Do you want a working LEGO 35mm camera? Of course you do

The Lego ZH1 35mm camera is currently soliciting votes on the LEGO Ideas site and is very likely to go on to expert review soon.

If you’re not familiar with LEGO Ideas, well done on saving yourself an awful lot of money. Some of the best LEGO sets of recent times have come from the fan-originated models that first debuted on the site. I have a (now sadly unavailable) wonderful Saturn V looming over my shoulder as I type, whose 1969 bricks were one of the most satisfying builds I ever did. And gods know where I will find the continued strength of will not to buy the current NASA Artemis Space Launch System. I mean, look at it; it’s gorgeous.

Anyway, these things are made first and foremost because amateurs come up with them. The way LEGO outsources some of the more adventurous aspects of its product design is by essentially holding a beauty contest for the models. Creators submit their ideas to a site, and then if they manage to attract 10,000 votes they go on to an expert review. If approved by LEGO itself, they then get to collaborate with the company’s designers to finalise the set and get it manufactured and in the shops.

Zung Hoang’s LEGO ZH1, a fully working and functional 35mm film camera, is teetering on the edge of achieving this. At time of writing it is on 9912 9913 votes and should hopefully soon have enough to get over the line.

“Keeping it affordable and portable was key, so I focused on making it as compact as possible. ZH1 is built from 595 LEGO pieces,” says Zung Hoang. 

“One of the biggest challenges I faced was ensuring the camera body was lightproof. Initially, my early film rolls were fogged due to light leaking through bright, colorful bricks and gaps between pieces. It took several days to perfect the sealing without compromising portability.

“The camera proudly features the classic LEGO logo from 1934, adding a nostalgic touch. The main lens is based on an existing magnifying piece, while I also developed a special pinhole lens that produces unique and stylish effects, as seen in the samples.”

The video below’s two years old now; highlighting the point that this LEGO designing thing is not exactly a quick process. But it showcases that it works and, presumably, once it gets to the expert review stage there is a bit of fettling the professional LEGO designers can do to help improve the image quality. Currently, as the video shows, that’s probably just on the wrong side of unique.

No word on costs or timeframe yet, there are still barriers to jump after all, but there’s a lot of adaptability to the project. Zung Hoang has even mocked up potential Fujufilm and Leica versions (below). And unlike the LEGO Ideas 21345 Polaroid OneStep SX-70, this camera will actually work.

tl;dr

• The LEGO ZH1 35mm camera is currently gathering votes on the LEGO Ideas site and may go on to expert review soon.
• The camera is built from 595 LEGO pieces and features a lightproof body to prevent film fogging due to light leaks.
• Once a design reaches 10,000 votes, it goes through expert review and potential collaboration with professional LEGO designers.
• The project shows adaptability with potential mock-ups for Fujifilm and Leica versions, and unlike previous LEGO camera designs, this one is fully functional.