Re: ATM Big Mouth Camera

[The Silent Observer <silent1@ix.netcom.com>]

Frank Di Marzio wrote:
> 
> 
> Does anyone know of any old 35mm SLR camera that would allow a 48mm
> "cylinder" to slide to within about 17mm of the film?

I just looked at one of my old screw mount bodies (a Ricoh Singlex II),
and it looks to me as if the bottom surface of the pentaprism is likely
to interfere in any SLR you find.  Since you won't be using it, you
might be able to hack out the pentaprism along with the reflex mirror,
but the basic limitation is that, for a frame 24 mm x 36 mm, there are
good reasons for a camera designer not to make the interior of the
camera larger than it needs to be.  The largest dimension inside the
camera only needs to be about 44 mm to accommodate the diagonal
measurement of the film frame -- making it larger makes the camera
larger than it needs to be, and small overall size has been a selling
point in 35 mm since the 1920s, at least.

You might check if you can do enough of a butcher job on an older
rangefinder or viewfinder camera -- but please don't hack up a
collector's item like a Leica C3 "brick" unless nothing else will give
you the clearance you need.

-- 
It is well to approach all wonders and miracles by gradual stages or
degrees . . .
                                                           Fritz Leiber

Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer           NAR # 70141-SR Insured
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Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth
and don't expect them to be perfect.