Upcycled vintage camera wall lights

Stage Left Lux were recently commissioned by a customer to create a pair of wall lights out of a pair of old Kodak Brownie Cameras.

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The cameras belonged to the customers dad so were of sentimental value, so it was key to be able to create a special pair of lights that would be sympathetic to the cameras and provide lasting memories whilst serving the purpose of providing a useful light source.

 

The brief:

• Create a pair of lamps out of two vintage cameras.

• The lights were to be a pair as they will be used as bedside lamps

• The lamps needed to be wall mountable

• To be wired using ‘Kodak yellow’’ vintage style power cable

 

Early on in the design stage we thought it would be a brilliant idea if the lights were somehow mounted on tripods, this would allow the lamps to be adjustable in order for them to be used as reading lights.

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We obtained a pair of miniature camera tripods and mounted these on small wooden should to create a wall mountable base.

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The light fitting was to be fitted into the camera flash, which provided a reflector to create a spotlight type effect. This posed some challenges as the camera flashes were a small size, we decided to use G4 LED bulbs which provide a bright light source but are small in size.

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G4 LEDs run on a 12 volt power supply – this meant we needed to incorporate a low voltage transformer somewhere. To do this we added a junction box to contain the transformer this was also used to house the switch gear to turn the lamps on and off. The junction box could then be then tucked away neatly under the shelf to conceal it.

 

The end result was a pair of unique wall lights which were beautiful in design, stylish and practical.