
A fortuitous encounter with a university furniture designer, years after first entering the darkroom with my father, eventually led to the obvious connection between wood and photography. The beauty of a traditionally made camera was an irresistible draw the equal of my passion for photography. Woven through all the subsequent years has been a love for the challenge of designing and building photographic instruments.
A true labor of love, this is the fourth example of the P.120 Pinoramic series cameras. This particular camera is made from Western Walnut and quarter-sawn White Oak. The design carries forth the Pinoramic 120 concept first created in 1991 and is the third generation design from the series.
In common with the other examples, it is a medium-format lensless camera producing a 6 by 12 cm image that covers a lateral field-of-view of 120 degrees. The curved film plane produces an image with similar perspective characteristics to swing-lens cameras such as the Widelux, Noblex and my own 617 camera.
The cameras weigh 12.8 ounces and measure 4.25" high, 5.75" wide and 3.25" deep. It uses a pneumatic shutter actuated by a specially outfitted rubber bulb.
See Making the P.120 camera at the Mottweiler Studio website for the complete story and technical details.
My aim is to inspire and facilitate the creative journey with functional and beautiful photographic tools. I hope that my cameras could easily stand along side the great marques of the first half century of photographic history.