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Dirkon - The Paper Camera
Daily Ink
Stored in: Tools
Posted On: August 03 2007
By: Bryan Partington
Archival Photo
From a ceramic pinhole camera to a paper one, today's Ink brings us the story of the 'Dirkon'.
This DIY paper pinhole camera works with 35mm film, and is adorably designed to resemble a Japanese manual camera, complete with ornamental knobs and buttons.
David Balihar at pinhole.cz writes:
During the 1970s, magazines published in Communist Czechoslovakia were controlled by the state, like the majority of other enterprises. Very few good magazines were available and were difficult to get hold of, so people would borrow and exchange them when given the opportunity. This also applied to magazines aimed at young people, which was probably one of the reasons why almost everyone from my generation, when we get on to the subject of pinhole cameras, has fond memories of the cut-out paper camera known as Dirkon*, published in 1979.
The result is an extremely cute, extremely fun and extremely *bad* pinhole camera, though it is claimed the design can be improved by "sticking on a thin piece of metal with a hole, rather than making the hole in the paper".
A paper cutout camera seems rather whimsical, like the product of a child playing make believe photojournalist. It has the appearance of a cargo cult fashioned fetish object. The difference is that this camera actually takes pictures, despite its appearance.
The best part is that the original blog post also supplies printable templates in PDF format with translated instruction, so that Dirkon fun is not limited only to the communist Czechs.
Otherwise, in Tools:
- Previously: Paint Can Alternative
Utata Ink is a daily publication edited by Bryan Partington (striatic). Photos used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and obtained via the flickr API unless otherwise noted. To make a contribution to Ink, please visit Ink Me.
