Unique Wooden Camera Build - Can't Believe the Photos it Takes! 

Pask Makes Bondi Bond: paskmakes.com/boni-bond/ Limited batch run of only 300 packs This was one I've my favourite projects, I had a blast both making it and using the finished camera. I reckon it's going to get some use.

I wish there was a love button instead of a like. I have so much I wish to say, and I don't have the words. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your joy of photography, of making, and creating. Thank you for bringing beauty to a world that seems to be letting it slip away. Thank you for letting us in your shop, for sharing your superior skills, for showing us that even when mistakes happen it isn't the end of the world. Thank you.

I'm sure you hear this kind of thing all the time, but you are really the kind of person I aspire to be. I consider myself a maker, and I watch a ton of youtube content from yourself and other makers. Nobody, least of all myself, gives off the vibe of "I just love to make stuff" like you do, and it is so inspirational to me. It doesn't matter what you're making, you always put your whole self into it. For me, if I make a mistake in the middle of the project it really hurts my motivation, but for you it almost seems like you get excited because it means you get to spend more time on the project. Thank you for sharing your work with us!

I appreciate your honest reporting of your errors. As I watched you create increasingly complex steps, I was thinking "I hope he doesn't blow it at this point. Every step forward makes having to start over more risky." You taught me that mistakes can be corrected as you go, and there is no reason to give up if you are willing to make corrections." A great life lesson for me and so many others in this day and age. Thank you!

I'll never meet Neil and gain nothing by saying this. Men like Leonardo DaVinci, skilled in multiple arts and fields, gave rise to the phrase "renaissance man." Neil truly is one of those. I really don't think there's much he can't do.

I love the progression of Neil’s channel. Make things from scrap wood, get more viewers, make some money. Buy cool tools, get more viewers refurbishing cool tools, make more money. Use cool tools to make even cooler projects, get more viewers, make more money. Where will this lead to? I don’t know but I’m watching to find out. Love it all, thx Neil.

as an analog photographer myself i realy enjoyed this build! One tip: use different tongs for each chemical bath, your chemicals will last longer. If fixer touches developer it will be ruined very quickly!

When he first started making the big aperture, I thought "That's enormous." Then later he made the actual pinhole. "Ah, there we go."

Very cool. I find that using a film camera makes one a better photographer because it really forces you to consider everything more carefully before you take the picture.

Mr Neil, It is impossible to watch your work in different fields and not admire and appreciate the care you put into everything you do. You have done another great work. Congratulations. Stay well. 👌🏼👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Many years ago I used to go to astronomy camp, we had special astrophotography setups which included the materials to shoot pictures with analog film sensitive to specific wavelengths. We had a darkoom too, I've spent many many hours in there developing black and white film and photos, it was super cool, I still have many of those laying around hahaha. One day from the man who set that up, he invited a couple of guys to come make pinhole cameras. We'd make them from tin cans, we'd put them anywhere and everywhere around the campground, it was super fun to do. I even took a picture of myself that day sitting perfectly still for 30 minutes. It was quite scary developing the photopaper but it worked out pretty well hahaha. I'm sure you're gonna get many hours of fun out of this camera. It's an absolutely stunning build, I hope it will benefit you and add to your photography knowledge. It's important to realise where we came from in any field of expertise, it's fun to be busy with the same materials and restraints our ancestors had to work with!

The light artifact you are getting is probably a reflection from the bevel in your shutter assembly or from the reflected "edge" of the pinhole itself! Black it out, see if it changes. Awesome build! I have been shooting/developing my own film for decades. I love digital as well - but the process is why I shoot more film than digital!

Great work. Can't wait to see you making a same style tripod for that camera.

I´m not surprised that you are an photographer. It´s so obvious when one see how you edit your videos. It´s professionel storytelling. I´m in my 60´s and bought my first SLR camera as 13. Photographer is for life. Amateur or pro.

