P.90 / P.90/2
A pinhole camera unlike any other.
That is a good way to begin describing the P.90 pinhole camera. This beauty of a pinhole was made by Portland's own, Kurt Mottweiler. It features both Oregon Walnut and Cherry woods, custom brass knobs, and a precision f/200 pinhole aperture. The earlier P.90 model uses a hand-operated shutter, but Mottweiler updated his later P.90/2 camera to a pneumatic shutter, triggered by one of the best squeeze bulbs we have ever laid hands on.
Exposing across a curved film plane, the P.90 makes an evenly exposed 6x9cm frame with a 90 degree field of view, hence the camera's name. The curved film plane, while allowing even exposures, does introduce interesting distortion to any horizontal lines running above or below the middle of the frame. Lines in the lower half of the image bow down and lines in the upper half curve up. Additionally, if the camera is tilted forward or back this distortion can become even more pronounced. Like all other curved plane pinhole cameras, this produces a unique look to the images that may or may not be to one's tastes.
We have known Kurt for a number of years now and feel lucky to be located in the same city. While he has produced a number of cool, wooden cameras over the years, the P.90 and its successor the P.90/2, may just be our favorites of the lot. They have such a sublime excellence to them. These cameras serve as a rare example of when the mere tactile experience of handling a camera is as rewarding, if not more so, than the actual use and operation of the camera itself... though they excel in that area as well.
Oh, and if you are hunting for any hyperbole in our description, we suppose our very first statement is not technically true. See, Kurt produced only 50 of the original P.90 cameras and a mere nine of the P.90/2. It is unlike any other pinhole, except for its very few brethren, and that is a pretty exclusive club of which to belong.
za/sd
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