The photo world has seen plenty of innovative gear over the years. The Kodak Brownie, for example, put photography in the hands of the masses in the 1900s; the Leica I, launched in 1925, was the first 35mm rangefinder to reach mass production; and the Polaroid Land Model 95, introduced in 1948, gave the world its first instant camera. Many more models followed, each building on the last and urging photography to move forward. Now, in 2025, however, the industry seems to have hit a plateau. Only a handful of manufacturers are still competing for photographers’ attention. Amid the slowdown period, one young creator has unveiled a camera that might revive our fascination with gear: Ridhima Saini. As a student, Saini’s take on cameras could be the thing we were looking for.
All images are by Ridhima Saini. Used with permission. For more, follow her on Instagram @melon.at.work.
Building a Camera From Scratch
In a time when cameras need to move forward, they are seemingly stuck in a loop of simple, clean design. Perhaps if more young minds shake things up, corporations will listen.
Ridhima Saini is an Industrial Design student at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Haryana, India. For one of her assignments, she built a wooden Sony a7R from scratch. The young creator has always had a passion for woodworking and photography, so when the opportunity presented itself, she created a unique piece. Speaking about the project, Saini states that it started with detailed technical drawings of the real Sony a7R and measuring its exact dimensions. “This was one of the most important and meticulous steps because the proportions and dimensions are what really define the identity of the camera,” she tells us in an exclusive interview. “If those had been even slightly off, the model would not have looked the way it does now.”
Following this, the selection of materials became another crucial step in the process. Wood, metal, and acrylic were a few elements that helped her build and highlight the different parts of the camera. “The lens has a very interesting story. Initially, I wanted to make it entirely in wood,” she explains. “But when I tried to laser cut the fine gear-like grooves along the edges of the lens, the wood kept burning and the details wouldn’t hold,” Saini adds. However, when she “switched to acrylic,” she managed to retain the sharp grooves and the shape. Like the lens, the knobs, too, had to use metal, to give them a “realistic knurled texture.”
However, for the NID student, the most challenging part was yet to come: the grip. “I used 22 identical MDF shapes, laser cut them, and then arranged them carefully to form an inward curve,” she tells us, explaining the process. She moved every piece slightly to create the curve, which was then refined by sanding. Then came the dial, which had a movement of its own. To achieve this, she “split one MDF piece, added a 3 mm aluminum rod as the rotational axis, and then filed grooves along the dial’s edges to give it texture and grip.” To me, it resembled a perfect prototype of an exciting new camera, one that could be liked by many.
Keeping it raw and wooden was intentional; it preserves the honesty of the material and gives the camera a distinct personality of its own. This way, it doesn’t just become a copy of the Sony Alpha 7R, but rather a reinterpretation of it in wood, metal, and acrylic.
Ridhima Saini
What Should the Future Look Like?
Today’s cameras are trying to be smaller and more compact, but have powerful sensors. In fact, the boom of compact cameras proves that users are keen on retro aesthetics or anything that appears too minimalistic. Saini has noticed the “sensible and steady” designs manufacturers have been focusing on. While she understands the importance of such a look, she is interested in witnessing them take a different path. “It’d be fun to see a bit more variety in finishes and textures so cameras feel less anonymous and have a little more personality, while still staying functional,” she states.
The Alpha series felt balanced. It was familiar and easy to work with, so when I started the project, choosing Sony wasn’t just brand loyalty; it was personal history plus a design language that I wanted to translate into wood. It felt like the natural camera to study, both for its form and for the memories it carried.
Ridhima Saini
Ridhima Saini
When asked whether she would be interested in a commercial wooden camera design, Saini says a resounding “yes.” One reason is her love for “material handling,” such as wood, and so a camera made of it would be a dream come true. However, it’s more than just the aesthetics. “Wood gives a warm, tactile finish that’s hard to achieve with any other material, and a wooden surface can make a camera feel more like an object you care for rather than just a tool,” she explains.
In a time when cameras need to move forward, they are seemingly stuck in a loop of simple, clean design. Perhaps if more young minds shake things up, corporations will listen. Sure, these cameras are not made for the masses but for those who crave a balance between tactility and performance. Take photographer Max Rush, who won the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2025 with a custom wooden camera that houses a digital sensor. Perhaps the bridge between nature and technology can let us see wonder in a new way.