As a poor student a lot of my early photographic work was shot on paper with contact print positives, brings back good memories, great stuff.

I made a pinhole camera from a shoebox when I was 15, such great pictures, obviously this is another level. Well done.

You never fail to astound what a wonderful bit of kit you created again.

And that right there is the most entertaining video I have ever seen. It surpasses many of your other highly entertaining videos which are all the next most entertaining videos I've seen. Thank you for making and sharing these brilliant videos. My heart always flutters when I see a notification from you as I know I am in for a real treat. Kudos Neil. You are THE master!!!

LOVING this build. You should DEFINITELY use this to make your thumbnail photos for YT.

I think you did those accidents on purpose. Lol. Good for advertising the new product. 😂. Great job as usual.

Neil, one of the real joys of this channel is getting to see you use the tools you made in previous videos. It’s wonderful.

This is amazing Neil! I was a photography major in college and did black and white dark room and you have really scratched an itch with this project. Great job!

That was brilliant Neil, well done buddy. Brought back memories of my diploma (city & guilds) in black & white photography, so much fun developing your own images..

This takes me back to 1974 when I was in photo school in the Army and we started out with flat-plane cameras. To this day it still amazes me that light coming through a hole can make a picture you can look at years later. I love watching you make things most people wouldn't dream of even trying.

That's amazing! What a renaissance man - hollow body guitars, drop-forged tools, and now a camera!

If you blacken your brass shutter (just the parts in the middle of the "lens") and the outside of the brass pinhole, it should cut the light glare significantly. Also, a matte finish for those brass parts would have helped. Think of a normal calera lens : everything apart from the lens elements is painted matte black, and the surfaces are granular and/or ridged to cut out most reflections. Also outside light tends to create very high contrast negatives when using paper negatives. You can use a 00 contrast filter (those that are used with an enlarger) in front or behind your pinhole to make a flatter contrast paper neg. Easier to contact print afterwards :) Good job nonetheless, as always your craftsmanship is impressive.

That's a beautiful camera - and so much fun to relive the very earliest days of photography 😃

I find Neil’s builds so inspiring and relaxing. At first I thought it was just your voiceover but I’ve realized the way you handle challenges and mistakes is what puts the viewer at ease. You’re a great teacher! As a reforming perfectionist it’s great reminder that mistakes are just part of the process-they don’t stop one from making beautiful things or actually enjoying one’s self!

Holy crap… I generally skim through videos to get the highlights, but I literally watched every second over dinner. I couldn’t pull myself away. It’s so fascinating when you need a part, and you just make it! I’m a full time maker over on TikTok, but am genuinely in awe if your skill and gifting. GREAT VIDEO!

I wonder whae Uri Tuchman would do with the same project except the Pigeon on the shutter and the engraving instead of develloping. Nice project.

Very cool. I saw one photographer who used this technique but the camera was literaly a van. Think, maybe 6 x 6ft image

Your craftsmanship never ceases to amaze me! Beautiful work!

All that effort to make a pinhole camera, yet you didn't gold plate it for yet another fun process to master!?!?! Bonkers to put so much effort into a pinhole IMO, but darn does it look nice.

Is there some way to chemically blacken brass? I think you're gettimg flare reflection from your pinhole.

World's most overbuilt and beautiful pinhole camera. The form and finish of this begs to be touched and held in the hands. And the picture quality is much better than the one I made in middle school with a cardboard quick oats container. 😁 Thanks for sharing!

😹yep you could have just done a cardboard box, but where is the fun in that, the camera looks great. I have a camera from the mid 1800’s all wood and leather, the leather needs replacing now as it’s dried out and brittle but it was designed where you made the camera shorter or longer depending on the subject. It like your camera had all the bells and whistles, why settle for basic when you can have fantastic instead.

Besides just being absolutely astounding it brings to mind an old saying “if you are going to do something, do it well”. Instead of a cardboard box with a hole you now have a heirloom.

