Introducing the Mercury

The World’s First Universal Camera

What if you could shoot old Polaroid film, Fuji’s current Instax version, huge medium format negatives, large sheet film, and digital, all with the same camera?  What if that camera could take any of the hundreds of amazing professional lenses that have been produced over the past century and longer?  What if that camera were light, portable, and inexpensive?  And what if it could be easily reconfigured and adapted to do just about anything?  Welcome to the Mercury.  The world’s first universal camera.  It’s time to rediscover and redefine photography.  Anywhere, anytime.

The Mercury is capable of adapting nearly any lens ever made, can use numerous backs from numerous manufacturers (as well our own Mercury backs), and can shoot film or digital, in nearly any format from 35mm to 4×5″. The Mercury is also the best (and only) way to shoot Instax and Polaroid formats with a complete choice of lenses and fully manual controls. All designs will be open sourced and fully modifiable by Mercury users. A completely modular system, it is extensible in nearly every way, and will remain compatible with emerging technology well into the future, as well as technology from the entire history of photography.

The Mercury is extremely light for maximum portability. Finally you can shoot medium and large format without a heavy, burdensome camera, or a specialty camera that can only utilize one lens, one format, etc. The Mercury’s default configuration is 6×9, medium format. Its default “back adapter” is 2×3 Graflok, which accepts medium format (120) roll film backs from Graflex, Mamiya, Horseman, and Mercury, as well as (with slight adaptation) sheet film holders. We are developing a sophisticated 35mm panoramic back (the first ever made for a removable back) as well as simple, inexpensive roll film backs in 6×9 and 6×6 sizes. The Mercury also has a 4×5 Graflok back adapter, which accepts all 4×5 Graflok accessories, including instant film backs, Grafmatics, 6×12 roll film backs, and (with a slight re-configuration) sheet film holders. The Mercury is entirely modular, consisting of a Front (which accepts the “lens stack”) and a Back Adapter (which accepts film and digital backs of a certain format), as well as Front Spacers and Rear Spacers to extend the camera for various formats and lenses, the Mercury Focus Unit for view camera lenses, lens tubes, lens adapters, and a modular Sportfinder system that can be reconfigured for various lenses and formats. We also adapt Instax and Polaroid backs for use on the Mercury. Other back adapters will be available for Hasselblad V backs (film or digital), as well as digital backs for the Contax and Mamiya mounts (in the future).

Who is the Mercury for?

  • Anyone of any experience level who wants to get back to manual controls and rediscover photography (or discover it for the first time). We will produce a series of videos and fun suggestions for the many things you can do with your Mercury (hint: just about anything available in the world of photography). We think that this camera is more fun to use than any other camera out there.
  • Photographers who wish to shoot true medium format (up to 6x9cm) or large format (4×5”) for the absolute highest quality, but who also want their camera to be light, portable, and inexpensive. Few cameras exist that can shoot such huge negatives, and they all weigh so much that you wouldn’t want to bring them very many places with you.
  • Connoisseurs of wide angle photography.  The best wide angle lenses are true wide angles, not retrofocus lenses.  Unfortunately, SLR-style cameras and most digital cameras can only accept retrofocus lenses.  The Mercury is thin enough to accept legendary true wide angle lenses that were previously only usable on extremely expensive technical cameras.
  • Tinkerers who want a camera that is fully modular and can be modified to suit their needs, whatever they may be. This is the ultimate camera for experimentation and design. The community wants your ideas; we all benefit when new Mercury parts are designed and shared.
  • Photographers who want to free their components from proprietary camera systems. Use your Hasselblad lenses on an Instax camera, unlock the larger image circle of your Mamiya or Pentax 6×7 lenses, use a nineteenth century lens with a Hasselblad back, etc. Just about any combination is possible with the Mercury.
  • Anyone who wants to contribute to a fully open, non-corporate camera system designed (mechanically and conceptually) for the future.
  • Anyone who wants to shoot instant film (Polaroid/Impossible Project or Fuji Instax) but is tired of those horrible, fully automatic, flash-driven cameras that take such lousy photos. The Mercury is, without a doubt, the best camera for instant photography, allowing you to choose whatever lens is best for your style (super wide angle, portrait lens, etc.), have fully manual control over how your photograph is taken, and still retain the option of changing to other formats without having to lug around a completely different camera.

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Kickstarter

Working prototypes of the Mercury have been 3D printed and machined. While many specialty parts (such as lens adapters and certain specialty backs) will continue to be 3D printed, the main body panels of the Mercury require injection molding in order to perfectly meet our specs with regard to dimensional fit, finish, strength, and mass-producability. This requires expensive tooling to be manufactured. The only way to raise the necessary capital for these basic parts is to crowdfund it. This will ensure the future availability of high quality Mercury components for the entire community. Kickstarter also allows us to create this community, which will be key to the future innovations and expansions of the Mercury system. By supporting this campaign, you not only get the world’s coolest camera at a low introductory price, but you join our very special community of photography enthusiasts, and ensure that the Mercury system will be able to expand in the future. The crucial first step toward making a Universal Camera a reality is to back this campaign!

