{"id":860956,"date":"2026-06-11T23:42:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/860956\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T23:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:42:36","slug":"how-a-photographer-handmade-his-dream-8x10-camera-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/860956\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Photographer Handmade His Dream 8×10 Camera for Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Slovenian photographer and founder of Ondu, Elvis Halilovi\u0107, has unveiled the Ondu Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033<\/a>, a new lightweight, handmade large-format field camera. <\/p>\n

Halilovi\u0107 tells PetaPixel the Ondu Eikan 8\u00d710 is the camera he has always wanted for himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like shooting wet plate photography, this is my driving force now, and it was like I wanted to make a camera for myself. That was how I envisioned an 8\u00d710 camera in my head,\u201d Halilovi\u0107 says. \u201cAnd if people like, that\u2019s good. If they don\u2019t, that\u2019s also okay.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Halilovi\u0107 has had the idea for the Eikan 8\u00d710 for many years, even before he designed and launched the smaller Eikan 4\u00d75\u2033 camera<\/a> in 2023. <\/p>\n

The photographer, carpenter, and camera maker wanted to see what he could do with an 8\u00d710 camera without specific time constraints or limitations. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cI took my time, maybe seven or eight months of design work and preparing, and so on. And it turned out like I imagined,\u201d Halilovi\u0107 says. <\/p>\n

Halilovi\u0107 made an 8\u00d710 prototype camera way back in 2018; it can even be seen in the background of older Ondu Kickstarter campaigns, but he wasn\u2019t satisfied with it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked like other cameras out there,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cThen a few years later, I was hiking and the shape, these details you see now, popped in my head and I did a sketch on my phone,\u201d Halilovi\u0107 says. And now, years later, the Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 is here. He went to college for industrial design, and actually, when he founded Ondu, the company was building geodesic domes, not cameras. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of large format manufacturers right now, but nobody is really trying to merge craftsmanship, design, and technology with the same kind of vibe. That\u2019s what I try to do. It\u2019s not just like a technical camera, it also has to look good.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

He was able to make it relatively lightweight \u2014 approximately 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) \u2014 by utilizing CNC machining, laser cutting, aluminum, and 3D-printed parts. As for the 3D-printed parts, Ondu uses them only for a limited number of components, such as carriers. The frame and all the knobs are wood and metal. <\/p>\n

Halilovi\u0107, who works closely with experienced friends to build and assemble Ondu cameras, says he worked with about 15 different parts suppliers for the Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033, including the metal work and ground glass. <\/p>\n

As Halilovi\u0107 knows firsthand, having been building and selling analog cameras for well over a decade, analog photography has experienced a significant resurgence. There is a ton of interest in it, especially for smaller formats. So he knows that an 8\u00d710\u2033 camera like the new Eikan is probably never going to be hugely popular. It\u2019s a niche segment of an already specialized analog camera market. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my users for the large format stuff are wet plate photographers,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know the actual numbers, but I would guess there are maybe a few thousand wet plate photographers all over the world. It\u2019s not a big, big thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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\"Two<\/p>\n

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\"Two<\/p>\n

By employing a relatively compact, lightweight design, at least by 8\u00d710 camera standards, Halilovi\u0107 wants people to use his Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 in places large format cameras rarely go, like high up into the mountains. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal was simple: to create a camera that keeps the beauty of the 8\u00d710 process intact while removing unnecessary weight and complexity. The large ground glass, the deliberate rhythm, the incredible detail, and the physical presence of the negative are all there \u2014 but in a camera designed for real use in the field or studio,\u201d he says on the Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 product page<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

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The camera sports a foldable design with a rear vertical lock; it works with standard sheet film holders, has permanent magnets for secure bellows attachment, and is built from powder-coated aluminum and European walnut. Halilovi\u0107 carefully considers every piece of wood, ensuring the grain pattern and direction work in terms of durability and aesthetics.<\/p>\n

The Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 is quite genuinely a work of art in and of itself, and when it arrives in September, photographers worldwide will be able to use it to create art of their own. <\/p>\n

The Ondu Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 is available to preorder now<\/a>, starting at \u20ac2,500. This introductory price is available for the first 20 units until June 30, or until the units sell out. The price will then increase to \u20ac3,050. Halilovi\u0107 expects orders to begin delivery in mid-to-late September.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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\"Four<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The End of Ondu\u2019s Pinhole Cameras <\/p>\n

As Halilovi\u0107 prepares to launch the Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033 large format camera, he is also winding down another part of the business, the very way that Ondu started making cameras in the first place: pinhole. <\/p>\n

He says he has just lost the desire to make them, after building thousands over the years. They require extreme precision and considerable time to make. It is becoming increasingly challenging to make them at a low enough cost to keep the retail price accessible, so Halilovi\u0107 says it\u2019s time to stop. <\/p>\n

He has received many warm messages over the years from people who have bought his pinhole cameras and done incredible work, or just as importantly, had fun. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cI get pictures in the mail, books in the mail, and stuff like that when people make images,\u201d Halilovi\u0107 explains. \u201cEvery business has its ups and downs, so sometimes you\u2019re feeling a bit low and then you get a random letter or package in the mail that would boost you up, and you\u2019re like, \u2018This is why I do it.’\u201d <\/p>\n

As of writing, Ondu has about 200 handcrafted pinhole cameras remaining<\/a>. It is the final batch, at least for the foreseeable future. Halilovi\u0107 says it\u2019s hard to predict, but the plan is to focus on other projects. <\/p>\n

Image credits:<\/strong> Ondu. Wet plate photographs by Elvis Halilovi\u0107. These wet plates were not captured using the new Ondu Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033, but are instead illustrative of the type of images he hopes to capture using his new camera. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slovenian photographer and founder of Ondu, Elvis Halilovi\u0107, has unveiled the Ondu Eikan 8\u00d710\u2033, a new lightweight, handmade…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":860957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[83775,648,1032,1033,171,45489,75141,351204,351205,351206,351207,67,132,68,157324,351208],"class_list":["post-860956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-8x10","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-handmade","tag-largeformat","tag-largeformatphotography","tag-ondu","tag-ondueikan","tag-ondueikan8x10","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wetplate","tag-woodencamera"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116734131179151413","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}