MAN, this is just excellent... a nice vintage Camera ... Might the flare come from a reflection on the side of the hole in the brass foil ?

One of the nicest pinhole cameras that I have seen.you need to track down the cause of the Ring. It may be down to the thickness of the pin hole brass. You can make it thinner where you make the hole by hammering it. Before you make the hole.this will reduce the edge that is catching the light You could also Smoke the hole of your existing one.using candle smoke.

The bright ring is a reflection of the edges of the aperture. If you can paint the edges of the metal with matt black paint that will eliminate or greatly reduce that effect. Great project, I have no desire to make a pinhole camera myself but it did inspire me to want to get my DSLR out and use it more.

Love this! we made pin hole cameras in my high school photography class. It was part of our first project! brought back all the memories with this one !

craftsmanship isn't akways in the doing, sometimes it;s in fixing the fuck-ups

I think the ring in the first picture is reflection from the inside of the pinhole itself. It’s untreated brass at the moment but maybe you should paint it matte black as well.

I'm like, "No way did he just make a camera!?!" Great job and thanks for acknowledging your mistakes! We're all human and the mistakes just makes us better!

the Ring in the Photography is a reflex from the Light above. The brass inner ring makes it shine to the paper.

Amazing, always such a pleasure to watch your videos

Wow Neil! I'm speechless. Very, very well done sir.

What a great object and cool character in the finished photographs.

Neil I've been watching your videos for years. I can't believe today is the first time I've looked at your photography, it's stunning. When I was doing my GCSEs I managed to set up a usable darkroom in the cupboard under the stairs. It was a cramped but it worked. Merry Sunday. Jay.

Amazing work, Neil! Stunning looking camera! 😃 Really well done!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

So how is your brand of CA glue any different from all the others?

Wow ! Deine Videos sind unglaublich. Das Ergebnis ist wunderschön geworden. Danke für deine Videos 👍

This was a thing of beauty! both the process and the result. I taught my high school students how to build a pinhole camera from an 11x14 piece of black mat board. They took award winning photographs with those cameras and had a blast doing it. Digital Photography is amazing, but there is nothing like the magic of the darkroom to make one appreciate the wonder of photography. Thank you.

Beautiful work and I love your dedication to creating a truly unique piece!

Neil, I sometimes have to use the metal lathe for wooden parts and i find that some cloth stuffed into the chuck can save a lot of time when cleaning out the fine sawdust from the scroll. In my professional life pre retirement I was a physics teacher and one of the most inspiring lessons we did was investigating pinhole cameras and taking photographs around the school and developing their photographs. In the days before OHS the children loved seeing their images appear in the chemical baths, far better than just reading about it or watching a video .....

maybe you can get rid of the lens flare by blackening the length of the hole?

Very nice project. Reminds me of my school days when we used to develop black-and-white photos in the darkroom in a workshop.

Absolutely beautiful. The craftsmanship, the attention to detail, and the photos. Very well done. Thank you for this.

You never cease to amaze me with what you come up with Neil. Bloody brilliant.

all i can say is wow, there must be a market for such an amazing camera and piece of art. Thanks so much

on a scale of 1-10 your skill is around 3000, and that min-lathe is so cool, cant wait to see more of it...

Wood, brass and leather. What a brilliant camera you've made. The best maker video I've watched all year.

You always, always amaze me! I don’t know how one person can contain so much depth of knowledge and skill, ideas, etc. it’s just amazing. I love the camera, using the router to mimic the curved edge to inset the beautiful leather was neat to see and something I’m sure I’ll look back on. I love the metal work as well, it’s all worth watching and rewatching as I feel I catch something new every time. Pls never quit YT! I have lots of favorites but you are the most unique and skilled and take on challenging projects, I’m not one to want to recreate traditional furniture or projects so it’s very helpful and inspiring that you are willing and thrive in creating some of the most unique things. The photos are absolutely stunning with lots of character. I wonder what taking a family portrait would be like for that amount of time but if possible it’d be the best fam photo

Absolutely brilliant, literally brilliant, and the final pictures have so much character!

