Cameradactyl is trading art sales for enormous RA-4 paper cartridge, camera back, and direct positive processor blueprints.
Last week, Ethan Moses of Cameradactyl posted a video about his invention, a new “film” format that uses roll RA-4 paper to make about 100 4x5 exposures in a giant daylight canister. The rolls can be used in Ethan’s enormous TLR-like camera or adapted to 4x5 cameras as a back.
Of course, shooting this huge format is just half the job to get an image. The other part is developing a thick roll of paper. This is why Ethan also built a contained conveyor-like machine that pulls the entire roll through the chemicals to produce a direct positive.
But Ethan isn’t planning on selling these devices as he does with the rest of his cameras. Instead, he’s proposing to trade sales of his photography (prints) in exchange for open-sourcing the entire project, which includes the canisters, camera back, and the film processor. Once Ethan sells $300,000 worth of his art, all files will be available for free (he will be releasing them incrementally as the sales progress).
An unusual proposition for a very cool project. I happen to have a roll of RA-4 paper in my closet and I’d love to use it in a 4x5 camera.
Here’s the video where Ethan explains his project and why he’d like to trade his art sales for 3D files: youtube.com/watch?v=PB0GPY…
You can find and purchase Ethan’s prints on his website: cameradactyl.com
Dmitri Mar 4, ‘25 edit