Is it even feasible to buy a lens board and ground glass / film holder and build the rest as a DIY project? Or would it be way more expensive / fiddly than it’s worth, especially given entry-level field cameras like the Intrepid ($435)?
Is it even feasible to buy a lens board and ground glass / film holder and build the rest as a DIY project? Or would it be way more expensive / fiddly than it’s worth, especially given entry-level field cameras like the Intrepid ($435)?
Completely feasible, especially if you have access to a 3d printer. There are even instructions available. With printed parts it shouldn’t even be that expensive.
If you want to build it in a more traditional manner (i.e. out of wood), that’s also possible. Large format cameras have a long history of DIY, loads of early photographers built their kit themselves.
If you want to reduce the costs a bit when getting the camera to a working condition I’d recommend using photographic paper instead of film. It’s also a thing that was historically done quite often. One example that comes to mind was the last market photographer in Finland, Valto Pernu, who shot most of his photos on paper and reverse-processed it. He also used mostly DIY cameras. Fresh in my memory as I just saw an exhibition about him in a museum in Rovaniemi last summer.