This August, I had the chance to interview Zung Hoang, the inventor of the first fully functioning (yet to be official) LEGO film camera over chat. A few weeks later, I met with the man to learn more about the project, see the camera stripped down, and borrow it for a month of experiments.
This is the story of LEGO ZH-1, a fully functional film camera and its creator.
✪ Note: This is a rewritten version of an earlier article with new photos, details about the camera and its inventor, and exclusive hands-on reportage. You will need GOLD membership to read it in full.
Zung Hoang, the inventor of the world’s first fully functional LEGO film camera.
I met Zung at a busy cafe in Vancouver on a cool summer evening. He had rushed in after a long day at work holding a bag with the object of the Internet’s (and my) fascination: a fully functioning film camera made entirely out of LEGO bricks. It was close to 8 p.m.
Zung’s Portrait I snapped using his ZH1 at the dusky coffee shop.
Our short meeting extended to an hour-long chat with a brief visit to his home, where he showed me his collection of film cameras, LEGO parts, and assembled LEGO kits. On a small shelf next to his monitor, Zung had a lifesize LEGO typewriter, a LEGO lighthouse, a small LEGO camera, and a Polaroid LEGO camera. The typewriter could flick its long plastic hammers to hit the faux printing strip — but it couldn’t print. The lighthouse had a mesmerizing light fixture and a lens element as part of its structure. The small LEGO camera was decorative, while the Polaroid one could spit out flat plastic frames with factory-printed graphics.
Zung isn’t fond of social events, so he had to push himself to approach people about his project. Still, we quickly found a lot in common — from our shared passion for creative projects to our immigrant pasts that linked us in unexpected ways.
I won’t call myself particularly sociable either, yet it felt more natural to speak to Zung about his invention in person. He shared intimate details about his two-year journey building ZH1 — a project he hopes will alter his life and career.
It all started with the lens.
It all started with the lens — a LEGO magnifying glass. I knew LEGO had that part and wondered if it could work as a camera lens. I researched to see if anyone had made a camera entirely out of LEGO and found that while some people had tried using pinholes or taping and gluing pieces together, no one had fully built one from LEGO alone. That’s when I decided I wanted to be the first to do it. I already knew how film cameras work; I just needed to figure out how to build one entirely from LEGO.
A small plastic magnifying glass in Zung’s LEGO lighthouse was the catalyst for his idea. He told me that he initially imagined a functional instant camera but had to pivot once the (non-functional) LEGO Polaroid made its debut last year. (In response, I shared my experience making an edible instant film camera and the fact that the rollers responsible for spreading chemicals across the frame are practically impossible to replicate without precisely machined metal components.)
Zung only wanted to use the official LEGO parts for his camera. That’s the only way it could be accepted and possibly made a sellable product via the launch platform, LEGO IDEAS. The lens was the key (and no, it couldn’t be a pinhole) — but Zung still had to build the housing with functional, light-tight film transport, shutter, aperture, and viewfinder.
A closer look at the LEGO lens element underneath the front plate (removed) of the ZH1 film camera.
Balancing work with my passion projects can be challenging, so I only find time to work on my Lego camera about once a week. In addition to that, I’m currently researching and developing a product focused on camera and mobile photography. The biggest hurdle I face is working without a budget or sponsors, but I’m committed to making it a reality through creativity and persistence.
Made from 100% LEGO components.
At the coffee shop, Zung stripped parts of his camera to show me its inner workings. In the photo above, the camera's front plate is detached, revealing a small plastic lens at the core of the construction.
His latest design consists of 595 LEGO pieces. When I asked him if he remembered how to assemble it by heart, Zung said, “Probably.” On his recent trip to Japan, he dropped ZH1. Though individual plastic bits are sturdy, the friction-based connections quickly fell apart, leaving his beautiful camera in pieces on the sidewalk. Thankfully, he managed to put it all back together and continue shooting throughout the trip.