The thread of the taperd end of the cable release grips just fine in a M3 nut. I took a look at a buch of my camera's and they don't have taperd holes for the cable release.

I worked at a camera store and dark room in the late 80's. Nice to see that Ilford is still in the photog business. I will never forget the smell of those chemicals. Beautiful camera!

Thank you for leaving in your mistakes and your solutions to those mistakes. That is a very helpful part of the process.

Neil , nice to see a partial scrap wood challenge Camera turned out amazing

28:40 as a Yorkshireman, my heart sang when I heard the sweet indicator of deeply ingrained spoken English (shared by several counties from these shores), namely, "... if it _were_ glued..." 🥰

Reminds me at my days as a kid: My father introduced me into photography and I used b/w at first, developed them in my fathers darkroom over 45 years ago. I still have the gear and I should do the same with my son.

Hello! What an inspiring build!!! What would the ISO equivalent for a piece of photographic paper? I suspect it to be very low, maybe 10 ISO?

Very very cool project! Wonderful to see you have a unimat. May I suggest you make a compound rest for it? I find it to be a highly useful tool.

Hello new subscriber here I am so happy I came across your channel. My favorite video of yours used to be that multi angle vice but now it’s this camera one. I’m sure it will change as I proceed to binge watch your videos. Your attention to detail and overkill attitude on every project is right up my alley. Keep up the good work!

Another great build. But WHAT A PICTURES... very nice indeed!. Camera obscura brought into the 21st century.

I love this! Most wood workers: "I'll make something cool and take pictures with it on my camera!" @PaskMakes: " I'll make a camera." 💪🏽👍🏽❤️ Amazing! Love to see how you strive to do new things!

Fun Project... thoroughly enjoyed watching your process and all your awesome fun tooling...👍👍

I actually studied photography and as an assignement had to build a pinhole camera. Everybody basically build a box, me I decided to turn my dad's Mercedes Vito into a pinhole camera 😅 This used a 120cm x 100cm B&W expired paper that was gathering dust at school. I only got one shot with that setup but it's definitely one of my favorite ! The contact print was epic !

This is an amezing project. Many many skills and knowledge is involved from photography to the invasive of the camera and the whole construct of the PINHOLE BODY. And the main idea to work on directly in to the PHOTOPAPER IS ANOTHER CONCEPT. AS BASICALLY PINHOLE CAMERAS ARE WITH Classic PHOTO NEGATIVE FILMS.. so this is a complete innovative idea for me. Well done and thank you for sharing this video.

Very nice buold, if you ever end up going down the rabbit pin-hole even more and need etched/laser cut pinhole apertures of various sizes I can send some over :)

That's amazing. The exposer time is quite big and does not allow moving subjects unless... do you know those disposable cameras? they have a tiny 35mm lens about the size of your shutter hole. Maybe you can try to adapt one to get more focus, light and speed... i just don't know if it will fill the entire area of the paper! Great project, congratulations.

Pask, your imaginative problem solving skills are very informative and much appreciated. Thanks as well for sharing your "oops" moments with us... not that I've ever had any of those myself, eh?!

Enjoyed that greatly, thank you. It was completely over the top! Brought back memories of developing prints in the dark room at my parents' house in the 1970s. I'm wondering if your glare is light reflecting off the thickness (i.e. the cylindrical surface) of the pinhole shim. Is there some machinable material that is thin and black that could be used instead? Or a chemical treatment of the brass?

Stunning job chap as always and Quality made vids to with no BS ego editing .... been going through you back catalogue of vids would you concider ... Re ... L00King ... at the " Self Centering Lathe Chuck - Unsuccessful Experiment " again chap? ... peace

You never cease to amaze me. Great project. What was that 3d design software you mentioned? At 7 I don't hear so well.....lol. Thanks for sharing.

