3D-Printed Cinema Film Camera Oozes Vintage Vibes

I have controversial opinions about cameras and think many people dramatically overromanticize the style you get from vintage cameras. Don’t even get me started on CCD digicams. But there is no denying that film has a visual quality that you can’t get from a digital camera — at least not without simulated effects. To take advantage of that in coolest way possible, Henry Kidman 3D-printed his own cinema film camera.

This is a DIY cinema camera that accepts 16mm film. A century ago, such a camera would have been either entirely mechanical or electromechanical. Designing and manufacturing those cameras was a serious challenge, as timing is critical. But today, we have inexpensive and accessible electronics, plus affordable rapid prototyping techniques. Those were Kidman’s “in” for tackling this project.

Kidman’s camera is mostly 3D-printed — though he took the sensible approach and chose not to make his own lenses. He simply used Sony E-mount lenses. Like any cinema film camera, it needed to do two things in sync: advance the film and actuate the shutter. It does that with electronically controlled stepper motors.

Because Kidman is cheeky and wanted to make my job more difficult, he didn’t specify the electronic components he used to control the camera. But by going frame-by-frame through his video, I have determined that he used a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W single-board computer, a Teensy 4.0 development board, and custom PCBs hosting DRV8825 stepper drivers.

There were some challenges to overcome, like getting the FFD (Flange Focal Distance) just right and preventing light bleed. But the most interesting issue was frame wobble.

A tiny amount of warp in the sprocket that feeds the filament caused the frames to “wobble” relative to each other. Kidman was unable to make a perfect sprocket, so he came up with an ingenious solution: adding a tiny “gate” that exposes a notch on each frame. After scanning, computer vision software can analyze each frame, look for that notch, and shift the frame into perfect alignment.

The resulting footage is great. It has unmistakable 16mm film grain, soft contrast, and colors that modern digital cinematographers drool over. And it certainly helps that Kidman is a talented filmmaker capable of getting the best from the camera.