Camera Lamp
On one of my many trips to the car boot sale I picked up this SLR camera. The seller told me it was not working but I thought i could make something from it.
I had seen cameras made into lamps on Pinterest so thought I would have a go at it.
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My plan was to replace the lens with a bulb holder. I found a black plastic one online and to my amazement it looked like it would fitted almost perfectly.
To get the bulb holder to fit in I had to remove the mirror. As the camera was already broken I could just brake the components out.
The inside of the camera body was made from aluminium. I used a drill to remove most of the metal.
I could then use a file to remove the rest and clean up any sharp edges.
I sourced all black components for the lamp.
As the bulb holder I was using was plastic I could use two core wire. I stripped the wires and then connected the bulb holder.
Cameras need to be sealed units so no light can get in. This meant I had no place to run the power cord. So I drilled a hole through the back for it to run through.
The bulb holder was a nice tight fit in the aperture so I just used some CA glue to hold it in place after I ran the cable through the back.
When the glue dried I could finish the wiring. I installed a inline switch then the plug.
I got a nice Edison style bulb for the lamp and then it was done. It can be placed on a desk or a self or by using the tripod it can be a floor lamp.
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It's an amazing lamp!! I saw some like it at a craft fair & they wanted almost $200 for them, so to make one would be awesome :) And, whether it was a working camera or not, if you want to turn it into a lamp, then that's up to you despite what some people think. I would love to have a lamp like this--now to find an old camera! Thank you for showing us how to do this.
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I think this is awesome, and I am a photographer. One piece of advice to people buying old cameras, some are steel, do might not be so easy to work with.
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