The Kit Of The Century

We're already 16 years into the 21st century and so far we do not have personal helicopters or jet packs. These were promised in 1948. I am becoming disillusioned.

To ease my sense of disappointment I intend to take up plastic model making and the first one I build will be my own 35mm camera. The kit for it is the " Last Camera" available here in the shop.

It is the photographic equivalent of an Airfix Avro Wellington kit - large, black, and complex. Unlike the Wimpy, it works -  it is equipped with actual lenses for the optical system and will expose 35mm film like any other camera.

You'll be working at it, however, and you'll need to acknowledge that the designers know what they are doing. You'll need to follow their painstaking directions to make sure that the parts fit and move as they should. You'll get extra parts like a special back casting that can be set to let light leak into the film for special effects. There are two taking lenses in addition to the ones needed for the viewfinder and you can set the camera to see two different fields of view. Not, it must be noted, with film in the camera - you need to do the changing between rolls.

The outside of the thing is plain enough - black on black - but there are stickers to put on it and you could wrap it with contact adhesive paper or paint it any number of ways. If you are nostalgic about the Wellington you can get AF roundels from Stanbridges and stick them on... The price is low enough at   $ 39.95 to allow you to experiment a great deal. And the feeling of accomplishment in building your own camera is priceless.

And we've got oodles of 35mm film to experiment with.