Annual subscribers get the Camera Lucida free
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The Curiosity Box

Camera Lucida

Camera Lucida

$49.90 USD
$49.90 USD
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OPTICAL DRAWING TOOL · BY VSAUCE

PRE-ORDER · SHIPS IN NOVEMBER

For centuries, master artists cheated the system using the Camera Lucida — a clever optical tool that superimposes a ghost-like image of reality directly onto your paper so you can trace it perfectly. Our innovative modern redesign is the first to include built-in polarizing filters, allowing you to manipulate light and capture perfect perspective in any room.

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THE STORY

BELOVED OF SPIES. SECRET OF ARTISTS. PARENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

Johannes Kepler outlined the optics in his 1611 book Dioptrice, and devices using the same trick kept surfacing over the next two hundred years. But it was William Wollaston's 1801 version that finally took hold. The lucida became the workhorse of scientific illustration: Joseph Lister drew his microscope views with one, Audubon used it to shrink his giant bird folios, and Frederick Catherwood recorded the Mayan ruins in extraordinary detail. Then Henry Fox Talbot, inspired by Sir John Herschel's lucida landscapes but unsatisfied with his own tracing, spent two years chasing a chemical way to fix the image instead, and invented photography. Ours adds the one thing no lucida before it had (to our knowledge): a polarized brightness control, so you can tune the image for bright or dark subjects, and bright or dark rooms. No talent required. Just look, and trace.

“Did some of history's greatest artists 'cheat' with one of these? Pick one up and decide for yourself.”

— The Hockney–Falco thesis, 2001

SEE IT IN ACTION

WATCH IT DRAW ITSELF.

WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT

NO BATTERIES, NO APP

Pure optics — nothing to charge, install or update. The same trick scientists used for 200 years.

EASY TO USE, ANYWHERE

Folds flat, clamps to any surface, and travels anywhere your sketchbook goes.

PERFECT PERSPECTIVE, INSTANTLY

Trace real life or a reference photo and nail proportion, angle and depth on the very first try.

BUILT-IN POLARIZING FILTERS

Two rotating filters darken either the scene or your paper, so the outline you are tracing stays clear in bright or dark rooms.

THE DETAILS

WHAT'S IN THE BOX

In the box

The Camera Lucida kit with glass and mirror, 2 rotating polarizing filters, a flexible clamp arm, assembly bolts and nuts with the included hex key, and the illustrated assembly and use guide.

How it works

Look through the viewing hole and you see two images at once: your subject in front and your paper below. A glass pane and a mirror reflect the scene twice, so it lands the right way round. Rotate the polarizing filter to darken one image until the outline is clear, and move the filter to the front or the bottom of the Lucida depending on where the light is.

Materials

Polypropylene body, 1 mm optical glass and a mirror, brass-threaded mount, steel hardware, and a flexible clamp arm. No batteries, no electronics.

QUESTIONS?

ANSWERS, BEFORE YOU ASK

Do I need special paper?

Nope — any sketchbook or printer paper works. A smooth, matte surface gives the cleanest trace.

When will my pre-order ship?

The standalone Camera Lucida is on pre-order with an estimated to ship in November.

Is it good for total beginners?

Especially. You don't need drawing skill. The device handles the proportions, you just trace what you see.

DRAW WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE.

The 200-year-old artist's secret, rebuilt with modern optics. No talent required.

PRE-ORDER · SHIPS IN NOVEMBER

Camera Lucida