"OVER-ENGINEERING".... Yes! That's what I come here for!! I also appreciate that you leave in your mistakes. It can often seem very daunting when we see makers producing perfect results first time, every time. I'm sure everyone makes simple mistakes all the time, but by careful editing you would never know. Thank you for showing you are human like the rest of us!! This is another great project, Sir! I'm not entirely sure that you have time for another hobby though!😮😮😮! BTW, if you do decide to go down the film "rabbit hole", you can get a "dark bag" which you use to load the film, rather than having to do it in a darkroom. I used to do it back in the day. (You still need a darkroom for developing though).

The things good tools, great skills and a lotta passion can do! And a good idea ;) As a photographer and an aspiring woodworker I absoutely love this

Such an awesome project 👍

Excellent build Neil! Looks great. I’d suggest a bit of velvet on the side where your darkslide inserts, but if it works without that then I’d leave it simple. Takes me back to my photographic scientist days!

Terrific project. I’ve considered doing something similar though less complicated, by making a pin hole camera obscura and focusing the image on some sort of smoked screen and having a digital camera with a macro lens capturing the image on the smoked screen generated from the pin hole aperture. The convenience of digital capturing the simplicity of the pin hole image. Working in b/w could produce some very interesting images. By the way I saw you make several cuts on a cutting mat with an exacto knife. Try a rotary cutter instead, for paper and cloth they work so much easier, you’ll never go back.

Heya Mate, long time photographer here. I’d love to buy one of these from you. I have plenty of 4x5 film holders as I have used them many times with my multiple 4x5 cams. Give me a price, I’m in California so please figure the shipping cost too.

Excellent work mate. So enjoyable to watch. Unbelievable craftsmanship.

Interesting, a ratcheting die holder. Where did you find it? Even a jewelers lathe! I have an EMCO COMPACT 5 which has been a blessing for my past hobby and useful for modifying parts for some hanging lamps. Ilford? Thank goodness someone still makes chemistry for us DIY photographers. Now the real question is is there a supplier here in Greece for the chemistry? I am still kicking my arse for not bringing my enlarger with me when I moved here.😫

Great video. Thanks for showing the mistake. I run a machine shop that does prototyping and almost every complex part ends up with some minor mistake. Especially if you’re rushing. Sometimes the engineers are breathing down my back and I tell them progress slows down the closer you are to finishing because the cost in time of a catastrophic mistake increases exponentially. Having to go back and redo 7 setups because you messed up the 8th and final one is a real bummer.

Thanks so much for bringing back the manual art of making something by hand, and something so beautiful and inspiring like this simple photo camera. Developing the negatives in red light reminds me of a photo course at my school back in the early eighties, and doing photography myself with cameras then. Now I have some cameras of my father laying around in some shelves, and taking pictures only on iPhone…

Pretty awesome camera! Imagine having your picture taken back when these cameras were in use! "Try not to move, sir." "For how long?" "About an hour." "I should've skipped that last cup of coffee..." 😂

Absolutely love this project. So much fun to watch and the images that the camera produce are so full of character.

As a photography enthusiast I can only say: WOW!!! This is a real masterpiece! May I ask you how you braze brass? Did you only solder with tin? I'm trying to make handmade jewels with poor metals - as copper, brass and maybe silver - and this is very interesting. Thank you! 🙏

Very nice work. But for those of us in a hurry, it should perhaps be pointed out that you can get equally good photos with a Quaker Oatmeal box, aluminum foil, and a needle, in less than an hour. Cheers from sunny Vienna, Scott

As always another incredible build. Thank you for sharing. Bob...

Oh no, I ACCIDENTALLY used the wrong setting on the router table. Better use this awesome BONDI BOND to fix my 'mistake'! 😁 Love the build mate 👏!