The Kickstarter campaign is live here.

 

14 thoughts on “Introducing the Mercury

  1. Dear Mercury Camera maker,

    I love your ethos. I was wondering if the Mercury Camera could be used as in conjunction with a smartphone for digital film-making but using larger lenses with wider apertures.

    How is the 35mm digital Merc at 11MP better than current state of the art DSLR’s, like the Sony alpha series or Nikon D810? Don’t the 11MP limit the resolution compared to much higher MP digital cameras? I need to make large prints that don’t look digital and having only 11MP seems like it would make for pixelated images.

    Also, I am interested in using it for long exposure photography. How does the digital back perform under very long exposures? This is an important aspect for me.

    Thanks!
    Joe

    1. Hi Joe,

      Yes, the Mercury could be used with a smartphone, but the sensor on a smartphone is so small that there wouldn’t be much advantage.

      11MP is good for something like an 11×14″ print. For larger prints, you need more resolution. Except for that, or for extreme cropping, MP doesn’t matter much. What does is the absolute quality of the sensor. Those Valeo sensors are CCD, not CMOS, and can equal or beat most sensors produced today, except in low light situations (where current CMOS sensors excel). Best of all, though, those full frame backs are removeable, so they can be replaced later, etc. They are not integrated into the camera. And of course shooting with a Mercury is a lot more fun than with a DSLR! 😉

      When it comes to long exposure photography, the king of the hill in older, affordable backs is the Phase One P40+. It does wonders up to 60 minutes.

      I hope that helps!

      Cheers,
      Zach

  2. Hi Zach,

    How many MP is the Dave 2: Medium Format Digital Merc? Can the back handle long exposures without creating lots of hot pixels? I am starting a project where I need to print very large. Can the Mercury camera handle a larger MP back?

    Thanks
    Joe

  3. Hi Joe,

    The Dave 2 back on Kickstarter is 22MP. I’m not sure about long exposures. I know that’s not its strong point (see my comment above for the best digital back for that). But yes, the Mercury can handle nearly any modern digital back, including the most current ones by Phase One, Leaf, Hasselblad, and Sinar. The most recent back by Phase One is 100MP!

  4. It would be great if you keep a provision for 35mm panoramic. After the demise of Hasselblad/Fuji X-pan there’s no serious 35mm flatback panoramic camera available in the market.

    1. Absolutely! Our 35mm Panoramic conversion of the RB67 back, combined with a good non-retrofocal WA lens turns the Mercury into a pretty good panoramic camera, with approximately the same dimensions as the Xpan format. I hope to see a bunch of people using it that way in the future, and will definitely continue making these kits. Thanks for your comment!

  5. Hello,

    I’ve found your website via a search for a Fuijifilm Instax back. The principles and goals you are looking to achieve are right on. I’m struggling however to actually find your Mercury Camera on this site.

    You’ve got masses of information on components from other manufacturers and their history but I can’t for the love of me find a picture of your Mercury Camera at least not one where it’s easy to distinguish what part is Mercury vs Mamiya/Norseman/Hasselblad/etc. There doesn’t appear to be a link to a page on the main menu to the camera either.

    The same can be said of the “Mercury Backs” page. The pictures and text appear to be Mamiya and Norseman backs and not having used either before any reasonable person in my position can’t tell where Mamiya ends and Mercury begins….

    Can you please edit so it makes more sense to a beginner?

    Thanks and good luck.

    1. Hi Richard,

      Indeed, the site as it currently exists is geared toward Mercury Kickstarter backers, and not toward people encountering Mercury for the first time. At some point in the future we will launch a web store, and when we do that, we will create a new homepage for the site that explains Mercury. I’ll add this, though: not being able to “tell where Mamiya ends and Mercury begins” is definitely part of the point! 😉 The best introduction to Mercury at this point is the User Guide, available on this site under Downloads. Another good place to go for info is the Mercury Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mercuryworks

      Best regards,
      Zach

  6. Great project. Thank you. I checked the Website pretty thoroughly but couldn’t find a way to purchase Mercury and its components. I just moved to Tokyo and am thinking about buying a used medium format camera, that I can use as is, then also use it’s components (back and lens) on a Mercury to get me started. I have not started shopping yet, but could be an RB67, Mamiya Press, Horseman? It will be a fun process.

    1. Hi Tom,

      Yes, Mercury will work with components from all of those camera systems. Just email us if you are interested in adding a Mercury to your kit. Besides being universal and infinitely configurable, it is also many times lighter than the three cameras you mention, and thus popular for handheld shooting and for hiking.

      Cheers,
      Zach

    1. Just email us via the floating button on the right side of any website page, and we’d be happy to put together an order for you! Some items are available for direct purchase on their pages of the website, but most orders are custom, so we just handle them via email, issuing a Paypal invoice.

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