the @exposingengineering VZ-6617. It takes all of the ways 3D printing can help the price point for end users, without going cheap on parts that matter for usability and long term life like a metal helicoid and ball bearings for the advance. It is so much fun to shoot, the results speak for themself, and I am so excited and appreciative to be able to share it with all of you. I know that users will have a lot of good input, and I’m excited to see where this goes and what versions are yet to come. There’s so much that could be said about it, this is my first 4 part series, except YouTube where I released a long form video. If you all want to see more I can definitely do another video of using it in the field, or just answering more questions that come up, just let me know in the comments.
#exposingengineering #vz6617 #exposingengineeringvz6617 #analog
Part 2: Today we are checking out a new camera, very innovative because it not only shoots 6X17, but the variable film gate allows you to shoot any format down to 6X6 on the same roll of film. It is the @exposingengineering VZ-6617. It takes all of the ways 3D printing can help the price point for end users, without going cheap on parts that matter for usability and long term life like a metal helicoid and ball bearings for the advance. It is so much fun to shoot, the results speak for themself, and I am so excited and appreciative to be able to share it with all of you. I know that users will have a lot of good input, and I’m excited to see where this goes and what versions are yet to come. There’s so much that could be said about it, this is my first 4 part series, except YouTube where I released a long form video. If you all want to see more I can definitely do another video of using it in the field, or just answering more questions that come up, just let me know in the comments.
#exposingengineering #vz6617 #exposingengineeringvz6617 #analog
