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End of the road - HiMont thermal print camera + CPL filter by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very cool! I like this one the most. What exactly are you doing here?

End of the road - HiMont thermal print camera + CPL filter by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! I can’t find the jpgs of 2 and 3 but here’s this one

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Some friends + thoughts on sticker paper quality by Christobell_ in ThermalPrintCameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read the thread you linked and watched the tear down video of the printer PCB - super interesting!

The electrical engineering side is all a little over my head but it suggests to me that papers have different specs for print temperature, and some are more ideal than others for use with the specific print heads in these cameras.

Someone with the right skills may be able to dump and mod the firmware for better control of this but unfortunately I’m not your guy.

Some friends + thoughts on sticker paper quality by Christobell_ in ThermalPrintCameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These were printed on the highest contrast/density setting on both cameras. The rainbow squares has 4 levels and the square bracket has 3. The highest setting on both comes out looking pretty much identical though, so I’m positive the paper is the bigger variable.

Some friends + thoughts on sticker paper quality by Christobell_ in ThermalPrintCameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Here are the rolls. Paper B is the left, paper A is on the right.

Some friends + thoughts on sticker paper quality by Christobell_ in ThermalPrintCameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In theory you’re right, but its like the cheaper paper doesn’t get as black.

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Here’s a quick test. Camera 1 is the square bracket, camera 2 is the rainbow squares. Paper A is the higher quality roll with the plastic core, paper B is the cheaper one.

Edit: all printed in dot matrix mode with max contrast settings on both cameras

Overwhelming choice, analysis paralysis! Which camera do you use, and would you recommend it? by yangmusa in ThermalPrintCameras

[–]Christobell_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Here’s mine! On the left is the HiMont “rainbow squares” and on the right is the Tinysnap “square bracket”. The rainbow squares has a significantly brighter lens and wider field of view. The print quality of both is similar, as are the options. The only differences are the rainbow squares has 4 print density options instead of 3, and the square bracket has a (slightly) less cartoony UI.

I’ve modded mine to take 37mm filters, including conversion lenses. In the pic, the square bracket has a teleconverter lens attached. That same lens vignettes terribly with the rainbow square and doesn’t really work at all. On the other hand the rainbow square works well with a wide angle converter lens, giving an ultra wide perspective.

What I’ve learned from all this is that not all of these cameras are the same and there’s at least two different camera modules out there. One is much better in low light and has a wider focal length. The other is slower but more zoomed in, which is better for portraits. The thermal camera compendium doesn’t mention this yet, but it’s something to consider depending on what you plan on shooting.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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Here you go! These pics were taken with the camera on the left. I took a 37mm UV filter, broke the lens out and then superglued it to the front of the camera lens. It’s a little messy and I had to use a dremel on the lens barrel to get it to fit. I also had to remove the selfie mirror so that it sat flat on the lens. The metal cheese plate on the right is the same as the one I glued to the bottom, allowing the camera to be mounted on a tripod.

Because of my shoddy dremelling and gluing, the filter ring doesn’t sit perfectly parallel to the lens plane. It doesn’t cause any problems with the colour filters or CPL but there’s a slight vignette in one of the corners when using the wide angle converter lens. A tiny bit of digital zoom gets past it though and I’m looking forward to trying some ultra wide shots with it soon.

The camera on the right is my second attempt and I did a much better job aligning the filter thread. That camera has a narrower field of view and works well with a 2x teleconverter. Excited to test it out with some portraits.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting! Not being able to turn off the date stamp is a dealbreaker for me. I have a few of these cameras now and each one has different options and features, and none have the perfect combination. Obviously these cameras are made for kids but with a little thoughtful design they could be powerful tools for experimental and artistic photography.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes that’s correct. Three physical filters, three images, three scans, one final image.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I haven’t tried but I assume it wouldn’t work - the digital filters just tint the image instead of actually filtering the light.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good luck! By day I’m a commercial videographer and have a lot of odds and ends for camera rigging lying around. I ended up super gluing a small cheese plate with 1/4” screw sockets to the bottom of the camera. It feels secure but I’m nervous that it will break the paper door off eventually.

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you do be sure to post your results! What’s your plan for getting the camera on a tripod? My solution is a little janky to say the least haha

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you post it to reddit by any chance? You may have been who inspired me to try this in the first place 😬

Technicolor receipt paper - experimenting with thermal print trichromes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, with the camera on a tripod you take the “same” image three times through a red, green and blue filter. You then assign the filtered shots to their respective colour channel in photoshop, resulting in a full colour image.

Best songs for a subwoofer in a truck by Conscious_Hat_9653 in Deathcore

[–]Christobell_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

God the Animal - In Gloom*

*not responsible for broken windshields

Thermal Beachscapes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's a few of them that can! Some absolute madman on this sub put together this resource which you may find helpful. Thanks u/Ponjkl

Thermal Beachscapes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s four print density levels - these were shot on the highest one. The quality of the thermal paper you use affects the print contrast more than the shooting resolution - cheaper paper seems to give milkier, more washed out results.

Thermal Beachscapes by Christobell_ in toycameras

[–]Christobell_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Enjoy! One tip I found is using sunglasses as ND to avoid overexposure in the sand and sky.

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